Contemporary Fiction
Explore contemporary fiction and non-fiction that celebrates the warmth and complexity of friendship. These stories reveal bonds formed in youth, challenges of modern connections, and long-term friendships tested by loyalty and betrayal. Together, these books highlight humor, heart, and the enduring power of meaningful relationships. Our curated selections include recipes and drinks inspired by the story’s themes and settings for a fully immersive experience.
My Friends
by Fredrik Backman
#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER!
A Most Anticipated Book of 2025: Goodreads - USA TODAY - Marie Claire - BookPage - Literary Lifestyle - Book Riot - Sunset Magazine - Totally Booked with Zibby Owens * A Fallon Book Club Pick
The #1 New York Times bestselling author of Anxious People returns with an unforgettably funny, deeply moving tale of four teenagers whose friendship creates a bond so powerful that it changes a complete stranger's life twenty-five years later.
Most people don't even notice them--three tiny figures sitting at the end of a long pier in the corner of one of the most famous paintings in the world. Most people think it's just a depiction of the sea. But Louisa, an aspiring artist herself, knows otherwise, and she is determined to find out the story of these three enigmatic figures.
Twenty-five years earlier, in a distant seaside town, a group of teenagers find refuge from their bruising home lives by spending long summer days on an abandoned pier, telling silly jokes, sharing secrets, and committing small acts of rebellion. These lost souls find in each other a reason to get up each morning, a reason to dream, a reason to love.
Out of that summer emerges a transcendent work of art, a painting that will unexpectedly be placed into eighteen-year-old Louisa's care. She embarks on a surprise-filled cross-country journey to learn how the painting came to be and to decide what to do with it. The closer she gets to the painting's birthplace, the more nervous she becomes about what she'll find. Louisa is proof that happy endings don't always take the form we expect in this stunning testament to the transformative, timeless power of friendship and art.
Discussion Questions for My Friends
1. Consider that Louisa is the only one able to decipher the painting. What does that say about her and her story?
2. Were there any characters that you related to in particular? Why?
My Friends Food Pairing
In My Friends, its the beauty and mystery of art that starts Louisa on her journey to find these three mysterious people painted into a piece of art. This unique cookbook takes inspiration from famous artworks and brings them to the plate. Art you admire becomes art you can eat.
Painting the Plate
by Felicity Souter
WINNER of the Guild of Food Writers Award under the First Book category
This unique cookbook pairs artistic masterpieces with effortless recipes that will turn your dining room table into a feast for the eyes and the palate.
Filled with gorgeous photography, high quality reproductions and fascinating anecdotes, this one-of-a-kind cookbook connects great art with the world of food. To create the recipes in this book Felicity Souter delved into the lives of artists past and present, uncovering fascinating stories, eating habits, and cultural traditions.
Each entry consists of an appetizer, main, side, dessert, or drink that visually echoes the artwork and reflects the culinary connection to its artist. More than fifty masterpieces from an enormous array of genres and periods include works by Marina Abramović, Jean Michel Basquiat, Georgette Chen, Salvador Dalí, Jacob Lawrence, Man Ray, Henri Matisse, Georgia O'Keeffe, and Jackson Pollock.
Sumptuous illustrations reveal a striking resemblance between recipe and artwork. An abstract Lee Krasner painting is transformed into a colorful mixed vegetable salad; an oval-shaped Barbara Hepworth sculpture into a crusty loaf of bread; a snowy Monet haystack into a sugar-dusted breakfast muffin; an Yves Klein sponge into an electric blue martini.
Easy enough for every day, and aimed at cooks of all abilities, these recipes are themselves works of art, and will whet the creative appetites of readers and chefs alike.
Lobster Mac and Cheese
Coastal town, childhood friends, found family = the comforting taste of mac and cheese. Throw in a bit of lobster to add that coastal, seaside touch.
