Portrait of a Mother Reader - Stephanie, Australia

Reading habits, rhythms and book recommendations of Mother Readers the world over

I’m Stephanie, the creator of Mother Reader, a mother myself of two children aged 5 and 3. My husband and I are creative souls, he is a musician, I am writer, and we home educate our kids. Our family of bookworms live on the Mornington Peninsula, Bunurong Country, at the bottom of mainland Australia. We live in a small house in a semi-rural neighbourhood not far from the beach where we are surrounded by towering gum trees and our bountiful edible garden which includes a micro-orchard, many raised veggie beds, perennial herbs, flowers and five cheeky chooks. Books and stories are naturally woven into the fabric of our days and lives.

Who inspired you to become the reader you are today?

My own mother raised me to be the reader I am today. She is an avid reader herself and made sure I was never short of a good book. I fondly recall her saying to me one day in our favourite neighbourhood bookstore when I asked if we could buy the latest release in the Goosebumps series, “Stephanie, I will never say no to a book.” She held true to her word too.

Who are your favourite authors?

Growing up in the 90s I loved, and still adore, Alison Lester. Her picture books are as revered in our family now as they were in my family of origin growing up. Magic Beach will always be a sentimental favourite and Kissed by the Moon reads like a love letter to my own children. As a tween/teen, I loved Paul Jennings, R L Stine and Tim Winton’s Cloudstreet. I also adored Shakespeare and this was probably where my love for the theatre bloomed, going on to attain my Bachelor in Performing Arts and performing in numerous productions in my teens and early adulthood, including roles as Helena in A Midsummer Nights Dream in high school and as Macduff in Macbeth at university. My favourite children’s author today, aside from Alison Lester, would be Julia Donaldson; I just love the musicality of her words. Her books are a delight to read aloud. As well as E B White, Beatrix Potter and A A Milne - they are revered for a reason.

When it comes to adult reading, Holly Ringland is my favourite author, and I also adore Pip Williams, Jane Harper, Rhonda Hetzel and

Brooke McAlary

Who do you discuss books with?

Up until this year I was an eager participant in my local library book club. Myself and 10 other women would meet once a month on a Thursday afternoon for a cuppa, a bikkie and chat about books - the one we had been assigned for that month and others we would recommend. Through this group I was introduced to many authors I would not have read before and as a largely non-fiction reader, a passion for reading fiction was once again relit. It was a lovely hour and a half of my month, to spend time in the company of wisened women in one of my favourite places and talk books. Council funding however stipulated that in 2024, only those over the age of 50 were eligible to take part, so I found myself suddenly and sadly bereft of my treasured book club I had hoped I would be a member of always. I contemplated seeking out a new group but an idea had begun to brew inside me, and thus I leant into dreaming up and birthing Mother Reader, an online gathering of book lovers and readers, who I hope will steer me in the direction of many great recommendations and whom I can also share my reading life with. As one chapter closes, a new one begins.

What are you currently reading?

This year I am taking part in two slow, year long reads of War & Peace by Leo Tolstoy and the Cromwell Trilogy - Wolf Hall, Bringing up the Bodies and The Mirror & The Light by Hilary Mantel, both of which are being facilitated by the incredible

Simon Haisell

from Footnotes and Tangents right here on Substack. My husband and I are taking turns to read aloud a chapter of War & Peace to one another each night so we can enjoy this tome we have both always wanted to read but never got around to, together. It has been such a beautiful way to bond and connect over literature, inspite of our stumblings over the Russian character names. My take away thus far is that Tolstoy is funny, he can write a bloody long sentence with the utmost eloquence and I am able to enjoy reading a book about war (my least favourite genre). I give huge credit to Simon for his facilitation, guidance and commentary and of course the community he has generated around these epic reads.

Others I am currently working my way through (and loving) are:

• God is an Octopus by

  Ben Goldsmith
  (hardcover)

• Demon Copperhead by Barbara Kingsolver (paperback)

What’s in your TBR pile?

• North Woods by Daniel Mason (fiction)

• Ancient Futures by Helena Norberg-Hodge (non-fiction)

• My Hygge Home by Meik Wiking (non-fiction)

• A Clear Flowing Yarra by Harry Saddler (non-fiction)

What have you read so far this year that you would recommend?

