17 (MORE!) Must Read Titles for Your Mother + Daughter Book Club
Books for your Mother + Daughter Book Club! This book club is a unique gift for Mother’s Day or any time of the year and a fun, thoughtful way to spend time together! This curated list of 17 discussion-worthy books makes it easy to choose your first reads.
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Why Gift a Mother + Daughter Book Club?
Does your mom really need another blouse? Do you really need another journal? At some point, what we want is to just have more fun together!
Whether you live close by and are able to get out and do things together, or live far apart and are limited by distance or other factors, a Mother + Daughter book club is a perfect way to enjoy more quality time.
Learn More!
Launch your own Mother + Daughter Book Club in Four Easy Steps!
Get all the details & step-by-step instructions for a super easy book club launch!
Now that you’ve read how easy it is to make your next gift to Mom (or Daughter!) special, let’s choose some books for your mother + daughter book club!
17 Discussion-Worthy Books for Your Mother + Daughter Book Club
1. Tom Lake by Ann Patchett
A mother, 3 daughters, and a story. Tom Lake is a #1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER, A Best in Fiction Book for 2023, and A REESE’S BOOK CLUB PICK
In the spring of 2020, Lara’s three daughters return to the family’s orchard in Northern Michigan. Their mother tells them the story of Peter Duke, a famous actor with whom she shared both a stage and a romance years before at a theater company called Tom Lake. As Lara recalls the past, her daughters examine their own lives and relationship with their mother, and are forced to reconsider the world and everything they thought they knew.
It’s easy to forget our parents were ever anything more than what we’ve always known. Tom Lake is a meditation on youthful love, married love, and the lives parents have led before their children were born. Exploring what it means to be happy even when the world is falling apart, this is a perfect book for your Mother + Daughter Book Club!
2. The Women by Kristin Hannah
This is the story of one woman gone to war. but it shines a light on all women who, with sacrifice and commitment, put themselves in harm’s way only to be too often forgotten.
Women can be heroes. Twenty-year-old nursing student Frances “Frankie” McGrath joins the Army Nurse Corps and follows her brother to Vietnam. The chaos and destruction of war is overwhelming; each day is a gamble of life and death, hope and betrayal. Friendships run deep and can be shattered in an instant. In war, she meets — and becomes one of — the lucky, the brave, the broken, and the lost. But war is just the beginning. The real battle lies in coming home to a changed and divided America, to angry protesters, and to a country that wants to forget Vietnam.
The Women is a richly drawn story with a memorable heroine whose idealism and courage under fire will come to define an era. You’ll find much to discuss here!
3. The Frozen River by Ariel Lawhon
my favorite of 2023 is a great book for your Mother + Daughter Book club!
December 2023 GMA BOOK CLUB PICK and AN NPR BOOK OF THE YEAR. a gripping historical mystery inspired by the life of Martha Ballard, an 18th-century midwife who defied the legal system and wrote herself into American history.
Subversive. That’s the word Ariel Lawhon used the evening I attended the signing of this book. Yes, Martha Ballard was subversive — after all, it was 1789, she was a woman, and she could read. How can this NOT be an excellent book for your Mother + Daughter Book Club?
Maine, 1789: A man is found entombed in the Kennebec River. Martha Ballard, a midwife and healer, is privy to much of what goes on behind closed doors in Hallowell. Her diary is a record of every birth and death, crime and debacle in this small community. The details of an alleged rape committed by two of the town’s most respected gentlemen is in these pages. Now one of those men has now been found dead in the ice. A local physician declares the death an accident, but Martha knows better. Her diary soon lands at the center of the scandal. Clever and layered, The Frozen River is a thrilling, tense, and tender story about a remarkable woman who left an unparalleled legacy yet remains nearly forgotten to this day.
4. The Storm We Made by Vanessa Chan
January 2024 GOOD MORNING AMERICA BOOK CLUB PICK. a dazzling saga about the horrors of war and the ambiguity of right and wrong when survival is at stake.
