A Different Kind of Normal

A Different Kind of Normal by Cathy Lamb

Will no one read Cathy Lamb's novels??

Seriously, I've recommended her to countless people and not one of them has taken my suggestion.  This is a little concerning because my taste in books is excellent really good decent ... fine.  My taste in books is all over the place.  If you saw my personal library, you'd completely agree.  But that is beside the point.  Lamb has quickly become one of my favorite authors and that should be fairly obvious since
1) I own all of her books.  ALL OF THEM.  There's six.  Be impressed.
2) I've READ all of her books.  ALL OF THEM.  And not like "eh...I'll skim these 400 pages for the good parts" kind of reading.  Cover to cover, every single word.  And every book has made me laugh, cry, gasp, exclaim profanities.  EVERY ONE.  But let's look back at the opening line of this numbered point: "I'VE READ ALL OF THEM".  You may be thinking, "But Caroline...you are the world's greatest book nerd.  If there were a world record for being a book nerd, you'd win.  So why is this a big deal?"  Here's why, dear reader.  Because in my home, I currently have 523 524 books.  That does not include text books or kiddie books for my little guy.  That's right.  It's not a joke.  I have a catalog on my phone so I know exactly how many books I have and which ones I have.  In my in laws' home, there is roughly 200-250 more books waiting to be moved here.  In my parents' home, I believe there might be another 20-30.  Out of all of the books that I own, I may have read about 30% of them.  This means that out of the 524 in my home, I have probably read about 150 of them.  Not so much if you think about it.  However, I own ALL of Lamb's books and I've READ EVERY SINGLE ONE.

BAM!

That is logic that cannot be refuted.  She is obviously very talented and writes excellent novels.  THerefore, you should all go out and purchase or borrow or download...whatever...her books.  Do it now.  I'll wait...

And for those of you that disagree with my logic stated above or disagree that you should read her stuff, consider yourself disowned.

Okay not really.

But I may make it very difficult for you to get a library card to borrow from my personal collection.

I know the owner.

MWAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHA.

Alright enough of that.  On to the review!

A Different Kind of Normal has a beautiful female protagonist as its star.  Jaden.  She's the mother of a teenage son, Tate, and you are quickly informed of 2 important details:
1) He is not her biological son.  He is the son of her drug addict sister who gave him up a couple of days after his birth.
2) Tate has a serious condition that he was born with.  He has a shunt in his head that goes down into his heart to pump out extra cerebral spinal fluid.  This also means that he was born with an oversized head and one of his eyes is larger than the other and placed higher on his head.  Needless to say, he doesn't look "normal".
Jaden also works as a hospice nurse and the scenes with her patients are both entertaining, endearing, and emotional (like all those e's?).  I cried for the first time by page 12, and was in love with Jaden and Tate by page 20.

There is no way to NOT love Tate.

He's not your average 17 year old.  His condition and physical description aside, Tate is incredibly smart, witty, and sensitive.  Lamb's description of his character is played out in various scenes with a variety of people.  He is incredibly attached to his young cousin, Damini, who lost her leg and wears a prothesis.  He also enjoys making Jaden groan over his jokes about how women can't control their hormones around his sexual prowess.  I guarantee you: Tate will make you laugh.  Several times.

For instance, Jaden, Tate and their extended family went to meet Tate's doctor, Ethan (a.k.a. Dr. Hunkorama according to Jaden), for a rafting trip.  Unbeknownst to them, he would have a woman with him for the trip.  She immediately showed disgust and perhaps a bit of fear for Tate because of the way he looks.  Rather than be dejected and hurt, Tate turned the tables on her quickly, making jokes about how it was contagious.  The whole family joined in with Caden (Jaden's brother) proclaiming that he was certain his head had started to grow more with the condition.  Damini informed the poor woman that she lost her leg to the disease and perhaps the lady wouldn't lose her leg but her "boobies" (which were described as rather large).  The scene ends with Tate and Damini chasing her around shouting that she couldn't catch it unless she got hit with some "spittle".

It's not an easy life though.  Jaden is facing trumped up charges of malpractice and neglect from one of her late patient's sons who is just a pissed-off-Napoleon-complex-overcompensating prick (my words, not Lamb's).  She's also struggling with the fact that Tate wants nothing more than to try out for the basketball team but she's terrified that he'll get hurt and possibly die (that's not nervous mommy issues...that's because of the shunt in his head).  Tate also wants to meet Brooke, his birth mother.  And to make things just a little bit more hectic, Jaden is in love with Tate's doctor, Ethan.

*sigh*

I cried.  Seriously.  I cried so much.
I also laughed.  A lot.  Tate will forever be one of my favorite characters.

Lamb did it again with this book.  She sucked me in, tied me up in these characters lives, and made me wish that I was a part of their chaotic yet lovable clan.  I finished this book two nights ago and I want to go back and read it again just so I can reunite with the characters.

Get it.
Read it.
Get it now.
Here on amazon

The Hot Librarian: A Little More from Lady Lamb

For those of you keeping up, you will remember that last week I wrote a review on Julia's Chocolates by Cathy Lamb.  I'm going to stick with this author because:
1. I love her.
2. You should too.


