Memoirs, Cookbooks, and Coffee Table Books to Get Your Mom For Mother's Day

“As First Lady of the United States of America—the first African American to serve in that role—she helped create the most welcoming and inclusive White House in history, while also establishing herself as a powerful advocate for women and girls in the U.S. and around the world, dramatically changing the ways that families pursue healthier and more active lives, and standing with her husband as he led America through some of its most harrowing moments.”

“Born to survivalists in the mountains of Idaho, Tara Westover was seventeen the first time she set foot in a classroom. Her family was so isolated from mainstream society that there was no one to ensure the children received an education, and no one to intervene when one of Tara’s older brothers became violent. When another brother got himself into college, Tara decided to try a new kind of life. Her quest for knowledge transformed her, taking her over oceans and across continents, to Harvard and to Cambridge University.”

One of my favorite books, Pachinko is a wonderfully told, compelling multi-generational saga. If your mom is looking for a page turner to get lost in, this is it for sure.

“In this new collection, Leibovitz has captured the most influential and compelling figures of the last decade in the style that has made her one of the most beloved talents of our time. Each of the photographs documents contemporary culture with an artist's eye, wit, and an uncanny ability to personalize even the most recognizable and distinguished figures.”

“Bound in cloth with a full cloth slipcase, this beautifully produced book is the first complete reproduction of Bien chromolithographs and will become the centerpiece of any bird lover’s library."

“He focuses mostly on Medieval, Renaissance, Baroque, Rococo, and Neoclassical European libraries and a handful of their descendants in the Americas. (Given how breathtaking Listri’s work is, one hopes there will be a follow-up volume on modern libraries around the globe.) From out-of-the-way phantasmagorical wonders like the libraries of Metten and Ulm to the dramatic Real Gabinete Português de Leitura in Rio de Janeiro, Listri captures these man-made wonders in all their splendor.” Learn more about the book from our travel experts.

“The book gets its name from Flemish cartographer Abraham Ortelius's atlas Theatrum orbis terrarum (Theater of the World). Like Ortelius, Berg has built upon generations of work and woven it into a digestible dive into everything from cartography to illustration and mapmaking. While not as hefty as some of our past selections, this mid-size book may be the most likely to cause you to lose a guest in its pages.” Learn more about the book from our travel experts.

Maybe your mom loves to travel, or maybe being trapped inside for a whole year has her running for the hills. Either way, indulge her fantasy with Living in the Mountains, a beautiful collection of contemporary homes that aren’t hers (but maybe someday, will be).

Samin Nosrat is simply joyous when she’s in the kitchen. Through discussing the four essential ingredients to any meal — salt, acid, fat, and heat — she’ll help you understand cooking from a foundational level, giving you the confidence to improvise and create your own masterpieces in the kitchen.

A lot of my friends have held off on buying this one for themselves, saying their mother has a really cool edition. If they don’t, now’s the time to give her one she’ll love. Apparently, shopping for a book like this can be an obsessive sport, but I think this edition is fantastic. And plus, once your mother has imbued it with her love, it’ll only be that much more valuable (to you).