Top 39 Christmas Books About Friendship to Gift Your Friends

Christmas book gifts about friendship are my favorite way to thank the people who have stood by me all year.

This list brings together 39 books about friendship, from heartwarming friendship novels and books about female friendship to historical fiction, memoir and stories of complicated friendships that test loyalty. 

Some make perfect best friend Christmas gifts, while others suit a book club buddy, a coworker or a neighbor who has become family. 

Whatever kind of reader is on your list, I hope these gift ideas for book-loving friends help you find a story that says what a card cannot.

Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe by Fannie Flagg

Evelyn plans a visit to her mother-in-law at a nursing home, but she ends up chatting with the elderly Mrs. Ninny Threadgoode instead.

Ninny’s stories about running the Whistle Stop Cafe in Alabama pull you in, and Evelyn’s own life starts to shift along with them.

I admire how Ninny’s gumption inspires Evelyn to take her life into her own hands.

This classic suits a friend who loves a cozy, story-filled read with real heart.

Miss Benson’s Beetle by Rachel Joyce

Many people think Margery has lost her senses when she quits her low-paying London job and heads for New Caledonia, a small South Pacific island.

She is hunting for a beetle so rare that many doubt it exists.

To prove she is serious, she advertises for an assistant and hires Enid, her boisterous opposite.

Rachel Joyce makes it clear that the friendship they find matters more than whether they ever find the beetle.

It is a delightful gift for an adventurous friend with a taste for the unexpected.

The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini

Khaled Hosseini’s 2003 novel follows two boys in Afghanistan, Amir, whose family is wealthy, and Hassan, the son of his father’s servant.

Their bond is forever altered by Amir’s cowardice, and the consequences reach far beyond anything either boy could have imagined.

It is heartbreaking, and it lingers as a story of fathers and sons, friendship and betrayal, loss and redemption.

Now a contemporary classic, it is a meaningful gift for a friend who likes books that stay with them long after the final page.

Rules for Visiting by Jessica Francis Kane

May Attaway would rather spend her days with plants than people, and she knows that might not be the healthiest habit.

So she creates a method for being a good friend: take time off work, contact old friends and spend time with them.

As she observes her friends’ lives, she takes the chance to re-evaluate her own.

The conclusions she reaches are beautiful, and they make this a lovely gift for a friend you want to reconnect with.

Conversations with Friends by Sally Rooney

Sally Rooney, the author of Normal People, gives us Frances and Bobbi, two Dublin college students who are best friends despite being very different.

Their lives intersect in surprising ways once they cross paths with a sophisticated couple.

This NPR Best Book of 2017 became a smash hit and later inspired a Hulu series.

It is a great gift for a friend who loves sharp, modern stories about young friendship and the people who complicate it.

Village Weavers by Myriam J.A. Chancy

Gertie and Sisi grow up together in 1940s Port-au-Prince, Haiti, but political upheaval in the 1950s sends their lives in different directions.

Sisi starts a new life in Paris, while Gertie marries a wealthy man from the Dominican Republic.

Sixty years later they are reunited, and each must decide whether she can offer forgiveness for old heartbreaks.

Time described Myriam J.A. Chancy’s novel as a wistful look at a complicated friendship spanning decades and continents, and it is ideal for anyone who loves Elena Ferrante.

The Big Finish by Brooke Fossey

Duffy is this close to getting kicked out of his comfortable assisted living home when trouble climbs through his window one night.

Her name is Josie, she is his roommate’s granddaughter, and she is drunk, bruised and desperate to leave town.

Never one to turn down an adventure, Duffy volunteers to help.

The unlikely friends hitchhike and bar-hop their way toward a different and hopefully better life.

It is a fun, big-hearted pick for a friend who likes a road trip with an unlikely duo.

Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin

Gabrielle Zevin, who also wrote The Storied Life of A.J. Fikry, tells a poignant story of love, friendship and video games across thirty years.

Childhood friends Sam Masur and Sadie Green create a bestselling game called Ichigo, and their lives change for good.

Their success brings both highs and lows, and I found myself completely caught up in the two of them.

Pass it to the friend who has been by your side since childhood.

Scorpionfish by Natalie Bakopoulos

Mira returns to Athens to mourn the death of her parents, and a neighbor becomes an unlikely friend.

He is the Captain, an older man who mourns the loss of his life at sea.

Over several weeks they tell each other about the loves of their lives, including family, lovers, friends and their city.

Through those stories, Mira and the Captain redefine their own lives and find a way to move forward.

It is a tender gift for a friend who is navigating a loss.

The Briar Club by Kate Quinn

Grace March, a mysterious widow, moves into Briarwood House, an all-women boardinghouse in 1950s Washington, DC.

