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Like life itself, there is no chart. No degree. No prerequisite that somehow makes one able to ace the journey that is motherhood. It’s as unique as the soul you’re stewarding, a role that singularly splits a person in two and in that uniqueness lies its commonality. Sharing the experience of being a mother can be a lifeline when you’re in it—or even just considering it. Motherhood can also look a million different ways. Such is the gift of books.
This collection of motherhood books runs the gamut, highlighting how the role of Mom is one realized in an instant, yet also over a lifetime, with many other relationships woven in between. So while this list is in no way exhaustive, let it crack open the belief that there is only one right way to mother. To be a mother is to be human, and to be ever more in touch with that creative, life-giving force.
Feature image by Michelle Nash.
The First 40 Days: The Essential Art of Nourishing the New Mother by Heng Ou, Amely Greeven, and Marisa Belger
Practical and approachable, The First 40 Days is a reminder to enter the postpartum period softly. Whether you actually have the ability to practice the Chinese philosophy of zuo yuezi (40 days of confinement) or not, the lessons and recipes in this book help navigate the first few weeks of motherhood with nourishment at the core.
Motherhood by Sheila Heti
Those who give space to contemplate the societal pressures of motherhood will appreciate this novel, written from the perspective of someone trying her best to intentionally make that decision. With humble courage and deft humor, Heti’s narrator ultimately explores who we are through the choices we make—and the questions we dare to ask.
The Art of Waiting: On Fertility, Medicine, and Motherhood by Belle Boggs
For many, the road to motherhood is a private rollercoaster of waiting and what-ifs, framed by clinical office visits and alienating stereotypes. Part memoir and part cultural critique, Boggs explores her personal journey with IVF through the many layers of family-making—a resonant read for those in a similar liminal space.
Momma Zen: Walking the Cooked Path of Motherhood by Karen Maezen Miller
Gentle, meditative, and relatable, Maezen Miller distills principles of Zen Buddhism to help mothers find beauty in the chaos that is the early parenting years. Drawing from her own experience, she traverses the emotional terrain that includes sleep deprivation and shifting identities to demonstrate how presence is never far away.
The Mother Year by Chelsey Scaffidi
It’s often said that two people share a birthday: the child and the mother. Exploring the world of matrescence is at the heart of this book, with 365 days of lyrical meditations and self-care tips to support a woman as she crosses the threshold of motherhood—transforming in mind, body, and soul—during that first year.
The Three Mothers by Anna Malaika Tubbs
We know their sons—but who are the women credited with raising some of America’s most significant thought-leaders? This powerful account of Berdis Baldwin (James Baldwin), Alberta King (Martin Luther King, Jr.), and Louise Little (Malcom X) chronicles the reality of Black motherhood at the beginning of the 20th century, along with the inherent worth a mother can instill in her child.
Operating Instructions: A Journal of My Son’s First Year by Anne Lamott
A beloved classic with classic Lamott wit, this highly relatable memoir does what it says. It takes readers on the journey through Lamott’s unexpected pregnancy, birth, and son’s infancy to capture the ups and downs of single parenthood with spiritual insights and endearing grace.
Motherhood: A Confession by Natalie Carnes
For a contemplative lens on what it means to wrestle with motherhood and faith, Carnes reimagines St. Augustine’s Confessions as if written by a woman. Through heartfelt letters to her daughter, she teases apart the inherent humanity of mothering—how it expands our capacity to love, challenges our ideals, and remakes us into a more honest version of ourselves.
A Life’s Work: On Becoming a Mother by Rachel Cusk
Divisive when it was first published in 2001, Cusk’s blisteringly-honest account explores the emotional and existential reckonings that come with early motherhood. With sharp insight and literary depth, Cusk captures the identity shift, isolation, and beauty that come with caring for a new life—speaking the truths that so many mothers quietly carry.
I’ll Show Myself Out: Essays on Midlife and Motherhood by Jessi Klein
For a comedic lens on the mess that is motherhood, look no further than this collection of essays penned by the hilarious and relatable Klein. It will give light to the hard moments and reveal the sanctity of the poignant ones, all the while granting freedom to explore who you long to become. (Because moms are still growing up, too.)
The Baby on the Fire Escape: Creativity, Motherhood, and the Mind-Baby Problem by Julie Phillips
If you’ve ever wondered what it looks like to nurture your creativity while keeping a child alive, this is the book for you. Through the lens of iconic female artists and writers (from ones who had children at 19 to becoming mothers at 43), Phillips unpacks the seeming paradox that to create great work comes at the expense of motherhood, or vice versa.
It Goes So Fast by Mary Louise Kelly
Tender, moving, and cutting to the heart of motherhood, Kelly writes about building a career at NPR while raising two young sons. As her kids age and she comes to the realization that “doing it next year” is a false promise, she wrestles with watching her kids leave home while wondering (relatably) if she should have done things differently, and what that means for right now.
Motherhood So White: A Memoir of Race, Gender, and Parenting in America by Nefertiti Austin
Austin wrote this book because she says she couldn’t find anything that spoke to her experience as a single, Black, non-rich woman looking to adopt. What she’s created is a generous, stirring memoir that shines a light on the universal power of love—and the necessity of holding space for the many ways it’s made manifest.
What Kind of Woman by Kate Baer
Before she was a mother, she was a friend, a sister, a lover, a daughter. And through this collection of Baer’s poetry, she continues to be with sparkling new relevance. What Kind of Woman is as personal as it is universal, and no matter what stage of life you’re in, you’ll relish every word.
Nightbitch by Rachel Yoder
Motherhood can often feel like a step into the supernatural, with its animalistic instincts and mind-bending tendencies. This novel goes there—at times in gruesome detail—chronicling the story of a struggling artist turned stay-at-home mom who’s slowly convinced she’s turning into a dog. It’s some dark humor for the days you just need an escape.
Instant Mom by Nia Vardalos
Writer and star of My Big Fat Greek Wedding, Vardalos puts her real life on the page and details her journey to motherhood through adoption after years of infertility. She shares the honest gut-punches and heartfelt moments of becoming a mother overnight, offering hope and encouragement to anyone building a family in nontraditional ways.
No One Tells You This by Glynnis MacNicol
At a time in life when she “should” be married with a baby, MacNicol finds herself single and caring for her ailing mother. But hers isn’t a cautionary tale. Instead, this memoir of her 40th year grants permission to any woman (with children or without) to dispel the myth of happiness as looking only one way. Sometimes the ties that bind us are also the ones that set us free.
What We Carry by Maya Shanbhag Lang
She’d always looked up to her physician-mother, but after becoming a mother herself and grappling with postpartum depression, her mother became unavailable—slowly debilitated by Alzheimer’s and dementia. Shanbhag Lang’s powerful memoir navigates the sacred complexities of the mother-daughter relationship, what it looks like when those roles reverse, and how to let a mother’s love, and identity, evolve.