• Phosphorescence by Julia Baird (non-fiction)

• Write for Life by Julia Cameron (non-fiction)

• Raising Critical Thinkers by

  Julie Bogart
  (non-fiction)

• The Clockmakers Daughter by Kate Morton (fiction)

• Homecoming by Kate Morton (fiction)

• Little House in the Big Woods by Laura Ingalls Wilder (fiction read aloud - ages 5+)

• From What Is to What If: Unleashing the Power of Imagination to Create the Future We Want by Rob Hopkins (non-fiction audiobook)

• 7 Steps to Get Your Child Reading by Louise Park (non-fiction)

• The Complete Brambly Hedge by Jill Barklem (fiction read aloud - all ages)

• The Way of the Fearless Writer by

  Beth Kempton
  (non-fiction)

• The Velveteen Rabbit by Margery Williams (fiction read aloud - ages 4+)

And here is a small selection of picture books we’ve also loved lately:

What are your favourite genres?

As I mentioned, and as you can tell from the above, I read more non-fiction than fiction and lean into books pertaining to parenting, education, sustainability, nature, gardening, cooking and creativity. When it comes to fiction I tend to alternate between historical fiction and thrillers, as well as dipping into classic and modern literature.

What were your favourite books you read in 2023?

Rather than re-write what I’ve already penned, here is the link to my Substack post “My year in books” which details my best reads of last year:

My year in books

What are you most looking forward to reading in 2024?

Hoping to get around to reading all of the below:

• Doppelganger by Naomi Klein

• Grounded by

  Ruth Allen

• Wintering by

  Katherine May

• Until the Streetlights Come On by Ginny Yurich

• Twelve Moons by

  Caro Giles

• Lola in the Mirror by Trent Dalton

• Emily Wilde’s Encyclopaedia of Faeries by

  Heather Fawcett

• Wifedom by Anna Funder

• The Weekend by

  Charlotte Wood

• A Different Way to Learn by

  Dr Naomi Fisher

• Slow Seasons by

  Everything Looks Rosie

• The Wheel of the Year by Fiona Cook & Jessica Roux

• Tom Lake by Ann Patchett

• The Artist’s Way for Parents by Julia Cameron

• The Narnia Chronicles by C S Lewis

• The Animals of Farthing Wood by Colin Dann

• The Trumpet of the Swan by E B White

And I better stop there otherwise this could go on indefinitely…

Do you read books more than once?

Not often, but I have a treasured few I return to:

• The Simple Life and Down to Earth by Rhonda Hetzel (my simple living bibles)

• The Call of the Wild & Free by Ainsley Arment (my homeschooling bible)

What have been your most treasured read alouds and why?

The Complete Snugglepot & Cuddlepie Collection by May Gibbs was a book I had retained from my own childhood that I read with my daughter when she was four. This was a special shared experience, it was her first leap into extended chapter book reading and we’ve been devouring long format books together ever since. Other favourites include the original Winnie-the-Pooh by A A Milne, I still remember her giggles of delight at the description of Pooh with his head stuck in a pot of honey and the hilarity that ensues trying to extricate himself. Charlotte’s Web and Stuart Little by E B White will also stay with me as a sentimental read aloud experiences we have shared together. The Magic Faraway Tree series by Enid Blyton another. Other series we’ve loved are The Adventures of Sophie Mouse by Poppy Green, Ruby Red Shoes by Kate Knapp and Heartwood Hotel by Kallie George.

My little man is still blissfully content in the world of picture books and while his sister loves the novelty of a new book, he is most happy reading his favourites over and over. The ones that spring to mind most fondly are The Lorax and Green Eggs & Ham by Dr Seuss, The Little Yellow Digger by Betty and Alan Gilderdale and his most recent favourite, Bluey Cricket.

What do you use as bookmarks?

I have a collection of David Hockney art postcards I picked up at his Current exhibition in 2017 and these make the rounds in our house as bookmarks, alongside assorted bookmarks gifted from the library or book stores. My favourite would have to be a Flower Fairies bookmark that my daughter likes to perform a ceremonial tucking into a book to sleep.

What books have shaped the person and mother you have become?

I haven’t eaten meat since I read Eating Animals by Jonathan Safran Foer, 15 years ago.

I gave up drinking with the help of Quit Like a Woman by

Holly Whitaker

.

Retrosurburbia by David Holmgren introduced me to a different way to live and be in the world through the lens of Permaculture.

Jamie Oliver’s cookbooks inspired my love of cooking as a newly minted adult.

Free to Learn by

Peter Gray

accelerated my deschooling.

Hold Onto Your Kids by Dr Gordon Neufeld and Gabor Mate solidified my choice to home educate.

