Heartfelt and Inspiring Books For Moms By Moms

“Today in an auditorium full of parents my son scanned the room looking for me. When he saw me his face lit up the room. He wasn’t looking for the perfect parent. He was looking for his mom. Don’t ever forget the power of simply being their mom.”
Rachel Marie Martin

Author Rachel Martin, hitting us right in the motherhood feels!

If you know a mom who loves to curl up with a good book, has a serious funny bone, needs some inspiration, or could use some literary warm fuzzies, I have some suggestions for you. Rachel Martin’s book being one of them!

These books written by moms for moms speak right to my mama heart, and I hope they will do the same for you and the moms in your life.

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BOOK REVIEWS & RECOMMENDATIONS: BOOKS FOR MOMS BY MOMS

The Brave Art of Motherhood

Rachel Martin wrote a piece that I’m sure many of you have read called “Just do the dishes. Please. The kids will be fine.” I instantly clicked on that title because I too was worried about being present 110% of the time, but also needed to do the dishes, and was feeling torn.

Basically in this piece Rachel was saying that in motherhood you should find a balance that works for you and your family. There are so many articles out there telling us to just stop and hold the baby, and that’s wonderful, but sometimes you do need to do the dishes. That’s okay too! And especially if having a clear sink is going to give you a clearer mind, then go ahead and do those dishes. The kids will wait for a few minutes. It really will all be fine.

She dives even deeper into these feelings of mom guilt in her book The Brave Art of Motherhood: Fight Fear, Gain Confidence, and Find Yourself Again. I loved the title, I loved the book, and I especially loved her message of digging deep to find your confidence as a mother and as your own person outside of your role as a mother.

Any mom on your shopping list is going to relate to Rachel’s words, and leave the book feeling a bit braver.

Grace Not Perfection

Honestly, I would have bought this book just for the cover itself. #BookGoals. But a dear friend gifted it to me and I love both her and author Emily Ley’s message.

Grace, Not Perfection: Embracing Simplicity, Celebrating Joy is all about simplifying your life. If you know a mom who isn’t busy, then I’d very much like to meet that unicorn of a person. Moms are busy by nature, and let’s face it, it’s exhausting. And I don’t know about you but simplifying things sounded pretty good to me.

For Emily Ley, simplifying starts with a pen, paper, and some lists. She’ll help you with that! But what I love even more comes from the title of the book. Giving yourself a whole lot of grace when things go wrong instead of constantly expecting perfection from yourself and those around you. I’m so on board with that!

One Beautiful Dream

Do you have a mom in your life with a big dream?

A dream that she is trying to figure out how to accomplish while simultaneously living her other big important dream of raising her family? Does this mom also have an awesome sense of humor? Then she’s going to love Jennifer Fulwiler.

In One Beautiful Dream: The Rollicking Tale of Family Chaos, Personal Passions, and Saying Yes to Them Both Jennifer Fulwiler takes readers behind the scenes of writing her first book while having babies and raising babies. She’s honest, insightful, and hilarious. I’m pretty sure we will eventually be lifelong friends after I corner her at a conference.

True Story: Moments after I typed that last line my friend and editor, Lindsay Schlegel, emailed me to say that she met Jennifer at a gala. Guys… it’s happening!

Don’t Forget to Say Thank You

The aforementioned Lindsay Schlegel is a mom of four, brilliant writer, editor extraordinaire, and devoted Christian. If you have a mom on your shopping list who loves wonderfully written books and is looking to deepen her relationship with God, Lindsay is your lady.

Don’t Forget to Say Thank You: And Other Parenting Lessons That Brought Me Closer to God brings you into Lindsay’s family life and spiritual life as she reflects on the lessons she is teaching her children and how those lessons have strengthened her faith. It’s beautifully written and even as someone without strong religious ties, I found so much insight and food for thought in her words.

Read my full review and interview with the author here.

Motherhood: The Second Oldest Profession

Erma Bombeck, the Godmother of parenting humor!

If you love the modern parent humorists of today then you have Erma to thank for that. I fully intend on writing a thesis arguing that parenting memes would not exist if Erma Bombeck hadn’t started publicly joking about motherhood back in the 60’s. It will be both researched and contain many jokes. Stay tuned.

Trying to pick just one of Erma’s many books was next to impossible but Motherhood: The Second Oldest Profession is one of her most popular for good reason. Give the mom with the funny bone the gift of some classic laughs and heartfelt motherhood insights.

Blessed Beautiful Now

Blessed, Beautiful Now: How I Embraced The Present By Celebrating My Past And Learned to Love Life Again was created by one of my favorite writers, Corey Wheeland. If you’ve ever come across her blog, The Nostalgia Diaries, you probably adore her as much as I do.

Blessed Beautiful Now ties together the pieces of Corey’s past and her future as a single mother recapturing her happiness with help from her daughter Zoey. Corey weaves together a story like no other and her writing is pure poetry. Love!

If you have a mom in your life that is going through a period of transition, Corey’s words will speak right to her heart. 100% guaranteed.

Becoming

Your mom is the first lady in your life. Gift her the former first lady of the United States in book form! Or if your mom has already read it and joined my Michelle Obama Fan Club, then gift this one to another mom. We are still accepting new members and at next month’s meeting I might make a frittata.

Michelle Obama’s book Becoming has become one of my all-time favorites for it’s honesty about infertility, working motherhood, marriage, and summoning the courage to make big changes. That’s the part that really sticks out to me. Her ability to adapt and grow.

Have I written about Becoming twice already on my blog. Yes. Will I talk about it forever to anyone who will listen? Oh definitely.

Read my full review of Becoming here.

One more recommendation before we go!

If you are shopping for the mom who wants to write her own story, after seven years of writing one line a day I can’t recommend the One Line a Day Journal more highly. More on that here!

With love for my Merm and all the moms,