Book #12

The Girls from Ames by Jeffery Zaslow

297 pages

 

According to GoodReads, I've had this on my to-read list since 2010! Wow!

The Girls from Ames was the real-life story of eleven women and the friendship they have continued over their lives as the eleven girls turned into ten women. Some of these friendships began before preschool, but they all extended out until the girls were high school-aged, and they were all inseparable. After high school, it talks about college and husbands and kids ... all things that could have kept these women from their beloved friendship. As the years grew on, their modes of communication changed, and these women continually reconnected when they could.

I love reading non-fiction books and memoirs. The really cool thing about this book is that they were all about normal women -- not someone who eventually become super important or famous. They are just women. They are real mothers, real employees, real wives -- that really resonated me throughout the book.

The book felt a tad too long. It definitely isn't a re-read choice, but I liked my sole time through it. It made me think of my years-long (a few decades-long) female friendships. Female friendships can be tricky; they can be complicated. But they can also be the strongest support system in place when you need it.

Next up: Labor Day by Joyce Maynard