Friendship, whether formed from childhood or a casual run in at the grocery store, can be one of the most meaningful and impactful influences in our lives. These relationships can hold great value and often bring us closer to our true selves. In these times where the world feels distant, take a look at these buddy reads that will make you feel closer to the people in your life who matter most. They’re great picks for your next buddy read.
Big Friendship: How We Keep Each Other Close by Aminatou Sow and Ann Friedman
The perfect buddy read written by real life buddies! It’s no secret that the some of the strongest friendships reach mountain highs and can even sink to valley lows. In Big Friendship: How We Keep Each Other Close, follow along with best friends Aminatou Sow and Ann Friedman through nearly a decade of friendship. From the joys of hosting a hit podcast and having matching tattoos to the pitfalls of health scares and being fired from their dream jobs, this vibrant and entertaining pair remind us of the value and intricacy of true friendship.
The Friendship List by Susan Mallery
As a pregnant single mother at the age of seventeen, Ellen vowed to give her son Cooper a life of opportunity and promise, even if it meant that she’d continue living with her overbearing parents and follow their harsh rules. When she overhears Cooper confide in his friend about his fear of leaving her by herself as he moves away to college, she’s heartbroken and seeks her best friend Unity for advice. To encourage and empower Ellen to get out of her comfort zone, Unity creates a list of challenges to help her reclaim her life and femininity. From semi-regrettable tattoos, high-heeled stilettos, and risqué one-night stands, this buddy read novel will make you laugh and cry about the beauty of adventure and pushing the limits.
Boop and Eve’s Road Trip by Mary Helen Sheriff
Take Georgia Rule and throw in a healthy dose of Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood and you’ve got Boop and Eve’s Road Trip. When life goes sideways and her best friend is MIA, Eve hits the road to find her. When Eve’s grandmother, Boop, finds out about the trip, she invites herself along for what she hopes will be a healing trip through the heart of Dixie. Eve isn’t the only passenger on the road trip with secrets, and soon Boop must decide if risking everything to share her burden with Eve is just what this trip needs.
Want: A Novel by Lynn Steger Strong
Elizabeth moves to New York in pursuit of her dreams but before she knows it, she’s overwhelmed by her marriage, motherhood, and the stresses of her two jobs. She feels like she’s had enough, so when she has to file for bankruptcy, it’s her final breaking point. As she tries to piece together her life and hold on to her reality, she reaches out to Sasha, her long-lost childhood friend and the timing couldn’t be more perfect. As Sasha is fighting a crisis as well, the years they’ve spent apart melt away as the friends use their hardship to bring them closer together than ever before.
Lux: The New Girl by Ashley Woodfolk
Growing up can be tough – from teenage acne and growth spurts to tutoring and being saved by the bell, we’ve all experienced our share of lessons and mishaps. For Lux Lawson, she’s been a total rebel. With her father no longer in the picture, she’s been kicked out of countless schools and has one final shot at getting her act together at Harlem’s Augusta Savage School of the Arts. But when she lands a spot in the exclusive Flyy Girls clique, she thinks that she’s on a fresh start. As the first of its series, Lux: The New Girl #1 reveals dark secrets and reminders of her rebellious past as she navigates friendship and a new beginning in this buddy read.
Micah: The Good Girl by Ashley Woodfolk
In Ashley Woodfolk’s charming sequel, Micah: The Good Girl #2, we meet Micah, an innocent girl who plays by the rules. An avid student, painter, and churchgoer, she followed the near perfect footsteps of her brother and elders. But when a close family member suddenly dies, her world is flipped upside down and her anxiety is crippling. Micah begins to question if being a “good girl” is all that it’s cracked up to be and takes a closer look at life, her innocence, and the people around her.
More books that make great buddy reads
Anxious People by Fredrik Backman
What do you get when a failed bank robber and a group of strangers walk into an open house? An outlandish and boisterous hostage situation, that’s what. What began as an innocent apartment open house brings this unlikely group of captives together as they unpack each of their unique and complicated life stories. As authorities close in on the location and the group unveils some of their most intimate truths, they set off a chain reaction of events that reveals an unexpected conclusion.
Need a book for your Fall book club? Check out our top 7 Fall books for book clubs to read together.
The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue by VE Schwab
Addie LaRue is nearly out of options. In a moment of hopelessness, she makes a Faustian bargain in hopes that she can live forever. However, she is overwhelmed with a curse that she will be forgotten by every person she will ever meet. Set in France in 1714, Addie ventures far and wide, through art and science, and across the world and through time as she tries to leave a legacy of her invisible name. But nearly 300 years later when she runs into a familiar man, he is the only one who remembers her name and her true identity.
Looking for something similar for your next buddy read? Check out these books to read if you loved The Time Traveler’s Wife and these books about time travel.
Dream Big, Stella! by Ashley Farley
Stella has never known much about her biological father. From the time she was a child, she was led to believe that he was an anonymous stranger that made a generous donation at a sperm bank. Shockingly, she learns that not only does her father have a name but he’s none other than rock legend Billy Jameson, who has recently passed away and left his historic inn in her name. But there’s a catch: she must uproot her bustling city life in New York to manage the inn on the rural farm nestled in the mountains of Virginia. Seeing it as an opportunity to seek change in her life, she becomes the face of the inn and grapples with the many questions that she has about her estranged family and childhood. This heartwarming novel takes you on a journey of self-discovery and family ties as you follow Stella and the unforgettable friends she makes along the way.
In a Holidaze by Christina Lauren
For many of us, Christmas is known as the most wonderful time of the year, full of glistening lights, decking of the halls, and holiday cheer. But for Maelyn Jones, it’s a reminder of her stalling life at home with her parents, her dead-end job, and failed relationship. What brings her the most joy is spending the winter in her beloved holiday cabin along the snowcapped mountains of Utah. This Christmas, however, is significant – it’s the last holiday that she’ll spend in the place that she’s held so dear to her heart since she was a child. As she drove away for the final time, she makes one last plea to the universe to send her a sign. In the blink of an eye, the universe responds with a sudden car crash that leaves her dizzy, disoriented, and on an airplane headed right back to the cabin to start the holiday over and over again. Follow along with Maelyn’s hilarious holiday adventure as she relives her favorite time of the year and believe in the power of love and the magic of Christmas.
Brave Girl, Quiet Girl by Catherine Ryan Hyde
Brooke is a struggling single mother who is down on her luck, to say the very least. Recently divorced, living with her mother, and fighting to make ends meet, she thinks that things couldn’t get any worse. So, when she is suddenly carjacked and the criminal escapes with both her car and her two-year-old daughter Etta, she knows that she’s lost it all. What Brooke doesn’t know is that a few miles away, Etta is found by Molly, an abandoned teen who has lived a life unwanted. A true survivor, she dedicates her time to protecting the Brooke’s young daughter until one day she stumbles into Brooke. The two strike up a unique friendship, bonded by their traumas and unite in a search for home.
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