In 1945 Maylaya, Cecily Alcantara’s family (and indeed, her country) suffer the devastating consequences of choices she made ten years earlier. A chance meeting with the charismatic General Fujiwara lured her into a life of espionage, pursuing the dream of an “Asia for Asians.” Instead, Cecily helped usher in an even more brutal occupation by the Japanese. Ten years later as the war reaches its apex, her actions have caught up with her. Now her family is on the brink of destruction–and she will do anything to save them.
Painful. Triumphant. Heartbreaking. Hopeful. This book deserves it’s National Bestseller standing, and it’s place in your book club.
5. Only the Beautiful by Susan Meissner
a Meticulously researched piece of historical fiction, both brutal and tender in its telling. this is a work we should all read for so many reasons. ❤️🩹
California, 1938–When she loses her parents in an accident, sixteen-year-old Rosanne is taken in by the owners of the vineyard where she has lived her whole life. But Rosie has a secret: she sees colors when she hears sound. And she doesn’t understand how dangerous it is for “girls like her.” Rosie endured appalling things at the hands of those who were supposed to care for her. Worse were the horrors she experienced from the state of California, for the “betterment of everyone.”
Across the world in Austria, Helen witnessed the heartless devastation of Hitler’s quest for racial purity firsthand. These two women — one young, one older — only met twice, yet they shared a special friendship. When Helen returns to California after the war and learns what really happened to Rosie, she is determined to find her. What she discovers, however, is that the horrors she thought had been defeated in Europe were yet to be conquered at home.
See the ever growing Mother + Daughter Book Club list on Bookshop.org
6. Black Cake by Charmaine Wilkerson
We can’t choose what we inherit. But can we choose who we become?
Black Cake is a winner of multiple awards, and not a book I will soon forget. This character-driven story is beautifully told, both in print and on audio, and masterfully reveals one little piece of the story at a time.
In present-day California, Eleanor Bennett’s death leaves behind a puzzling inheritance for her two children, Byron and Benny: a black cake, made from a family recipe with a long history, and a voice recording. In her message, Eleanor shares a tumultuous story about a headstrong young swimmer who escapes her island home under suspicion of murder. The heartbreaking tale Eleanor unfolds, the secrets she still holds back, and the mystery of a long-lost child challenge everything the siblings thought they knew about their lineage and themselves.
7. Lady Tan’s Circle of Women by Lisa See
Lady Tan’s Circle of Women is an immersive historical novel inspired by the true story of a woman physician in 15th-century China.
“An educated woman is a worthless woman” — Confucius. Despite the addage, Tan Yunxian is being raised by her grandparents to be of use. Her grandmother is one of only a handful of female doctors in China. She teaches Yunxian the pillars of Chinese medicine, the Four Examinations–looking, listening, touching, and asking — something a man can never do with a female patient. From a young age, Yunxian learns about women’s illnesses, many of which relate to childbearing.
When Yunxian is sent into an arranged marriage, her mother-in-law forbids her to help the women in the household. Yunxian is to act like a proper wife — embroider bound-foot slippers, recite poetry, give birth to sons, and stay forever within the walls of the family compound. How might a woman like Yunxian break free of these traditions and lead a life of such importance that many of her remedies are still used five centuries later?
8. Crying in H Mart by Michelle Zauner
ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR 2023 & One of The Smithsonian’s Ten Best Books About Food of the Year
A story of family, food, grief, and endurance. Michelle Zauner grew up one of the few Asian American kids at her school in Eugene, Oregon. But she also spent treasured months in her grandmother’s tiny apartment in Seoul, where she and her mother would bond, late at night, over heaping plates of food. As she grew up, her Koreanness began to feel ever more distant. It was her mother’s diagnosis of terminal cancer, when Michelle was twenty-five, that forced a reckoning with her identity and brought her to reclaim the gifts of taste, language, and history her mother had given her. Rich with intimate anecdotes that will resonate widely, Crying in H Mart is a book to cherish, share, and reread.
