3 Fantastically Awesome Books BJ Thinks You Need to Read: May 2026

A Marriage at Sea by Sophie Elmhirst This one was intense but very very good. Maurice and Maralyn Bailey set out on their sailboat in 1973. While they were en route to the Galapagos they get struck by a whale and it fatally damages their boat. They escape into their life raft tied to their inflatable dinghy. They manage to bring supplies with them, food, first aid kit, water bottles, water, the basics. What they don’t know is that they will live on their raft and dinghy for 118 days until they are eventually rescued. An awesome true account of how these people managed to survive nearly 6 months stranded at sea. Incredible story. What was interesting about this one was that the story did not end when the book ended. Elmhirst also talked about how the Baileys coped with the fame and notoriety after their rescue. 

 

Theo of Golden by Allen Levi A gorgeous story. A mysterious old man named Theo shows up in a small town called Golden. On his first day there he walks into a café and sees portraits drawn by a local artist of various townspeople. He decides to purchase the portraits one by one and reach out to the person in the portrait and gift that person the picture. In the process of bestowing the portraits on these people he learns their stories and then creates a circle of friends and connects these people to others. He creates a small community and becomes beloved in the town as a result. The thing is, nobody ever knew his last name or knew who he was. They only knew how generous he was and what a great friend he turned out to be. Beautifully done.

 

Dear Debbie by Freida McFadden Oh boy. Debbie is an advice columnist in her small town newspaper, but she’s got some secrets. She’s got an angry streak and cannot stand to see anyone get taken advantage of by others, so she sets out to burn everyone down. That boss who didn’t promote her husband, the coach who kicked her daughter off the team, her boss who fired her, they all learned that they needed to be watching their backs around her. And she does it with the calmness and grace that you never ever would know it was her.