Ingredients
● 2 10 to 12-ounce uncooked Main lobster tails, or 4 smaller tails
● 1 cup panko breadcrumbs
● 9 Tbsp unsalted butter divided
● ¼ tsp OId Bay seasoning
● Small handful of parsley
● ½ medium shallot
● 2 large cloves of garlic
● 8 ounces of sharp white cheddar cheese
● 5 ounces of Gruyère cheese
● 2 ounces Parmesan cheese
● 1 lbs dried cavatappi, gemelli, or elbow macaroni pasta
● 2 Tbsp dry white wine
● ⅓ cup all-purpose flour
● 3 ½ cups whole milk
● ½ tsp kosher salt
● ¼ tsp red pepper flakes
Instructions
1. Thaw lobster tails. Arrange the oven rack in the upper third of the oven and preheat to 450 degrees. Coat a 9x13-inch baking dish with cooking spray.
2. Place breadcrumbs in medium bowl. Melt 3 Tbsp of butter in the microwave then transfer 2 Tbsp to the bowl with the breadcrumbs and toss until combined
3. Prepare lobster tails - Using kitchen shears and starting at the thicker end, cut down each side of the tail where the feelers meet the shell. Remove and discard the feelers to expose the tail meat. Place the tail cut side up on a rimmed baking sheet.
4. Brush the remaining butter on the tails. Sprinkle on the Old Bay seasoning and bake until mostly cooked through, about 10 to 12 minutes. Remove from the oven and let cool. Reduce oven temperature to 375.
5. Bring a pot of salted water to boil. Finely chop parsley leaves into about 3 Tbsp. Mince ½ shallot and both garlic cloves, placing them in a small bowl.
6. Grate the cheeses - Gruyère and sharp white cheddar - on the large holes of the grater and place in the same bowl.
7. Grate Parmesan cheese using the small holes, for about 1 cup worth of cheese. Put half the parmesan in the bowl with the breadcrumbs, mix to combine, and the other half with the other cheeses before also mixing to combine.
8. Cook 1 lbs of dray pasta using the boiling water according to the package. Drain the pasta, then dry the pot.
9. Remove lobster meat from shells and chop into ½ inch pieces.
10. Add 2 tablespoons of unsalted butter to the pot and melt over medium heat before adding the shallots, garlic, and salt and cooking for about 3 minutes.
11. Add the white wine and cook until mostly evaporated, about 3 minutes. Then add the remaining butter. Once melted, add ⅓ cup flour and whisk until well combined. While whisking, pour in 3 ½ cups whole milk and bring to a boil.
12. Reduce heat to a simmer and, while whisking, gradually add the cheese mixture, kosher sale, and red pepper flakes.
13. Once the mix is back up to a simmer, add in the pasta and stir until completely coated. Add the lobster meat and stir until combined.
14. Add the mixture into the baking dish and sprinkle the parmesan breadcrumbs across the top.
15. Bake until breadcrumbs are a golden brown and the edges are boiling - about 2- to 30 minutes. Let cool for 10 minutes before serving.
My Friends Drink Pairing
Paloma
This light and flavorful drink is the perfect cocktail to have while after enjoying a stroll along the pier, or a day at the beach.
Ingredients
● 2 teaspoons kosher salt
● 1 medium lime
● Ice
● 1 medium red or pink grapefruit
● ¼ ounces of agave nectar or simple syrup
● 2 ounces cold sparkling water or club soda
Instructions
1. Spread the kosher salt evenly on a plate. Halve the lime, then cut 1 lime wedge and run it over the edge of your glass to moisten it. Invert glass in the salt for a salted rimmed glass.
2. Halve the grapefruit and juice until you have about 2 ounces of grapefruit juice. Add juice to a cocktail shaker. Juice the remaining part of the lime until you have about ½ ounce of lime juice. Add it to the shaker. Add 2 ounces of blanco tequila and ¼ ounce of agave nectar or simple syrup.
3. Fill the shaker halfway with ice and shake until combined
4. Strain into the glass and top with 2 ounces of sparkling water. Garnish with a slice of grapefruit.
My Friends Non-Alcoholic Drink Pairing
Raspberry Lemonade Slushie
Summers are filled with hot days and cold drinks. This frozen lemonade is a great option because you can make it in batches so there is always enough for you and your friends.
