She Wants a Book.

Mother's Day recs from the best in the biz

Philip here.

I often find myself in a somewhat awkward position in the bookshop. A customer comes in, notices something on the shelves, and asks me a very reasonable question: “Have you read this one?”

So far, so good. This is standard fair for book buyers and booksellers. Frequently, however, my honest response to the question is “No, but my wife Lisa has.”

That’s not because I haven’t read much. Quite the opposite. Reading books is one of the great joys of my life, and I do plenty of it. But while I might be able to steer folks towards the best essay collection from Hannah Arendt or a good memoir on surfing, Lisa has her finger on a different pulse. She gets great recs from her wonderful book club, sure, and reads the buzzy reviews like the rest of us. But over time she’s found a way to develop, well, her own taste. And that is a wonderful thing.

This week we have her recommendations for anyone looking to pick up a book as a Mother’s Day gift this year. (And you should definitely pick up a book as a Mother’s Day gift this year.)

Over to LL (who makes the best Birthday “cakes”) …

I am delighted to be invited back this year for round 2 of Mother’s Day Book Recommendations. Okay, if I’m being honest, I invited myself. And it’s true, as a friend visiting the shop observed, that a lot of my favorite books already “just happen” to have prominent placement.

While standing by all my recommendations of not-bad books for moms from last year, I have some new categories this year. For whatever reason, I thought we may need some cozy crime, some short reads, and a little light Sci-Fi. And so …

For the mother who thinks her teenagers should read more and wants to read with them: Project Hail Mary, by Andy Weir, and Exit West, by Mohsin Hamid. Before there was Ryan Gosling in a cat sweater, there was the book, and it’s just as good if not better. (The audiobook is top notch and would also be a great listen for a family roadtrip. Note: occasional strong language.) Exit West is a book about a being young, in love, and a refugee, with some magic. I loved it, and your teenager may too.

For the mom who likes a crime novel: All the Sinners Bleed, by SA Cosby. It’s aVirginia-based page turner soon to be a Netflix series. What more do you need?

For the mom who likes her crime a little cozier: Though this isn’t often my genre of choice, I have it on good authority that The Marlow Murder Club by Robert Thorogood is a very good time. And if Elle Cosimano’s Finlay Donovan is Killing It is good enough for Tina Fey to adapt to screen, it is certainly worth a few hours while your children do belly flops at the pool.

For the mom who wants a light read that’s still good: The Correspondent, by Virginia Evans, and Fever Beach, by Carl Hiaasen. These books are really different — like, really different — but I found them both to be fully enjoyable page turners. The first is about a retired lawyer who sends and receives a lot of charming letters (also set in Virginia!). The second (don’t let the neon cover dissuade you) is a hilarious satire of right-wing extremists in Florida.

For the mom who wants to read something nominated for a prestigious literary award: The Director, by Daniel Kehlmann. It’s the brilliant historical novel based on the Austrian filmmaker G.W. Pabst you didn’t know you needed. This one is on the shortlist for the 2026 International Booker Prize for a reason. AndI loved Sisters by Jonas Hassen Khemiri. It’s a big book that follows three sisters over three decades and was a 2025 National Book Award for Fiction longlistee. And if that wasn’t enough prestige for you, it is also one of the NYT’s 10 Best Books of 2025.

For the mom who is fed-up with being a mom: The Most by Jessica Anthony. This one is short, and as a bonus, it was on the National Book Award longlist last year.

For the mom who wants to read about inspiring moms: So Big, by Edna Ferber. This book won the Pulitzer in 1924 and somehow is back in the zeitgeist. Just how it wrestles with ambition, art, and parenting makes it feel weirdly fresh. And though I haven’t gotten to it yet, I’m soon to get stuck into Matriarch, the Tina Knowles memoir. I have it on good authority that it’s a must read.

For the mom willing to dabble outside the box with some science fiction, or finds herself magical-realism-curious: I’ll try to play it cool and keep my sci-fi recommendations brief, but for feminist sci-fi try the Left Hand of Darkness by Ursula LeGuinn. If a class-based struggle on other planets that feels a little like Harry Potter crossed with the Hunger Games sounds interesting, try Red Rising by Pierce Brown. This is going on too long already but there’s also The Three Body Problem by Liu Cixin. Finally, If on a Winter’s Night a Traveler by Italo Calvino is so unique and clever, next year you’ll be buying this hat for the magical realism mom in your life.

Finally, for the mom who likes a classic: The Age of Innocence, by Edith Wharton, will scratch her 1920s high society New York itch. And then there’s the classic western, Lonesome Dove. Why is everyone suddenly into this 1985 book about a cattle drive? It doesn’t really matter because it’s just so good.