BJ’s Standout Reads: February 2019
In February I read and listened to 6 books, and here are the best of what I read in February. I hope you enjoy these as much as I did.
The Other Woman by Sandie Jones Emily meets Adam, they fall in love and are going to get married. The problem is there’s another woman. His mother. And this is not a funny scenario like that J Lo/Jane Fonda movie Monster in Law. Adam’s mother is pretty psycho. But she does it in such a way that only Emily notices how Adam’s mother is digging and picking at Emily to the point where Emily starts to wonder whether she’s going crazy. This one totally kept me up at nights wondering what the mother would do next to poor Emily. The twist at the end left my mouth hanging open.
Vox by Christina Dalcher Imagine a world where women are no longer allowed to speak more than 100 words per day. The government fitted out all the women with word counters that count our words like our FitBits and Garmins count our steps. When she exceeds 100 she is shocked by the device. In this story Jean used to be a doctor and she was researching for a cure to a disease when the President’s brother ends up getting that disease and she is put into a position where she has to decide whether to go back into the lab to continue the research into the cure, under the watchful eye of the government all while struggling with the notion that her daughter will grow up in a world where she’s not allowed to speak more than 100 words per day. This one was absolutely riveting.
The Great Alone by Kristin Hannah I read this one while I was sick and blew through it in a weekend. In 1974 Leni is 13 when she and her parents move off the grid to Alaska. She and her mom hope that the change of scene will be good for her dad, who is a mess after returning as a POW in Viet Nam. The desolation in Alaska provides them with a circle of friends who are very supportive and teach Leni and her family how to prepare for the harsh Alaskan winter. However, that support network isn’t much of a help to her father, who grows more disturbed as the dark winter in Alaska rolls in. He flies into jealous and paranoid rages and mercilessly beats Leni’s mother. Leni and her mother have to figure out what to do to survive being stranded in the desolate Alaskan wilderness.
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.
added on 02.25.19