26 Gripping Books for Moms Who Love to Read

Clearly, one of the the best books for moms is Sheila Heti's novel about grappling with what it means to be a mother. Few writers are brave enough to be as candid about the subject as Heti is.

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"Ask Polly" writer Heather Havrilesky explores the concept of marriage, including her own, and with a subtitle like "On the Divine Tedium of Marriage," you know it's going to include both the ups and the downs. (Not that Mom would ever admit to the downs!)

If Mom spent her pandemic catching up on HBO's Station Eleven, get her this book from the author who wrote the Station Eleven novel. It takes place at a hotel on a remote island in Canada, and follows the intersecting lives of people connected to the hotel. (And if Mom likes it, Emily St. John Mandel has another book, The Sea of Tranquility, that just came out.)

Is there anything Dolly can't do? Dolly Parton and James Patterson team up to tell the story about — what else? — a musician with her star on the rise. Only she's got a secret, and she's afraid it might catch up to her.

Reese Witherspoon loved this book so much, she not only picked it for her Book Club, she's producing a movie of it, due out this July (and starring Normal People's Daisy Edgar-Jones). It's about a girl name Kya who grew up alone in the marshes of North Carolina who decides she's ready to connect to the outside world.

One-time winner of the National Book Award, this novel centers on grief; when a woman's best friend and mentor dies, she's left to care for a huge Great Dane that she never wanted. The relationship with the dog and her processing of her friend's death become intertwined.

This book begins on Nina's 30th birthday — in jail. When she gets a self-help book in her cell, she vows to make a life change and find 30 things she loves about herself before her next birthday. This one goes out to all the moms looking for a little self-love.

If she's a fan of Downton Abbey, she'll relish this tale based on the true-life story of the woman who changed cookbooks forever.
When a publisher asks poet Eliza Acton to write him a cookbook, she’s initially insulted — but she soon discovers there’s beauty in food writing, too. Eliza hires a destitute young girl named Ann Kirby to assist her in developing recipes — but when a secret from Eliza’s past comes to light, they have to decide whether their newly formed friendship can transcend their work.

Mothers who feel like they're being judged against an impossible standard (a.k.a everyone) will relate to Frida who, after a moment of bad judgement, has to prove to the government that she deserves custody of her daughter, Harriet. Jenna Bush Hager chose it for her book club, saying it was "so captivating, thought-provoking and beautifully written, everything I tried to pick up next paled in comparison."

If your mom is into mysteries, nobody does twists and turns better than Tana French. Need proof: Check out Stephen King's rave review.

If she likes sci-fi or fantasy, get her this novel, from the Hugo Award-winning author of the Broken Earth series. In it, cities have become sentient beings that have to fight a common enemy.

Tayari Jones' novel focuses on a married couple separated by incarceration — until the husband's conviction is overturned and he unexpectedly returns home. Oprah picked it as a book club selection, and Barack Obama once shared in a Facebook post that it was on his reading list, so this book has some pretty major fans.

Susan Page, the award-winning Washington bureau chief for USA Today, details the unbelievable life of the former First Lady, and what it was like to be wife to one president and mother to another.

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If there's a new mom in your life, get her this memoir, which captures novice parenthood with such accuracy and honesty, it's a catharsis just to read.

If your mom is a foodie, this memoir from the former Gourmet editor-in-chief is a no-brainer. Not only does it offer glimpses into the restaurant world, it's also a look back on what it was like for "a former Berkeley hippie entering the corporate world." Plus, there are recipes!

This memoir lovingly delves into what it means to be a parent, a child, and a member of a family: Writer Nicole Chung, who was put up for adoption by a Korean family and raised by white parents in Oregon, goes in search of her family history before her own daughter is born. She contrasts what she learns with the adoption stories that are often told to transracial adoptees.

Taking a toddler on a road trip might sound like a chore for any mother, but, in Lydia Kiesling's hands, reading about a mother/toddler road trip across California is highly engrossing.

Author Sara Batkie says this collection of short stories is about "young women trying and failing to connect, and the various ways they are and aren’t listened to." If anyone can relate to that, it's moms.

This is another novel about a mother/daughter relationship, even though it's loosely based on the Oedipus myth. It focuses on a young woman named Gretel whose mother disappeared when she was a teen — until Gretel gets a phone call from her years later, and goes off in a quest to be reunited.

If your mom doesn't start her day without tuning into The View, this dishy behind-the-scenes look will definitely be up her alley. (You know she can't look away.)