Welcome! We’re so glad you’re here! Whether you found us through The Epoch Times, Institute For Catholic Liberal Education, Homeschool Loftcast 2.0, or another source, we appreciate you taking the time to visit. No matter how you arrived, we’re excited to share our passion for excellent living books with you.
One of the most common questions we receive is: How do I find excellent books for my children and grandchildren—books like those from the 1940s and 1950s?
This is a fantastic question, but it’s really several questions in one! Let’s break it down.
Where Do We Physically Find These Books?
The most obvious sources include places like ThriftBooks, eBay, and Amazon. But even better than those, there are some wonderful small publishers working tirelessly to bring these very books back into print. We feature reviews of many of their reprints on our website, and you can browse our Favorite Small Publishers section to find some gems!
How Do We Know Which Books to Look For?
Finding the right books requires knowing what to look for! We recommend three key ways to discover excellent books:
- Read the reviews on our website – We are constantly reviewing books to help families find the best stories for the minds and hearts of your readers.
- Subscribe to our Book Review Roundup newsletter – This is an easy way to discover new gems and classic treasures.
- Join Biblioguides – This is, hands down, the best research tool available for tracking down excellent books, understanding what is in them, and finding other books just right for you and your readers.
- Take a look at Sara’s library catalog. We know that families and librarians often look in Sara’s catalog when trying to find a new gem or when trying to ascertain whether or not to keep a book that they already have. You can browse that catalog here.
What Are the Best Resources for Finding Excellent Books?
Beyond our own resources and Biblioguides, we also recommend some other favorite curated lists:
Picture Books
For picture books, we highly recommend Picture Book Preschool – This is a phenomenal resource for finding the best picture books for young children. (If you read Sara’s interview in the The Epoch Times, it was mentioned there.)
Book Lists
Jan Bloom’s books are the gold standard – Her work is invaluable for families and librarians building a home library.
For a broader list of worthy literature, The *1000 Good Books List* is an essential guide.
Our Favorite Recommendation: Find a Private Lending Library!
One of the very best ways to access high-quality living books is to find a small private lending library like ours! These libraries are treasure troves of curated literature. Check out the Private Lending Library Directory to see if there’s one near you!
Bonus Recommendation: Sara’s Great Books Talk
If you’re looking for a deeper dive into this topic, we highly recommend Sara’s Great Books talk - Great Books: The Ambassador for Beauty. She covers everything from what makes a book truly excellent to where to find them and how to use them in your home or school.
Thank you again for visiting! We’re thrilled to have you here and look forward to helping you discover the very best books for your family.