motherhood

A Cross-Cultural Journey Through Gender, Identity, and Feminism

In Portrait of a Feminist, the author weaves personal narrative with cultural critique, offering a deeply reflective exploration of identity, gender, and selfhood shaped across multiple continents and belief systems. In this Q&A, we talk with author Marianna Marlowe about the roots of her feminism, the complexities of family, faith,…

Kelsey HallJuly 18, 2025

Listicles

Stories that Evoke the Nuance, Fear and Tenderness of Motherhood

When I had my daughter in 2014, it felt impossible to find literature that took motherhood both seriously and tenderly. I could find medical guides or how-to books on sleep training and funny quips about the exhaustion of early motherhood, but all of these books felt very far from the…

Amanda Parrish MorganOctober 20, 2022

Recommended

A Feminist Coming-of-Age That’s Quiet, Powerful and Unforgettable

Marianna Marlowe’s Portrait of a Feminist isn’t your typical feminist memoir. It doesn’t shout its message or come armed with statistics and slogans. Instead, it invites you into the quiet, powerful moments that shaped one woman’s identity across years, continents and cultures. Told in a series of beautifully written personal essays that…

Kelsey HallJune 23, 2025

Listicles

Because Motherhood isn’t Always Flowers and Breakfast in Bed

Mother’s Day usually shows up dipped in pastels and wrapped in performative gratitude, but motherhood? That’s another beast entirely. It’s brutal. It’s sacred. It’s messy, fractured, feral. And if Sigmund Freud taught us anything (besides the fact that therapy is expensive for a reason), it’s that the mother-child bond is…

BookTribMay 9, 2025

The Night Garden Of My Mother by Sandra Tyler

Nonfiction Recommended

Beautifully Touching and Raw Portrayal of Motherhood, Love and Loss

Few stories shatter my heart as completely as Sandra Tyler’s The Night Garden: Of My Mother — and I absolutely loved it. I couldn’t put this book down. I became so wrapped up in Tyler’s memoir that I found myself crying multiple times, utterly moved by her vivid and heart-wrenching…

Katie BloomerJanuary 29, 2025

Listicles Nonfiction

6 Memoirs About the Unconventional Faces of Motherhood

Motherhood comes in many forms, some less conventional than others. But thankfully, nowadays, more and more mothers are opening up about their unconventional experiences — because there’s bound to be someone out there who could use the helpful reminder that they’re in the same boat. This list of memoirs encapsulates…

Katie BloomerAugust 27, 2024

Nonfiction

Examining Our Culture’s Idealization of Motherhood Through Literary Mothers

“None of the control but all the responsibility. This is the irony underlying woman’s experience.” In any particular novel, the mother is most likely to be one of the least compelling characters. This wasn’t a problem I was cognizant of until The Book of Mothers by Carrie Mullins brought it…

Kelsey HallMay 10, 2024

Audiobooks Nonfiction Recommended

New Audiobook Version of Practical Guide Offers Honest Advice & Tips for New Moms

Congratulations, you’re pregnant … welcome to the new world of being a MOM! You’ve now joined a “private group” of other mothers and they are certainly quick to share, but how honest are they really? How judgmental are moms of each other? “Are you breast-feeding? You’re not? Hmmm.” (side glance)…

Barbara WilkovFebruary 13, 2023

Author Spotlight Fiction Fiction - Featured

Moving Story of Adoption, Parenting and What Makes a Family

Unconventional family stories are fun to read and give us an understanding of unfamiliar situations, allowing for the development of empathy. Eleanor Brown's Any Other Family (Putnam) is about open adoption, siblings and how their adoptive families chose to raise them together as one big family. Although the subject may…

Jennifer BlankfeinAugust 16, 2022

Fiction Romance Romance - Featured

Blended Family Learns Love and Acceptance

After a series of online dating mishaps and five years after the loss of her husband, Daisy thinks she's finally found the one. But as she settles into her new relationship with Brad, she realizes that everything takes work — not just romance and friendship, but supporting Brad’s children along…

Megan BeauregardJuly 19, 2022

Miscellany

When Life Gets in the Way of a Book Launch

Like a true first-time author, I had publication month all mapped out in my mind. As the date got closer, my anxieties and excitement mounted. The moment I’d been working for years toward was almost here, and nothing was going to get in my way. There would be travel for…

Carly GelsingerOctober 10, 2018

Miscellany

A Recovering Perfectionist Bans the Word Altogether

Since her 2009 diagnosis of multiple sclerosis, Dr. Lisa Doggett has come to realize MS is no excuse to avoid challenges. Instead, it has propelled her to run two marathons, hike the Inca Trail to Machu Picchu, and complete a 168-mile bike ride to raise awareness for MS. She is…

Lisa DoggettSeptember 7, 2018

Nonfiction

Oh, baby, what a shower gift! Honest books for expectant mothers

Crib sheets. Burp cloths. Receiving blankets. Diapers. These are useful items, for sure, but not exactly inspiring on the subject of motherhood. If you’re shopping for a baby shower, consider giving a gift that will provide the expectant mother a bit of comfort and insight as she approaches this major…

Melissa DuclosJuly 14, 2014

Book Club Network Nonfiction Nonfiction - Featured

The Devastating Loss of a Child Provides One Mother With a Lifetime of Wisdom

“To die will be an awfully big adventure” – James M. Berrie, Peter Pan Searching for Spenser: A Mother's Journey Through Grief (Anamcara Press) by Margaret Kramar opens by telling readers what they can expect to find between its covers; there is no suspenseful moment to the climax, no unforeseen plot…

Kelsey HallOctober 6, 2021

Better Self Business Nonfiction

“Mompreneur” Helps Working Moms Juggle Business and Family Like a Boss

Working mothers have often faced criticism with respect to dividing their attention between their career and their family. (Someone should really close that peanut gallery from which strangers feel so comfortable shouting unsolicited opinions.) “You’re abandoning your children!” seems to be the most popular indictment of working mothers. There’s also…

BookTribMay 14, 2021

Fiction

The Champion of Middle-Aged Mothers Is Back!

Kate Reddy has returned in full force in Allison Pearson’s new novel with St. Martin's Press, How Hard Can It Be? Pearson’s character, Kate, is now older, more mature, a more seasoned character. Pearson’s column, Sandwich Woman, about women in midlife who struggle with their children and their parents as both grow…

Susan Shapiro BarashJuly 19, 2018