Welcome to Day 5 of Five Fall Favorites, hosted by Kate at Once Upon an Ordinary and Katja at Little Blossoms for Jesus! If you have missed my previous posts, you can find them here: Day 1, Day 2, Day 3, and Day 4. Today’s prompt is my favorite from the week: “Family”! If you’ve followed my blog for a while, you probably know that I really love family stories, so I am super excited to share five of my favorites with you today! (Note: There were so many family books that I enjoyed growing up, but I decided to keep this post to books that I’ve read within the last few years just to narrow it down a little and so that I remember them more clearly!)
NOTE: All cover images link to the books’ Goodreads pages.
1. The Saturdays by Elizabeth Enright
This is a super sweet story about four siblings who begin a club to go on fun adventures each Saturday afternoon in the summer. The story portrays strong sibling relationships, and the children also have a good relationship with their father and their housekeeper, Cuffy (their mother has passed away). The Saturdays was first published in the 1940s and has a lot of vintage charm. It is also the first book in a series, so if you like it, there are three more books following it!
2. The Moffats by Eleanor Estes
The Moffats is another old-fashioned middle grade story, and it is also the first book in a series! The four Moffat children live their widowed mother in their New England village during World War 1. The children, ranging in age from five to thirteen, go on a lot of adventures together, and they have strong relationships with each other and their mother. You can read my review of The Moffats here.
3. The Blossoming Summer by Anna Rose Johnson
The Blossoming Summer is a middle-grade story about Rosemary, a young girl living in England during WW2, who relocates to her grandmother’s home in Wisconsin along with the rest of her family. This book deals with some trickier aspects of family such as dealing with tension in the family. It also brings up some interesting topics such as family heritage as Rosemary learns that she is part Ojibwe. I thought it was really interesting learning more about Ojibwe people and following along with Rosemary’s experiences on the WW2 homefront. I also really enjoyed Anna Rose Johnson’s old-fashioned writing style! Read my review of The Blossoming Summer here.
4. The Divine Proverb of Streusel by Sara Brunsvold
I loved this book so much! This one also deals with some trickier aspects of family as the main character, Nikki, is dealing with her emotions following her parents’ divorce. She goes to her uncle’s farm and discovers wisdom from her late grandmother’s notebook of old family recipes and proverbs. Learning about her family’s heritage is a big step in Nikki’s journey of healing and learning to forgive her parents. I really love Brunsvold’s writing style and how much wisdom she packs into all of her books.
5. A Lantern in Her Hand by Bess Streeter Aldrich
This book is a bit different from the others because it focuses more on marriage and motherhood as Abbie and her husband, Will, move to the Nebraska frontier in the 1800s and start a life there together. There are a lot of ups and downs throughout the story, but overall, it is such a beautiful portrayal of not just what pioneer life was like but also what family life is like and the sacrifices mothers make.
I know that was five recommendations already, but I just need to give another shout-out to the Vanderbeekers series, probably my all-time favorite series about a family. I didn’t count it towards my five since I already mentioned it for the “Community” theme, but if you didn’t check them out yet, make sure you do! They are some really awesome stories that portray very strong family bonds.
Want to find more books about family? Check out the posts from my fellow Team Squirrel members!
Stephanie @ Books Less Travelled
To see the whole list of bloggers participating this year, find more fun book recommendations, and find today’s freebies (!!), check out the hosts, Kate’s and Katja’s, blogs by clicking the buttons below!
Also, don’t forget to enter the Five Fall Favorites giveaway! The giveaway is open through September 26th (11:59:00 P.M. EDT). You can check it out here!
The party isn’t over yet! Come back tomorrow for one last day of fun and a list of my top five favorite books from 2026!
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