Quiz: Make the Mom Figure in Your Life a Bouquet and Get a Book Recommendation For Yourself

This work of literary fiction follows an unnamed writer whose mother passed away a few months ago. She’s now walking the streets of London, her mother’s favorite city, as she remembers what made her mother such an extraordinary woman. She itches to chronicle her mother’s life, but because she was a private woman, our narrator must decide if this is an act of love or betrayal.

Any Other Family is a thought-provoking novel that poses the question: what makes a family? The story follows three sets of parents who have adopted four siblings. They’re trying to make things work so the children stay together after the adoption. But things get even more complicated when the children’s birth mother contacts them, asking for their help to find an adoptive family for her next child.

It’s time to read (or reread) Ocean Vuong’s novel! This stunningly poetic coming-of-age story is told through letters from the narrator to his mother, who cannot read. These letters showcase the family’s history, which is rooted in Vietnam. But it also explores the narrator’s childhood, early adulthood, and the complicated relationships he forms. The whole thing is a beautiful exploration of memory, language, and belonging.

The Leavers is a powerful story about an 11-year-old boy whose mother suddenly disappears. She was a Chinese immigrant who one day went to work and never came back. Eventually, the boy is adopted by a white family, who gives him a new name in hopes of making him “all-American”. The boy, now known as Daniel, struggles to understand what happened to his mother — and what his place in the world can be.

This beautiful family saga is steeped in magical realism as it follows several generations of Duong women. Their family was cursed when their ancestor left her husband for her true love, so they haven’t seen the birth of a son for a long time. But that might change soon thanks to a prophecy that will help reunite the Duongs and finally begin to heal their family bonds.

Black Cake follows siblings Byron and Benny. Their mother Eleanor recently passed away, and she left them a black cake and a voice recording full of things she never told them. This recording challenges everything they knew about their mother and about themselves. Even worse: it leaves them with even more questions as well as the strange task to “share the black cake when the time is right”.

At a glance, this is a story about a woman whose life is turned upside down when a crack appears at the bottom of her local pool. This woman is Alice, and she is slowly losing her memory. Her dementia was kept at bay by the routine at the pool, but now her life is plunged into chaos. Alice’s story is told by her own daughter, who can only watch her mother’s devastating decline.