Mother’s Day Gift Ideas: 10 Books for the Women We Love
Need Mother’s Day gift ideas… quick? These 10 outstanding books (plus 5 honorable mentions) tackle topics ranging from health equity to menopause and run the gamut from offering empowering life advice to laugh-out-loud memoirs.
Mother’s Day Gift Guide 2024: Books For Women, Sex Cells book cover
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1. Sex Cells
by Phyllis Greenberger, M.S.W., with Kalia Donner
Biological sex impacts health. However obvious this may seem, gender disparities in health care persist — and women continue to pay the price. Sex Cells: The Fight to Overcome Bias and Discrimination in Healthcare details Phyllis Greenberger’s 25-year fight for equitable health care research. Greenberger, a women’s health trailblazer, takes readers on a journey to research labs and doctor’s offices as she and her allies tirelessly advocate for more understanding of sex and gender differences and more medical research on women so they can receive unbiased, appropriate, and effective care. Readers are left with a better understanding of achievements in women’s health care and resolve to accomplish more.
Menopause is feared not solely for its hot flashes, insomnia, and brain fog, but because paltry scientific research leaves so many women in the dark. The Menopause Brain: New Science Empowers Women to Navigate the Pivotal Transition with Knowledge and Confidence assuages many fears by arming women with the information they need to navigate menopause with eyes wide open. Author Lisa Mosconi, Ph.D., a leading neuroscientist and women’s brain health specialist, describes the way women’s brains and bodies change during menopause and the role cutting-edge hormone replacement therapies, contraception, and lifestyle changes play in keeping them healthy. Most notably, Mosconi dispels menopause myths and demonstrates how women can emerge from this transition ready for a vibrant new life chapter.
Creator of the How to ADHD YouTube channel, Jessica McCabe shares her past struggles — broke, divorced, and floundering professionally at age 32 — and her journey toward acceptance in this New York Times bestseller. In writing How to ADHD: An Insider’s Guide to Working with Your Brain (Not Against It), McCabe seeks out leading experts and then distills their insights into relatable language. Along the way, she reveals the strategies that have helped her harness her brain’s powers (make space for your emotions, lean into your strengths) and the importance of self-compassion. McCabe’s unflinching look at the realities of living as a woman with ADHD and personable writing style will make you feel like you just received advice — and a hug— from a trusted friend. The book’s ADHD-friendly layout includes chapter summaries, reading shortcuts, and quotes from McCabe’s online community.
Mother’s Day Gift Guide: Books for Women, Divergent Mind book cover
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4. Divergent Mind
Divergent Mind: Thriving in a World That Wasn’t Designed for You is an empowering and validating read for any woman who believes she is “different.” Author Jenara Nerenberg’s well-balanced mix of research and personal stories explores why high sensitivity, ADHD, autism, misophonia, dyslexia, sensory processing disorder, and other disorders are often masked, overlooked, and/or misdiagnosed in women. In the process, she de-pathologizes what it means to be a neurodivergent woman and provides actionable tips for contributing to a world where all types of minds can thrive.
Mother’s Day Gift Guide: Books for Women, ADHD Girls to Women
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5. ADHD Girls to Women
by Lotta Borg Skoglund, M.D., Ph.D.
In ADHD Girls to Women: Getting on the Radar, international ADHD expert Lotta Borg Skoglund, M.D., Ph.D., connects the latest science on ADHD across the sexes with powerful testimonies by neurodivergent girls and women across the lifespan. Skoglund deftly illustrates how ADHD presents differently in women and girls by revealing all the ways that hormones, emotional regulation, mental health, family life, and the workplace interact and exert influence. In the process, she provides a roadmap full of tips and strategies to help women achieve the self-understanding they deserve and need to live fully.
Mother’s Day Gift Guide: Books for Women, ADHD for Smart Ass Women book cover
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6. ADHD for Smart Ass Women
by Tracy Otsuka, JD, LLM, AACC, ACC
ADHD coach and podcast host Tracy Otsuka is on a mission to take neurodivergent women on a quest of self-discovery “to uncover the hidden wonders of their ADHD brains” and unlock their potential. With her signature wit, Otsuka offers insights from coaching thousands of women and provides tools and techniques to conquer any to-do list and improve productivity, focus, and confidence. In ADHD for Smart Ass Women: How to Fall in Love with Your Neurodivergent Brain, she helps women reframe their symptoms into strengths while dismantling long-standing stereotypes and misinformation surrounding women with ADHD.
Mother’s Day Gift Guide: Books for Women, For Smart Girls Who’ve Wondered Why They Can’t Get Their Sh*T Togetheter When the ADHD Is Enough, book cover
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7. For Sister Girls Who’ve Wondered Why They Can’t Get Their Sh*T Together When the ADHD Is Enough
For Sister GirlsWho've Wondered Why They Can't Get Their Sh*T Together When The ADHD Is Enough debunks myths and celebrates the strengths of Black women with ADHD using humor, heart, and a hefty dose of empathy. This affirmation journal offers a modern approach to self-improvement and personal growth. Each section breaks down large concepts into small ideas. Prompts and exercises illustrate and reinforce practical techniques for improving executive functioning skills such as planning, organization, and time management. Designated pages to write reflections give women space to explore personal experiences and develop a deeper understanding of how ADHD impacts their lives.
Mother’s Day Gift Guide: Books for Women, All in Her Head book cover
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8. All in Her Head
by Elizabeth Comen, M.D.
