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The International Day of Friendship is here and we can’t think of a more wholesome and delightful holiday. How often do we have the chance to celebrate our best friends and our chosen family? Well, if we’re lucky, every day. But today is still really wonderful. In honor of this international celebration of friendship, we’re helping you find a literary BFF right in your own city.

Photo by Kelly Sikkema on Unsplash

Netflix is full of surprises this month. First, they announce the Beyoncé film Homecoming with nothing more than a week’s notice. And then they release Someone Great, a romcom starring none other than Gina Rodriquez and Lakeith Stanfield. (Damn!) Not only does this movie boast an incredible cast – did we mention Brittany Snow and DeWanda Wise also star? – it also turns the romcom genre on its head. Instead of following a love story, Someone Great follows a breakup. Which got us thinking about all the truly for-the-best breakups in literature.

Minor spoilers ahead. Proceed with caution!

Last week marked the season finale of This is Us. And while, honestly, it’s a relief to know we won’t be crying over a fictional family every week, there’s still going to be a Pearson-shaped hole in our hearts until the fall. (It’s a really long break, y’all.) But we can make it. We can! We have that Big Three love to keep us going. But while we wait for Randall, Kate, and Kevin to grace our televisions once more, here are five literary families who would be the perfect inspiration for a This is Us-style show.

Image by Free-Photos from Pixabay

It’s not hard to fall in love with your local independent bookstore. From the moment you walk in, you’re greeted with an alluring brick floor or a bookstore cat or every book you’ve ever loved on display at the front of the store. It’s a book lover’s dream. And while we’re guilty of the infinite browse because the prices are higher than we thought they’d be (curse you, Amazon!), today we’re embracing that full price lifestyle – with the promise to honor and support our indies for all time. Small businesses keep our communities vibrant, y’all. Let’s treat them right.

Photo by Any Lane from Pexels

The idea of family is at the heart of the stories we tell in pop culture; from the creation of new families through romance to the tales told about established families through generations, human connection is everything. However, it’s important to remember that family isn’t just about parents and their biological parents; ‘family’ can mean so much more than that. Families can be blended, can be unusual, and of course, can be created through adoption. This November, in honor of National Adoption Awareness Month, we’ve rounded up some of the best (and worst) depictions of adoptive families in pop culture – your favorite movies, TV shows and books, and the characters in them that found their families, rather than being born into them.

Instagram: @ablinddatewithabook

Valentine’s Day solo can be a bit of a minefield. Some choose to celebrate their friends with a Parks & Rec-esque Galentine's Day. Some choose to throw an anti-Valentine’s-Day party, and rock out with their anti-hearts-and-flowers friends. Some just choose to ignore it, muttering about ‘Hallmark holidays’ and waiting for the good chocolate to go on sale on the 15^th. And some brave souls embrace it and head out on a blind date. It could be the perfect set up with the guy (or gal) of their dreams. It could be an awful three hours listening to your mom’s college roommate’s son, Kevin, talk about how fast his new car goes. Or, it could be an adventure into a totally new world, if your blind date is with a book!