Need a present for mom? How about a book?

"FOR EVERY MOTHER: Celebrating All Stages and Ages of Motherhood," by Janene Wolsey Baadsgaard, Covenant Communications, $14.99

As a mother of 10, Janene Baadsgaard has been observing and writing about family life for more than 30 years. In this book, short essays are arranged into the four seasons of motherhood, which, she says, are each enjoyable and challenging in their own way. Her hope is that taken together, the essays will "become an inspiring guide to help a woman survive and thrive through all seasons" and to "cherish the season in which she stands." The secret, she says, "isn't always about finding more time to spend together, but to make the time parents and children already have together really count."

"THE HOT MOM's HANDBOOK: Laugh and Feel Great from Playdate to Date Night," by Jessica Denay, William Morrow, $16.99

Jessica Denay defines a Hot Mom as one who is confident and empowered, who meets the needs of her family but refuses to lose herself in the madness. She draws on her experience as the single mother of a 10-year-old boy to provide insights and inspiration on balancing motherhood with "me" time. Along the way, she includes tips from her blog; cheeky anecdotes; advice from celebrity moms, experts and friends; ways to "baby on a budget;" and products "to drool over."

NOVEL APPROACHES

"MOTHERS AND DAUGHTERS: A Novel," by Rae Meadows, Henry Holt and Company, $25

Sam is 33 and a new mother, who is feeling that she may be sacrificing her artistic dreams for motherhood, when a box of things belonging to her deceased mother arrives. As she goes through them, Sam learns more about her mother, Iris; but also her grandmother, Violet, who was an 11-year-old taken from a New York slum to be part of a new Orphan Train/foster care program. Through the three women and the love they share, the dreams they refused to surrender and the secrets they hold close, the book explores not only themes of migration and class mobility but also motherhood in all its complexity. Rae Meadows is the author of "Calling Out," which received the 2006 Utah Book Award for fiction.

"SECRET DAUGHTER," by Shilpi Somaya Gowda, William Morrow, $13.99

This book, which spent 43 weeks on the top of the best-sellers list in Canada, traces the story of two mothers, from different worlds, and the daughter than binds them together. Asha was given up for adoption because her family in rural India could not afford the "luxury" of raising a daughter; she was adopted by Somer, an American doctor who could not have children of her own, and her husband Krishnan. The story moves seamlessly between the two cultures and the two mothers as it explores themes of loss and belonging.

"SAVE ME," by Lisa Scottoline, St. Martin's Press, $27.99

On the day that Rose McKenna volunteers as a lunch mom to keep her eye on a mean girl that is bullying her daughter, a massive explosion goes off in the kitchen. Rose must make a split-second decision who to save. Her decision has unforeseen consequences, in which the community blames her for her choice and bullying against her daughter increases. To save herself, her marriage and her family, Rose must discover what really happened on that fateful day. Lisa Scottoline, author of two previous New York Times best-sellers, teaches a course called "Justice and Fiction" at the University of Pennsylvania and was recently elected president of Mystery Writers of America.

Email: carma@desnews.com