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Best Friendship Books

Topic List17 of 18 books34 recommendations total

Friendship books, including titles recommended by Emma Watson, Jordan Peterson and Natalie Portman. Most recommended here: A Little Life, A Thousand Splendid Suns and The Perks of Being a Wallflower.

Curated list content

Where to start: Friendship Books recommended most often

Recommended books, ranked by how many of the 26 people behind this list recommended each one.

  1. 1A Little Life12 recommendations · recommended by Lee Pace, Sarah Jessica Parker and Soman Chainani
  2. 2A Thousand Splendid Suns8 recommendations · recommended by Emma Watson, James Altucher and Ann MiuraKo
  3. 3The Perks of Being a Wallflower5 recommendations · recommended by Emma Watson, Jamie Grayson and Jenn Im
  4. 4Of Mice and Men4 recommendations · recommended by Lee Gifford, Sophie Bakalar and Jordan Peterson
  5. 5Bridge to Terabithia2 recommendations · recommended by Christina Warren and Natalie Portman
1
Book cover for “A Little Life”
12 recommendations

Recommended by Lee Pace, Sarah Jessica Parker, Soman Chainani and 8 others

Description

A Little Life follows four college classmatesbroke, adrift, and buoyed only by their friendship and ambitionas they move to New York in search of fame and fortune.

2
Book cover for “A Thousand Splendid Suns”
Book Summary

Begins by following two Afghan women whose lives intersect across decades of war, marriage, and shifting social order. The prose stays close to daily routines and private exchanges, so the strongest effect is an immersive, character-led account of endurance and an often-surprising friendship. Useful part: it makes long-term emotional consequences feel immediate. Limitation: stretches of relentless hardship pile up and some plot beats simplify moral ambiguity toward tidy resolutions. Best read when you want concentrated emotional fiction rather than light entertainment.

3
Book cover for “The Perks of Being a Wallflower”
Description

The Perks of Being a Wallflower is a story about what its like to travel that strange course through the uncharted territory of high school. The world of first dates, family dramas, and new friends. Of sex, drugs, and The Rocky Horror Picture Show.

4
Book cover for “Of Mice and Men”
4 recommendations

Recommended by Lee Gifford, Sophie Bakalar and Jordan Peterson

Description

Recommended on Jordan Peterson's website.

5
Book cover for “Bridge to Terabithia”
2 recommendations

Recommended by Christina Warren and Natalie Portman

Description

Jess Aarons' greatest ambition is to be the fastest runner in his grade. He's been practicing all summer and can't wait to see his classmates' faces when he beats them all.

6
Book cover for “My Brilliant Friend”
My Brilliant Friend

Neapolitan Novels, Book One

2 recommendations

Recommended by Lee Pace and Emily Nussbaum

7
Book cover for “Big Friendship”
Big Friendship

How We Keep Each Other Close

1 recommendation

Recommended by Christina Reynolds

Description

A close friendship is one of the most influential and important relationships a human life can contain. Anyone will tell you that!

8
Book cover for “People We Meet on Vacation”
Description

Two best friends. Ten summer trips. One last chance to fall in love.Poppy and Alex. Alex and Poppy. They have nothing in common. She_x0092_s a wild child; he wears khakis. She has insatiable wanderlust; he prefers to stay home with a book.

9
No coverThe Book Thief
Description

It is 1939. Nazi Germany. The country is holding its breath. Death has never been busier, and will be busier still.By her brother's graveside, Liesel's life is changed when she picks up a single object, partially hidden in the snow.

10
No coverA Man Called Ove
Description

A grumpy yet loveable man finds his solitary world turned on its head when a boisterous young family moves in next door. Meet Ove. He's a curmudgeon, the kind of man who points at people he dislikes as if they were burglars caught outside his bedroom window.

12
No coverDivine Secrets of the YaYa Sisterhood
Show 5 more books with a single recommendation

Recommended Friendship Books by Emma Watson

Emma Watson recommends 2 books on this list. See all book recommendations by Emma Watson

Recommended Friendship Books by Lee Pace

Lee Pace recommends 2 books on this list. See all book recommendations by Lee Pace

Recommended Friendship Books by Andy Cohen

Andy Cohen recommends 1 book on this list. See all book recommendations by Andy Cohen

Friendship Books: common questions

What are the most recommended friendship books?
A Little Life, A Thousand Splendid Suns and The Perks of Being a Wallflower are the most recommended friendship books on BookMentions, ranked by how many people recommended them.
Who recommends friendship books?
Emma Watson, Lee Pace, Andy Cohen and Ann Miura-Ko are among the people who recommend books on this list. Each name links to their full set of book recommendations.
Which of these friendship books should I read first?
A Little Life is the most recommended here with 12 recommendations, which makes it the safest place to start.

Built from recommendation data, category signals, and source-backed book records. Use this list as a starting point; open any book to see proof, context, and Amazon options where available.

Recommendation dataCategory signalsSource-backed book recordsOpen book pages for proof/context

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About this list

This list aggregates books that appear in public recommendation sources, reader-interest signals, and category data. Books are ranked by their position from the source list; recommendation counts and ratings are shown where available. Open any book to see source-backed recommendation proof, editorial context, and Amazon options — the per-book detail page is where the trust signals live.

Recommended books by person: who recommends friendship books

Books recommended by the people below. Open a profile to see everything they recommend, with the source behind each pick.