Mother's Day Books and Gifts Mom Is Bound to Love

“Reading gives us someplace to go when we have to stay where we are,” said Mason Cooley. From adventures that arise from the pursuit of paradise to the struggles to keep the dreams of youth alive, from dysfunctional families to Salvador Dali, these reads recommended as ideal Mother’s Day gifts by our friends at Southampton Books and Sag Harbor Books—all released within the past six months, and one within the past six days, even—will transport every mom, and all other readers, to unforgettable places.

Sea Wife by Amity Gage (Alfred A. Knopf)
Sea Wife is a book ostensibly about everyone’s fantasy: abandon your life and go journey through paradise on a sailboat. But Amity Gage—who previously wowed audiences with Schroder—twists that fantasy into a taut psychological suspense game that’s impossible to put down.

Dali Tarot Cards by Salvador Dali (Taschen)
This iconic set of tarot cards was originally commissioned by the producer of the James Bond film, Live and Let Die. Salvador Dali and his wife Gala designed this wonderful set and it has since become a modern mystical classic. Now issued alongside a new book in a beautiful clamshell case and given the full Taschen treatment.

A Thousand Moons by Sebastian Barry (Viking)
A lyrical and poignant saga of a misfit family trying to make a living in post-Civil War Tennessee.  At the same time heartbreaking and darkly humorous. The sequel to Barry’s best-selling Days Without End.

All Adults Here by Emma Straub (Riverhead)
In her funny and heartfelt novel, it is now abundantly clear that Emma Straub is the reigning queen of writing about dysfunctional families. All Adults Here is a story about identity, about taking stock of the choices you’ve made in your life, and about recognizing that maturity is a very relative concept.

The Roxy Letters by Mary Pauline Lowry (Simon & Schuster)
Zippy, light, romantic, and hilarious, this is a book about one young woman’s fight to keep her home city (Austin) weird and un-corporatized, but is really the story of a woman coming into her own and learning to fight for herself. A must for anyone who loved Bridget Jones’ Diary or Where’d You Go, Bernadette?

St. Tropez Soleil by Simon Liberati (Assouline)
The newest volume in Assouline’s renowned Icons Collection focuses on St. Tropez on the French Riviera. This beautiful coffee table book features history, culture, mythology and wonderful photographs throughout.  Makes a lovely addition to your collection.

Perfect Tunes by Emily Gould (Avid Reader Press)
A hopeful story of music, love, parenthood and dreams deferred, Perfect Tunes is the perfect book for any mother (or father, or anyone, really) who fights to keep the dreams of their youth alive. 

Pretty Things by Janelle Brown (Random House)
A twisty, suspenseful tale of two very different women—one a con artist, one an heiress—who are brought together for the scam of a lifetime. Filled with flawed, unforgettable characters and a story that will keep you turning pages until the very last.   

The Jetsetters by Amanda Eyre Ward (Ballantine Books)
Another hilarious tale of family dysfunction, this one unfolds as the matriarch of a torn-apart, estranged clan reunites everyone on a Mediterranean cruise. Lovers old and new join in as the characters bicker, brawl and slowly discover that it’s still possible to heal old wounds.

Get more great picks from Southampton Books and Sag Harbor Books at southamptonsagharborbooks.com.