Hi! Please see the About Me page.

I love books. I have read 98% of the books listed on this website (and the other 2% are books I am currently reading/are stacked up on my nightstand and coffee table and kitchen table and desk and…every other flat surface in my vicinity…you get the idea).

As I was reading, I noticed a number of authors began their books with the declaration that they had been looking for a book on their particular topic and couldn’t find it. Thus, they undertook to write/edit one themselves. After reading this sentiment multiple times from multiple different authors, I realized that I could find and compile a list of these elusive books.

This website is that list. My goal is to share good books and the purpose of this website is to be a resource for any reader looking for a book about dating, romance, love, marriage, miscarriage, infertility/IVF, parenthood, non-parenthood, or widowhood.

I have scoured footnotes, bibliographies, “suggested further reading” lists, author interviews, newspaper articles, and more. These titles are what I have found and read (so far). And I am sharing because maybe you are a fellow reader who is looking for a book on one of these topics too. Maybe this list contains the exact book that you need right at this moment in your life. I hope so!

I am not a scientist. If you and your team of trusted medical professionals are embarking on infertility treatments that do not align with your takeaways from these books, that does not mean your doctors (or you) are doing anything wrong.

These books are more memoir-based because I, personally, am more interested in the emotions than the “science.” Rest assured, there is plenty of science in them and you’ll learn lots of new vocabulary words, but these are, first and foremost, narratives, not textbooks. If you have medical questions, please ask your team of trusted medical professionals. (And if you do find a more science-based book that you think should be included, let me know!)

I am not a doctor or licensed medical professional.

If you are struggling with infertility, miscarriage, or widowhood and need more support, please talk to your team of trusted medical professionals.

I absolutely believe books can help us heal and grow, but I also believe that sometimes it takes more than a book and that is ok. There is support out there (in a myriad of forms from therapy and counseling to medication) and it is worth seeking. As this multitude of stories will attest, you are not alone.

This is not an exhaustive list of books on these topics. Not even a little bit! There are tons are books on these topics. If these books do not meet your needs, please do not give up! The book you need may exist at your local bookstore or library. Or it may not exist yet and an author is hard at work on it (or it’s the book you will write!).

I am curious about maternal health, the scientific advancement of infertility treatments, the history of childbirth, and how children shape the lives of their parents and vice versa, and these books are what I, as a human with my own tastes/preferences/interests/bias, have been drawn to.

The books listed have expanded my perspective, shaped my own thinking about parenting, and made me feel less alone in some of the topics I am grappling with in my own life. If my interests expand and change, this website might expand and change too. But the goal remains the same: to share good books.

It’s tough! I may cross-reference in the future but, for now, I have gone with the category that best represents the book. Many anthologies, such as Wanting a Child: Twenty-Two Writers on their Difficult But Mostly Successful Quests for Parenthood in a High-Tech Age and Oh, Baby! True Stories about Conception, Adoption, Surrogacy, Pregnancy, Labor, and Love include stories of adoption, but I have categorized these two under infertility/IVF.

Scientific advancement continues! Readers will find a difference in infertility treatments, beliefs, and statistics between a book published in 2007 and one published in 2017. It is important to keep in mind that the field is growing and changing. (One example: the method of egg freezing has evolved from cryopreservation—known as slow freezing – to vitrification, a flash-freezing method with much better success rates.) I believe “older” books remain valuable (and worth reading!) but if you are looking for the latest technological advancements in the field, I would recommend checking with your team of medical professionals and other medical resources.

The excerpts are meaningful/interesting to me and thus are 100% subjective. After I finish reading a book, I transcribe particular sentences/excerpts that resonated with me. For this website, I picked 1 excerpt from the book. Maybe I picked an excerpt that you don’t like but the actual book turns out to be your new favorite. That is absolutely possible! If an excerpt doesn’t ring true for you, you can still give the book a chance!

I am also always happy to take suggestions, so if you have read a book and you don’t think the excerpt is a fair or useful representation of the book, please message me (@molly.b.reads) and let me know – I’d love to hear your preferred passage.

No! If I do not recommend a book, it means that that book did not resonate with me at the time I read it. I included it on the website because it fits the category, I did read it, and I believe it may resonate with someone else. Maybe you’ll love it! Maybe you’ll also not love it. That’s ok. But it exists and someone (and a publishing team) worked hard to bring it into the world, so the least I can do is tell you that it exists.

I am thrilled to hear that you have read a book about one of these topics! If you would like to share a recommendation or suggestion for inclusion in the website, please message me. (@molly.b.reads)

Thank you for your message, fellow reader! I am thrilled you reached out. This is currently a passion project that I do in my spare time in addition to my regular, paid work. Consequently, there may be a delay in my getting back to you. It’s also possible that I am reading the (obviously fantastic) book recommendation you have provided and thus it’s in process and not up on the site yet.

Also, there may be some books you recommend that I know I will not get to for a while (my reading stack is as tall as you imagine it to be!) and there are some that may not strike my fancy, but that doesn’t mean that they shouldn’t be listed. My goal is to start a “Recommended by Other Readers” page with a list of recommendations from others. Stay tuned for updates!

This website was created in August 2020. I will continue to add books as I read and may tweak/expand the categories according to my reading journey. The “Recommended by Other Readers” page is one future addition. And maybe some social media tie ins. I would also like to expand to media recommendations (movies, tv shows, etc.).

It all depends on how much support I get from my web admin/husband. He is so generous to spend his spare time helping me with this. But also, you know, you get what you pay for.

Work in progress!

No. At the moment, this is just a resource for people looking for books on these topics. I have included Amazon links because Amazon has the synopsis, cover photo, and other reviews that might be of interest. I am not endorsing Amazon over an independent bookstore or a library. Where you spend or don’t spend your money is up to you!

I do not gain anything (of monetary value) if you decide to purchase a book. If this ever changes, I will let you know.

If you have additional questions or comments, please message me. (@molly.b.reads)