The first of her books that I read was Such a Pretty Face (get it on amazon).  Stevie Barrett is the main character.  Here's why you love her:
1. Her name is Stevie (come on?  How could you NOT love her)
2. She's got the SADDEST story ever and you just want to hug her.
3. She accepted that her obesity was going to kill her and she did something about it.


There's about 45 more reasons to love her but I'll leave it at that.  Stevie is trying to get her life together after this enormous physical change.  She works in a dysfunctional office, has a best friend that treats her like shit (seriously, I wanted to punch this woman repeatedly), and she has crazy cousins and an aunt and uncle who are ridiculous beyond belief.  She's filled with so much love and breaks her back repeatedly to try and pour this love out on people that are horrible to her.  Well...she pours it out to everyone except for the hottie that she wants (isn't that always the case?).  But there is something in this character that as the reader you get amazing glimpses of by seeing what she does when she's alone.  Who would have thought that her garden is glorious and precious to her?  Or who would have ever known that in her garage are the most artistic chairs that you have ever seen?  


I realize that this review is kind of pathetic.  Although I can't remember the phrases that made me laugh or the awful things her friend said, I remember the impact of that book.  I remember lying in bed on my side pregnant and having my pillow soaked by the tears that flowed for Stevie.  I'm fairly certain at one point I had decided that no matter what Eric said, if the baby turned out to be a girl, I was naming her Stevie.  


Read it.  Love it.  Then come back and tell me how much you loved it.


You will.

The Hot Librarian: Julia's Chocolates are yummy...

I've really got to work on my post titles.


le sigh


I'm a huge Cathy Lamb fan.  HUGE. It started with Such a Pretty Face and then on to The Last Time I Was Me.  Over the holidays, I read through two other books that she has written.


Today, I'm talking about Julia's Chocolates.


For starters, let me acknowledge what some critics who have read Lamb's books may be thinking: they are formulaic.  I'll give some credit to this argument.  There seems to be a running formula for some of her books (keyword: some).  There's the protagonist in the story that's female (duh).  She's had some kind of rough past and is broken.  And in some way, she's running.  There's a love interest in the story (why wouldn't there be?) and there is a lot of personal growth that takes place.


Sounds like a formula for "gag me with a spoon", right?


Wrong.


Lamb brings to the table a level of humor and cutthroat truth that is hard to see past and makes her characters so damn lovable.  For instance, after reading Julia's Chocolates, I've decided I want to be Aunt Lydia when I get older.  Aunt Lydia has a farm full of chickens and pigs and paints her door black in order to ward off evil spirits and seedy men.  She also has four giant concrete pig statues in her front yard.  Each one is wearing a name tag; they are each named after a man that has pissed off Aunt Lydia.  She holds weekly psychic nights at her house because her friend, Caroline (yes!), is a psychic.  Psychic night has a different theme every week and Aunt Lydia encourages her friends to rein in the power of their breasts or forgive their vaginas or some other "I AM WOMAN HEAR ME ROAR" kind of theme.


Seriously...how can you not love her?


She also doesn't beat around the bush which is what makes me adore Aunt Lydia.  She gets straight to the point and she's loud and in your face.  


Julia, on the other hand, is very broken.  She has left her fiance on the day of their wedding, thrown her wedding dress into a tree, and driven across the country to escape at the farm.  Before you start feeling sympathy for her ex, you should know that he's the scum of the earth.  He rapes her and hits her on a regular basis (in fact, the day of the wedding, she has a black eye).  He calls her names that are typically disparaging remarks about her weight.  He's scary, intimidating, and really needs to be kicked in the balls (sorry guys...I know it's harsh).  


I could go into all of the antics of this story.  Like how the minister's wife is a bit of a lush because, secretly, she's an incredible artist and is dying inside being trapped in a life of prayer meetings, church sessions, and bible studies that she thinks are what her husband wants of her (although he really just wants to love her...communal "awww" is appropriate right now).  Or how Caroline, the psychic, has a secret past.  She's a beautiful hippy who is haunted by the things that she sees and loves to live in her tiny home by herself.  And then there's Katie.  Her husband is an abusive drunk who can't hold a job, doesn't help her with their kids, and doesn't appreciate anything she does for him.  Instead, she takes care of the kids, cleans the house, cleans him up, and then works two jobs just so they can keep a roof over their heads.  


So, what do I love about this book?  I love stories about women grabbing themselves by their bootstraps and kicking the world in the ass.  Seriously.  I love the growth that takes place because these women think they are pansies and in the end, they prove that they are much stronger than they ever thought possible.  They tap into the well of strength that lies in all of us and make a complete 180 of their lives.  I love that when I finished this book, wiping tears from my cheeks, I felt excited, fulfilled, sad (to have the story over), but best of all, I felt cleansed.  That is my favorite feeling from a book: feeling cleansed.  Like I was made anew by getting to know the characters and walking beside them for a little while.


It's kind of like visiting with an old friend.


Have any of you read Julia's Chocolates or any of Cathy Lamb's other books?  What did you think?