Clean Reads discussion

I just received a book recommendation from a new member (hi Joy!), and got to wondering how people are finding my little group. I had originally started it up to invite my church friends so I could get recommendations from like-minded readers, but there are quite a few of you out there that I don't know personally (more than half of the group members actually), and that's pretty cool to me. I didn't think it would grow to any significant size... So, here's a chance to introduce yourself and tell us all how you got here.

hi tracy! i'm always looking for new books, but i really hate to get into a good one, only to be totally put off by the language/violence/sex and have to give it up. i like my life PG, thanks!

i found the group by searching for mormon groups -- i'm LDS -- and then looking for the ones recommending non-religious books.

i'm a really over-educated SAHM in tampa, FL and a rabid, i mean avid, reader.

i would love to know what resources other people are using to find good, clean books. i've tried searching on amazon's listopia and did find a few good list authors. (monica higbee, for example)

Cool Joy. I couldn't agree more with your first statement. I've been so frustrated with putting books down partway through that I even wrote Oprah, requesting that she come up with a rating system for the books that she reviews for her book club. I never got a response (I guess she's a little busy...), but I still felt this need to find some kind of forum. And when a friend invited me to join Goodreads.com, I found a great forum. For me, this has been a great source for the next read. I still have aspirations of going bigger with the "clean reads" or "book rating" idea so that many many more like-minded people can find safe, clean things to read. I refuse to believe that we're the only ones with "old-fashioned values" out there. ;)

I am also a Latter-Day Saint SAHM, and I'd love to create something that my kids can one day use to find appropriate reading material.

If anyone has any ideas of how to take this to an even bigger place, I'd love to hear them.

when i check out movies, i use kids-in-mind.org
perhaps something like their rating system could serve as a baseline and could be adapted for books? i find it really helpful, myself, much more so than just a one-rating system. ...that's my only helpful suggestion. :)

Cool. I'll have to check that out. Thanks!

I found the group thru Joy - who I don't know personally, but we are now friends via Goodreads, and I'm really glad because she has an awesome book list! I'm a SAHM LDS Mom, a reader, blogger, and also looking for great recommendations.

What a find! I have spent the last 10 years of my life actively searching for clean reads on a juv lit level because I realized as my children got into upper elementary school, junior high and high school that they were being bombarded with books that were not uplifting and that I could make a difference if I had an alternate choice to recommend that taught the desired concepts in a more wholesome way. In some cases, the teacher changed the reading material for the entire class, in others my child read a different book on their own and I wrote the curriculum, but in all cases, it was a positive experience. Thus, for years, much of my own reading has been from the childrens section, for that reason, and honestly because I am too aprehensive to pick up an adult book without very trusted recommendations. I too, wish that there was some sort of rating system, because the risk of ending up with something offensive is huge and I've been burned a couple of times. I HATE that dark feeling. I love children's literature, but lately yearn for something deeper, that is more relevant to me.

I found this group by searching for "clean" books under the Goodreads lists. I am looking for relevant G or PG books that will enlighten my mind--PG 13 is pushing it unless it's just for mature themes (I have seen only a handful of PG-13 movies that didn't sink too far for me.

I am an LDS, stay at home mom (I've never seen that put into an acronym before, so it took me a few minutes to figure out what SAHM meant :) Honestly, I'm not generally a big fan of "mormon fiction" or so called "mormon comedy" movies because it makes me feel like I'm being immersed into a poor, stereotypical bubble. I want to read about things that are relevant to all mankind; things that are in the world, but not of the world. I love "old" books--maybe because I learned the love of reading from my mothers book suggestions and those felt safe, but I have enjoyed books across the genre board.

I'm so excited to have found this group--it feels like Christmas! Bring on the recommendations!

Welcome Melissa and Rachel, and AMEN, AMEN, AMEN! Rachel, I totally agreed with your statements about PG-13s and in general I just prefer non-religious topics, although I have read one or two "historical fiction" books set in LDS situations that I enjoyed. In fact, my mom is writing one right now about one of our pioneer ancestors (!!!), Elizabeth Terry Heward. I'm so proud of her. It's been bursting to get out of her for so long. Anyway, I do so look forward to recommending that once it's published :):):). This is a total first for her.

