June 8th is National Best Friends Day
Celebrate by Reading a Book about Best Friends
A prayer for travelers : a novel
by Ruchika Tomar

Set adrift when her grandfather passes away, a bookish loner of mysterious parentage takes a waitressing job and reconnects with a charismatic former classmate who runs side-hustles to finance her dreams.
Text me when you get home : the evolution and triumph of modern female friendship
by Kayleen Schaefer

A personal and sociological examination of the evolution of female friendship in pop culture and modern society draws on the experiences of diverse women and the author's own life to celebrate how the bonds between women have evolved to have as much significance as relationships with romantic partners and family members.
Summer sisters : a novel
by Judy Blume

Two women from very different families become inseparable companions during summers on Martha's Vineyard during their coming-of-age years, forging the bonds of a lifelong friendship that weathers growing up, marriage, children, careers, and betrayal. 100,000 first printing.
Swing time
by Zadie Smith

Two dark-skinned dancers with very different talents share a complicated childhood friendship that ends abruptly in early adulthood in a story that transitions from northwest London to West Africa. By the award-winning author of On Beauty.
Tiny beautiful things : advice on love and life from Dear Sugar
by Cheryl Strayed

Collects top-selected postings on life and relationships from The Rumpus' popular "Dear Sugar" online column, sharing recommendations on everything from infidelity and grief to marital boredom and financial hardships.
The lido : a novel
by Libby Page

An anxiety-riddled cub reporter for a small London paper is assigned to cover the closing of a local rec center and bonds with an 86-year-old widow who has swum in the community pool every day since childhood.
Hank & Jim : the fifty-year friendship of Henry Fonda and James Stewart
by Scott Eyman

Traces the fifty-year friendship between Henry Fonda and Jimmy Stewart, offering insights into their differences and commonalities while exploring how their friendship shaped such memorable collaborations as "The Grapes of Wrath" and "Twelve Angry Men."
The giver of stars
by Jojo Moyes

Volunteering for Eleanor Roosevelt’s new traveling library in small-town Kentucky, an English bride joins a group of independent women whose commitment to their job transforms the community and their relationships. By the best-selling author of Me Before You.
The island of sea women : a novel
by Lisa See

The ostracized daughter of a Japanese collaborator and the daughter of their Korean village's head female diver share nearly a century of friendship that is tested by their island's torn position between two warring empires.
A prayer for Owen Meany
by John Irving

While playing baseball in the summer of 1953, Owen Meany hits a foul ball that kills his best friend's mother, and he becomes convinced that he is an instrument of God.
Marley & me : life and love with the world's worst dog
by John Grogan

Follows the life story of an exuberant golden Labrador who gets into perpetual trouble and experiences a range of inspiring adventures, from comforting his human companions in the aftermath of a devastating miscarriage, to shutting down an entire beach, to guarding a seventeen-year-old neighbor in the aftermath of a stabbing attack. 100,000 first printing.
A thousand splendid suns
by Khaled Hosseini

Two women born a generation apart witness the destruction of their home and family in war-torn Kabul, losses incurred over the course of thirty years that test the limits of their strength and courage. By the author of The Kite Runner. .
The authenticity project
by Clare Pooley

When Julian Jessup, an eccentric, lonely artist who believes that most people aren’t really honest with each other, writes the truth about his own life in a green journal and leaves it behind, others start writing in their own truth, which leads to unexpected friendship and love.
As always, Julia : the letters of Julia Child and Avis DeVoto : food, friendship, and the making of a masterpiece
by Julia Child

Shares the previously unpublished correspondences between the iconic celebrity chef and her unofficial literary agent from 1952 to 1965, offering insight into such events as Julia's early experiences as a new bride in Paris, her support of her diplomat husband and her views on period politics.
Friendkeeping : a field guide to the people you love, hate, and can't live without
by Julie Klam

Examines friendship in all its modern varieties, both online and in person, and explores how to keep friends in the face of intimidating odds including disliking a spouse or being happy in their misfortunes. i
Friendship : the evolution, biology, and extraordinary power of life's fundamental bond
by Lydia Denworth

An investigation of friendship provides profound implications for our understanding of what humans and animals alike need to thrive across a lifetime.
The summer sail
by Wendy Francis

Reuniting aboard a cruise ship to Bermuda, three college roommates—Abby, Caroline and Lee—as they reach their destination, find tensions simmering and old jealousies flaring as this vacation becomes one they won’t soon forget – but not for the reasons they expect. By the author of The Summer of Good Intentions. .
You're the only one I can tell : inside the language of women's friendships
by Deborah Tannen

The critically acclaimed linguistics professor and author of You Just Don't Understand decodes the conversational styles of female friends to explain how language contributes to the crucial bonds between women as expressed through casual chats, private confidences and social media exchanges.
She matters : a life in friendships
by Susanna Sonnenberg

The best-selling author of Her Last Death presents an illuminating and provocative assessment of the women who have profoundly shaped her life, in a candid series of portraits that explores the powerful bonds and complex nuances that mark female friendships.
Summer rental
by Mary Kay Andrews

Ellis questions everything she believed after losing an all-consuming job, while Julia struggles with insecurities that threaten a loving relationship and Dorie confronts a maelstrom of problems after a shocking betrayal
Becoming Gertrude : How Our Friendships Shape Our Faith
by Janice Peterson

Join Jan in exploring the critical pieces of spiritual friendship: hospitality, encouragement, acceptance, serving, and caring. With seasoned wisdom and winsome stories, Jan uses personal experiences to walk you through what each of these things can mean in your life. You can have rich, rewarding, faith-filled friendships that emerge from the everyday rhythms of your days―and Becoming Gertrude will lead you on that journey.


