Moms don’t always get a chance to curl up with their favorite book club reads, but that’s about to change thanks to these amazing Spotify audiobooks I came across. This special roundup is geared towards celebrating Mother’s Day, from memoirs to fictionalized versions of motherhood, with all the options aim to talk about the nuances of raising humans and how moms see themselves. So save some paper this year and skip the card because these Spotify audiobooks give moms something different to listen to. Happy reading — er...listening!
The Best Spotify Audiobooks For Moms
Choosing Family: A Memoir of Queer Motherhood and Black Resistance by Francesca T. Royster
Francesca T. Royster details her experience being a Black, Queer mom in Choosing Family: A Memoir of Queer Motherhood and Black Resistance in a riveting way. Along with her wife Annie, Francesca adopts a little Black girl and they begin navigating what it means to choose your family. From detailing the long adoption process to understanding what it means to be a mother, Francesca examines how her experiences have allowed her to be open to something other than the traditional nuclear family.
Narrated by Sarah Palmero.
Chouette by Claire Oshetsky
Tiny knew from the moment she was pregnant with Chouette that she'd be different. She felt it throughout her pregnancy and stands correct in her assumptions when her daughter is born. She works overtime to make sure Chouette wants for nothing, but it seems like her efforts are in vain.
Convinced that she'd rather learn how to care for a child whose nature is to be free and wild, Tiny doubles down on her stance to love her unconditionally. Confronted by the knowledge her husband is trying to find a way to make Chouette as normal as possible, Tiny's love and devotion to her daughter are relentlessly tested.
Narrated by Julia Whelan.
More: Life on the Edge of Adventure and Motherhoodby Majka Burhardt
Majka Burhardt was known for going on rock and ice climbing expeditions with her husband, but her pregnancy caused her to slow down in ways she was unwilling to. Knowing that things will be different from here on out, Majka starts the process of grieving the life she had before entering motherhood.
Although she eventually goes back to work, she constantly feels torn between being there for her twins and what she used to choose without a second thought. Also, she and her husband Peter struggle to find a sense of balance with the addition of children.
It's an honest and raw look at one mother's journey as she works to understand how to navigate being a wife, mom, and working woman. Narrated by Majka Burhardt.
Honey, Baby, Mine by Laura Dern, Diane Lad and Reese Witherspoon
Laura Dern and her mother Diane Ladd peel back the layers of life, love, and more in Honey, Baby, Mine by having honest conversations. Stemming from an illness that plagued Diane's lungs, their conversations were born on the long walks that were meant to help her focus on other things. Daring to approach their conversations with open hearts and cover things that most mothers and daughters stray away from. The more Laura and her mother Diana share, the more their already close bond strengthens.
Honey, Baby, Mine is a recollection of those conversations and memories. Narrated by Laura Dern and Diane Ladd.
Interesting Facts About Space by Emily Austin
Although Interesting Facts About Space isn't completely about motherhood, it's an excellent listen for moms who want a break from things that talk about everything that comes with it.
Enid has an obsession with anything related to space and can share many facts about it. It's part of what moves her and keeps her going. Unfortunately, other areas of her life are all over the place. She spends most of her time listening to true crime podcasts and swiping right on dating apps that end in fruitless relationships.
Her relationship with her family is shaky at best, but she decides to be more intentional about her interactions with her half-sisters after their dad dies. It's around this time she unintentionally begins an affair and becomes paranoid that someone with violent motives is following her.
She eventually beings to realize that she has to deal with the one person she hasn't been honest with — herself.
Narrated by Natalie Naudus.
Down Came The Rain by Brooke Shields
Down Came The Rain is Brooke Shields' recollection of her postpartum experience and the depression that followed. She didn't expect to feel pure love and intense sadness after having her daughter, but those feelings came anyway. What makes this audiobook special is that Brooke speaks with clarity about how postpartum can be overlooked and implies that she hopes her story will make other moms feel less alone if they're struggling.
Narrated by Brooke Shields.
The Manicurist's Daughter by Susan Lieu
Susan Lieu takes listeners behind the scenes as she works to understand her family and how her future fits into the bigger picture. She talks about their escape from the ongoing Vietnam war in the 1980s and the way her own mother helped them transition successfully in California. Things were going well until Susan's mom unexpectedly died during a cosmetic procedure and the family forbid conversations about her.
It leads Susan down a long path of discovering how far people will go to change themselves and how no justice was brought against the surgeon who had a negative reputation with Vietnamese immigrants. Determined to find answers to her burning questions, Susan does everything she can to uncover secrets about the past. What she finds is unlike anythign she was prepared to discover.
Narrated by Susan Lieu.
Little Fires Everywhere by Celeste Ng
Little Fires Everywhere is a chilling look at two mothers who have made choices that directly affect themselves and their children. One one side of the coin, Elena Richardson lives in the picturesque Shaker Heights with her devoted husband and their three children. She's as "by the book" as anyone can be and she relishes in the life it's afforded her.
Then there's the free-spirited Mia Warren who strikes up an uneasy friendship with Elena and even becomes her tenant along with her daughter Pearl. Somehow, Elena's children are charmed by Mia and Pearl, wanting to spend as much time with them in their own ways. It sounds perfect until it's revealed that Mia has a complicated and elusive past that even Pearl isn't 100% aware of.
Things reach a head when Mia learns that Elena's friends are trying to adopt her co-workers daughter that she felt she was unable to care for. This custody battle forces those in close proximity to deal with their internal biases about race and socioeconomic status. As Elena works to bring Mia down, her own carefully coordinated life begins to unravel and it affects her family in irreversible ways.
Narrated by Jennifer Lim.
Bringing Up Bébé: One American Mother Discovers the Wisdom of French Parenting by Pamela Druckerman
Journalist Pamela Druckerman gives birth in Paris and secret wonders how French parents are able to get their children to behave so well. She can't help but notice the glaring difference between children in France compared to the children in America as if someone has drawn an invisible line that separates the two. What she learns over time surprises her like the fact no one tells French mothers who they're supposed to model their lives after in order to be 'successful mothers.'
She learns that the French actually let their children exist as if instead of expecting them to hit every single benchmark that's expected of American children. Coupled with her notebook and curiosity, Pamela begins to investigate what helps French parents rear their children the way they do. She eventually comes to term with her own feelings about raising her child and relinquishes the idea that being a mom or child are supposed to be perfect.
Narrated by Abby Craden.
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Lead images via Spotify
