I recently finished reading 3 Willows by Ann Brashares. She is the author of the bestselling series The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants. I saw someone reading this book at the YMCA during my kids swim lessons.

I must confess the line The Sisterhood Grows under the title kind of scared me. I didn't want to read a want-a-be sisterhood book.

Though it started slow, the book really picked up for me once I figured out which character's voice was speaking. The three girls in the book, Jo, Polly and Ama, are entering 9th grade and the book takes place the summer before.

They have grown apart in their friendships and long to fill the gap this has created in their lives.

The title comes from the fact that in 3rd grade the girls planted three willow trees side by side. Each chapter starts with a random fact about willows, which I soon found fascinating.

The author cleverly intersperses secondary characters from the sisterhood books throughout this one.

For example, Polly babysits for Tibby's younger brother and sister and runs into Brian, Tibby's boyfriend. Jo works at the beach at a restaurant with a beautiful waitress named Effie, Lena's sister.

I found the whole idea of these random connections so fascinating and completely maddening to write about. However, because they are only secondary connections, one need not read the first series to understand 3 Willows.

The book was a good read that made me want to call some friends I hadn't talked to in a while.

What are you reading?