Why We Review Books
Here at Paint Chips and Pillows, we believe books should do more than take up space on a shelf. The best ones help us grow, make us feel seen, or simply offer comfort on a hard day. They don’t have to be perfect—but they do need to be helpful.
We write helpful book reviews for women who want peace, order, productivity, and more good things in their homes. Our book reviews exist for one purpose:
To help women in the middle of real life—especially moms, abuse survivors, disabled women, and home-based entrepreneurs—find the books that truly make a difference.
We’re not interested in what’s topping the bestseller lists just because it’s flashy, hyped, or trending. We’re interested in what’s useful, what uplifts, and what offers honest support when you’re parenting through exhaustion, healing from trauma, homeschooling your kids, or building a business from your dining table.
📖 What We Review (and What We Don’t)📖
In our helpful book reviews for women, we focus on nonfiction and inspirational fiction across several meaningful categories. If a book helps our readers live better lives, it’s fair game. If it’s likely to drag them down or waste their limited energy, we pass.
✅ Topics we review
- Homeschooling, unschooling, and other education
- Sensible parenting and child development
- Home organization and homemaking for real people
- Health, chronic illness, and mental wellness
- Trauma healing and abuse recovery
- Personal growth and mindset
- Business, marketing, and working from home
- Faith and spirituality (especially as a source of comfort or restoration)
- Personal finance for everyday women
- Inspiring memoirs, clean fiction with purpose, and stories of overcoming
🚫 Topics we do not review:
- Romance or erotica
- Horror, gore, or gratuitously violent books
- Anything glamorizing abuse, addiction, or manipulation
- Books promoting shame-based parenting, rigid lifestyles, or one-size-fits-all thinking
We’re not prudes, snobs, or gatekeepers. We just care deeply about protecting our readers’ hearts, energy, and time. If it doesn’t seem fitting for our page of helpful book reviews for women, it doesn’t go here.
Whom Our Reviews Are For
We write for people who are like us:
- The mom whose to-do list never ends
- The survivor rebuilding life from scratch
- The homeschooler piecing together a gentle and appropriate education
- The woman running a business between doctor appointments
- The reader who wants her time to matter
If that’s you—or someone you love—hooray!
We also keep things accessible and low-pressure. You won’t need a college degree, a massive vocabulary, or hours of free time to read the books we recommend. Most of our picks are designed to work with busy days and healing brains.
Our Rating System: Paint Chips and Pillows
Let’s talk ratings. We do things a little differently around here.
We rate each book not with stars but with paint chips and pillows. Some books are vibrant, energizing, and helpful; some are relaxing (or boring).
🎨 Paintchips: How Good Is It?
- 1 Paint Chip = Skip it. Not helpful, poorly written, or just not worth your time.
- 2 Paint Chips = Meh. Had a few good moments but didn’t quite land.
- 3 Paint Chips = Decent. Worth a read if you’re interested in the topic.
- 4 Paint Chips = Great! Clear, helpful, and a joy to read.
- 5 Paint Chips = Must-read. This one’s a life-changer.
💤 Pillows: How Relaxing (or boring) Is It?
- 1 Pillow = Light, easy read with good flow.
- 2 Pillows = Soothing or meditative—not boring, just gentle.
- 3 Pillows = Slow-paced or dry in spots.
- 4 Pillows = Snooze-worthy.
- 5 Pillows = Practically a sleep aid.
This double scale lets you know two important things, and whether you want a book that has a 5-pillow rating depends on your situation at the time. Falling asleep while listening to an audiobook in the car can be okay if you’re the passenger but not if you’re the driver!
What makes a book a winner?
The best books for our helpful book reviews for women have at least three of these traits:
- Practical value: Can I use this?
- Emotional support: Do I feel seen, empowered, or calmer?
- Clarity: Is it written in a way that’s easy to follow?
- Respect: Does it avoid shame, judgment, or perfectionism?
- Inspiration: Does it remind me I’m capable and worthy?
Bonus points if it’s pretty, humorous, or includes checklists, journal prompts, or real-life stories. We’re suckers for books that get us to do things. There will be quite a few books for our DIY Projects section, we’re sure.
What You’ll Find in Each Review
Each review includes:
- A summary (without giving away the whole thing)
- Whom it’s for and maybe who should skip it
- What we loved or didn’t
- How we used it (or plan to)
- Our Paint Chips and Pillows ratings
- Where to find it (such as Amazon or the author’s site)
We write with integrity, kindness, and a genuine desire to help readers make good choices. We might slip in some humor or sarcasm, though. Sarcasm will be marked /sarc or have a wink emoji next to it because that is hard for many people to detect.
Suggesting Books
If you’ve read a book that moved you or if you’re wondering whether a certain book is worth your time, let us know. You can submit titles through our contact form or tag us on Facebook.
We prioritize these types of books:
- Align with our mission
- Are available digitally or affordably
- Fit one of our core content categories
- Were written by women, survivors, moms, or other underrepresented voices
We’re happy to consider books by small publishers or indie authors as long as they books are well written and emotionally safe for our audience. That is not to say we don’t read books that are traditionally published or written by white men. We do. Plenty. We also hold a place at the table for others who don’t fit that demographic.
🔜Reader Reviews
Eventually, we’d love to feature your reviews, too! If you’d like to share your honest opinion of a book that helped, healed, or made you feel less alone, keep an eye out for our submission guidelines.
Final Thoughts
Reading shouldn’t be stressful. In fact, it should be a break from stress—a way to refuel, reframe, or remember that you matter.
Whether you’re here to find a book that helps you tackle trauma, homeschool your kids gently, set boundaries, or finally feel calm in your own home, we’re so glad you’re here.
Happy reading!
The Paint Chips and Pillows team