 
Surfside sisters : a novel
by Nancy Thayer

Returning to her Nantucket childhood home in the wake of personal and professional setbacks, a novelist is forced to settle old scores with her former best friend and unfaithful ex. By the best-selling author of A Nantucket Wedding
Best friends forever : a novel
by Jennifer Weiner

Addie Downs and Valerie Adler were close until a betrayal during their teen years drove them apart; but twenty years later, a terrified Val shows up at Addie's doorstep wearing a bloody coat, pushing them both into a wild adventure where they must rely on one another again, in a novel by a best-selling author.
The myth of you and me : a novel
by Leah Stewart

A letter from a childhood best friend to whom she has not spoken in ten years and an odd legacy from her boss, elderly historian Oliver Doucet, sends thirty-year-old Cameron on a difficult mission to track down her old friend Sonia and hand-deliver a mysterious package to her, in a novel that celebrates the power, pain, and pleasure of friendship.
Chances are...
by Richard Russo

One beautiful September day, three sixty-six-year-old men convene on Martha's Vineyard, friends ever since meeting in college, and must puzzle out a lingering mystery from the summer of 1971
Rules for visiting
by Jessica Francis Kane

A talented but reclusive gardener is inspired by her love of classic literature to embark on a female odyssey to reconnect with her four once-close friends through simple activities and digital encounters that unexpectedly catapult her into viral fame.
Eleanor Oliphant is completely fine
by Gail Honeyman

A socially awkward, routine-oriented loner teams up with a bumbling IT guy from her office to assist an elderly accident victim, forging a friendship that saves all three from lives of isolation and secret unhappiness. A first novel.
Precious and Grace
by Alexander McCall Smith

While helping Mr. Polopetsi with an entanglement in a pyramid scheme and Charlie with a dubious romance, Precious Ramotswe tackles the case of a young Canadian woman who would find a long-lost acquaintance from her Botswana childhood
Conversations with friends : a novel
by Sally Rooney

Devoting herself to an intellectual life and the self-possessed lover with whom she performs spoken-word poetry readings, a college student is drawn into the lives of a sophisticated journalist and her husband before the increasingly intimate relationship tests the boundaries of her resolve. A first novel.
The friend
by Sigrid Nunez

Becoming the guardian of her late best friend's enormous Great Dane, a grieving woman is evicted from her no-pets apartment and forges a deep bond with the equally distraught animal in ways that initially disturb her friends
Let me tell you about Jasper... : how my best friend became America's dog
by Dana Perino

The #1 New York Times best-selling author of And the Good News Is... is back with stories of friends, family and how a dog named Jasper can bring even the staunchest political opponents together.
Craig & Fred : a Marine, a stray dog, and how they rescued each other
by Craig Grossi

Tells the uplifting true story of a U.S. Marine, the stray dog he met on an Afghan battlefield, and how they saved each other and now travel America spreading a positive message
Cat daddy : what the world's most incorrigible cat taught me about life, love, and coming clean
by Jackson Galaxy

The star of Animal Planet's My Cat From Hell traces the story of his 13-year relationship with gray-and-white feline companion Benny, related their shared healing experiences while offering advice on how to promote optimal human-cat bonds. TV tie-in.
Saving Simon : how a rescue donkey taught me the meaning of compassion
by Jon Katz

Describes how the author rescued and fell in love with a neglected donkey who proved a loyal listener and companion, prompting the author to confront personal challenges and learn new lessons about compassion. By the best-selling author of The Second-Chance Dog: A Love Story.
The eight mountains : a novel
by Paolo Cognetti

Describes the friendship between two young boys, one from cosmopolitan Milan, the other from the mountains, who spent many summers together exploring the Dolomites and how they try to sustain their connection despite divergent paths in life.
The other's gold
by Elizabeth Ames

A novel that begins on a college campus follows the friendship of four women across life-defining turning points. .
The throwback special : a novel
by Chris Bachelder

Follows the lives of a group of men who gather annually to recreate the November 1985 football play in which Joe Theismann suffered a horrible, career-ending broken leg in this new novel by the author of Abbott Awaits.
The color purple
by Alice Walker

The lives of two sisters--Nettie, a missionary in Africa, and Celie, a southern woman married to a man she hates--are revealed in a series of letters exchanged over thirty years
Prayers for sale
by Sandra Dallas

Drawn to the newly married seventeen-year-old Nit Spindle, who has moved to their small mountain Colorado town to escape the ravages of the Great Depression, octogenarian Hennie Comfort forges a friendship with the young woman based on shared hardships and secrets. By the author of Tallgrass.
How to be loved : a memoir of lifesaving friendship
by Eva Hagberg

Describes how after an isolated early life of loneliness, the author was forced by a life-threatening health challenge to reach out for help for the first time, an effort that led to enriching, transformative friendships. .
My brilliant friend : Childhood, Adolescence
by Elena Ferrante

Beginning in the 1950s Elena and Lila grow up in Naples, Italy, mirroring two different aspects of their nation. (This book was previously listed in Forecast.) .
Girls burn brighter
by Shobha Rao

Forging a deep friendship with impoverished but passionate fellow weaver Savitha, motherless Poornima begins to reconnect with the beauty of the world before a devastating act of cruelty drives her friend away, compelling her to leave behind everything she knows to search for her friend in the darkest corners of India's underworld and beyond. .
The fellowship of the ring : being the first part of The lord of the rings
by J. R. R. Tolkien

After discovering the true nature of the One Ring, Bilbo Baggins entrusts it to the care of his young cousin, Frodo, who is charged with bringing about its destruction and thus foiling the plans of the Dark Lord