Moms are not a monolith: They’re of countless different ages, life stages, interests, and have diverse relationships to the concept of motherhood. So as you think ahead to Mother’s Day and what to give the moms in your life, give extra thought to who they are as individuals, what they crave, and use that intel as you shop. And while it might be hard to find a shirt or blanket that encompasses all of someone’s complexity, a book is a timeless gift that also can touch the heart — offering comfort, escapism, inspiration, or even a good laugh. It shows you see them not just as “Mom,” but as a whole person with curiosity, passions, and quirks that deserve celebrating.
Whether it’s a novel that mirrors her sense of humor, a memoir that resonates with her journey, or a page-turner she can’t put down, the right book says: I see you, I know you, and I picked this just for you.
Find even more heartwarming ideas in our Mother’s Day gift guide.
Best Books for Moms
For the knowledge-hunter
Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center oncologist Elizabeth Comen, MD, shares the backstory of women’s medical history and research — and how women’s true stories were and weren’t examined — to inspire a new paradigm for health, self-improvement, and healthcare. This one’s important and timely, given what we’re continuing to learn about the medical community’s lack of understanding of women’s bodies and life stages.
In his New York Times bestselling book, Jonathan Haidt provides persuasive evidence that the explosive growth in smartphone use among teens and tweens corresponds directly to a recent spike in mental illness. He offers actionable steps to address this societal issue — and prevent potentially disastrous long-term consequences.
For the mom in the thick of raising kids
Everyone But Myself: A Memoir by Julie Chavez
For anyone who has suffered anxiety or depression — especially after caring for all the people around them — Everyone But Myself is the perfect antidote. A USA Today bestseller, this memoir by school librarian Julie Chavez tackles tough subjects in a light, relatable voice, addressing evergreen themes of perfectionism, identity, therapy, medicine, and more.
The 5 Principles of Parenting: Your Essential Guide to Raising Good Humans by Dr. Aliza Pressman
Development psychologist, host of the podcast Raising Good Humans, and co-founder of the Mount Sinai Parenting Center Aliza Pressman, Ph.D., offers a simple, science-based framework for the epically important task of raising good humans.
For the traveler
The Paris Novel by Ruth Reichl
When Stella’s mother dies, she’s left with a one-way ticket to Paris. Putting aside her reluctance to go as she reconciles with the after-effects of her traumatic childhood, she finally makes the journey and eventually finds a Dior dress that’s been made for her. The dress propels her to accept a new friendship with an elderly gentleman who takes her under his wing and introduces her to the elite. The Paris Novel is a reflection on the meaning of home — and just happens to be written (probably) by your favorite food writer.
For the history lover
The Hazelbourne Ladies Motorcycle and Flying Club by Helen Simonson
This delightful story is a comedy of manners set in 1919 when a woman, Constance Haverhill, is “without prospects of a suitor” due to the recent war. Sent as a lady’s companion to an old family friend who’s convalescing at a seaside hotel, she rescues the local barnet’s daughter from a social faux pas and gets caught up in the social life of Hazelbourne-on-the-Sea as she confronts not having the roles she maintained during the war.
The Forbidden Daughter: The True Story of a Holocaust Survivor by Zipora Klein Jakob
Did you know that in 1943, Nazi law prohibited Jewish women from giving birth? Insanity. But in the Kovno Ghetto, Jonah and Tzila Friedman defied the ban. Enter their child Elida, which means “non-birth” in Hebrew. Jonah and Tzila smuggled her out of the ghetto to live with a non-Jewish farm family in Lithuania before she changed families, names, and countries continually, just to survive.
For the new mom
Do Mommies Ever Sleep? by Kim Howard
New motherhood is so exhausting, it’s hard not to laugh at the absurdity getting three hours of sleep a night — and being expected to do it all again the next day. This hilarious, rhyming picture book flips the script, making it seem the child is wondering why the mom can’t sleep. (Did she lose her pacifier?) It’s the perfect gift for the sleep-deprived in need of a laugh and a blessedly short read.
