My Friends: My Favorite Fiction Book for December

It was after I finished reading My Friends by Fredrik Backman, which was recommended by a friend, that I discovered it won the 2025 Goodreads Choice Award for Best Fiction. I can understand why. I found this unusual story about friendship memorable and poignant, and as quick to make me laugh as to cry.

The story toggles between what happened twenty-five years ago to four teenagers who found refuge in their bonds of friendship against difficult home situations, to the current day life of an eighteen-year-old aspiring artist who grew up in foster homes

The story begins with her being given a world-famous painting after a brief encounter with one of those teenagers, now an adult near the end of his life. It takes us on her unusual journey to understand how the painting came to be, why she was given it, and her quest to learn about its artist as she wrestles with what to do with his painting, and with her life.

If you like books that linger in your thoughts, filled with interesting characters and an abundance of hope and heart, I’d recommend My Friends.