I Gotta Call My Mom After that One!
Written by Jules Rivera and the BaM team
Happy Mother’s Day to those who celebrate!
Every day we see things that remind us of the ones we love, and reading books is no different! Here’s a list of books that remind us of our moms, in whatever way that means to us (we made some fun choices). Hi moms!!!
This Mother’s Day we’re spotlighting two great causes:
Black Mamas Matter Alliance (BMMA). This is an organization dedicated to ensure the health of black mothers before, during, and after childbirth. For more information, of if you’d like to donate, click here.
The National Bailout is conducting its third annual Black Mama’s Day Bailout (#FreeBlackMamas). They are collecting through to May 12th to get as many mothers and caregivers released on bail. For more information, or if you’d like to donate, click here.
Beloved by Toni Morrison
Okay, so this one is a doozy. Toni Morrison is a titan. Sethe was born a slave and escaped to Ohio. While she is free, she remains tormented by her past and all of the trauma she was forced to overcome. She lives in a home that holds the spirit of her lost baby who, while unnamed legally, is buried in a tombstone marked “Beloved”. Sethe is floating above water, just holding on, until a young teenager who calls herself Beloved appears. Suddenly, Sethe is left gasping for air, all of her demons begin to emerge. Beloved is about motherhood, family history, generational trauma, racism, slavery, and so much more. All are connected by a golden string of magical realism. I don’t know how your mom will feel about you calling her while sobbing after finishing this book, but I’m sure she’ll be happy to hear from you!
— Jules
Maame by Jessica George
A "late" coming-of-age story, Maame follows main character Maddie, a late twenty-something-year-old as she navigates life between two cultures/countries (the UK and Ghana), family and friendship, love and dating, jobs, racism, and more. As someone who Googles what seems like the simplest of questions multiple times per day, I felt such a connection with her. This is Jessica George's debut novel. I can't wait to see what she writes next!
— Ali
When Mino Took the Bus by Simona Ciraolo
So… this book made me cry. It’s time for Mino to leave the nest and go into town! To do that he must take the bus, and on the way he makes a lot of friends and learns a lot of lessons! The illustration is so beautiful and it made me think about how it felt leaving home knowing that my mom would be so far away. Not me tearing up writing this blurb!!!!!! Such a sweet read.
— Jules
Motherthing by Ainslie Hogarth
I gave this book to my mom for Christmas because we share a love of characters who are weird, relatable, and (some may say) crazy all at once. They are all mothers. This book asks us all the important questions: What would you do for the people you love? Does your mother-in-law like you? Can a couch indeed be a mother? Love you mom.
— Anna
Meet Me Tonight in Atlantic City by Jane Wong
I think I called my mom six different times while reading this book???? I originally read it, obviously, because of the Bruce reference, and was immediately enthralled with Wong's writing, and memory, and generosity - given freely to herself and to others. For moms, to moms, about moms, with love.
— Bex
Moms by Yeong-Shin Ma
This graphic novel is so fun. I will say, while it does humanize mothers in a fun way, it isn’t for the faint of heart. Remember that moment you realized that your mom is actual real life person with feelings, traumas, desires, and a sex life? Yeah. Reading this book is like that. You may want to give your eyes and brain a good rinse after reading this before calling your mom, but it’s so so good!
— Jules
Saturday by Oge Mora
Ava and her mother look forward to Saturdays all week. It's Ava's mother's day off from work, so they always have a day of fun planned. And even when everything goes wrong, from canceled puppet shows to surprise rain storms ruining their new hairdos, Saturdays are still special because they get to spend the whole day together. Oge Mora's gorgeous collages make every page a work of art in this sweet ode to spending time with someone you love- and to this day there a few things I love more than spending the day with my mom <3.
— Margaret
Shadow of the Gods by John Gwynne
It's uncanny how much this book resembles me and my mom's relationship, except I didn't get kidnapped and she wasn't a homicidal viking lady carving her way back to me, all the while ducking ancient gods, wizards and mercenaries. Besides all that stuff it's pretty spot on.
— Kevin
Dictee by Theresa Hak Kyung Cha
This book is a mythos unto itself, but my favorite thing is that I have tried time and time again to write about my mother, only to realize that Theresa Hak Kyung Cha figured out exactly how to do it. As soon as you read this work, you will start seeing it everywhere.
