“The truth is, we need our friends. I mean, we need Jesus to truly complete us, but we absolutely need our girlfriends, because no man wants to listen to all the words we have to say in the course of a day.” – p. 36
Hello Readers,
I have been blessed with a handful of uncommonly wonderful girlfriends in my life. These women build me up when I need encouragement, commiserate with me when I am upset, and laugh with me when I act like an idiot. Never have I read such a charming account of the intricacy and beauty of female friendships than in Melanie Shankle’s Nobody’s Cuter Than You: A Memoir About the Beauty of Friendship (one of our April picks).
In her hilarious, heartwarming book, Melanie Shankle described the various friends she had growing up and what sort of influence they had on her life. As she entered each stage, her friend group changed slightly. I found myself relating people I knew growing up to the kind of girls she spent time with during her elementary, junior high school, and high school years.
She met her best friend Amy “Gulley” in college and has been just living life with her ever since. “It’s funny how you can have almost no memory of the first time you meet a person who eventually becomes so important to you.” (p. 3) The stories Shankle recounts of their time together are often hilarious and made me think of some of the crazy antics my girlfriends and I have participated in over the years.
What I really loved about the book, aside from her very real descriptions of what girlfriends do together (talk about jeans, eat junk food, share a glass of wine, talk about boys, and analyze TV shows), is that she examined the difficult side of friendship. The jealousy, the tears, and the heartbreak. Just like any other relationship, solid girlfriends require effort:
“Real friendship requires effort. It’s showing up and laughing loud and crying hard. It’s forgiving and loving and giving the benefit of the doubt. It’s making a casserole, doing a last-minute carpool pickup, and making sure she knows that those cute shoes are now 50 percent off.” – Introduction
I could give specific examples of the ups and downs of her friendships, but I couldn’t do the stories justice. Melanie Shankle’s writing had me laughing every time I turned the page. Her thoughts on various topics deserve their own bumper sticker (ex: “You can pin all the pins on Pinterest, but that doesn’t mean that hairstyle is actually going to happen.” – Introduction).
She didn’t shy away from self-criticism and admitted that, “I tend to go off on passionate rants about things that I really don’t feel that strongly about in the grand scheme of life.” (p. 182) That had me laughing out loud. Sometimes I think I spend my life ranting about things that don’t matter. But like her best friend, I have friends that will call me out on it and are not afraid to tell me that I am ridiculous.
In this sort of “Lean In” culture we live in, it was refreshing to read a book about two girlfriends just living their lives. They love their husbands, they love their kids, they love each other, and they are content with the choices they have made. In a world where twenty-four hours doesn’t seem to be enough time in the day, it was nice to read about two women who get what they need done in that time and still find time for a phone call.
“That’s how you know your true friends: you hear their laughter and look into their eyes and it feels like coming home.” – p. 77
I implore you, find a copy of this book and read it immediately. I cannot recommend it highly enough. On page 180, Shankle makes a subtle (intentional?) Steel Magnolias reference – a sign that she truly is a kindred spirit. I would love to sit down with Melanie and share a cup of coffee or a tub of Ben and Jerry’s and just chat about friends, life, and chick-flicks. If you read this book, I guarantee that you’ll want to have a coffee date with her too.
Did you get a chance to read it? What is your reaction? Leave a comment below with your thoughts and be sure to tag your copy of the book on instagram with #TWTBookshelf.
Live, Love, Learn,