For a roundup of books being released for Mother’s Day gift giving, check out the BookReporter.com’s special section, promoted on EarlyWord’s top banner this week. You can also win one of 15 special Mother’s Day Gift Baskets, including 12 of the 36 book selections.

It’s interesting to see the range of titles, from Janice Y.K. Lee’s The Piano Teacher to How Never to Look Fat Again (we want to meet the people willing to give their mothers the latter).

Included is a title that may look like a new book by Ruth Reichl, For You Mom, Finally. It’s actually the paperback edition of last year’s Not Becoming My Mother. Yes, the friendlier title works better for Mother’s Day (imagine giving the original title along with How Never to Look…), but according to the Washington Post‘s food blog, Reichl never liked the original title anyway.

For You Mom, Finally Ruth Reichl Retail Price: $13.00 Paperback: 144 pages Publisher: Penguin (Non-Classics) – (2010-04-06) ISBN / EAN: 0143117343 / 9780143117346

If you’re looking for a quick reminder of favorite winter-themed titles for a book display, check out my article in the new Nick Jr. on “Books that Celebrate Winter.”

If you’re experiencing a sudden run on Everything Matters! by Ron Currie, it may be because Stephenie Meyer, in her “Behind the Scenes” Oprah interview, said it’s the book she’s reading now and can’t wait to get back to. Amazon’s editors chose it for their Top 100 of 2009, at #63. It also got strong reviews in the L.A. Times, and the NYT.

Summarizing the book is next to impossible, as Library Journal demonstrated in their review:

This book is difficult to categorize. It’s a comedy, but it’s not particularly funny. It’s a novel of ideas, but it mocks intellectualism. It’s a fantasy, but it includes a cameo appearance by Sen. Olympia Snowe. This won’t be everyone’s cup of tea…

Everything Matters! Ron Currie, Jr. Retail Price: $25.95 Hardcover: 320 pages Publisher: Viking Adult – (2009-06-25) ISBN / EAN: 0670020923 / 9780670020928

As most of her fans already know, she loves Jane Austen and Charlotte Bronte. Shakespeare is a “foundation block” of her first reading experiences. Among YA authors,  she likes Scott Westerfeld and loves Shannon Hale. Science fiction is a favorite; Orson Scott Card is her “personal hero.”