Ready or Not: A Novel by Cara Bastone
Book of the Month pick and Apple Books selection Ready or Not grapples with the concept of passion as Eve and Shep fall in love — but then confront a surprise pregnancy (thanks to Eve’s former one-night stand). A lighthearted look at pregnancy and motherhood, this delightful novel is really a primer on accepting love in all forms.
For the music lover
Music and Mind: Harnessing the Arts for Health and Wellness by Renée Fleming
One of the most famous opera singers today, five-time Grammy winner Renée Fleming is a leading advocate for studying the connections between the arts and health. (Her research resulted in a 19-episode live-streamed series called Music and Mind LIVE with Renée Fleming — in each, Fleming connects with experts working at the intersection of music, neuroscience, and healthcare.) Now she has turned her research into a comprehensive anthology — and a persuasive argument for this powerful connection.
For the consummate caregiver
When You Care: The Unexpected Magic of Caring for Others by Elissa Strauss
A contributor to The Atlantic and Slate, Elissa Strauss combines research, cultural analysis, and personal narrative in this book, explaining how important it is to care about caregiving as both individuals and as a society. After all, she reminds us, attention to others is a path to meaning and joy.
For the single mom
Doing It All: The Social Power of Single Motherhood by Ruby Russell
In the United States, one in five children is being raised by a single mother. Ruby Russell shares her own experience as a single mom while examining the role in a historical context, critiquing the system that doesn’t give single moms the support they need, and advocating for a new way to connect communities.
For the motherless child
Welcome Home, Stranger: A Novel by Kate Christensen
In her eighth novel, Kate Christensen writes about a woman losing her mother in the context of middle age; the daughter is a 50-something who returns home after the loss and is also contending with life’s constant chaos. Vivid, real, and offering some serious chuckles, this is an uplifting story about the inevitability of life’s changes and the attitude required to get through them.
After Annie: A Novel by Anna Quindlen
Annie dies on her kitchen floor in the opening scene of master storyteller and Pulitzer Prize-winning icon Anna Quindlen’s latest bestselling work. What follows is a tale about how Annie’s family and community deal with that unexpected loss, and how the bottom can drop out when one person — who was responsible for so much previously unacknowledged effort and love — disappears.
Did I Ever Tell You? A Memoir by Genevieve “Gwen” Kingston
Before she passed, Gwen Kingston’s dying mother left behind a collection of gifts and letters to be opened and treasured by her daughter up through age 30. In doing so, Gwen could experience doses of her late mother’s love throughout her young adulthood. She chronicles that incredible journey — and the moments in which she got to revisit her mother’s memory and voice — in this memoir. (This is the Zibby’s Book Club pick for June.)
For the romantic
One Last Shot: A Novel by Betty Cayouette
Betty Cayouette, the viral creator of @bettysbooklist, has written a bookstagram-worthy story of her own about a somehow relatable (!) supermodel and a photographer who make a marriage pact, then meet again 10 years later on a job in Cinque Terre, Italy. Unfortunately, the feelings between them might not be mutual, and their connection is put to the test during this fateful trip.
For the literary mystery lover (and Sarah Jessica Parker fan)
Women and Children First: A Novel by Alina Grabowski
Alina Grabowski’s novel is set in a decaying coastal Massachusetts town where a teenager dies at a house party. As 10 different local girls and women unfurl the story, the reader is confronts issues about safety and sexuality in our world, getting a chance to meditate on grief and tragedy, class, and ambition. Published by Sarah Jessica Parker’s imprint, Women and Children First is a bold (and highly anticipated) new release.
For the art lover
The Mother of All Things: A Novel by Alexis Landau
An art history professor has to deal with her family responsibilities, and her responsibility to herself, when she has an unexpected interaction with her mentor from college on a summer trip. That encounter upends everything, causing the protagonist to face her anger and frustration at the invisible labor of women’s lives, and question what they truly deserve.
