39

By Timothy Gene Sojka,

Book cover of 39: Your Last Birthday

Book description

2023 Maxy Awards Winner

Stephen Detals played professional baseball before flaming out in whiskey-fueled catastrophe.

His father and grandfather killed themselves on their 39th birthdays. Stephen is 38. He battles alcoholism, abandonment, suicidal tendencies, and lethal family history to survive his impending birthday.

This novel chronicles the final eight days…

When you buy books, we may earn a commission that helps keep our lights on (or join the rebellion as a member).

Why read it?

1 author picked 39 as one of their favorite books. Why do they recommend it?

Are we doomed to meet the same fate as our ancestors? That’s the threat looming over failed baseball player and self-destructive alcoholic Stephan Detals, whose father and grandfather died by suicide on their 39th birthdays.

With Stephan’s 39th birthday coming in a few days, he returns to his hometown to learn the truth about his father and grandfather’s deaths in hope of avoiding their fatal destinies. Sojka creates a twisty mystery with fascinating characters and Texas gothic. He also keeps up the tension as the fateful date approaches.

I felt Sojka did a wonderful job evoking the Texas landscape and…

Want books like 39?

Our community of 12,000+ authors has personally recommended 77 books like 39.

Browse books like 39

Book cover of Bouton: The Life of a Baseball Original
Book cover of The Only Rule Is It Has to Work: Our Wild Experiment Building a New Kind of Baseball Team
Book cover of The Bird and the Bees

Share your top 3 reads of 2024!

And get a beautiful page showing off your 3 favorite reads.

1,206

readers submitted
so far, will you?

5 book lists we think you will like!

Interested in Texas, baseball, and alcoholism?

Texas 224 books
Baseball 177 books
Alcoholism 108 books