"Busy Moms Can Read" is a podcast created to encourage mothers to maintain a meaningful reading life throughout every season of motherhood. Hosted by Becky Aniol, Elise Sikes, and Kate Joyner, the show offers practical advice, thoughtful book recommendations, and honest conversations about making time to read while managing children, homeschooling, marriage, ministry, and the responsibilities of everyday life.
Each episode helps moms discover how reading can strengthen their faith, develop their minds, enrich their families, and provide encouragement during demanding seasons. Whether discussing fiction, Christian living, theology, biographies, audiobooks, or classic literature, "Busy Moms Can Read" reminds women that they do not have to wait until their children are grown to become lifelong readers.
In this episode, Becky, Kate, and Elise discuss how to prioritize Bible reading—the most important reading of all. They talk about when busy moms can find time to be in the Word and what different kinds of Bible reading plans and Bible studies have worked well for them in different seasons of motherhood.
Books Discussed:
Come, You Weary: Enjoy Christ’s Comfort
Sense and Sensibility
Pride and Prejudice
Unreasonable Hospitality
The Bible
Ephesians
Psalms
Proverbs
1 Peter
Shopping for Time
Five Day Bible Reading Plan
Psalms and Hymns to the Living God
ESV Scripture Journals
LSB Scripture Journals
Dale Ralph Davis commentaries
John MacArthur New Testament commentaries
R.C. Sproul sermons
Reformed Expository Commentary series
20 Jul 2026
What Should Busy Moms Read?
Many busy moms fall into one of two ditches—either reading only fluffy fiction or thinking they should read only devotionals. In this episode, Becky, Kate, and Elise discuss not-to-miss genres with book recommendations for various categories so that busy moms can read widely and grow in many areas. They also mention a few things that Christian moms should not read.
Books Discussed:
Project Hail Mary
The Space Trilogy
The Other Bennet Sister
Death Comes to Pemberley
The Orphan’s Tale
Sarah Edwards: Delighting in God
Marriage to a Difficult Man
The Wright Brothers
Not Stolen: The Truth About European Colonialism in the New World
Napoleon’s Buttons
Molecules of Murder
The James Herriot series
The Lost Art of Reading Nature’s Signs
The Sheer Ecstasy of Being a Lunatic Farmer
Endurance: Shackleton’s Incredible Voyage
Travels in the Interior of Africa
Marco Polo
Rembrandt Is in the Wind
Van Gogh Has a Broken Heart
The G3 Reading Challenge
6 Jul 2026
The Summer Stack: Making the Most of Summer Hours
In this episode, Becky, Elise, and Kate discuss the concept of the "summer stack"—having a small stack of challenging books from different genres to dip into, just a few pages at a time, on longer summer days. They offer book suggestions, different genres that work well for this, and ways they've challenged themselves and read outside their comfort zones through this annual practice.
Books Discussed:
Mysterious Ways: The Providence of God in the Life of Joseph
Pursuing Peace
The Faithful Parent: A Biblical Guide to Raising a Family
The Excellent Wife
The Wright Brothers
Under the Tuscan Sun
The Heart Taken Up: 90 Days with the Puritans
Christian Worldview
The Way of Repentance
Unpacking Forgiveness
Daily Doctrine
A Treasury of Nature: Illustrated Poetry, Prose, and Praise
The Soul in Paraphrase
Special Providence for Anxious Souls
The Nature of Rest: What the Bible and Creation Teach Us About Sabbath Living
Chesterton’s Gateway: 14 Essays to Get You Hooked on Chesterton
Against the Machine: On the Unmaking of Humanity
Strange New World
29 Jun 2026
When Can Busy Moms Read?
In this episode, Becky, Elise, and Kate discuss what they’re reading, when they find time to read, and strategies for busy moms to read amid motherhood and household responsibilities.
Books Discussed:
The Bruised Reed
Unpacking Forgiveness
The Necessity of Reforming the Church
Broken Bread
Special Providence for Anxious Souls
The Puritan Treasures for Today series
The Heart Taken Up: 90 Days with the Puritans
The Sight of Christ: 90 Days with the Puritans
How to Build a Godly Marriage
Jane Eyre
The Unselected Journals of Emma M. Lion series
Be Still, My Soul: Bright Hope for Dark Vales
The Conservative Church
The Ten Laws of Highly Compelling Preaching
Pride and Prejudice
The Chronicles of Narnia
The Little House series
The Hidden Art of Homemaking
Marriage to a Difficult Man
22 Jun 2026
Why Should Busy Moms Read?
In this episode Becky Aniol, Elise Sikes, and Kate Joyner, three busy moms at different stages of motherhood, introduce themselves, talk about what they’re reading, and discuss why it’s important that moms maintain a reading life. Motherhood shouldn’t be an excuse to stop growing. It can become one of our greatest motivations to read, learn, and become better wives, mothers, and followers of Christ.
Books Discussed:
God’s Battle Plan for the Mind
The Electra McDonnell series
The Blue Castle
Sarah Edwards: Delighting in God
My Dear Hemlock
Marriage to a Difficult Man
The Odyssey
Following God Fully
Worldly Saints
I Must Betray You
The Mistmantle Chronicles
The Screwtape Letters
Reach and audience
Public platform figures. Ratings count people who left a rating, not total listeners.
Apple Podcasts (US)
5.0 / 5
11 ratings
Spotify
5.0 / 5
3 ratings
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