For the mom with a passion for genealogy
Mother Doll: A Novel by Katya Apekina
A story about four generations of mothers and daughters set against Russian history, Mother Doll connects generations across time and place, thanks to the work of a medium. Along the way, secrets that have haunted the family — starting with their escape from the Soviet Union in the mid-‘80s — seep out.
Where Rivers Part: A Story of My Mother’s Life by Kao Kalia Yang
Where Rivers Part tells the harrowing true story of Tswb, a Hmong woman who fled genocide in Laos after the U.S. withdrew, leaving her community labeled as traitors. Surviving years in the jungle, time in a refugee camp, and the heartbreak of leaving family behind, she eventually resettled in America — where she and her husband started over from scratch, enrolling in high school as adults and working tirelessly to support their children. Written by her daughter, Kao Kalia Yang, this memoir is a moving tribute to a mother’s strength and the often-unseen resilience of refugee families.
Daughters of Shandong: A Novel by Eve J. Chung
Set against the backdrop of China’s civil war, Daughters of Shandong follows four sisters and their mother, abandoned by their wealthy family as the Communist army approaches in the late 1940s. Branded as burdens and left to face retribution alone, they endure violence, hunger, and exile before daring a perilous journey across a transforming country. What begins as a story of survival becomes one of defiance, sisterhood, and reclaiming power in a world that deemed them disposable.
For the thriller lover
Nowhere Like Home: A Novel by Sara Shepard
New York Times bestselling author of the Pretty Little Liars series, Sara Shepard has set her latest book on a “mommune,” a community for single moms. In this razor-sharp examination of female friendships, motherhood, and trauma, a woman named Rhiannon has disappeared, eventually ending up in a mothers-only refuge in Arizona. She invites her friend Lenna to join, which she does happily, until she notices she just might be locked in…
For the second act-seeker
Leaving: A Novel by Roxana Robinson
Roxana Robinson’s prose is so vivid, place-specific, and concrete, you’ll feel like you walked into her main character’s kitchen. In Leaving, a woman of a certain age reconnects with a past love and has a reawakening in all senses. But when the pair’s grown children get involved and her paramour copes with his own marriage’s demise, the protagonist has to decide which path to follow.
Mother Island: A Daughter Claims Puerto Rico by Jamie Figueroa
Jamie Figueroa’s mother assimilated in the suburbs of Ohio after arriving from Puerto Rico, and the author saw her mother’s failed marriages up close. Here, she writes about her own marriage to an older man, and how her work as a massage therapist helped with her own body trauma. Figueroa also muses about how becoming a mother changed her relationship with her family of origin, in this lyrically written reflection on the meaning of home.
For the doctor
Legacy: A Black Physician Reckons with Racism in Medicine by Dr. Uché Blackstock
The New York Times bestselling book Legacy by Uché Blackstock, MD, shines a light on the author’s relationship with her trailblazing mother — and how she and her twin sister found their way under the shadow of their mom’s success and the barriers constructed around their race. Blackstock recounts how she forged ahead, as did her mom and sister, showing how some brave individuals refuse to accept the word “no.”
For the adoptive mom
Family Family by Laurie Frankel
India Allwood, a former Broadway star turned TV superhero, finds herself in hot water after publicly criticizing a film she stars in — one that distorts the reality of adoption, something she knows intimately as an adoptive mother. Her honesty ignites a cultural firestorm, forcing her to protect her reputation, her children, and the messy truth of her own family history. As the chaos unfolds, India must confront what truly defines a family, even when the answers aren’t neat or easy.
Zibby Owens is the bestselling author of Blank: A Novel, host of award-winning podcast Moms Don’t Have Time to Read Books, CEO of Zibby Books publishing house, and owner of Zibby’s Bookshop in Santa Monica, CA. Follow her on Substack and Instagram, where she tells it like it is.