She draws her eccentric neighbors into unlikely friendships, even though each of them is hiding secrets.

Grace’s weekly dinner parties become special to the women, until an act of violence makes them question their loyalties amid McCarthy-era paranoia.

Booklist gave Kate Quinn’s novel a starred review for how readily it pulls readers along.

It is a great gift for a friend who loves historical fiction with secrets.

Want by Lynn Steger Strong

Elizabeth’s life in New York City is crumbling, and despite years of hard work she and her husband are officially bankrupt.

On a whim, she reaches out to her childhood friend Sasha, only to learn that Sasha is grappling with disasters of her own.

Their shared struggles bring the two women back together as they decide what they truly want.

Lynn Steger Strong’s novel feels honest about hardship, which makes it a good gift for a friend who has seen you through hard times.

The Island of Sea Women by Lisa See

Lisa See’s novel stretches from 1938 to 2008 and follows the haenyeo, the female divers of Jeju Island.

Young-sook and Mi-ja meet as young girls and come from different backgrounds, yet they form a close bond.

A betrayal then rocks their relationship, and the story becomes a sweeping look at friendship and forgiveness.

I found the way it handles forgiveness especially moving, and the history of the haenyeo adds depth.

It suits a friend who likes to learn something while she reads.

When Harry Met Minnie by Martha Teichner

Martha Teichner’s memoir begins when she runs into an old dog-run acquaintance who is helping rehome a friend’s bull terrier.

After learning that the dog’s owner, Carol, is dying of cancer, Martha decides to give Harry a chance.

What should have been a simple, generous adoption turns into something far more profound.

Her own bull terrier, Minnie, and Harry become instant friends, and Martha and Carol do too, at a moment when they both need it.

Dog lovers on your list will be glad to receive it.

A Man Called Ove by Fredrik Backman

Ove is a grouchy widower who lashes out at anyone who crosses his path, and somehow I still wanted to sit beside him.

Everything starts to change when an energetic young family moves in next door, beginning with a run-over mailbox.

Millions of readers around the world have embraced this charming Swedish novel, and it was adapted into a movie starring Tom Hanks.

It makes a lovely gift for a friend who appreciates humor with a soft center.

Girls Burn Brighter by Shobha Rao

Poornima and Savitha live in relative poverty, but their friendship is a treasure that lets them dream of a better life beyond their village.

A violent tragedy separates them, yet Poornima cannot abandon her friend to fate.

She leaves home and faces down the worst criminals imaginable, eventually finding herself across the world in Seattle.

There she battles to save Savitha, and Shobha Rao makes that devotion the center of the story.

It is an intense gift for a friend who values fierce loyalty.

My Brilliant Friend: The Graphic Novel by Elena Ferrante, Mara Cerri and Chiara Lagani

Elena Ferrante’s Neapolitan Novels explore female friendship with great skill, and this graphic novel edition brings that world to the page in a fresh way.

It follows Elena and Lila in the outskirts of Naples in the 1950s as they navigate their neighborhood.

Their intense friendship and the choices they make send them down very different paths.

I would give it to a friend who loves Ferrante, or to one who might enjoy meeting Elena and Lila through illustrations.

What Are You Going Through by Sigrid Nunez

Sigrid Nunez’s narrator is an unnamed woman and a good listener, and people she has met over the years like to unburden themselves with her.

Ex-lovers, strangers and friends all lean on her, whether they realize it or not.

Then the one-way street becomes a two-way street, and her life and relationships change forever.

That role reversal is a gentle reminder to listen as well as be heard.

It is a quiet, thoughtful read that I would hand to the friend everyone confides in.

Can’t We Be Friends by Eliza Knight and Denny S. Bryce

This novel imagines the friendship between jazz legend Ella Fitzgerald and movie star Marilyn Monroe.

Ella resists Marilyn’s requests for singing lessons at first, but once the two finally meet, an unexpected and powerful bond forms.

Eliza Knight and Denny S. Bryce join forces to write it with real poignancy.

Chanel Cleeton called it a stunning portrait of two extraordinary women, and I agree it is a must-read for music lovers.

Give it to a friend who loves music history.

Waiting for the Night Song by Julie Carrick Dalton

Cadie is surprised to hear from her childhood best friend Daniela, and the two share a horrible secret that is about to be exposed.

Back in her hometown, racial tensions are boiling and a wildfire is on its way.

Julie Carrick Dalton asks how far Cadie will go to protect Daniela after all these years.

The novel also asks how much Cadie is willing to give up to finally live in the truth.

It is a gripping gift for a friend who likes tension alongside loyalty.

The Reading List by Sara Nisha Adams

Widower Mukesh heads to the library in an effort to connect with his granddaughter.

There he meets Aleisha, a teenager with a summer job at the checkout desk.

