Shelley Reads and Writes

Tag: friendship

  • One Summer Brought Four Very Different Women Together

    Book Cover off of Amazon Website

    Sandra Pennington is feeling lonely. She has lived alone since the death of her husband five years ago. However, this year, she is also feeling the loss of her best friend (though not to death but to dementia). Her children have no plans to visit her over the summer, and she is downright lonely.

    So, she does what any sensible woman would do, right? She rents out her remaining bedrooms and operates a bed-and-breakfast over the summer.

    Though her children aren’t sure, she decides to go through with it and invites three women into her home.

    Mary is a lawyer who recently retired and isn’t sure what her next step is. However, a vacation in Maine might just give her the clarity that she needs.

    High school teacher Amanda decides to leave her long-time boyfriend at home and take some time to figure out what she wants in life.

    Patty, a last-minute add-in, is determined to have a good time, no matter how down on her luck she is.

    These three women start spending one dinner a week together, but quickly realize they need friendship to help them discover what their futures hold.

    If you are looking for a book about happy endings, finding yourselves, and spending time with good friends, this book will be perfect for you!

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    If you are interested in this book, you can grab it from Amazon right here!

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    Please note, this is an affiliate link, where I will receive compensation if you buy the product, without any extra cost to you.

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    Stay tuned for my next book review.

    Til next time.

  • Two Friends Struggle with Their Weight, Happiness, and the Loss of Their Friend

    Book Cover off of Amazon Website

    I wasn’t looking for a book like this, but Higgins’ book Good Luck with That really hit a nerve. As someone who is overweight and trying to find the willpower to lose weight, this book really talked to me.

    Emerson, Georgia, and Marley have been best friends ever since they met at a weight-loss camp as teens. They truly found someone who loved them, no matter their size, though they still had a list of the things that they would do once they finally got skinny!

    When Emerson tragically passes away, her friends are shocked that she wants them to carry out the things on their list, right now, before they run out of time! She didn’t want them to wait until they got skinny!

    It isn’t easy. Marley has been carrying around the loss of her twin since she was four years old. Because of that, she hasn’t been able to find love. Georgia has been dealing with rejection from her mother and brother her whole life, due to her size. She has to learn how to love herself, no matter what her size. Her ex-husband loved her, even at her heaviest, but she wasn’t able to see that!

    As the two friends grow stronger, they learn to love themselves and start living, even if they still have quite a few pounds to lose. This book was really an eye-opener for me. I have said many things that both Marley and Georgia have said. When I am skinny, my life will be better. However, I have to learn to love myself too!

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    If you are interested in this book, you can grab it from Amazon right here!

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    Please note, this is an affiliate link, where I will receive compensation if you buy the product, without any extra cost to you.

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    Stay tuned for my next book review.

    Til next time.

  • Five College Friends Stay Close Years Later

    Book Cover off of Amazon Website

    In All the Right Mistakes by Laura Jamison, five college friends approach their fortieth birthday, having traveled very different paths. Elizabeth and Sara are lawyers, Martha is a doctor, and Carmen is a wealthy stay-at-home mom. The most successful, Heather, is a famous tech executive.

    Then, Heather writes an advice novel, basically talking about all the “mistakes” that her college friends made, like opting out, giving half effort, and more. It becomes extremely popular, though, which hurts her friends more than anything. In fact, it may just tear them apart. None of them feels they can forgive Heather. When her life starts to fall apart, she doesn’t have her friends to fall back on.

    This makes the group realize that friendship is worth more than anything. They need each other to get through the ups and downs of life. It just makes life so much better to have someone you can count on!

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    If you are interested in this book, you can grab it from Amazon right here!

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    Please note, this is an affiliate link, where I will receive compensation if you buy the product, without any extra cost to you.

    ***

    Stay tuned for my next book review.

    Til next time.

  • Elizabeth Berg Has A Way of Writing About Friendship

    Book Cover off of Amazon Website

    Your best friends will be by your side, no matter what. When Ruth becomes ill (and then terminal), her friends rally around her, determined to be there for her until the end.

    Ann, her closest friend, drops everything to ensure that Ruth is well taken care of. She spends her days and nights with her, without worrying about anything else. She wants to make sure that Ruth has everything that she needs (and then some) to enjoy her last days.

    As Ruth’s other friends rally, the women do what they always do, go out to eat, watch movies, and gossip. However, it is hard to think that it might be the last time that they do these things.

    I love a good Elizabeth Berg novel. She is a great storyteller, and really understands what it means to have a good group of friends, ones that you can tell anything to and they will still love you!

    If you are looking for a good read about friendship (especially between women), you need to pick up Talk Before Sleep by Elizabeth Berg.

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    If you are interested in this book, you can grab it from Amazon right here!

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    Please note, this is an affiliate link, where I will receive compensation if you buy the product, without any extra cost to you.

    ***

    Stay tuned for my next book review.

    Til next time.

  • Will Death Change Friendship?

    Book Cover off of Amazon Website

    In The Proper Care and Maintenance of Friendship by Lisa Verge Higgins, a group of friends’ lives completely change when they lose one of their own. Even more, she sent everyone a letter to ensure that they learn something from her own experiences.

    For Kate, she is busy being a wife and mother. Her entire life revolves around her family and making sure that everyone else’s lives run smoothly. She tries skydiving because her friend asked her to. And it changes her perspective on her life.

    For Jo, her career is everything. She works hard to ensure that she is going to have a better future than her childhood. When she gets her friend’s daughter, she has to figure out if one orphan can help another!

    For Sarah, she is forced to confront the man that she has loved for the last few years. It has kept her from finding love with anyone else, even the man who has been beside her in the steamy jungles of Africa.

    The three women are changed, both by the loss of their friend and her final wish for all of them.

    I have been reading a lot of tough books lately, and I was looking for a lighter read. Though this book dealt with death, it was a good, easy read about a group of friends who will be there for each other, no matter what. It also talks about growth as the women learn from their deceased friend. It is a good read!

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    If you are interested in this book, you can grab it from Amazon right here!

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    Please note, this is an affiliate link, where I will receive compensation if you buy the product, without any extra cost to you.

    ***

    Stay tuned for my next book review.

    Til next time! 

  • Are Your Memories Still Clear Years Later?

    Book Cover off of Amazon Website

    In Sheila Norton’s What I Didn’t Tell You, readers will be taken back to the 60s, when Judith is growing up with her best friends, Trish, Eddie, and Gordon. They were inseparable for most of their lives, until one year changed everything.

    Now, an older adult, Judith hears about an aging British rock star who has been charged with abuse that occurred in the 1960s. However, the name doesn’t just ring a bell. It really takes her back to the time that she knew him, before her entire family immigrated to New Zealand, when Trish was obsessed with the singer.

    Judith believes that he has to be innocent, but she knows that the only way she can know for sure is by talking to her best friend at the time, Trish. So, she decides, on a whim, to travel back to England, find her friend, and get to the bottom of the mystery.

    What will she find when she gets there? Will Trish be happy to see her? Will she figure out what really happened in the sixties?

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    If you are interested in this book, you can grab it from Amazon right here!

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    Please note, this is an affiliate link, where I will receive compensation if you buy the product, without any extra cost to you.

    ***

    Stay tuned for my next book review.

    Til next time.