"Our friendship should have frayed and broken long ago," writes James in the introduction to this shared memoir (amazon.com) about two women whose careers took them around the world—to Namibia and Nicaragua, to the depths of ocean and the wilds of the jungle—but whose hearts were always with each other.

Jeffrey Zaslow, a Wall Street Journal columnist, took a year off from his job so he could travel around the country to study the 40-year friendship of 11 women from Ames, Iowa. The story is striking in part because a man reports it. He is captivated by the subject both as a journalist and as the father of teenage daughters. He examines the Ames clique from every angle—career, marriage, motherhood—but he also keeps his authorial presence to a minimum. The women, now 45 and 46 years old, open up about coming of age at the height of feminism and the challenges of holding on to friends. The result is richly detailed and undeniably familiar, as if someone narrated your own life story back to you.

— Carmela Ciuraru

This elegiac memoir of the author’s alliance with writer Caroline Knapp is a testament to the art of female friendship and its necessity. These scrappily independent women came from divergent backgrounds—Knapp was an upper-crust New Englander, Caldwell a child of the Texas Panhandle—but consoled each other over past alcohol abuse, bad love affairs (Caldwell’s) and severe anorexia (Knapp’s). When Knapp dies of cancer, Caldwell wrestles with grief. But ultimately she realizes that "dying doesn’t end the story; it transforms it." —Sheila Weller

Bertsche moved from New York to Chicago to share an apartment with her boyfriend. But after getting married she quickly realized that she missed her lifelong friends, who were scattered around the country. To fill the void and find companionship in the Windy City, she goes on 52 friend-dates over the course of year. Bertsche candidly chronicles the experience in her debut memoir. (Pre-order at amazon.com)

Pasternak and her former pal Martha Stewart met when the were two suburban wives married to successful men. Their bond grew when the both divorced. They shared daily conversations, plans and dreams for the future. But their friendship frayed when Pasternak was called as a witness in Stewart's high profile trial. This is the story of two women and one devastating friendship breakup. (amazon.com)

In this enjoyable joint memoir (amazon.com), three friends who are feeling the pressures of growing up (finding a spouse, having kids, getting the big promotion), decide to leave all that behind and set out on an adventure across 60,000 miles and four continents.

Think of this memoir (amazon.com) as The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants for grownups. Three friends, each determined to have a baby before time ran out, discover a good-luck vial of anonymous donor sperm. Carey was the first to take the steps toward single motherhood. But around the time she found the perfect donor, she also met a man, fell in love and got pregnant naturally. So she passed the magic vial to her bestie Beth, who passed it to Pamela.

Radziwell's beautiful memoir about loss chronicles the death of her husband three weeks after the death of her best friend Carolyn Bessette Kennedy. It's a moving exploration of marriage, friendship and the challenges of starting over. (amazon.com)

When one-time teen mom Beck finally had the house to herself after her kids went to college, she was ready to have some fun. In need of friends to hang with in her free time, she put an ad in the paper for a made-up women's group called Wow. To her surprise, eight would-be friends showed up that night. (amazon.com)

Best friends and cofounders of a New York City-based media company share what they learned on the journey from making a personal relationship professional. (amazon.com)

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