Rating: 
Summary: At first I thought, oh no....
Review: ... why did I buy a book written like this? I was ready for some light reading, but how could I get into a story told through letters, notes, journal entries, clippings, and (how refreshing!) email? Well what a surprise I got. And what a fun re-cap of events of the latter half of the 1900s! The book was quite engaging, and although too fast a read (character development somewhat jeopardized), it was unique. To the reviewer who complained about it's predictability, I'm going to counter with the assumption that the predictability was not distracting, but entirely intentional. We were supposed to know what was going to happen. Readers can appreciate the characters' innocence of the future - the events that we know in our past. And Ms. Macomber did a wonderful job of achieving this paradox. I will be reading more from her.
Rating:
Summary: Delightful read!
Review: As a long time Debbie Macomber fan, I couldn't put it down...a delightful and entertaining ready from beginning to end.
Rating:
Summary: Best Debbie Macomber Book Yet!
Review: Between Friends is an excellent book about just that...between friends. Two women from different backgrounds & lifestyles are best friends and we see they never lose contact with each other. They keep each other informed thru letters, invitations, announcements, phone calls and eventually e-mail. Whether their news was exciting, sad or just a quick update on every day events, they were compelled to share everything. I loved the style in which the book was written....personal journals, postcards, letters, etc. making it a quick read (I finished this book in a day). I also enjoyed it because it reminded me alot of my mother and her best friend. Whether you are young or old, this book is one I feel anyone would enjoy. It's not too often that I read a book and it moves me to tears. If you haven't read it yet, what are you waiting for? Buy it or borrow a copy....you won't be sorry!!
Rating: 
Summary: Predictable and prosaic
Review: Even as I enjoyed reading this book, I wondered why. On the plus side, it is engagingly written. It is also a fast read, a plus for a beach book, because there is so little content, a minus for any book. I stayed with the book because it was not really worth stopping, and because I was curious as to whether I could accurately predict the next set of events. I am basically a contemporary of the two main protagonists. Thus, much of what the book covered was highly familiar to me, and I wanted to see how it turned out. Its predictability made the book both frustrating and familiar. The moment a character has plans to attend the Legionnaire's Convention in Philadelphia, I knew that he was doomed to die of Legionnaire's Disease. The moment a character went to fight in Viet Nam, I knew he would die, too. When another character started receiving blood test results with high levels of cholesterol, I knew he would (a) have bypass surgery, which was new at the time, and (b) eventually die of the disease. Is this starting to sound familiar? I eventually realized that I was reading a bowdlerized version of Forrest Gump, largely in the form of correspondence between two intelligent women. Instead of packing an emotional punch, this book is just trivial. The correspondence that is included hints, tantalizingly, at other exchanges between the chief characters, but does not include them. Indeed, the author seems to avoid the need to write difficult scenes (or even correspondence), replacing possible turmoil and emotional upheaval with a tamer aftermath. (It also becomes repetitious, as the characters repeatedly congratulate each other on bravery in adversity without ever conveying just how hard it was.) As an attempt at realism, the novel is a failure. As a beach book, it is a success. After all, I did keep reading.
Rating:
Summary: The rich get richer...
Review: Generally I am partial to novels about women and women's friendship and I love books written as letters and correspondence. I especially like authors who write notes to readers and invite visits to their websites. But this book disappointed me. Lesley, from a poor family, meets Jillian, from the other side of the tracks. They become fast friends. Jillian's family donates money to help Lesley and her younger sister stay in the Catholic private academy. They remain inseparable until Lesley gets pregnant in her senior year of high school. Although their paths diverge, they women stay in touch by letters and phone and, eventually, e-mail. Lesley's story reminded me loosely of Riding in Cars with Boys, except the heroine of Riding in Cars was a lot smarter and caught on faster: she knew she had married a bum who would never be there for her, a drinker who was in and out of jail. Somehow Lesley manages to stay with Buck, her husband, and keep having children. Not what we'd expect of a scholarship student! Meanwhile Jillian's true love is killed in the war but Jillian herself goes to Barnard College, becomes a New Yorker, and decides to become a lawyer after her involvement in an antiwar protest.
In the end, it is Lesley who helps her old friend tbrough a difficult life-threatening problem. The lead characters are stereotyped cardboard. I am not sure why the author gave both lead characters names associated with trendy, upscale WASPs: it was hard to keep them apart sometimes. To the end, neither woman escaped her heritage. Lesley remained faithful to her goal of nursing, ending up working faithfully for a physician. Jillian, after attending a prestigious, expensive women's college, became a lawyer and then a judge. Lesley remained close to home, in her small town in Washington state. Jillian became a real New Yorker. If you want a light tear-jerker, this book does have some moving moments and we are taken through a fast retrospective of the twentieth century. But it's like eating a gooey eclair: enjoyable while you're turning pages, but in the end you wish you'd done something else with the time.
Rating:
Summary: The Best Book I've ever read
Review: Grab a tissue and grab this book.
Rating:
Summary: Loved It!!!
Review: Heartwrenching, feeling, emotional. Like reading the personal and private thoughts of the characters. Wonderful Book.
Rating:
Summary: Debbie Got This So Right!
Review: I am of the same generation as Jillian and Lesley and was enthralled by this book from the moment I picked it up. The format of the book, written entirely as diary entries, letters, notes, newspaper announcements and finally emails, is captivating and easy to follow. I have entertained the idea of writing something similar using only emails. Looks like Debbie Macomber beat me to it. So many of the girls' experiences mirrored mine. I could not put this down and read it in one day. Definitely one I would recommend to anyone looking for an entertaining and enjoyable experience.
Rating:
Summary: Debbie Got This So Right!
Review: I am of the same generation as Jillian and Lesley and was enthralled by this book from the moment I picked it up. The format of the book, written entirely as diary entries, letters, notes, newspaper announcements and finally emails, is captivating and easy to follow. I have entertained the idea of writing something similar using only emails. Looks like Debbie Macomber beat me to it. So many of the girls' experiences mirrored mine. I could not put this down and read it in one day. Definitely one I would recommend to anyone looking for an entertaining and enjoyable experience.
Rating:
Summary: EXCELLENT ENJOYABLE READ
Review: I am so thankful I didn't listen the review about this book now winning any Debbie Macomber fans. I loved the book, couldn't put it down. Went out today and bought between sisters.
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