Customer Reviews

A Piece of Normal: A Novel

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I loved Shelton's first book, What Comes After Crazy, but this one is even better, a great book about getting unstuck when life threatens to freeze-frame you. The characters are fully realized, and it was a joy to have them in my life while I read this book. I found myself slowing down toward the end because I didn't want the book to be over. The only thing I wish were different is the cover--the publishers have made it look rather too chick-litty, when it's so much more than that.

This book made me late for everything...I couldn't put it down to attend to my regular life! The author is a deft storyteller with a rich emotional clarity: She absolutely pinpoints every nuance of feeling in scene after scene. Plus she's extremely funny. Her lead character, Lily, is strong and smart (and clueless), and for some reason I love how she describes herself at one point: "slightly off-kilter, motor running full blast, but basically okay." I had a lot of fun with this book; I'd go anywhere the author takes me.

This is the kind of book that sucks you in so completely, that you are so sad when it ends, because you are not going to be able to visit with your "friends" anymore.

If you're looking to get lost in a book and are a woman in her thirties, this is it. In between job demands, child rearing and the tough business of facing middle age, it's great to find an escape such as this one. I'm promptly purchasing all of Ms. Shelton's novels after fully enjoying this one.

I love Sandi Shelton's insight and humor, which put me in mind of a less-flippant Nora Ephron. And I love how she fleshes out characters that other writers would leave as cartoons, until they start to seem as real as my neighbors and twice as interesting. Now, having devoured A PIECE OF NORMAL and her first novel, WHAT COMES AFTER CRAZY, I'm waiting impatiently for book #3. (My husband probably hopes it's a long wait, since Shelton's books keep me up so late with the reading light on.)

I loved Shelton's first book and was so excited to see she had written another one. I just went out and got it and am already loving this one even more.

While the style of writing is similar to the last, this one seems to be on a slightly more serious note. The book, like the first, has lovable characters and a plot that has kept me from putting it down. The writing is excellent - really the best novels I have read in a long time. Highly recommended.

Gotta go finish it!!!!

Not the average summer read, this is way above normal. Sandi Shelton's descriptions of people, places and relationships are all delightfully real, the plotline has many surprising twists.

I read and loved What Comes After Crazy a long time ago--Sandi Shelton's second book, A Piece of Normal, is even better. This is a story of loss and change and acceptance of what is, very well told with humor and great insight.

Lily Brown's parents died tragically in an auto accident 12 years ago and Lily came home from California to take care of her younger sister. Now she and her young son are living in the family home on the Connecticut shore. She's happily divorced but still managing her ex-husband's life, going so far as to fix him up with dates. Her biggest regret is that her younger sister, Dana, has not been heard from in ten years. Then one day, out of the blue, Dana shows up and everything changes.

I was completely captivated by this story and could not wait to find out what was going to happen. And of course, then completely sad when the book ended. The characters are fully developed and fleshed out and descriptions of the Connecticut coast are quite real. I recommend this book to anyone who enjoys a funny, warm, well told story.

I have read one of this author's non-fiction books before I read this one. This book was good, there was some expected and unexpected twists. I will probably read more of her books.

This was a crazy unbelievable book. Still very much worth reading, especially if you are looking to escape reality.