It’s the time of year to tell the moms out there that we appreciate them. Here’s what we’re suggesting this year.

When Women Were Birds by Terry Tempest Williams

Get out the tissues. Right before Williams’ mother died, she told her to take her many journals (a Mormon tradition) and only read them once she had passed. A while after her mother died, Williams finally looked through them. They were all empty. When Women Were Birds is part memoir, part exploration on voice — having one and choosing whether or not to use it. She explores being a woman, being a mother, being a daughter, and what her mother could have been trying to say. Poetic and beautiful. –Julianne

We Go to the Gallery by Miriam Elia

Don’t be fooled by the cute cover. This is a hilarious send-up of capital-M Motherhood and capital-A Art all at once. It would be a good one for my kids to get me! –Jessi

 

 

 

But wait, there’s more:

If your mom is a rad lady of science, try Lab Girl by Hope Jahren.

 

If she’s into nonfiction, essays, and nature: Things that Are by Amy Leach

 

 

If she’s a news junkie: Whiskey Tango Foxtrot (formerly The Taliban Shuffle) by Kim Barker

 

 

If she’s spiritual and creative: Becoming Wise by Krista Tippett

 

 

 

And if she’s a fiction addict: Eligible by Curtis Sittenfeld

 

 

 

Of course, we have a lot more options at the store, and there are a lot more types of moms than listed above, so please don’t hesitate to draft a bookseller into your last-minute  search! We’ll help you find the perfect gift for mom (because the perfect gift, it goes without saying, is a book.)

Mother’s Day is this Sunday, May 8. See you soon!