9. Remarkably Bright Creatures by Shelby Van Pelt
AN INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER. “…an ultimately feel-good but deceptively sensitive debut…” — Washington Post
If you loved A Man Called Ove or Lessons In Chemistry’s Six Thirty, you have to meet Tova and Marcellus! A lonely widow, a thirty year old mystery of a vanished son, a young man finding his way, and a curmudgeonly giant Pacific octopus named Marcellus — the unlikely cast of characters that make up this charming, witty, and compulsively readable novel!
Marcellus and Tova form a remarkable, albeit improbable, friendship. Ever the detective, Marcellus deduces what happened the night Tova’s son disappeared 30 years ago. Now he must use every trick his old invertebrate body can muster to unearth the truth for her.
An octupus as a main character? Don’t be fooled, this story is worth your time!
10. Now You See Us by Balldi Kaur Jaswal
no one knows the secrets of Singapore’s families like the women who work in their homes…
Corazon, Donita, and Angel are Filipina domestic workers, part of the wave of women sent to Singapore to be cleaners, maids, and caregivers. Now they must band together to solve a murder mystery involving one of their own.
Corazon: Back in Singapore under mysterious circumstances after retiring to the Philippines. Now she’s keeping a secret from her wealthy employer. Donita: Brazen, exuberant, and barely out of her teens, this is Donita’s first time in Singapore. Unfortunately, she’s been hired by the notoriously unkind Mrs. Fann. Angel: An in-home caregiver for an elderly employer, Angel is heartbroken after a recent breakup with the woman she loves.
Then Flordeliza Martinez, a Filipina maid, is arrested for murdering her female employer. The three women don’t know the accused well, but she could be any of them. Every worker knows stories of women who were scapegoated or even executed for crimes they didn’t commit. Shocked into action, Donita, Corazon, and Angel piece together the mystery of what really happened on the day Flordeliza’s employer was murdered.
11. The Beautiful Little Things by Melissa Hill
Make this your december mother + daughter book club pick — but don’t blame me if there are tears in your tinsel!
Torn apart by grief, can two sisters rediscover joy in the memory of their mother’s love? Romy Moore cherishes the warm embrace of her family home in the foothills of the Dublin Mountains. It is welcome escape from life on the lower rungs of the London career ladder. Joanna is the sister with her act together, but the birth of her twin daughters and the loss of her mother change everything.
As the first reunion after their mother’s death looms, the home that once rang with laughter now feels empty. Their father is a passing shadow. Their brother is brooding and silent. But when Romey discovers their mother has left behind some important words of wisdom to help them carry on without her, a glimmer of hope sparks to life. Can Cathy’s loving reminder of beautiful little family memories guide her children through the festive season–and into a future without her?
12. Such A Fun Age by Kiley Reid
Longlisted for the 2020 Booker Prize and multiple Best book of the year awards. a provocative and big-hearted story about race and privilege, set around a young black babysitter, her well-intentioned employer, and a surprising connection that threatens to undo them both.
Alix Chamberlain has made a living with her confidence-driven brand, showing other women how to do the same. She is shocked when her babysitter, Emira Tucker, is accused of kidnapping while watching the Chamberlains’ toddler one night, walking the aisles of their local high-end supermarket. Alix resolves to make things right, but Emira, aimless and broke, is wary of Alix’s desire to help. With empathy and piercing social commentary, Such a Fun Age explores the stickiness of transactional relationships, what it means to make someone “family,” and the complicated reality of being a grown up.
13. The One Hundred Years of Lenni and Margot by Marianne Cronin
an extraordinary friendship. A lifetime of stories.
Why do I always love the ones that make me smile through my tears?
Seventeen-year-old Lenni Pettersson lives on the Terminal Ward at the Glasgow Princess Royal Hospital, where she meets the magnificent Margot, an 83-year-old, purple-pajama-wearing, fruitcake-eating rebel, who transforms Lenni in ways she never imagined.
