Mommy’s Business
by Bob Johnson
Her mother was in danger of “crashing,” the doctor told Kat, if she didn’t haul herself out of bed and do her rehab. The old lady had broken a hip a month earlier, and her urinary tract infections—though they responded well enough to antibiotics—returned like clockwork the instant the meds stopped.
In our afternoon reading: an interview with Freda Epum, the makings of a great audiobook, and more.
Hello, February. We’ve had a lot on our minds over here at Vol. 1 Brooklyn HQ, as is the case (we suspect) for many of you. It’s a complicated time, and our recommended books for the month reflect that. These books cover everything from the challenges of the creative life to a satirical look at society; perhaps one (or more) of them will give you a new vantage point on the world.
A Vigorous, Mostly Happy Couple
by Bob Johnson
By the time the raccoons appeared, Mickey had run out of excuses. The apple tree had fallen in a summer storm and he’d left it sprawled across the yard for days, until the masked creatures appeared and began feasting in the rot. They stared toward the house in the daytime and climbed the deck at night to peer in the sliding kitchen door, scaring the bejesus out of Mickey’s wife Kate and the chocolate lab Bosco.