Everybody’s Baby by Lydia Netzer

Reviewed by Kristin

Jenna and Billy are the quintessential millennial couple.  Jenna owns the Rock Star Yoga studio, offering non-traditional classes such as Sock Hop Yoga, Punk Rock Yoga, and even Shake Yo’ Ass Yoga, pulling in a much different demographic than one might think.  Software developer Billy practically lives on the internet, tweeting and Tumblr-ing every thought that goes through his mind.  They are young, in love, and want to have a baby.

Turns out, having a baby is one of the things that does not come easily to Jenna and Billy.

Jenna and Billy don’t know where to turn.  Fertility treatments could cost as much as $40,000, with no guarantee of a successful pregnancy.  Having already borrowed money from Billy’s parents for a house down-payment, Jenna and Billy turn to another resource: the internet.

Yes, Jenna and Billy plan to have the world’s first Kickstarter baby.  Perks include owning the first ultrasound picture, hosting the gender reveal party, creating the birth plan, rubbing Jenna’s pregnant belly, cutting the cord, naming the baby, and so many more options.  Jenna is hesitant, questioning whether or not she could have strangers, yes, STRANGERS, so involved in her planned conception and motherhood, but Billy believes in the power of crowdsourcing, so they forge ahead.

Fortunately, the baby-namer doesn’t go with Horace and/or Mildred, options which horrify Jenna.  But Billy and Jenna soon find that sharing these milestones with others is harder than it seems.  The Kickstarter absolutely blows up, reaching the funding goal quickly, and gaining the attention of national news outlets.  After all, a Kickstarter baby lets the supporters feel ownership over this potential baby.  As Jenna and Billy gain more publicity, the internet takes sides, and as you know on the internet—everyone has an opinion.

I absolutely love Lydia Netzer’s novels, and this story is available only as an e-novella.  It was a pleasure to read using Tennessee READS.  Reviews of Netzer’s other books can be found here:  How To Tell Toledofrom the Night Sky  and Shine Shine Shine.  Yes, I’ve been a fan for a few years, and will continue to follow this quirky and timely author wherever she leads.

How to Tell Toledo from the Night Sky by Lydia Netzer

Reviewed by Kristin

How to Tell Toledo from the Night Sky by Lydia Netzer is one of those page-turners that I just couldn’t stop reading.  Irene Sparks and George Dermont have been arcing through their lives separately, not knowing that their mothers planned their meeting before they were born.  Netzer’s characters have such quirky, appealing personalities.  In a world that recognizes differences are what make us special, these two non-conformists shine brighter than the stars.

Irene is a serious scientist, an astronomer who has created infinitesimal black holes in her lab in Pittsburgh.  With this breakthrough, the world-famous Toledo Institute of Astronomy invites her to join their ranks.  George is also a research fellow and instructor at the Institute, but with a dreamy outlook and a desire to find the reality of God through the immense reaches of the physical universe.

As Irene moves back to Toledo to accept this prestigious position, her mother has just died from a fall down the stairs.  Irene hadn’t spoken to her for years, as her mother had immersed herself deeper and deeper into her astrological beliefs while Irene moved forward with her unsentimental scientific research.

George had been told by a psychic that he was destined to be with a brown haired astronomer whom he would meet in Toledo.  After dating almost every available brunette at the Institute, George sees Irene at the annual welcome banquet and in an instant, he realizes, “It’s you.”  For George, their fate is locked.  Irene, well, she’s not so sure.

Irene and George struggle with knowing each other and discovering the multifaceted layers of their histories.  Are they truly meant to be together?  Or has this all just been a tangle created by their mothers more than two decades earlier?  Writing not just a love story, Netzer weaves together a story with beautiful language that shows how two unusual people learn to make sense of their lives, the world and the universe.

Netzer’s previous book, Shine, Shine, Shine is another beautiful novel that mixes socially awkward people and love. Read that review here.

To experience a fresh voice in new fiction, explore the worlds created by Lydia Netzer.

Shine Shine Shine by Lydia Netzer

Reviewed by Kristin

Shine Shine Shine is a first novel by a promising young author.  The story centers around Sunny and Maxon, a married couple who have known each other since childhood.   Sunny was born during a complete solar eclipse to missionary parents in Burma.  Returning to rural Pennsylvania, Sunny and her mother meet neglected Maxon and he quickly becomes part of their lives.  Flash forward twenty years and Maxon is a genius astronaut working in space on a project to put a robot colony on the moon while Sunny is back on earth about to give birth to their second child while being with their autistic son, Bubber, and her dying mother.

Sunny has been trying to keep up the appearance of a typical family in Norfolk, Virginia, but the pretenses start to fall away as she has a minor car accident.  As the other vehicle hits Sunny’s van, her blonde wig flies off and out the window, landing in a puddle.  Suddenly, Sunny decides she doesn’t want to hide behind the wig anymore.

Maxon has always been socially awkward.  In fact, he and Sunny have made up formulas for him to understand how to communicate with other people.  Maxon is brilliant, but not comfortable in social situations.  He seems to understand his robots better than people.  When an accident damages the spacecraft, Maxon and the team must work to save the mission and save their lives.

All of this sounds fantastic and strange, but Lydia Netzer weaves the characters together and shows what it means to be a family.  At its heart, this book is about people feeling different from the world around them, but being accepted by others and understanding that those differences are a normal part of life.

Lydia Netzer has a very unique voice and I look forward to reading more of her work.  You can read more about the author at http://lydianetzer.blogspot.com/ .