You Take It from Here (by Pamela Ribon)

I had a miraculous day off last week, and I spent a good chunk of it reading You Take It from Here, which is only the latest book on my exploding shelf of Books Written By People Who Are Also My Facebook Friends. It's sitting between Wendy's The Wilder Life and John's Redshirts to remind me that I have many very talented friends.

I feel compelled to point out that I made it to at least page 25 before pouring myself a glass of wine to accompany the reading experience. The characters had already been boozing it up for several chapters by then, I think, so I showed remarkable restraint. (This is a compliment.)

All this is to say: I think this is Pam's best novel yet. I tore through it in a few hours because I had to find out what happens next. The characters feel real. I think the letter-to-Jenny structure works really really well to focus the narrative, though ultimately I didn't quite understand their estrangement. And I really love that it's about female friendship in a messy, complicated way. The ending was lovely and made me cry. I guess I could nitpick things if forced to, but why? She did an awesome job, and I am so proud to have Pam on my BWBPWAAMFF shelf!