Top Ten Books About Friendship

The first book that I thought of for this topic was Ich nannte ihn Krawatte by Milena Michiko Flašar, and it is about finding emotional comfort in a stranger, but it’s German and hence not on the list. The ones I thought of next were all those Enid Blyton series I loved as a kid, The Famous Five and the Five Find-Outers.

I’ve tried not to include books about friends who fall in love, for this week’s Top Ten Tuesday, Books about Friendship topic. Because, really, while a couple who are the best of friends make a really good couple, it isn’t exactly their friendship that we love.

(Edit: 0.5. The Importance of Being Earnest by Oscar Wilde – I just remembered how much I loved Ernest and Algernon together, and had to edit them into this list. While the play isn’t about friendship, I do love how they’d go to any lengths to have each others’ backs, and how it only adds to the confusion.)

1. Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban by J. K. Rowling – The first book is about making friends. But I like the Prisoner of Azkaban the most, because it is about sticking by the friends you’ve made, loyalty that lasts a lifetime and more. Sirius, James and Lupin were the best!
2. Watership Down by Richard Adams – Granted, these are rabbits not people who are friends, but it’s a classic adventure, where by the end you see the band of rabbits resolve all their conflicts and stand united against all odds. If that’s not friendship, I don’t know what is.
3. The Book Thief by Markus Zusak – Of course this is here, this had to be here. Rudy loved her like no one else, so of course, I’m referring to Liesel and Max; I’m one of those people who don’t think she ends up married to him. 
4. The Ocean at the End of the Lane by Neil Gaiman – This book is for those people who like to tell kids, “You’ll get it when you’re grown up.” As if kids aren’t just smaller sized versions of people; it’s amazing how most adults forget what it was like to be a child, and couldn’t possibly comprehend what a child can understand. And that’s the thing that makes childhood friendships unforgettable – the rare kinship. Before I spiral into a whole post about this, I’ve two words: Lettie Hempstock. 
5. A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini – Now this book really is simply and most beautifully about two friends and how their friendship lets them overcome all the struggles of their life, together. 
6. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain – How could this not be about friendship? 
7. Conrad’s Fate by Diana Wynne Jones – My favourite in the Chrestomanci series, this book is about how fifteen-year-old Christopher Chant becomes friends with Conrad Grant and together the solve a mystery, to save both Christopher’s friend Millie and Conrad himself. I just love the fun these two have, especially how Chant keeps teasing Conrad about his alias ‘Grant’. 
8. Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro – I’m talking about the relationship between Ruth and Kathy & Tommy. It is rocky to start with, and eventually grows and matures as they do, and that’s what makes their friendship so real.
9. The Golden Compass by Philip Pullman – I just finished reading this trilogy and I only have to say this: Lyra and Roger. 
10. IT by Stephen King – Yes, technically, it’s about the crazy scary clown. But it’s also about six childhood friends, who face the ultimate danger together and reunite years later to tie up loose ends. It’s about this:
 “Maybe there aren’t any such things as good friends or bad friends – maybe there are just friends, people who stand by you when you’re hurt and who help you feel not so lonely. Maybe they’re always worth being scared for, and hoping for, and living for. Maybe worth dying for too, if that’s what has to be. No good friends. No bad friends. Only people you want, need to be with; people who build their houses in your heart.” 

8 thoughts on “Top Ten Books About Friendship”

  4. You have a lot of books I've not read on here, I know, for shame. But The Golden Compass and The Ocean at the End of the Lane are both excellent choices, it's been a while since I've read them so I didn't even think of them.

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  5. Ha, I also was trying to avoid books about friends who end up falling in love, because the books end up really being about the romance, after all. It was harder than I thought! I love your entire list — especially Never Let Me Go and The Golden Compass. Both have such different takes on friendship, but both are so powerful and creative.

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  7. Becky – Of course, friendship isn't all they're about; so it took me a while to remember them too. But they do kind of fit anyway, don't they?

    bookshelffantasies.com – Powerful and creative – exactly!

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