But I digress. I can't help out very much with the adult recommendations as I find myself in the very same boat. I suggested this somewhere else in the group, but in case you didn't find it, I found a fantastic blog the other day - http://homespunlight.blogspot.com. I was blown away!

Anyway, great to have you all here with us.

I only read adult fiction (except for Harry Potter) and have been in an LDS book group for 6 yrs...so I have a ton of adult recs that I could pass along. We read a wide variety -- fiction, historical fiction, non fiction, NYTimes Best sellers.. you name it (but avoid religions/LDS fiction). I've become the book group police, so if there is something that is recommended, that someone hastn' read, I usually read it first to make sure there isn't anything objectionable. You could add me as a friend on goodreads to see my reivews...or I post my reviews on my blog -- gerberadaisydiaries.blogspot.com.

Ladies -- my latest blog post lists all the books my book group has read over the past 6 yrs. We are an LDS book group and consider the titles we read, "clean reads." If I remembered something specific about a book, I made note of it. If you are interested it is on my website gerberadaisydiaries.blogspot.com.

thanks, melissa!
i'm all for juvenile, YA, and adult fiction, as well as pretty much any genre. so please keep the recommendations coming.
in fact, until being stranded on a couch during pregnancy i'd never read any fantasy fiction at all, and now "daughter of the forest" by juliet marillier is one of my favorite books all-time. i'd recommend that as a fairly clean read. really clean by strict language and immorality standards, but it does have some non-explicit 'adult' themes -- the main character is raped. this is dealt with very respectfully and realistically, though, and isn't a deal-breaker for me.

I discovered this group through Melissa's blog. I discovered HER blog through Mormon Mommy Wars. I've been a member of Good Reads for a few months and when I discovered this group I became very excited! I am part of a Relief Society book club and we are searching for clean reading material that is available through our library. It is rather uncomfortable choosing a book and then realizing that the language or situations are more graphic than I expected or hoped for.

Thanks Tracy for starting this group.

oh, cool. thanks, suzanne!
the acronyms do inhibit communication occasionally, but they sure are fun. :)

Welcome Haleemah! Glad you found us. Please let us know if you find a good book too.

Haleemah wrote: "Hello Tracy and everyone! My name is Haleemah and I am a teenager. I am an avid reader. I'm always looking for clean reads for young adults and adults. It's is very disturbing to read a noel that i..."

what fun to have a teenager on board! What kind of books do you like to read? Tell us some of your favorites and maybe we can help you get a "good" list started. I love to read books written for youth.

glad to see that someone else likes kids-in-mind.
i've got the shadow children series on my to-read shelf. please keep the recommends coming!

Hi. I just found your group through a comment that Joy made on one of my entries that she must have seen through Melissa's comment. I know, it's convoluted but, anyway, I'm glad to be here. Finding clean reads is exactly why I started my blog a couple of years ago at http://goodcleanreads.blogspot.com. I actually use a rating system kind of like kids-in-mind. I know my ratings aren't perfect but I hope they're helpful. I'm excited to be a part of this group.

Thank goodness I found this group! Just stumbled upon it a few minutes ago. It's so hard to find rated G (or at least PG) books these days. I'm looking forward to being a part of this group!!!!

Oh, I'm an LDS SAHM too, by the way. :)

Kim wrote: "Hi. I just found your group through a comment that Joy made on one of my entries that she must have seen through Melissa's comment. I know, it's convoluted but, anyway, I'm glad to be here. ..."

wow! how's that for having an influence. :) i'm glad we're getting new groupies -- welcome, all!

I just found this group through Kim.:) We are book blogging buddies, and I really enjoy her blog and have gotten a ton of recommendations from her. I also have a blog and will let readers know my honest opinion about the content in the books I read. I read a lot of YA, but there are still some YA novels that get away with a whole lot more than they should. Swearing is a big one I have noticed recently. I'm excited to get some new clean book recommendations! I am also LDS and a SAHM.:) It's nice to meet everyone! http://alwayssomethingtoread.blogspot...

Wow! This has been so much fun! Meeting all these like minded women!

Hooray for this group! I actually found it because Brenda is my cousin! Hey cous! But I'm always complaining to my husband about there not being a rating system for books like there is for movies! It drives me nuts! So thanks for this!