She shares a reading list she found in the back of To Kill a Mockingbird, and it sparks an unlikely bond between them.

Sara Nisha Adams writes about friendship and the power of reading, so book lovers will have a hard time putting it down.

It is made for the friend who shares your love of libraries.

Love by Roddy Doyle

Old friends have the best stories, and Joe and Davy let theirs spill out during one fateful summer night in Dublin’s pubs.

Joe is newly separated and starting a new life with a woman Davy loved 40 years ago.

Davy carries a secret of his own, the real reason he left Ireland.

As the pints add up, so do the revelations, and love is what remains in the end.

Give it to the friend you could talk to until closing time.

Swing Time by Zadie Smith

In 1980s North London, two girls dream of becoming dancers, but only one of them has real talent.

She chases that dream, while the other girl becomes an assistant to a pop star who is building a girls’ school in West Africa.

Zadie Smith’s novel was longlisted for the Booker Award and named one of NPR’s Best Books of 2016.

Newsday counted it among her finest, which is a good reason to wrap it up for a friend who loves literary fiction.

A Single Thread by Tracy Chevalier

With the Great War over, Violet is determined to be more than a spinster and caretaker to her aging mother.

She leaves home for Winchester and finds friendship among women devoted to the traditional craft of embroidering kneelers for the cathedral.

Years of relative peace and happiness end when news of another war arrives.

Violet and her friends must face the question of what kind of life they want.

It is a gentle, historical gift for a friend who loves crafts and community.

Tell Me Everything by Elizabeth Strout

In a small Maine town, lawyer Bob Burgess is drawn into a murder case, defending a man accused of killing his mother.

Meanwhile, he forms a close bond with writer Lucy Barton, and the two reflect on life’s complexities.

Lucy also connects with the iconic Olive Kitteridge, and the stories they share bring forgotten lives to light.

Elizabeth Strout, the Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Olive Kitteridge, wrote this Oprah’s Book Club pick, which The Boston Globe found deeply moving and exhilarating.

It is a lovely present for a friend who loves quiet, character-driven stories.

Outlawed by Anna North

It is 1894, and at eighteen Ada has been married for a full year with no child to show for it.

Threats of being labeled a witch become increasingly serious, so she runs.

Her refuge is the Hole in the Wall Gang, a band of outlaws and outcast women determined to live by their own rules.

Life is exciting for a while, but Anna North reminds us that this kind of freedom comes at a steep cost.

It is a bold outlaw adventure for a friend who loves stories of found community.

The Lion Women of Tehran by Marjan Kamali

After her father unexpectedly dies in 1950s Tehran, young Ellie and her mother must move to a smaller home downtown.

A friendship with a kind, friendly girl named Homa brings purpose back to Ellie’s life.

When the chance comes to return to their upscale lives, the girls lose touch with each other.

Years later they reunite, but their old bond has frayed, and a betrayal threatens to sever it for good.

Marjan Kamali’s novel suits a friend who values stories about loyalty and betrayal.

The End of the Day by Bill Clegg

Three lives are upended in a single day when sixty years of secrets come crashing into the light.

Past meets present as friends and family reconnect through phone calls and unexpected meetings.

As the characters discover how entangled their lives are, they realize that every choice, whether considered or impulsive, led to this one day.

Bill Clegg’s novel is a wonderful pick for a friend who enjoys stories where every connection matters.

It rewards readers who like seeing how small decisions ripple through a lifetime.

When We Were Brilliant by Lynn Cullen

In 1952, Norma Jeane Baker crosses paths with photographer Eve Arnold, and the meeting changes both of their lives.

Norma Jeane wants her new persona, Marilyn Monroe, to become famous, and she needs Eve’s help to make that happen.

Eve is not interested in starlets, yet the two keep running into each other until their lives are intertwined.

Lynn Cullen’s novel about two artistic women makes a wonderful gift for a creative friend.

It is a complicated friendship worth watching unfold.

Bad Friend by Tiffany Watt Smith

Tiffany Watt Smith blends memoir, history and cultural critique to celebrate the authenticity of female friendships.

Rather than presenting friendship as flawless, she embraces its complexities and imperfections.

The book sheds light on the real ebbs and flows of companionship, and it honors the resilience found in these relationships.

Honesty, growth and even conflict can strengthen the bonds between women, which is a message I love giving to friends.

It makes a reassuring gift for a friend who has weathered a few rough patches with you.

Crow Talk by Eileen Garvin

Two women forge an unexpected friendship in the stunning Pacific Northwest in this gentle novel by Eileen Garvin.

Frankie is finishing her master’s dissertation while staying at a lakeside caretaker’s cottage.

Anne, the mother of a five-year-old son, is staying at a neighboring property, the luxurious summer home owned by her husband’s family.

