My reading habits are changing the older I get. I shouldn’t be surprised; my taste in books has gone through many evolutions, but finding actual evidence of the aging process always catches me off guard. I recently purchased a copy of House of Breath and Sky, the newest title in Sarah J. Maas’ wildly popular fantasy series, Crescent City and found myself dreading the thought of reading it. It’s one of the most anticipated books of 2022 but I just can’t get excited about it. I used to love the elaborate, intricately detailed worlds of young adult fantasy novels. I could tear through multiple seven to eight hundred page books just to find out what happened to my favorite characters. Now I can barely remember the characters from the first by the time the second book in a series comes out and find myself scrolling through long summaries so I can dimly recall the plot.

As I look over my reading lists from the past ten years, I’ve realized that instead of reading for escape, I primarily read now to reflect. Fantasy books are the ultimate break from reality. But the titles I’ve logged in my thirties tend to hold up a mirror to what has been happening in my own life. Like many women, the biggest life change I’ve experienced is starting a family and beginning the journey of parenthood. Without realizing it, so many of the books I’ve read explore the themes of motherhood and complicated family dynamics. The publishing industry is clearly tuned in to this trend since many book releases from the past few years showcase plots with the same concerns.

Rachel Yoder’s first novel Nightbitch, featured in my top five books of 2021. This dark and disturbing debut features a nameless woman wrestling with the complete loss of her identity as she becomes a stay at home mother and leaves her career as an artist behind. In an attempt to hide from her toddler and the intense demands of motherhood, the mother locks herself in the bathroom, only to discover a patch of fur growing on the back of her neck and elongated canine teeth in her mouth. The main character can’t quite decide if she’s losing her mind or simply turning into a dog. Her husband dismisses her worries and struggles while he travels for work all week and she hides her new identity from her new friends in the MLM scheme she’s joined. This book is by turns hilarious, poignant, and disturbing as this woman makes the Kafka-eque transformation from cultured, vibrant human into something more feral.

Crying in H Mart is Michelle Zauner’s beautiful tribute to her complicated relationship with her mother. This memoir celebrates the power of the mother-daughter relationship as Zauner reflects on her childhood struggle with her identity as one of the few Asian American kids growing up in Eugene, Oregon. Zauner’s mother is both her connection to her Korean culture and her benchmark by which she measures her own success and failures. After a turbulent adolescence, Zauner drifts into adulthood before finding her true passion, music. She and her mother remain at odds, misunderstanding each other’s expectations until her mother is diagnosed with terminal cancer when the author turns 25. Zauner drops everything in her life and moves back home to care for her mother, all while embarking on a journey to reconnect with her Korean roots. The end packs a real emotional punch and requires a box of tissues.

Kevin Wilson creates a bizarre but beautiful story of unconventional motherhood in Nothing to See Here. Madison and Lillian develop a lifelong friendship at an elite all girls boarding school in Tennessee and end up creating an unconventional family. When Lillian, a poor local girl on scholarship, takes the fall for Madison, a star athlete from a wealthy Southern family, after drugs are discovered in their room, the pair maintain a long-distance friendship. Madison eventually marries a U.S. senator while Lillian never escapes the poverty she grew up in. The pair are thrown back together when Madison asks Lillian to care for her husband’s children from his first marriage, who just happen to burst into flames when agitated. Lillian can’t quite believe it but takes on the assignment and learns what love and sacrifice truly mean.

2022 is proving to be no exception to the trend of exploring motherhood in literature. I’ve already got The School for Good Mothers, a dystopian take on motherhood regulated by the government, on my TBR (to be read) list. Black Cake by Charmaine Wilkerson features two siblings who road trip together in search of their recently deceased mother’s mysterious past. Finally, Xochitl Gonzalez takes us to modern day Brooklyn where Olga, a wedding planner, has her life turned upside down after her radical activist mother reappears in her life in Olga Dies Dreaming. If you are looking for more recommendations from library staff, check out the Monthly Staff Book Recommendations on the library’s website.

Kate Tigue is the Head of Youth Services at the Morrill Memorial Library in Norwood, MA. Look for her article in the February 24, 2022 issue of the Transcript and Bulletin.