As their friendship blooms, a world of stories opens for these unlikely companions who, between them, have been alive for one hundred years. Though their days are dwindling, both desire to leave their mark on the world. They devise a plan to create one hundred paintings showcasing the stories of the century they have lived–stories of love and loss, of courage and kindness, of unexpected tenderness and pure joy.
Though the end is near, life isn’t quite done with these unforgettable women just yet. Funny and bittersweet, The One Hundred Years of Lenni and Margot reminds us of the preciousness of life as it considers the legacy we choose to leave.
14. Hang the Moon by Jeanette Walls
A thrilling read that “goes down easy…like the forbidden whisky that defines the life of Sallie Kincaid” (Associated Press).
Sallie Kincaid is the daughter the Duke, the biggest man in a small town. Born at the turn of the 20th century into a life of comfort and privilege, Sallie remembers little about her mother who died in a violent argument with the Duke. By the time she is eight, the Duke has remarried and had a son, Eddie. When Sallie’s daredevil antics lead to an accident with Eddie, she is cast out. Nine years later, she returns, determined to reclaim her place in the family. That’s a lot more complicated than Sallie expected, and she enters a world of conflict and lawlessness. Sallie confronts the secrets and scandals that hide in the shadows of the Big House, navigates the factions in the family and town, and finally comes into her own as a bold, sometimes reckless bootlegger.
Narrated by the author, this book is wonderful on audio!
15. Lessons In Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus
Elizabeth and mad, a mother and daughter worth meeting in your Book club!
She’s not just teaching women to cook. She’s daring them to change the status quo.
Elizabeth Zott is a brilliant chemist in the early 1960s, a time when women were not chemists and most people took a very unscientific view of equality. Except for Calvin Evans, a Nobel Prize nominated scientist who fell in love with — of all things! — her mind! But like science, life is unpredictable, and Elizabeth finds herself not only a single mother, but the reluctant star of America’s most beloved cooking show Supper at Six.
There is so much for two generations of women to discuss in this book! Brownies, rowing, and talking dogs aside, you’ll go down the conversational rabbit hole about how things have changed (or not!) in the workforce, at home, and in everyday society and culture. And that’s just the first course!
16. All the Broken Places by John Boyne
after almost 80 years, gretel fernsby must confront the sins of her own terrible past. This time, she can make a different choice than before — whatever the cost to herself.
Gretel has lived a quiet life in the same well-to-do mansion block in London for decades, while managing to keep the dark secrets of her past: her escape from Nazi Germany at age twelve, the loss of her brother, and most of all, her father, who was the commandant of one of the Reich’s most notorious extermination camps. But when a new family moves into her building, Gretel begins a friendship with the little boy, Henry — one that threatens her hard-won, self-contained existence.
Moving back and forth in time between Gretel’s girlhood in Germany and present-day London, Gretel faces a choice: save an innocent young boy, or reveal the secrets she has spent a lifetime protecting.
17. The Secret Book of Flora Lea by Patti Callahan Henry
Twenty years after the devastating disappearance of her young sister Flora in the English countryside during WWII, Hazel’s future in London seems bright and secure. Until she unwraps a package in the cozy bookstore where she’s worked for years: a rare book with connections to her past and the imaginary world she created just for Flora. Could this book hold the secrets to Flora’s disappearance? Could it be a sign that her beloved sister is still alive after all these years?
Hazel embarks on a feverish quest, revisiting long-dormant relationships and bravely opening wounds from her past. Her career and future hang in the balance, but she’s willing to risk it all to find her sister.
Need More Books for Your Mother + Daughter Book Club?
Want even more choices (after all, moms and daughters have so much to talk about!)? Check out my curated list: Compelling Books for Your Adult Mother + Daughter Book Club on Bookshop.org. I regularly add titles, so you’ll never lack inspiration!
And if you’re ready to take the “routine” out of your “reading routine,” I’ve got you! This free guide with an entire year’s worth of reading inspiration gives you 14 different genre(-ish) prompts and 42 book suggestions — and did I say it’s free? Get your copy here!
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