Eye-opening and sometimes enraging, yet always captivating, All in Her Head: The Truth and Lies Early Medicine Taught Us About Women’s Bodies and Why It Matters Today is a shared memoir of women’s medical history and an empowering battle cry to reclaim women’s bodies. Memorial Sloan Kettering oncologist and medical historian Elizabeth Comen, M.D., uses the 11 organ systems (e.g., “Sex/Reproductive: The Mother of All Moral Panics” and “Guts/Digestive: The Price of Going (and Not Going) with Your Gut”) to reintroduce women to their bodies — how they work, the doctors and research that laid the foundation for today’s medical thought, the impact of medical gaslighting, and the many oversights that remain unaddressed.
Mother’s Day Gift Guide: Books for Women, Healing from Toxic Relationships book cover
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9. Healing from Toxic Relationships
by Stephanie Moulton Sarkis, Ph.D.
Women with ADHD are particularly vulnerable to gaslighting and toxic or abusive relationships. In Healing from Toxic Relationships: 10 Essential Steps to Recover from Gaslighting, Narcissism, and Emotional Abuse, Stephanie Sarkis, Ph.D., guides readers through 10 steps to break free and recover. In the process, women will recognize the underpinnings of toxic behavior and rebuild damaged self-esteem, release feelings of anger, guilt, and shame, and find peace.
Mother’s Day Gift Guide: Books for Women, Mindfulness Meditations for ADHD book cover
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10. Mindfulness Meditations for ADHD
by Merriam Sarcia Saunders, LMFT
Meditation may seem laughable for easily distracted, restless ADHD brains. With the right tools, Merriam Sarcia Saunders, LMFT, explains, anyone can develop a mindfulness practice. In Mindfulness Meditations for ADHD: Improve Focus, Strengthen Self-Awareness, and Live More Fully, Saunders shows readers how to do this through an engaging mix of short and long exercises, sitting and walking meditations, and morning and evening activities. Step-by-step instructions and expert tips will help novices and experts improve their self-awareness, focus, and stress response.
Mother’s Day Gift Guide: Books for Moms, ADHD Is Awesome, Penn & Kim Holderness, book cover
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Honorable Mention: ADHD Is Awesome
by Penn and Kim Holderness
This humorous and uplifting read from YouTube’s First Family of ADHD helps us see that it’s okay (even therapeutic) to laugh at the experiences and situations that ADHD symptoms and manifestations bring about. Kim and Penn Holderness inspire readers to tackle everyday challenges and offer techniques that play to their unique strengths. The couple’s signature wit and charming outlook make ADHD Is Awesome: A Guide To (Mostly) Thriving with ADHD the perfect antidote to traditional ADHD books. If you’re looking for a Mother’s Day and Father’s Day gift, this book is well-suited for ADHD brainsand loved ones without the condition who want to support them.
Mother’s Day Gift Ideas: Books for Moms, Mother Noise book cover
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Honorable Mention: Mother Noise
by Cindy House
Twenty years into recovery from a heroin addiction, Cindy House wrestles with the best way to tell her son about her past. She wants him to hear the truth from his mom, but she worries about the effect the truth may have on him. What follows is a powerful and poignant memoir that delves deep into our responsibilities as parents while celebrating the moments of grace and generosity that mark a true friendship — in this case, with colleague and champion, David Sedaris. Told with dark humor and brutal, clear-eyed honesty, Mother Noise: A Memoir is a labor of love that leaves an indelible mark on readers.
Mother’s Day Gift Ideas: Books for Moms, The High 5 Habit, Mel Robbins, book cover
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Honorable Mention: The High 5 Habit
by Mel Robbins
This book encourages readers to give themselves the high fives, celebration, and support they deserve. Podcast host Mel Robbins, who has ADHD, explains how in The High 5 Habit: Take Control of Your Life with One Simple Habit. The ADHD-friendly book is divided into three sections: the power of a high-five, the science of high-fiving, and how to make high-fiving (and believing in and prioritizing yourself) a habit. Told with humor, signature science-backed wisdom, and deeply personal stories, Robbins dives into what holds us back and provides easy-to-follow tips to change your attitude, mindset, and behavior.
Mother’s Day Gift Ideas: Books for Moms, I’ll Just Be Five More Minutes, book cover
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Honorable Mention: I’ll Just Be Five More Minutes
by Emily Farris
I’ll Just Be Five More Minutes is a touching essay collection detailing Emily Farris’s ADHD diagnosis at age 35 and her experiences living as a neurodivergent woman. Armed with her new diagnosis, Farris candidly re-examines her relationships with loved ones, with money, with substances, and with her hyperfocus. At its heart, I’ll Just Be Five More Minutes: And Other Tales from My ADHD Brain is about not quite fitting in and not really understanding why, told with brutal honesty and humor.
Mother’s Day Gift Ideas: Books for Moms, The New Menopause, book cover
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Honorable Mention: The New Menopause
by Mary Claire Haver, M.D.
In The New Menopause: Navigating Your Path Through Hormonal Change with Purpose, Power, and Facts, Mary Claire Haver, M.D., walks women through the symptoms of menopause, from changes in appearance and sleep patterns to neurological, musculoskeletal, psychological, and sexual issues, and provides a toolkit of science-backed options for hope to cope. The book arms women with questions to ask doctors and tools to take charge of their health so they can prepare for annual midlife wellness visits.