Down to Earth by Rhonda Hetzel and Slow by

Brooke McAlary

inspired me to live a simpler, slower life.

A Family Guide to Waste Free Living by

Lauren & Oberon Carter

helped put into action our family values of living sustainably.

What is your favourite book of all time ever?

The Lost Flowers of Alice Hart by Holly Ringland

When do you read and for how long do you read for each day?

In this season of life where sleep is precious and slow mornings a god send, I aim to read half an hour of non-fiction before our day gets into full swing and then as much fiction as I can manage before falling asleep at night. The kids and I will do ‘Morning Books’ each morning, after I’ve finished my own personal reading and the coffee has kicked in, which entails cuddling up on our reading chairs next to our library book holder (which is always overflowing with an ever changing array of picture books and children’s non-fiction read alouds) and allowing them to choose what they would like me to read to them. My daughter without fail chooses to sit on or besides me whilst we read and my son will sometimes join her on my lap, other times he’s happy playing near and not so near us. Either way, I don’t coerce either of them to this reading session, it has just become a natural part of our daily rhythm.

If we are at home in the middle of the day my daughter will almost always ask for her stories, which means she’d like some quiet time on her own in her bedroom, listening to audiobooks whilst drawing, colouring or creating in some form. This is her way of resting and replenishing and I’ve come to see how vital this time is to her overall wellbeing and happiness. During this time my son and I will play but can also be drawn to picture book reading one-on-one in his room, where most of our permanent children’s book collection is housed.

We also listen to childrens audiobooks from time to time when travelling in the car. I listen to snippets of audiobooks on the rare occasion I am driving somewhere without children in the car or after dinner whilst washing the dishes while my husband runs the kids rampant in the garden. At bedtime we divide and conquer, taking it in turns to read with one child each - long form chapter books with my daughter and picture books with my son, swapping at the completion of each chapter book (every 1-2 weeks roughly). They go to bed with books read aloud to them every night and always have. Once they are asleep, my husband and I will curl up on the couch and read our nightly chapter of War & Peace aloud to one another before we head into our own inner reading worlds until we can keep our eyes open no longer.

It’s hard to quantify the hours spent reading as they vary each day but at a minimum I would say I spend 2-3 hours in the company of books, both read aloud and read alone.

Do you read everyday or only on certain days of the week?

This rhythm is an everyday occurrence for us and it is flexible enough to work around our changing days, schedules and events. It works for us in all seasons and all weather. The only seasonal addition I’d make would be that on a beautiful afternoon you may just find us outside in our garden cosied up in our reading tent with cushions, snacks and a huge pile of books. And we also make time for poetry tea time at least once a month, whereby we bake something yummy together and I read poems aloud to the kids while we stuff our faces.

Do you read multiple books or one at a time?

I was always a one-book-at-a-time kind of reader but lately I’ve noticed I have more on the go then ever before. I think this has evolved due to the season of life I find myself in and what my brain is capable of processing and drawn to read at certain times of the day. I have found that reading non-fiction in the morning helps my brain to wake up, and at a time of day when interruptions are inevitable, I find it much easier to pick up and put down non-fiction reads, where as fiction I prefer to give my whole attention to for an extended period of time, hence why I save it until the end of the day when the house is quiet and no one needs me. Being a voracious reader with limited time to read has meant separating my genres and formats into windows that they are best suited to and this rhythm is really working for me at present.

Do you read consistently or does your reading rhythm ebb and flow?

I would say I’m quiet consistent, though I do notice that sometimes after reading a book that has shifted my perspective or that I hoped would never end, I am reluctant to jump straight into another book as my mind longs to sit with the characters and ideas that have captivated me.

Where do you love to read?

At home is the short answer, as this is where I spend most of my time. I have a favourite reading chair which sits besides my beloved pink bookcase that holds a portion of our permanent collection, as well as my current non-fiction reading pile. This is where I read in the morning and with the kids throughout the day. At night my husband and I read aloud to one another on our cobalt blue couch and I am snuggled into bed always to read fiction that will transport me to sleep.

My beloved book case

Where do you store your book collection?

The adored pink bookcase (which was a second hand gift from an old workplace that I repainted and refashioned) sits in our living room, as well as a cookbook collection beside our kitchen and an Ikea picture book holder which I use to display our rotating library read alouds. In our bedroom, my husband and I have antique bedside tables we bought at an auction house over a decade ago that are always stacked to the brim with our currently reading and TBR piles. Other books we own that don’t currently fit on the pink bookcase are housed in the top of our wardrobe for now. The kids permanent book collections are split between both of their own bedrooms.

