Bow Grip

Author: Ivan E. Coyote

First line: I would never have sold him the car in the first place if I'd known what he was going to do with it.

Why you should read this book: Joseph Cooper sold the cowboy that blue Volvo in good faith, and promises to fix it for free after it breaks down the very next day, but when he realizes that the breakdown happened in the middle of the cowboy's suicide attempt, he's thrown into a life-changing journey that will force him to confront his own, long-avoided issues. He hasn't had sex since his wife ran off with the wife of one of his hockey buddies, he's a workaholic mechanic who rarely leaves the shop, he blames himself for his father's death, and even his own mother can't communicate with him. Armed only with the beautiful, heirloom cello he took in trade for the Volvo, Joseph heads for the city, on a mission of mercy to save a cowboy he doesn't know, and instead comes to see that there's a vast, wide world outside the confines of his garage.

Why you shouldn't read this book: Your motto is "live and let die."