Together they find the healing and joy they both need, and Remarkably Bright Creatures author Shelby Van Pelt admired how its smallest, most tender moments carry the power to transform.

It is a soothing present for a friend who needs some comfort this season.

The Five-Star Weekend by Elin Hilderbrand

Hollis Shaw’s life is shattered when her husband is killed in a car accident after an argument she deeply regrets.

To distract herself from grief, she embraces a Five-Star Weekend, inviting her best friend from each phase of life on a getaway.

Drama simmers among the very different women on the Nantucket trip, and a former love interest enters the scene.

Hollis did not expect any of it, and the weekend could change everyone’s lives forever.

It is a great gift for a friend group that has been together through every chapter of life.

My Friends by Hisham Matar

Khaled hears a short story on the radio as a boy, and it eventually leads him to the University of Edinburgh.

When he meets the author of that story, a deep and powerful friendship begins.

Hisham Matar, a Pulitzer Prize-winning author, wrote this National Book Award finalist, which was also longlisted for the Booker Prize.

The Washington Post praised it as a deep tribute to how friendship sustains us.

It is perfect for a friend who loves thoughtful literary fiction.

Absolution by Alice McDermott

Saigon in 1963 is not where the average woman plans to end up, yet shy newlywed Tricia and flinty mother Charlene become unexpected allies.

Their husbands are deployed, and the two women lean on each other.

Sixty years later, Charlene’s daughter has questions about her family’s history overseas, and Tricia might have the answers.

Alice McDermott, a National Book Award winner, sheds light on the lives of women during the Vietnam War.

It is a riveting gift for a friend who likes historical fiction about women’s stories.

A Little Life by Hanya Yanagihara

Hanya Yanagihara follows four college roommates, Willem, JB, Malcolm and Jude, as they move to New York together.

Over three decades, she traces their relationships and struggles in a portrait of love and friendship that moves you deeply.

It is a powerful bestseller that asks for your full attention and rewards it with a lot of feeling.

Choose it for a close friend who loves long, immersive novels about the people we hold onto through the years.

The Last American Heiresses by Stephen Greco

This novel draws on the lives of two real women born in 1912, Doris Duke and Barbara Hutton, who were two of the richest women in the world.

Doris was a sophisticated billionaire who befriended Jackie Kennedy, while Barbara married seven men, including a prince and Cary Grant.

A modern filmmaker named Emma Radetsky digs into their pasts and finds that their famous rivalry hid a deep understanding.

Anyone who enjoys glamorous history with an emotional core will love sharing it with a friend.

We Are Not Like Them by Jo Piazza and Christine Pride

Jen, a white woman, and Riley, a Black woman, have been friends since kindergarten, which makes what follows so painful.

Everything comes crashing down when Jen’s husband is involved in the shooting of an unarmed Black teen.

This Good Morning America Book Club pick is a discussion-worthy story about race and friendship by Jo Piazza and Christine Pride.

I would recommend it to a friend who enjoys honest, difficult conversations, and it will give you plenty to talk about together.

Fiona and Jane by Jean Chen Ho

Jean Chen Ho tells the story of two childhood friends, Fiona Lin and Jane Shen, through a series of short stories.

This winning debut is told from alternating perspectives over two decades.

The result is a powerful portrait of friendship, identity and love.

Kirkus Reviews predicted that readers will long for a Fiona or Jane of their own.

It makes a perfect gift for the friend who has been your Jane or your Fiona.

The Book of Goose by Yiyun Li

Agnès and Fabienne are inseparable while growing up in France after World War II.

Years later, after Fabienne’s death, Agnès reflects on their past, including a plan Fabienne hatched that irrevocably transformed her life.

Publishers Weekly admired Yiyun Li’s novel as a fable in the spirit of Cinderella, with memorable characters and an accomplished new turn for the author.

Choose it for a friend who enjoys thoughtful stories about how a single friendship can shape a life.

The Women by Kristin Hannah

Kristin Hannah, whose bestsellers include The Nightingale and The Four Winds, tells a powerful story about the tragedies of war.

Frankie is a nursing student whose sheltered life is upended when her brother is sent to Vietnam.

She decides to follow him by joining the Army Nurse Corps.

The New York Times felt Hannah was at the height of her powers here.

It makes a strong gift for a friend who loves Hannah’s earlier novels.

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Friendship shows up in so many forms across these books, from lifelong bonds and surprising alliances to the friends we lose and find again. 

Choose the story that sounds most like the person on your list, and write a few warm words inside the cover so the book carries your thanks as well. 

If you would like to share the experience, read it alongside your friend and save the best conversations for a cozy evening after the holidays. 

And if this list helped you, send it to another book lover who is still shopping, and happy gifting!