A brief history of me and how I became a reader
You see, at seven years old I could not read. gasp It was awful. I could not make the words make any sense whatsoever. I would try to read, but would always end up in tears with the words all funny and jumbled.
Then, when I was seven years old, I gave my life to Christ, and He changed everything.
I still remember that day, sitting in the back of the church. Once the pastor asked if anyone wanted to be saved and believe in Jesus, my hand shot up. It always did. But this day was different. I had this thought pop up into my mind that I wanted to read the Bible and was sad that I could not. Then I got hot all over and I just started crying. I didn’t know what was wrong with me? Why was I crying like this? I ran out of the sanctuary to find my mom. Thankfully, she had the wisdom to pull me aside and sit me down. I told her what happened, and that I didn’t know what was wrong with me. She assured me that nothing was wrong, but actually something good was happening. She said that Jesus was in my heart now and that must be what I was feeling. Immediately I felt better and was at peace.
Remember, I couldn’t read before this.
The next morning I woke up, flipped through my little kid Bible with a pink Veggie Tales book cover and started reading Leviticus. I was READING! Why Leviticus was the first book I read, I have no idea, but I could read and it was the Bible, so that was all that really mattered to me.
I could read!
Why I research content
For the first year after that, I could only read the Bible. For some reason, it was as though there was a fog over other books, and I always ended up putting them down and grabbing my Bible instead. The only reason I can think of for this arrangement is that God wanted to lay a foundation deep inside of me. I needed to read His word first before others.
After that year, I fell in love with reading Nancy Drew, the Magic Tree House, and any fairytale books I could get my hands on. Reading became a lifelong passion.
When I came of age, when you want to read books with more chapters and fewer pictures, my parents set rules for me. I was not allowed to read books with profanity or sexual content. Simple rules.
At first, it was easy. I still mainly read from the middle grade section with a bit of Hunger Games sprinkled in. But when I transitioned to the teen section, it was hard to find a book without accidentally stumbling into many profane words and kiss scenes that made me shut the book because I knew something more was coming.
Then, when my family moved to Hawaii (those blissful five months were incredible) something new happened. I went to the library and picked up a book of short stories. The strange thing was that I had a funny feeling in my stomach since picking up the book. But it had a unicorn on the cover. What could be bad in a story about unicorns?
Then I did something I had never done before, but would become the start of a grand discovery. I went home and opened my library app and searched for the book. I don’t know why I did this. Honestly, I think it was the Holy Spirit giving me a clue. The book popped up and…there was a single review. I didn’t know library apps could have review sections (and normally they don’t. I think I only ever saw a review for this book).
Well, I read the review and returned the book in disgust.
Excessive profanity, sexual content, and things that the reviewer said should never ever be read by a teenager and should be banished to the adult section. I was shocked. If I had actually read the book, I would have read things I never wished.
Looking back, I believe that was the Holy Spirit giving me a warning. There have been multiple times in my life when I pick up a book and know for whatever reason I am not supposed to read this book. Sometimes I know the reason after looking it up. Sometimes it is a mystery to me even to this day.
I have never regretted listening to that still, small voice.
After this, I started looking up EVERYTHING. Now my library app, though useful for this one book, sadly lacked information on most other books. So Google and Goodreads became dear companions in looking up the “cleanness” of a book or series.
Why look up content in books?
The short answer is that I am a Christian and I have values I want to preserve and honor.
While I am an adult now and have probably grown out of my parents’ book rules, I still want to be careful about what books I read and the thoughts I put into my mind. The kinds of things I avoid reading may not be what you avoid. I think it is important to hold to your values.
Sometimes the only way you can do this is by looking up the content and not being surprised.
Also, if you are a parent or a grandparent and you want to give your children or grandchildren books without accidentally giving them something scandalous…looking up stories is a must. My siblings know they can come to me and have me look up any story they are interested in and tell them if it is safe or not.
I still look up every book I read before reading it to check the content unless they are trusted Christian authors, or the writer is dead.
For some reason, many dead authors (not all) had moral backbones different from our modern sensibilities. Not all. This isn’t a rule. I just know if I’m going to read a classic, nine out of ten times it is safe. For example, I don’t feel the need to look up the content for novels written by C. S. Lewis, Jane Austen, Charles Dickens, J. R. R. Tolkien, L.M. Montgomery or Beatrix Potter.
But what about SPOILERS?
When looking up content (and this is unavoidable) you will see SPOILERS. I am sorry, but there is no way around this. In the name of reading “clean” books (however you define this term) you will be met with spoilers. Not always, but much of the time. If you don’t want spoilers, then you may have to read only Christian books or books written by said dead authors. Though again, this is not a rule that dead authors will write completely clean books (I’m looking at you The Great Gatsby) or that Christians will always write what you define as “clean.”