Ingredients
● 600g Frozen raspberries
● Juice from 3 lemons
● 225 ml soda water
● Ice
● 3 tbsp agave nectar or simple syrup
Instructions
1. Put all the ingredients in a blender or food processor. Blitz until it is a smooth slush.
2. Divide between cups and serve.
Non-fiction
As kids, it always seemed easier to find a new friend. But as adults, it becomes harder and harder to maintain the friendships we have, let alone make new ones. How do we navigate modern friendships?
Modern Friendship: How to Nurture Our Most Valued Connections
by Anna Goldfarb
From the "Friendship Explainer," a definitive step-by-step guide to understanding the fundamental mechanics of friendship
Modern friendships can be painfully ambiguous. But they don't have to be. Journalist Anna Goldfarb has your back. "It's understandable if your friendships are floundering. You're up against historically new forces that we, as a culture, have no precedent for navigating," she says. With Modern Friendship, Anna shares a manual for understanding what is pushing our friendships to the brink and provides actionable advice for forming authentic, enduring connections today.
It's never been easier to shed friendships, which is precisely why we need a new approach to keeping them strong. Anna argues that we need to update our approach to friendships in a way that accounts for the hyper-fluid society we live in. The key to forming a lasting bond is what Anna calls "Wholehearted Friendship"--proven strategies to enhance enthusiastic connection.
Blending keen insights, cutting-edge social research, and intuitive practical tools, she invites you to explore:
- Why modern friendships are so ambiguous--and how to get clarity
- How desire influences friend selection, why friendships fail, and how to hone your friendship intuition
- Mattering to others--establishing boundaries, being flexible, having fun, and setting up your friendships for success
- Tools for the tough times--exercises, prompts, scripts, and advice on keeping friendships active even when life gets hectic
- Practicing Wholehearted Friendship--how to be caring, curious, appreciative, and supportive to a friend in any situation
- Trying a 14-day Friendship Cleanse--two weeks of actionable advice to clarify your wishes in friendship and strengthen your connections, both old and new
Grasping the mechanics of friendships will liberate you from the prison of self-doubt. "Your friendships are precious. They're vital. They matter. So let's understand, cultivate, and harness their incredible power," says Anna. With Modern Friendship, you'll discover how to be a more self-assured and empowered friend to the most meaningful people in your life. Let Anna show you how.
Long-term Friendships
When friends are so intertwined in out lives they become family. The only problem is when life begins to strain and fracture these relationships, unlike familial bonds, friendships are likely to crack or break without repair.
Among Friends
by Hal Ebbott
NAMED ONE OF THE NEW YORKER'S "BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR SO FAR"
"Stylish and assured....Ebbott's prose is honed and aphoristic, recalling the work of James Salter and John Cheever...The sentences go down easy...but there is substance beneath the gleaming surfaces." --Washington Post
"Acutely perceptive and beautifully written...A living thing...A huge achievement." --The Financial Times
"Finely calibrated...[A]s discerning as it is pitiless." --The New Yorker
What begins as celebration gives way to betrayal, shattering the trust between two families
It's an autumn weekend at a comfortable New York country house where two deeply intertwined families have gathered to mark the host's fifty-second birthday.
Together, the group forms an enviable portrait of middle age. The wives and husbands have been friends for over thirty years, their teenage daughters have grown up together, and the dinners, games, and rituals forming their days all reflect the rich bonds between them.
This weekend, however, something is different. An unforeseen curdling of envy and resentment will erupt in an unspeakable act, the aftermath of which exposes treacherous fault lines upon which they have long dwelt.
Written with hypnotic elegance and molten precision, and announcing the arrival of a major literary talent, Hal Ebbott's Among Friends examines betrayal within the sanctuary of a defining relationship, as well as themes of class, marriage, friendship, power, and the things we tell ourselves to preserve our finely made worlds.