Not Your Average Mom Books |

What makes a Mom "good" or "bad"? Last year I picked up Amy Chua's controversial book Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother. This is not my typical reading material, but I had heard a lot about it. Surprisingly, I could not put it down–I was riveted! It was like an inside peek into one family's life dominated by a super tough Mom…sometimes uncomfortable, sometimes enraging and sometimes heart-wrenching. Let's face it there are all kinds of Moms in this world,from June Cleaver to Joan Crawford : inspirational Moms, celebrity Moms, tiger Moms and drunk Moms. In honour of Mother's Day, check out some books about extraordinary women and their children.

In Mom and Me and Mom (eBook), after spending her childhood living with her Grandmother, Maya Angelou chronicles the sometimes difficult reunion with her mother Vivian Baxter. The Spark: A Mother's Story of Nurturing Genius (eBook) is an account by Kristine Barnett about raising her autistic son, and genius, Jake. The Lost Daughter by Mary Williams is a memoir of a young woman, born to a family in the Black Panther movement and ultimately adopted by film star Jane Fonda.

Amy Chua juxtaposes Eastern and Western paren'ting styles in Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother (eBook). Young Toronto writer Jowita Bydlowska delivers a raw portrait of alcoholism, motherhood and rehab as a Drunk Mom (eBook). What does it mean to be a 'good' mother? Ayelet Waldman explores the question in Bad Mother: A Chronicle of Maternal Crimes, Minor Calamities and Occasional Moments of Grace (eBook).