Found you guys when I was searching for book on the Good reads home page.. I am NOT a SAHM, but I am LDS!! Wow! Way to break the tradition, huh? I am not married yet either!! haha :0) I LOVE to read for fun, and like many of you, hate to waste my time on books that are found to be offensive.. Thanks for your suggestions and all..
Some of my favorite non-LDS authors: Nicholas Sparks, Debbie Macomber, Mitch Albom, Robin Cook and ELizabeth Berg. Most of these are very easy reads.. Robin Cook; however, is a physician that writes about medical suspense, and is quire accurate and usually writes about current health related topics. I would NOT be surprised if he writes something soon about the H1N1 (swine flu) epidemic.. He is VERY fascinating.. :0)

I found this site through the homespunlight blog ... the author used to have a book blog called Deliciously Clean Reads that was wonderful, and since she was a member of this group, I figured it would broaden my reading base.

I, as well, am an LDS SAHM to two little ones younger than four, and with a husband still in school and working like mad, reading is almost my only source of grown-up interaction. As a result, I'm almost always with a book in hand or nearby. My mom gave me a love of reading, but only if it's worthwhile, so this group is wonderful! Can't wait to get to know you and hear what you're reading!

Welcome welcome to all the newbies! I'm so excited that you're all finding the group. And excited to hear what you've been reading. Glad to have you here.

Hmm...I found this through my momma. (She thinks I read about vampires too much, haha.) I am also LDS (but a teen, so not a SAHM), like, apparently, everyone else here, so I don't like to read books that make me cringe with their material. I am, unfortunately, pretty immune to the swearing, but I don't like all the sex, drugs, and alcohol especially, that go into books these days. I tend to be able to avoid them, but it's annoying when they're included without warning. So...yep. :)

Chritine, tell your momma to join!

Welcome to the group Christine. Great to have you. Please let us know if you find any great PG books - lots of us love Young Adult fiction.

Melissa wrote: "Chritine, tell your momma to join!"
Mom is a member...she just didn't introduce herself. :)

Christine wrote: "She thinks I read about vampires too much"
every other vampire book i read -- or start to, anyway -- always leaves me pining for twilight. give me edward or give me death! pathetic, really.

and "I am, unfortunately, pretty immune to the swearing, "
you'll find, my dear young one, that college is SO much easier in that regard than high school. and in real life, which begins sometime in your mid-20s usually, you can choose who to be around everyday. it is a fabulous, fabulous thing. i remember having to be desensitized to profanity, though. otherwise you'd never make it down the hallways!

Joy, I couldn't agree more about the vampire books comment!!!! You are my kind of girl! I've read a couple and just thought of how I wished I was reading Twilight the whole time. "give me Edward or give me death!" I LOVE IT!!!! I'm a full addict and have come to embrace it! I compare almost every book I read to Twilight as far as entertainment purposes. I'm always looking for the next great book. One that will reel me in like TW did. Thanks for giving me a smile this morning.

Oh and I also agree with your statement about profanity. I was desensitized in HS too but now it almost gives me a jolt when I hear it because I almost never do.

I found this group through reviewing the Mysterious Benedict Society and it said this was a group that it had been including in. I agree that there should be a rating system for books!
As to the desensitizing to profanity, I think that's not going to happen for me. I'm in ninth grade, and the world is so messed up that I've been hearing it in school for like three years, and it still repulses me. I'm disgusted that I can't get through a school day without hearing the f-word most days at least once, and definitely one of the more minor swear words.
What is a SAHM? I saw it in a lot of these comments, but I don't know the acronym. I do know LDS, though

welcome, laura.

Stay At Home Mom = SAHM
in other words, you in fifteen years, if you're lucky! ;)

I guess since there is a lot of activity in this group it made it appear on the side of my goodreads home page as a suggestion to join! Thanks so much everyone for banding together for something that is VERY needed in today's media and literacy!!!
I am also an LDS SAHM. I humorously call myself a Law School widow as I have lost my husband to his professors and the Law Library as he pushes through Law school. My only escape is through reading, but I hate when I feel trapped partway through a book and I'm faced with images or words I don't want stuck in my head. Thankyou so much for putting this together and for everyone contributing!

