This month I've got a story of hope and a comedy.
What You Wish For by Katherine Center This is a story about a school librarian named Samantha who works at a very small school on an island in coastal Texas. It’s an idyllic little school, and she is very good friends with the couple who runs the school, to the point were she considers them family. When the husband of the couple dies suddenly, the school board has to hire a new principal. They hire this guy who she used to work with in a school in California, and she had a massive crush on him. She remembers him as a fun guy who loved doing silly activities with the kids, but the guy who shows up is a complete asshole who wants to lock down the school like a prison all in the name of safety and preventing a school shooting. All of her colleagues are all freaked out about the changes this guy wants to make, and she’s trying to figure out why this guy changed so much and so radically. It’s a story of hope, change, and rediscovering joy for living.
Funny Story by Emily Henry Daphne moved to a small town on a lake in Michigan to be with her fiancé Peter. She basically just stepped into his life and allowed his life to be hers. Then he comes back from his bachelor party and tells her that he hooked up with his best friend since childhood, the gorgeous Petra, and tells her that he can’t marry her in 2 weeks and that she needs to vacate his house that minute because Petra is on her way to move in. She has nowhere to go, she hasn’t really made friends because Peter’s friends were her friends. So she moves in with Miles, Petra’s ex-boyfriend. They get drunk together and they both got invites to Peter and Petra’s wedding, which is happening in like 5 minutes. And wtf why would they invite the exes they stranded??? Anyway, they decide to RSVP yes with a plus one, and then post on social media that they are now a couple. But they’re not, they barely know each other. But they are both so heartbroken they want to stick it to their exes. So then they have to go through the charade of pretending to be a couple when they barely know each other. The title of the book is accurate
BJ Knapp is the author of Beside the Music, available for purchase here. Please sign up for the Backstage with BJ Knapp mailing list to get updates on events, signings, dog pictures and so much more.