Where do you source books from?

95% of the books our family read come from our local library. If borrowing library books were an olympic sport I have no doubt we’d be gold medalists. How can I even begin to sum up all of the reasons we love our library?

As a family of four we have only one membership, controversial I know, but it allows me to ensure we can place a large number of books on hold at any one time and pick them up smoothly in a single transaction. As the kids get older I imagine they will want their own accounts, but for now this works perfectly for us. A few years ago I replaced social media scrolling with library catalogue scrolling, putting books I thought would appeal to my husband and childrens tastes on hold, left, right and centre. I love curating what my family reads and we all love to read different things. Of course, my husband and kids supplement my selections with their own choosings too but it is a reliable given that should any one of us walk into our local branch on any day there will be a book or ten to collect under our surname.

Being library readers means sometimes waiting for the hot and new release titles though, but I have found this actually sweetens the reading experience. The delayed gratification always pays off when having to wait months to get your hands on a book you’ve been pining for. Thankfully for us, our library offers an unlimited number of books you can borrow and have on hold at any one time, with borrowing periods of three weeks that roll over three times so long as no one else has requested the title.

My biggest dilemma has been when two or more new release titles make their way to me at the same time and I have to either speed read both or return one and hop to the back of the queue to try my luck a second time around. Such is the library lottery, but I love this experience all the same as I know each book will find it’s way to me when the time is right.

I love just going to the library as well. What’s not to love about a quiet and peaceful building (until my children arrive at least) with familiar and friendly librarians, filled with books, book and more books. With my active, noisy wildlings in tow our visits aren’t long ones at this time, but they are frequent and fill my mother cup to the brim.

We very rarely buy new books, but if we do it’s from our favourite book store Antipodes in Sorrento. We love a second hand or op-shop book hunt though and both my husband and I could think of not much more we’d like to do then scour the shelves at a snails pace at the Tyabb Packing House.

A recent op shop haul

I also like to raid friends and family’s bookshelves and my mother often lends me books she has read and thinks I will like.

Where do you get book recommendations from?

For someone who reads a fair amount, I can be quite picky about what I read and hence a book needs to enter my sphere of acknowledgement often in more ways than one before I might consider reading it. I like hearing a book recommended from multiple sources before I think it may be for me. I am definitely not a ‘Oh that sounds interesting I’ll try that’ sort of reader, a lot of forethought and planning goes into my selections and I will happy DNF a book that I’m not feeling. There is simply too many good words out there to read than to waste precious hours on a book that isn’t speaking to me. I keep abreast of new releases via the Apple Books app, my online library catalogue as well as books I see recommended on instagram or Substack. Plenty of books I have read are from podcast recommendations too. Friends and family (mainly my mother) also guide my reading choices.

What formats do you read in?

90% physical books from the library. If I can’t source the book I want from the library I use Borrowbox e-books to read on my iPad and as a last resort buy an e-book through Apple Books, but this is rare. For Audiobooks I also use Borrowbox, as well as Audible and Spotify.

How do you keep track of what you read?

I’m an old school pen and paper tracker. Each year I start a new notebook where I keep a list of all the books I read. I place a little hand drawn heart next to the titles I love the most.

How do you keep track of what you want to read?

I use Apple Books mainly as a digital Want To Read tracker, but sometimes I will just search and put a book on hold at the library that I’m after, knowing that it will take time to get to me anyway so I may as well get in the queue.

Why do you read?

I read both for pleasure and life long learning. If I want to know more about a topic of interest, I always seek out books as teachers, mentors and guides. It’s about expansion for me, expanding my understanding of the way the world is and why, and imagining what it could be. I read to know but I also read to escape. I read to connect with my children, my family, friends and total strangers on the internet, to share a common appreciation for words, all they hold and whisper. I read to inspire my children to be readers but also to delight in their own love of reading. I read to savour and to think deeply on one idea, one notion, one story. I read to commune, to be inspired, to feel. I read because I love to.

On Substack:

Splendid To Be

- The simple pleasures of our slow, seasonal, home centred life

Australian Homeschool Stories

- The Podcast

On Instagram:

@splendidtobe

@australianhomeschoolstories

Thank you for reading the very first in what I hope will be an ongoing series into the lives of other Mother Readers all around the globe.

If you are interested in sharing the ins and outs of your own reading life, please get in touch at splendidtobe@gmail.com

Be sure to say hello and introduce yourself to kindred Mother Readers in the comments of this post and please tell us all…