You’d be surprised by how many readers refuse to read The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis because there is a witch. It does not matter that the witch is shown as evil and that Aslan represents Christ and defeats her in the end (sorry, that was a spoiler). I ADORE this series, as anyone who knows me knows. I think it is a marvelous book for Christians to read and be able to experience Christianity and their faith in this fantasy world. Yet, because of the magic, many people won’t read this story. For them, a clean book means devoid of all magic. I am very sorry, dear Lewis and Tolkien.
What is “clean”?
It is important before you go into this that you know what “clean” is in your eyes (or your parents’ if you are still under their protection). Because when we are looking up the content for a book, we need to know our “trigger words,” so to speak.
This can be:
- sexual content (open door, closed door, smut, chili peppers, steamy, etc.)
- profanity or cursing
- violence
- magic/witchcraft
- LGBTQ+
- and the list goes on…
How to find clean books
Now here comes the reason you are reading this letter. How do you find a clean book? Remember the “trigger words”? Well, we are going to need to use them for this part.
Perhaps the easiest way to look up if a book is clean will be Google. Just search in the search bar “content in [NAME OF BOOK]?” Hit search and see what pops up. Want to be more specific? Search “is there [TRIGGER WORD] in [BOOK NAME]?”
Goodreads
I use Goodreads the most when looking up content. There are three ways to look for content once you search for the book.
- Scroll to the bottom and hit the “questions” tab. You can either ask a question about the content or see what other readers have asked. If it is a more popular or mainstream book, then there will be questions about what kind of content there is. All you have to do is see if the content mentioned aligns with you or not.
- On the top of the reviews is a little search bar where you can search for “keywords”. Type in whatever content you want to avoid and see what reviews pop up. Or you can search “content” or “clean” and that should send you to the reviews of fellow readers who put content guides in their reviews.
- Follow people on Goodreads who write reviews with clean guides or are trusted reviewers to see what books they read and recommend (or rather, don’t recommend). This one can take more time, and you might not instantly get the answers you need, but you will get a lot of good recommendations and options from people you can trust.
Common Sense Media
Common Sense Media is a great place to find out if a movie, TV show, or book is “safe” for you and your family. It is made for parents and educators. They break down media into specific categories like violence, sex, language, and positive role models, as well as giving specific age recommendations. That being said, there is a limit to how many searches you get a month unless you upgrade.
Victoria Lynn Clean Guide to the World
Victoria is a massive advocate for having clean stories for children and teens. She started up #cleanbookrevolution and started a hybrid publisher called Glory Writers Press for middle-grade and teen readers. Over the years she put together a massive free document of clean book recommendations. It is incredible and has so many good book recommendations that I highly recommend checking out!
Books For Christian Girls
Books for Christian Girls is a blog run by Lindsey, who was a homeschool graduate and has a mission to recommend books for girls. She reviews all genres of Christian books weekly and shares all the spiritual, negative, and sexual content that could be found in a book (she is extremely thorough) and has ratings for girls ages 9-19!
Equipping Kids Through Stories
Joseph Brink is a middle grade author whose life was shaped by stories. He believes (like I do) that stories are the best way to equip children for the real world. Every other week he shares book recommendations for children. I love how his reviews always connect back to his faith and reading through a Christian worldview. He has also read books I have never heard of but sounds so cool!
Lamppost Press
drumroll please
I have been working on something very very exciting for honestly over a year, and it’s finally time to tell you all about it! I am launching a homeschool resource hub! squeals My mom has been telling me I should make something like this for years, and now the time has finally come.
In high school, I made myself my own English curriculum that blended some of my favorite things and interests, like writing. I couldn’t find any curriculum that fit what I wanted while also being Christian. So after a lot of work and brainstorming, my first autumn-themed novel study guide for whole family learning (kindergarten through 12th grade) is available! Not only that, I want to be your resource for books. Think of me as your virtual librarian!
You can now order the autumn novel study (a downloadable PDF) or browse the catalogue of book recommendations. I am also accepting requests! If you are looking for books with fairytale elements, dragons, cozy picture books, safe romances for teens, whatever it is, please let me know in the comments!
I will still make content over here for books here, but there will be bonus reviews and book lists on Lamppost Press!
I truly hope this list of resources helps you and your family as you are looking for good books! I know it can be really discouraging going to bookstores or the library and it feels like there is an abundance of “bad” books that lack godliness, morals, beauty, and wonder.
I hope with Lamppost Press and all the resources I recommended above will help you discover new stories and worlds without fearing what you (or your child) will read and without compromising your morals.
I hope this post gives you some direction on how to find safe books for you and your family! If you have any questions, please reach out or comment and let me know!
Yours Truly, Moriyah