Welcome to Top Ten Tuesday, a weekly bookish meme hosted by Jana @ That Artsy Reader Girl that features a different bookish topic every week.
Today’s topic is Relationship Freebie (Pick a relationship type and choose characters who fit that relationship as it relates to you. So, characters you’d like to date, be friends with, be enemies with, etc. Bookish families you’d like to be a part of, characters you’d want as your siblings, pets you’d like to take for yourself, etc.)
To be clear right off the bat, I don’t actually want a relationship with many of the mothers featured in these books (some are great but most are not!). I was having a hard time thinking of books with characters I’d like to be in some kind of relationship with, especially mother/daughter relationships, so I thought I’d just do books featuring mothers regardless of whether they’re good or bad.
Surprise! There are a lot of bad mothers in fiction… and nonfiction. Also surprise! There seems to be a lot of Asians with complicated relationships with their mothers.
Top Ten Books Featuring Mothers
- Little Fires Everywhere by Celeste Ng – A couple of different but equally complicated mother/daughter relationships represented here. I watched the show but haven’t read the book. The show was really good, but so intense and heavy too, and it makes me a little scared to read the book, but I will eventually!
- Sharp Objects by Gillian Flynn – Someone said about this quote from the book:
“Even I, in public, was a beloved child. Once her period of mourning for Marian was over, she’d parade me into town, smiling and teasing me, tickling me as she spoke with people on the sidewalks. When we got home, she’d trail off to her room like an unfinished sentence, and I would sit outside with my face pressed against her door and replay the day in my head, searching for clues to what I’d done to displease her.”
about how it made them realize that you can be a well-cared-for child, but still be unloved, and that alone made me read the book. - On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous by Ocean Vuong – This book is presented as a letter from a son to his mother who cannot read. It’s also presented as fiction but the feelings are so raw and real, it wouldn’t be hard for me to believe it was all true. I read this recently and I love how beautiful and lyrical it is.
- Please Look After Mom by Kyung-Sook Shin – I haven’t read this one but I am fascinated because it’s written in second person POV and I’ve heard a lot of praise for it. I’m a little averse to reading books about complicated relationships with Asian moms in general because it’s a little close to home for me, but maybe my curiosity will win out.
- The Joy Luck Club by Amy Tan – Same deal as the above for why I haven’t read it, but sort of worse. I couldn’t even finish the movie because of all the feelings it dragged up.
- Room by Emma Donoghue – A mom and her child locked in a room for the first five years of his life. It was so powerful and painful to read. And I loved the movie too.
- From Cradle to Stage by Virginia Hanlon Grohl – I just found out about this book last week and have requested a hold from my library! It’s from the POV of mothers to famous rock stars and I’m excited to read it!
- I’m Glad My Mom Died by Jennette McCurdy – Well, this one was painful, and I guess the other side of the coin of how mothers to famous people can be horrible too.
- Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus – Ooh, just realized that Brie Larson acts as the mother in this film adaptation as well as Room. This one is a little more lighthearted than Room, but still covers some sensitive topics.
- A Sorceress Comes to Call by T. Kingfisher – I just found out about this new book from T. Kingfisher and I’m excited to read it! All I know is that there’s a lot of reference to the protagonist’s mother in the description, so I’m just assuming that it fits the topic!
Have you read any of these books? What did you think of them? Would you read any of these books?
I’ve heard really good things about Lessons in Chemistry, mostly because of the adaptation. Prior to that I don’t think I’d really heard of this novel. But I do love the cover and title. 🙂
Yes, the cover really stood out to me too! I hadn’t heard of the hype surrounding it and didn’t know anything about it when I picked it up. It was purely because of the cover and I ended up really enjoying the book!
I love your take on this week’s topic. Mothers can be wonderful or not so wonderful in books as in real life. While I didn’t enjoy the book that much, the main character in Lessons in Chemistry is trying her best to be the parents she never had.
Pam @ Read! Bake! Create!
https://readbakecreate.com/characters-with-jobs-i-would-love-to-have/
Yes, I agree. She did her best and I think she did pretty well!
Room was an especially powerful book!
It was! It was such an emotional book.
I adore my mother, but I also know from experience how complicated mother/daughter relationships can be. Good mothers want the best for their children, but all of us have different ways of making that happen and not all of them are appreciated by our kids, especially when they’re young! LOL
Great list. I’ve read LITTLE FIRES EVERYWHERE, ROOM, and THE JOY LUCK CLUB.
Happy TTT!
Susan
http://www.blogginboutbooks.com
Lol I get that! Mothers have the most difficult job in the world, and honestly any story to do with mothering, even if it’s non-drama, will always be interesting because of how nuanced being a mother is. I love that!
Yes, there are so many books out there about the mother-child and mother-daughter relationship. I’m lucky enough to have a wonderful mom, but a lot of people can’t say the same thing.
That is true. I’m so glad to hear you have a wonderful relationship with your mom!
I love your choice for relationships this week! It’s so fascinating to see the good and the bad side of a mother/child relationship.
I’ve read Little Fires Everywhere but haven’t seen the show yet (I keep forgetting to go watch it!) and I think it’s really good.
That’s good to know. The show was very good and I keep meaning to read the book. Hopefully soon!
Great choice of topic! I find that most of the books I read with or about mothers always have very complex relationships. I’ve only read Little Fires and Sharp Objects and enjoyed both books and their depictions of mothers and how good and awful they can be!
Thanks! I agree, I think stories about mothers are always so interesting because of how complex they can get!
Lessons in Chemistry was such a great read and I loved the adaptation they did of it too! Great list!!
Thanks! Lessons in Chemistry was a pleasant surprise for me, I really enjoyed both the book and the show!
The Berry Pickers is another complicated mother/daughter relationship! I sobbed my way through it because of how some it dragged my own feelings in. Phew.
And I don’t think I could read On Earth We Are Briefly Gorgeous, it sounds like it would be super emotional!
Great list!
Oh no, now I’m curious about The Berry Pickers! I’m going to have to add that to my TBR!
I’ve read a couple of these. Sharp Objects was insane!! I nearly had to DNF because it was on the edge of my comfort zone, but I was also taken in by the darkness so had to carry on 😂
Have a great week!
Emily @ Budget Tales Book Blog
My post:
https://budgettalesblog.wordpress.com/2024/08/20/top-ten-tuesday-books-with-characters-that-i-enjoyed-reading-about/
I’m glad you got through Sharp Objects even though it was difficult. Sometimes the stories just pull you in!
There are definitely a lot of books out there which touch on the complicated mother/daughter relationships! And with Joy Luck Club, you get not one but FOUR complicated mother/daughter relationships. (I enjoyed it, but I’m half-Chinese on my dad’s side, so the book was relatable without actually touching on my lived experience at all. I can see where it would be a lot harder to read if it hit closer to home.)
I know!! Four complicated mother/daughter relationships in one book, ugh! 😭 It’s been on my TBR for ages but I can’t bring myself to read it just yet. It’s so cool that you’re half-Chinese, I’m glad you can relate!
From Cradle to Stage sounds interesting! Here is our Top Ten Tuesday. Thank you!
I have not read any of these yet but several of them are ones I want to read! I’d never heard of From Cradle to Stage but it sounds interesting! 🙂
Yeah, I’d have struggled to come up with characters I’d want to be family with. That’s why I chose just wanting to be friends/hang out with, hahaha.