Hey ... I'm an MBA widow!! Reading is my escape, too, and I love watching my kids develop the love of reading as well. glad to know I'm not the only grad school wife out there that feels "widowed!"

ha! i'm an MBA widow myself. what a funny way to put it. :) the group is definitely a valuable resource.

Welcome Janaleefish! I'm so glad to hear how you found the group. It's exciting to know that the word's getting out! I am so thankful for every insight that our members add, and it's great to keep finding new ones.

"My only escape is through reading, but I hate when I feel trapped partway through a book and I'm faced with images or words I don't want stuck in my head. Thankyou so much for putting this together and for everyone contributing!"

I couldn't agree more!!! Glad to have you.

I am a LDS SAHM in Mn. I very often feel that I am in the minority when it comes to decent books. I had a friend that never even considered the idea of putting down a book because of the content in it. I am always nervous taking most people's recomendations. Because of this I was so excited to find this group a couple months ago. I love to have a resource that I can go to to find good books. I have teenagers who love reading and I like to recommend good books to them. I quite often get overwhelmed at the library because I just don't know what to get and I don't want to check out any icky books. Thanks for starting this group. It is great!!

I had just posted my review of "Three Cups of Tea" and saw this group listed at the bottom of the page. One of the reasons that I joined Goodreads was to increase the odds of finishing each book that I purchase, rather than being overwhelmed by all the 'realism' that many authors feel the need to drench their writing in and because of that dropping the book in a trash can at an airport or to return the book to the bookstore I purchased it from. Not all the books that I have read or found value in are rated 'G', but there is a difference in decadant writing and reality and when the reality is a life of decandance, that is a life I choose not to learn about.

I echo the 'thanks' that others have expressed for putting this group together.

My sister-in-law told me about goodreads and my boss (I work at the public library.) told me I should do goodreads. I found this group by seeing it listed under the groups tab. I think it will be wonderful to see what others are reading and if it is ok for me to read. I am a young single adult (YSA) member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (LDS) and am always too scared to leave the children's section of library because of how the last adult book I read was awful. Working in the children's section of the library has also awaken me to the fact that there are some books in Children's that is not clean. Part of my job is to recommend books to others, so I think its great that I can read reviews without having to read the book myself to see what value the book has.

Cool Lanetta. Welcome. I have actually been thoroughly enjoying my library's children's section lately, and look forward to hearing your recommendations in that area as well.

And welcome to Tammy and Gerald. I love to see our numbers grow. Thanks for finding us.

I did a google search for good clean reads and this site popped up. I love it!

Yay!!! We're on google!

I searched the good reads groups for "clean" and found this group. I love to read, but am always afraid to pick up a book from the library without knowing what kind of "horrors" I am going to find within. I have been reading Reader's Digest Select Editions for years because they are cleaner than their noncondensed counterparts. I find myself reading the books in the children's section of the library because I know that they are safe. Wanting to read more grown up books, I joined this group. I have already put my limit of books on hold at my local library using the recommendations I have found here. I am so excited!

My friend found this...so I decided to join.

I stumbled into this group from a link on my goodreads page. Happy to find it! I am also a lucky LDS SAHM who loves to read. It is fantastic to find recommendations from others with similar tastes and standards in reading. Thanks to all for participating.

Laura wrote: "I found this group through reviewing the Mysterious Benedict Society and it said this was a group that it had been including in. I agree that there should be a rating system for books!
As to the de..."

Hi Laura! Sadly, that's generally how high school is. The best I could do was surround myself with good, non-swearing friends until graduation. Don't worry, you'll make it through.

I am an LDS young single adult majoring in English at BYU. I read all the time and don't like being slammed with a lot of sex and language. I read a lot of children's and YA books and classics. I joined Goodreads last year and one of my friends was a member of the group so I checked it out.

Tessa wrote: "Laura wrote: "I found this group through reviewing the Mysterious Benedict Society and it said this was a group that it had been including in. I agree that there should be a rating system for books..."

Welcome!!
And yes, even my friends who will occasionally swear around others know better than to do so around me... -devilish grin-
I'm starting to think earplugs would be a good investment around the general high school population, however...