Books for your bestie for Galentine’s day, or any day of the year.
A wise woman once said, “Ovaries before brovaries,” officially declaring Feburary 13th as Galentine’s day. That woman was Leslie Knoppe of Parks and Recreation, and she reminded us all that we need to celebrate our female friends and family as much as we celebrate our relationships.
Our friends are important, they are the people we go to for fun, for strength, and for encouragement. More importantly, they are people we actively choose to keep in our lives, so that means that everyone is extra special.
To celebrate Galentine’s day, we’ve put together a list of our favorite books showcasing just how important friendship is to everyone.
Swing Time, by Zadie Smith
One of the beautiful things about friendship is that even if friendships don’t remain close, they never really go away. Swing Time follows two childhood friends who drift apart. However, their close relationship is never quite forgotten.
When Tracey and Aimee are young, growing up in North West London, they both dream of dancing, but only Tracey really has the talent for it. Aimee has a knack for rhythm, time, and music. When the two abruptly end their friendship in their twenties, they find echoes of the other person in their daily lives. Tracey ends up dancing in the chorus line, while Aimee works for a singer. It is when Aimee pursues her philanthropic ambitions and the story moves to West Africa that she is reminded of Tracey in the dancing bodies of women of the region.
Waiting to Exhale, by Terry McMillian
Leslie Knope said it best, “uteruses before duderuses.” Especially when the “duderuses” in your life just stop caring. So, who do you turn to when your life is turned upside down? Your best friends, of course.
Waiting to Exhale follows Savannah, Bernadine, Gloria, and Robin as they find their strength after the men in their lives let them down. These women look to their friendship to regain stability and identity. They look to their friendship to help them finally start achieving their own dreams, instead of putting them on hold. If you want a book with just a hint of First Wives Club, then this is it.
Lost Roses, by Martha Hall Kelly
What happens when friends find themselves on opposite sides of the world with a raging war between them? They try as hard as possible to keep each other safe. Lost Roses is a historical fiction novel following two best friends as they find themselves caught up in the terror of World War I and the Russian Revolution.
Eliza and Sofya met two years ago in Paris where they instantly clicked. Now, Sofya has invited Eliza to visit her family, the Romanovs, in Russia. However, war is declared and Russia’s dynasty begins to fall. Eliza returns to New York, while Sofya goes into hiding with her family. But Eliza doesn’t plan to completely leave her friend alone, she does all she can to help from so far away. It’s only when Sofya’s letters stop coming that Eliza fears the worst. Will these best friends make it out of this war together?
Rules for Visiting, Jessica Francis Kane
What constitutes a “good” friend in today’s digital world? Be honest, have you ever thought “I should call or text my friend,” but then just didn’t get around to it? Technology makes it easy for us to communicate across distances, while also making it far too easy to stop communicating all together.
Rules for Visiting, follows May Attaway as she comes to the conclusion that she hasn’t been a very good friend. She wonders if there is a way to be a better friend. So, she decides to take a journey to visit her four long-neglected friends. As May travels, she sees her friends lives and starts to realize the problems with her own. A great book of friendship that will make you want to give your bestie a call. This book is about friendship in a digital age, a look at how we stay in touch.
Lost and Wanted, by Nell Freudenberger
Helen Clapp recently lost her old friend, Charlotte Boyce. The two had been roommates in college and confided in each other about everything. However, their friendship faded as they grew into their post-college life. Now, Charlotte is dead and gone forever. Until one Wednesday in June when Helen receives a text message from Charlotte.
Lost and Wanted is a story about friends who get a second chance. Despite Helen’s insistence on rational thought, she must accept that something supernatural is happening around her. She is drawn back into Charlotte’s orbit, and has to question the laws of the universe. Now the two women can reflect on their lives, friendship, and moments that defined their lives.
Another Brooklyn, Jacqueline Woodson
When August runs into an old friend, she recalls the Brooklyn of her childhood. It was a place where friendship was the most important thing in the world. Where her and her friends would wander the neighborhood streets, dreaming of a future, believing they were talented and beautiful. However, that was not the Brooklyn of her reality.
The real, dangerous Brooklyn was there all along. It was a place where innocent girls were taken advantage of, where mother’s vanished. It was a haunted place. Another Brooklyn shines a light on the powerful, but fleeting friendship that united four young girls.
William Shakespeare’s Much Ado About Mean Girls, by Ian Doescher
Of course what better way to celebrate Galentine’s day than to revisit the comedy all about best friends, and fake friends, Mean Girls? This version of the cult classic film, however, has gone Elizabethan.
Much Ado About Mean Girls, is the Shakespearean retelling of the comedy featuring the North Shore High queen bees. It tells the story of Cady, a home-school girl who infiltrated the popular girls group. What starts as a sabotage mission quickly turns into a hostile takeover. Filled with the films dialogue, stage directions, and dramatic asides from everyone’s favorite characters, this is the perfect way to revisit this story of rivalry, betrayal, and fashion rules.
Friendship can take many forms, but it is always something to be celebrated. So make sure to celebrate it not only with your besties but with all the women in your life this Galentine’s day.
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Featured Photo by Hannah Busing on Unsplash
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