More Books Your Mom Will Love

Lilac Girls, by Martha Hall Kelly
The story of three women living worlds apart in World War II Europe, Lilac Girls—Kelly’s debut novel—has received widespread critical acclaim. Following a New York socialite working at the French consulate, a young Polish woman drawn into the resistance, and an ambitious German doctor who sees the concentration camps—and the executions and medical experimentation they involve—as an opportunity to get ahead, Lilac Girls is the painful and moving story of how three lives become intertwined.

Milk and Honey, by Rupi Kaur
Milk and Honey is a meditation on women and survival, a stunningly raw collection of poetry and prose illustrated with Kaur’s spare, evocative sketches. Divided into four parts—the hurting, the loving, the breaking, and the healing—Kaur’s book blends pain with sweetness, looking for joy in some of life’s hardest moments. A beautiful gift for the women in your life, and accessible enough to appeal to long-time poetry readers and newcomers alike.

It’s All Easy: Delicious Weekday Recipes for the Super-Busy Home Cook, by Gwyneth Paltrow
Following her success with cookbooks It’s All Good and My Father’s Daughter, actress and lifestyle guru Paltrow is back with over a hundred healthy recipes that can be prepared in less than the time it takes to order takeout. Light on sugar, fat, and gluten, the recipes range from fast breakfast ideas to on-the-go meals. Standout recipes include Soft Polenta with Cherry Tomatoes, Chocolate Cinnamon Overnight Oats, and one I’d like to be eating right now, a Moroccan Chicken Salad Wrap.

Miller’s Valley, by Anna Quindlen
The latest from bestselling novelist Quindlen (Still Life with Breadcrumbs), Miller’s Valley follows Mimi Miller, a young woman in the 1960s whose family has lived in the same small Pennsylvania town for generations. When the townspeople are told the town is likely to be submerged by flooding, they’re pressured to sell, but Mimi’s father refuses to relocate. As her family and the community wrestle with their future, Mimi tries to create her own. An intense, empathetic story about family, place, and growing up.

Eligible: A Modern Retelling of Pride and Prejudice, by Curtis Sittenfeld
Curtis Sittenfeld has a knack for taking slightly far-out story ideas and transforming them into tremendously entertaining and engrossing novels—previously twisting bits of Laura Bush’s life into the delicious American Wife—and now she’s doing the same thing with a charming twenty-first century retelling of Pride and Prejudice. In this modernized version, Liz is a magazine writer, Darcy is a neurosurgeon, and Kitty and Lydia are on the Crossfit/Paleo life plan. A delightful romp perfect for a warm spring afternoon.

The Excellent Lombards, by Jane Hamilton
A funny, vibrant story about a young Wisconsin girl who never wants to leave her family’s beloved orchard behind, The Excellent Lombards has accumulated a mountain of praise from authors like Ann Patchett, Gail Tsukiyama, and Margot Livesey. Mary Frances Lombard clings tight to a rural childhood spent surrounded by friends and relatives in her family’s struggling apple orchard, even as she knows that change may come and take it all away. A lovely coming-of-age story that effortlessly weaves together humor, hope, and pathos.

Miss Julia Inherits a Mess, by Ann B. Ross (Miss Julia Series #17)
Ross’s charming and amusing Miss Julia series, about a strong-minded Southern widow with a sharp tongue and an iron backbone, has spawned 17 books in as many years. The latest in the series, Miss Julia Inherits a Mess, follows Miss Julia as she’s made executor of a large, disorganized estate and falls farther and farther into the web of complications it causes, from good-looking next-door-neighbors to shady great-nephews.

The Railwayman’s Wife, by Ashley Hay
Set in a coastal Australian town in the aftermath of World War II, The Railwayman’s Wife is about a young widow, Anikka, who is trying to put her life back together in the wake of her husband’s death, and a town trying to put itself back together in the wake of the war. When Roy, a poet struggling with writer’s block, finds his new muse in Anikka, he leaves her an unsigned poem, drawing her in even as he can’t acknowledge its existence. A moving novel about leaving people behind, and how to keep on loving.

Alice and Oliver, by Charles Bock
Alice and Oliver seem to have it all: a beautiful new baby, a loft in Manhattan’s Meatpacking District, a nurturing marriage. But when Alice is diagnosed with cancer, everything changes. Suddenly their lives are about medical bills, drug side effects, and the American health care system, forcing them to confront the messiness of illness, the strain on their marriage, and the realities of mortality. A searing story from the author of Beautiful Children.
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