Book Scene: A ten-spot of assorted books for Mother's Day

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Mother’s Day is just around the corner, and since every mother deserves and needs some peace and quiet with a good book and her drink of choice in hand, we at Inklings compiled a list of books we think moms would love to read. From historical fiction to biography and romance, there is a book for every mother out there!

1. “Small Great Things” by Jodi Picoult. This story follows Ruth, an African American labor and delivery nurse. Ruth encounters Turk, a white supremacist, the morning after their son is born. Ruth is told to not touch their baby, but when that baby dies, Ruth is charged with murder.

2. “Lilac Girls” by Martha Hall Kelly. Inspired by a real heroine of World War II, Kelly takes the reader on a journey that begins and ends in New York, with stops along the way in occupied Poland, Paris and Ravensbrück, the notorious Nazi concentration camp for women.

3. “The Curious Charms of Arthur Pepper” by Phaedra Patrick. On the first anniversary of his wife’s death, Arthur Pepper decides it is time to let his wife’s things go. When cleaning a closet, he finds stuffed in the toe of one of her boots a very expensive charm bracelet that he has never seen. Arthur begins a search into the origins of the charms and discovers not only secrets never shared, but himself as well.

4. “Great Blue Hills of God” by Kries Beall. Beall’s memoir of triumph over tragedy is a reminder to us all that we can overcome adversity.

5. “A Well-Behaved Woman” by Therese Ann Fowler. Just after the Civil War, Alva Smith, whose money came from the cotton industry, moved with her father and sisters to New York. Destitute and desperate, she meets and marries William Vanderbilt. A marriage of convenience for both, she needed his money and he needed her social standing. Alva Smith Vanderbilt was not a shrinking violet, but was a strong and determined woman of the Gilded Age. And as Laurel Thatcher said, “Well-behaved women seldom make history.”

6. “From Alaska with Love” by Ally James. This story follows Sara and Major Gabe Randall. Sara sends a letter to a soldier in Iraq, and with each correspondence they send back and forth they became closer to each other and each other’s refuge from the real world. But what will happen when Major Randall returns home to Alaska and suggests they meet?

7. “Wolf Gone Wild” by Juliette Cross. This one is for those who enjoy an escape from the real world. This book will draw you into a world of blood magic and hexes while making you laugh. Says best-selling author Naima Simone: “’Wolf Gone Wild’ is ‘Venom’ meets ‘Vampire Diaries’ meets every wonderful romantic comedy you’ve ever watched or read!”

8. “Some Like it Scandalous” by Maya Rodale. A historical romance for the feminist you didn’t know you had in you, or needed. Daisy is getting close to getting her science degree and wants nothing more than to create and sell cosmetics in a time when that was not appropriate. Theodore has no interest in his father’s business, but he does have an eye for beauty and advertising.

9. “Unexpected” by Kelly Rimmer. Abby and Marcus have something we all want in life: a friend who knows you and who you can trust with anything and everything. When Abby goes to see her doctor and is told that if she wants to get pregnant she needs to get started on that immediately, she has the perfect person in mind to be the father. What could go wrong?

10. “Maybe this Time” by Kasie West. This is for the mum who enjoys a contemporary young adult novel. Sophie works at the local florist shop and is at every event in her small town. Andrew Hart is the son of the fancy new chef in town who is trying to revamp a catering business and is now attending every event Sophie is at. Told over the course of one year, it follows the lives of two young adults discovering friendship and love.

• Anne Zastrow and Irene Pearcey work for Inklings Bookshop. They and other Inklings staffers review books in this space every week.

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