The Best of Friends by Sara James and Ginger Mauney

In The Best of Friends, Ginger Mauney and Sara James lead fascinating lives. Ginger as a filmmaker in Africa; Sara as a newswoman in the U.S. The story begins in the early 80s, but they actually met much earlier as youngsters. It ends with the present day and what the women are doing now. They are not just friends, but as the title suggests, they are best friends.

An interesting biography/memoir about the women, their adventures and the people they meet throughout their lives. My favourite parts were Ginger’s experiences in Africa and Sara’s experiences with the well-known world news events.

I didn’t warm up to the whole best friends aspect, though. The best parts of the story were the times when the women were apart, off on their own adventures. As far as I’m concerned two books could have been written, both equally interesting. Their friendship wasn’t the strongest part of the book.

The chapters alternated between Ginger and Sara with the chapter names at the top of every page. Every once in awhile I had to check to whose chapter I was reading. Sometimes it was difficult to tell. At first I thought I detected a slight difference in the writing, but that only lasted a chapter or two and soon it all sounded the same. Could two people have such similar writing styles that they are virtually indistinguishable?

Overall, I enjoyed reading about these adventurous women. I just wish my life were half as interesting.

I got this book from the HarperCollins - Reading Group on MySpace.