International Friendship Day: 10 Books for besties

In honor of International Friendship Day, we’re highlighting the top 10 books that celebrate the bond between BFFs.

All the Summer Girls is the story of three former best friends who reconnect in the summer beach town where they spent much of their past. Though they’re all looking for an escape from their hectic lives, they’re forced to face the secrets they’ve all buried about one fateful night on that very beach. They quickly realize their lives have all been shaped by their dark secrets and it’s their strong bond of friendship that will pull them through.

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Sweet Salt Air is a novel about two women, Charlotte and Nicole, who were once the best of friends, spending summers together at Nicole’s house off the coast of Maine. But they eventually drift apart. They’re brought back together many years later when Nicole is commissioned to write a book about island food and asks for Charlotte’s help. The old friends find themselves back together on Quinnipeague and are about to face things they’ve been holding back from each other for years — secrets that have the potential to destroy their friendship once again.

A powerful novel about the bond of friendship, Firefly Lane tells the story of Tully and Kate’s friendship which spans the course of 30 years. These friends couldn’t be more opposite, yet more perfect for each other. Their friendship weathers many storms until a single act of betrayal threatens to destroy it. And then, they must hope that their bond is strong enough to hold them together.

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The sequel to Firefly Lane, Fly Away is a heartrending novel about Tully and Kate’s family’s life after Kate passes away. Tully’s life has spiraled out of control since her best friend’s death and her relationship with Kate’s family, especially her 16-year-old daughter, is complicated and strained. But it’s through the friendship that Tully still has with Kate that she’s able to summon the strength to move forward and get past the demons that have been haunting her.

Victoria’s world will never be the same after Caitlin chooses her as a friend. Caitlin is everything Victoria believes she isn’t: dazzling and reckless and captivating. She begins to spend more time with Victoria’s family at its sprawling estate on Martha’s Vineyard. Vix and Caitlin become “summer sisters” until their bond is torn apart. Six years later, Caitlin is getting married and asks Vix to be her maid of honor. Vix says yes, of course, because she wants to know what happened during that last devastating summer.

A charming novel about three friends and the unexpected gift that will change their lives, Friendship Bread reminds us that we should always have hope. It’s the story of Julia, recently estranged from her sister, Madeleine, a widow who is trying to find customers to eat the baked goods she’s trying to sell, and Hannah, a famed concert cellist whose marriage has just ended. The three become friends in a tea shop and soon, the town is reaping the benefits of a gift from all three.

This story of four friends evolved over four books. The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants, The Second Summer of the Sisterhood, Girls in Pants and Forever in Blue: The Fourth Summer of the Sisterhood. But it was The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants that started it all. It tells the story of a group of friends — Carmen, Tibby, Lena and Bridget — who are thrilled when Carmen finds a pair of worn, dirty jeans at a thrift shop. In fact, they all want them. So they decide they should each try on the jeans and whoever they fit best gets to keep them. Nobody understands why but they fit each of the girls perfectly. So as they head off to their respective summer vacations, they take the vow of The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants and decide to share them. And so begins a summer they will never forget.

Isabella, Mary and Lauren feel as if they’re watching everyone around them get married. As they attend bridal shower after bridal shower and wedding after wedding, they’re forced to take a look at their own seemingly dead-end lives. Isabella’s job is going nowhere, Mary is dating a nice guy but his mother is nothing like him and Lauren is a waitress who is attracted to a no-good bartender. Long before Lena Duhnam’s Girls hit HBO, this book hit the mark on what it’s like to be a twentysomething trying to figure out your life, and just how important it is to have friends that can help you do that.

A group of college friends gets a once-in-a-lifetime, all expense-paid trip to Jamaica, a chance to reconnect while getting away from their overwhelming lives. Allie has received the news that a genetic illness may run in her family, Tina is drowning as a mother of four young children, Savannah’s husband has been unfaithful and she’s afraid to tell anyone and then there’s Pauline, who spares no expense to throw her husband a birthday extravaganza he’ll never forget. But as a powerful hurricane bears down on the island, the friends must reevaluate everything.

Silver Girl is the story of Meredith, who has just lost everything, including her friends and her social standing, all because of her husband who cheated rich investors out of billions of dollars. Desperate, Meredith calls her old friend Constance, who’s also dealing with problems of her own, and they take off for Nantucket so they can heal. But they’re suddenly faced with old troubles that are resurfacing, and Meredith must decide if she’ll return to the life she was leading or start a new one.

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