Sometimes Mother’s Day gift ideas can feel a little too same-y. Some mothers like horror! And politics! And sport! Here is a list of books to buy a mother for Mother’s Day that aren’t about cooking, child-rearing, baking, gardening, heartbreak or personal triumph.

From the Outer edited by Nicole Hayes and Alicia Sometimes

In this terrific anthology dedicated to AFL, Nicole Hayes and Alicia Sometimes bring together 30 personal stories from unexpected voices: those who are female, Indigenous or gay, those with a disability, a foreign accent or even — perhaps most dubious of all – literary leanings.

The Trap by Melanie Raabe (translated by Imogen Taylor)

German author Melanie Raabe gives readers a twisty, frightening thriller with The Trap. When Linda’s sister Anna was murdered, Linda caught sight of the killer briefly – yet, he was never caught. When she sees the same man on television 12 years later, Linda devises a trap specifically built for him.

The Road to Ruin by Niki Savva

The Road to Ruin already looks set to be one of the most talked-about books of the year, having gone out of print within days of its release. Based on her unrivalled access to their colleagues, and devastating first-person accounts of what went on behind the scenes, political commentator Niki Savva unpacks the working relationship between former prime minister Tony Abbott and his chief of staff, Peta Credlin.

The Fighter by Arnold Zable

Henry Nissen was a champion boxer, the boy from Amess Street in working-class Carlton who fought his way up to beat some of the world’s best in the 1970s. Now, he works on the Melbourne docks, loading and unloading, taking shifts as they come up. But his real work is on the streets. He’s in and out of police stations and courts giving character statements and providing support, working to give the disaffected another chance. Arnold Zable gives readers a moving and unforgettable portrait of Nissen.

Damned Whores and God’s Police by Anne Summers

This updated rerelease of Anne Summers’ groundbreaking 1975 book, Damned Whores and God’s Police, remains as relevant today as it was 40 years ago: while sexual harassment, domestic violence and date rape are well understood today, they are nevertheless still with us and seem to be increasing. This reissue edition also includes a new timeline of key milestones for and by women from 1788 to 2015.

Lean Out by Dawn Foster

Sheryl Sandberg’s business advice book, Lean In, was heralded as a defining moment in attitudes to women in business. But for all its commercial success, it proposed a model of feminism that was individualistic and unthreatening to capital. In her own work, Lean Out, journalist Dawn Foster unpicks how the purportedly feminist message of Sandberg’s book neatly exempts patriarchy, capitalism and business from any responsibility for changing the position of women in contemporary culture.

The Sympathizer by Viet Thanh Nguyen

Viet Thanh Nguyen just won the 2016 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction for this stunning debut novel. Part satire, part espionage thriller and part historical fiction, The Sympathizer opens at the end of the Vietnam War and follows a communist spy as he travels between Vietnam and America – eventually ending up on a film set that could have been where Francis Ford Coppola filmed Apocalypse Now.

In Other Words by Jhumpa Lahiri

First published in Italy as In altre parole, Jhumpa Lahiri’s In Other Words has been translated into English by editor and translator Ann Goldstein (best known for her translations of Elena Ferrante’s Neapolitan Novels). Presented in a dual-language format, this is a wholly original book about exile, linguistic and otherwise: a startling act of self-reflection and a provocative exploration of belonging and reinvention.

Talking to My Country by Stan Grant

Talking to My Country is a powerful and personal meditation on race, culture and national identity. Author Stan Grant speaks movingly about his childhood and family heritage, about his work as a journalist and travels around the world, about his personal battle with depression and inherited trauma, about the tragic deaths of other young Indigenous men around him – on the streets and in custody.

Fellside by M.R. Carey

M.R. Carey writes thrilling, genre-bending novels with compelling characters you won’t forget. His new novel, Fellside, is set in a creepy maximum security prison on the edge of the Yorkshire moors. Jess Moulson has been sentenced to life imprisonment after being found guilty of the murder of a young boy. Overwhelmed by grief and guilt, she wishes to end her life through starvation, until a ghostly presence appears in her cell and demands justice.

Of course, there is absolutely nothing wrong with buying your mother a pink book that features recipes, children and heartbreak. Here’s a great one, in fact.

And you can find more gift ideas for Mother’s Day here.