— Bex
Liarmouth by John Waters
Weird. Weird again. Then it gets even weirder. This book is one that I cannot stop talking about. This is a fun feel-bad romance about a woman who is called by others Liarmouth. Without spoiling anything, this book covers strained mother-daughter relationships across three generations. These women are beefing with their moms! This book has everything: suitcase robbers, plastic surgery for dogs, identity fraud, a sentient penis, and trampolines! Once you read it you’ll want to give your mom a call to explain the synopsis- it won’t make much sense, though.
— Jules
Linea Nigra by Jazmina Barrera
The amazing Jazmina Barrera (whose On Lighthouses is one of my all time favorite books) explores motherhood and raising a child delving deep into different inspirations - Louise Bourgeois, Ursula K. Le Guin, Luz Jiménez - to try and understand motherhood. As with lighthouses Barrera pulls from the world around her as she raises her own child to declare that raising a child is in itself art.
— Nick
Easy Beauty by Chloé Cooper Jones
Jones’ debut memoir is a work of writing I may never stop thinking about! While the book is largely about Chloé re-learning how to navigate the world with her disability, it also touches on so many other themes like philosophy, voyeurism, desire, and motherhood. She writes about the shock of discovering she was five-months pregnant—something she never expected would happen and, in fact, was repeatedly told could not happen by numerous doctors. Chloé's emotive exploration of her relationship with her son and with herself in this new role is stunning, and a part that stood out to my mom as well when I shared the book with her. Easy Beauty continues to come up in our conversations, well over a year since reading it!
— Amali
A Life’s Work by Rachel Cusk
So many books portray the tenderness and miraculousness of motherhood, which is a beautiful and noble thing. It's important, though, not to imagine that joy is the singular experience of motherhood. Rachel Cusk's memoir A Life's Work follows the first year of her first child's life, and it is always honest and only sometimes beautiful and noble. Often, Cusk's experience — like that of many mothers — is frustrating, exhausting, and above all, isolating. Mothers are human, and possess a full range of human emotion, from love and tenderness to anger and resentment. This is not to say by any means that Cusk dislikes or regrets having a child. Rather, this book helps the reader to acknowledge just how much labor motherhood is (and is often partnered with other forms of labor), and reminds us to appreciate the care and devotion it takes to do that work even when one doesn't want to do it. After all, to go through those myriad and endless highs and lows is the greatest act of love. It is a life's work.
— Zoe
Bakkhai by Euripides (trans. Anne Carson)
There are many ways to read Euripides’ tragedy, but this Mother’s Day I choose to read it as a metaphor for the doomed desire of recovering in adulthood the simple, immediate, intimate embrace of the mother known in infancy. We seek such a return as an antidote to our worldweary alienation even though we know its realization would mean self-destruction. And yet, invariably, as I approach the final pages of Bakkhai, I find myself wishing my own mother would tear me limb from limb and cradle my severed head in her arms in the fullness of motherly love as once she must’ve done.
— David
Ask Again, Yes by Mary Beth Keane
Every now and then a book comes out that totally surprises me! Billed as a family story, an all-too-familiar taste of suburbia, Ask Again Yes goes to the depths with its characters. The mother's shocking act is only the beginning of the unravelling of these characters' complicated relationships. If you loved Commonwealth by Ann Pachett or even Miracle Creek by Angie Kim, give this a read!
— Aatia
What My Mother and I Don’t Talk About: 15 Writers Break the Silence edt. Michele Filgate
We’re ending on a denser one, but hear me out!! This book of essays covers it all: topics various authors have kept from their mothers and how it has or has not affected their relationships, comparing their mother-daughter relationships to greek mythology, a detailed description of a conversation had with mom when dad finally isn’t around, and so much more. This book of essays is a collection of love, pain, annoyance, and oversharing. It’s a wonderful read to have and share with mom— maybe open up some new convos? No? Maybe not? Still a great read!
— Jules
Shoutout to my own mom, this is going up on her birthday! Happy Birthday! You are my favorite woman, and my favorite Taurus.
Happy Mother’s Day, everyone!!!
