THE WILDWATER WALKING CLUB (Claire Cook)

I am so jealous of Noreen Kelly!  Yes, she has taken a buyout and agreed to be downsized from her newly merged athletic shoe company, but she has 18 months to enjoy full pay and benefits.  Yes, she has been betrayed by her "boyfriend", Michael, an executive her company who urges her to take the severance package and then stops taking her calls, but he is a jerk and she is better off without him.  At first Noreen is at loose ends, wondering how her career had accidentally become her whole life, but then she meets neighbors Tess, an advocate of green living and air-dried laundry, and Rosie, who runs a lavender farm.  Together the three embark on a goal of 10,000 steps per day, walking in the early morning (in walking shoes from Noreen's company) while getting to know themselves and each other.  This short book was pure pleasure, a sort of coming-of-age story set 20 years later than usual.  If you enjoy novels about female friendships, pick this one up.  You'll love every minute of it!