The New Book I’m Sneezing About
In Marketing, a ‘sneezer’ is a term for someone who promotes products word-of-mouth, and word-of-mouth marketing is still alive and well in the book world (just ask John Green and his army of Nerdfighters).
I’ve been a book sneezer for a long time. In fact, if we’ve had a prolonged conversation about books recently, chances are I’ve sneezed all over you about one of these:
- Anna and the French Kiss (seriously, such a sweet and well written YA romance).
- The Silkworm by Robert Galbraith/JK Rowling (not like JK Rowling needs my help selling books, but it doesn’t seem like her mystery’s received as much credit as it deserves).
- The Kingkiller Chronicles by Patrick Rothfuss (these books are SO GOOD, and are easily my favorite fantasy books of the last decade).
- The Legend Trilogy by Marie Lu (unforgettable characters + action + angst-filled romance = my *favorite* dystopian YA trilogy).
- Wallbanger by Alice Clayton (so hilarious, flirty, and fun!).
And now there’s I’ll Give You the Sun by Jandy Nelson. This is my *favorite* book of 2014 so far, and is one I’ll most definitely be sneezing about. It’s a contemporary YA that crosses into literary territory. It reminds me of John Green’s Looking for Alaska and, oddly, Jess Walter’s Beautiful Ruins. Here’s the book description:
Jude and her twin brother, Noah, are incredibly close. At thirteen, isolated Noah draws constantly and is falling in love with the charismatic boy next door, while daredevil Jude cliff-dives and wears red-red lipstick and does the talking for both of them. But three years later, Jude and Noah are barely speaking. Something has happened to wreck the twins in different and dramatic ways . . . until Jude meets a cocky, broken, beautiful boy, as well as someone else—an even more unpredictable new force in her life. The early years are Noah’s story to tell. The later years are Jude’s. What the twins don’t realize is that they each have only half the story, and if they could just find their way back to one another, they’d have a chance to remake their world.
Believe me when I say that this book is AMAZING. It made me feel so much. At one point I worried that The Catastrophe that separated the twins, what was hinted at throughout the whole story, wouldn’t live up to my expectations. But, holy cow, it totally did!
I loved the complex relationships and the way the twins’ narrations wove together into something beautiful. And, oh my gosh, the characters! Noah and Jude were both fantastic, but there’s also Brian, Oscar, and, my personal favorite, the tortured artist Guillermo. I hardly ever cry in books, but this one got me.
I was rooting for the twins the entire time. Their relationship was so beautiful, and felt very true: Maybe we’re too old to still do this, but whatever. I can see her smiling even though I’m looking straight ahead. We exhale together, then inhale together, exhale, inhale, in and out, out and in, until not even the trees remember what happened in the woods yesterday, until Mom’s and Dad’s voices turn from mad to music, until we’re not only one age, but one complete and whole person.
I especially appreciated the descriptions of art. Painting, sketching, and sculptures, the writing about each one was so beautiful that I felt a release of energy with both Noah and Jude, felt the beauty of their work. One of my favorite quotes:
“Sketch like it matters, people. No time to waste, nothing to lose. We are remaking the world, nothing less, understand?”
This is a very quotable book. It gave me writer-envy in the best way. Here’s one last quote: Love does as it undoes. It goes after, with equal tenacity: joy and heartbreak.
What book are you ‘sneezing’ about right now? Have you read a book recently that touched your soul?
What I’m reading: The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath
What I’m listening to: Smashing Pumpkins — Adore, Super Deluxe Edition
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