How to Be a Normal Person

kinda disappointing. Not sure about the whole asexual thing. Is this a romance? His surfing the web on 'how to be normal' was initially charming and funny, but then the passages became really long & kinda preachy. This is a cute, ok book, and some parts are quite funny. Not one of the author's best, but not bad.

I found myself swatting my head with my hands thinking how ridiculous this is - but kept at it figuring out HAD to get better. But, no, it just got dumber and more quirky. There is nothing realistic about Gus, hence nothing realistic about how he goes about learning to be a "normal person" (looking up "how to be a normal person" on the internet? Really?) The plot is contrived, the characters are contrived. A real waste of time.

I may be unique among the reviewers (haven't read them all) as I'm a straight married man. So what the heck am I doing here? Simple. My wife say "You need to read this. You are Gus." There are other reasons, but they are more personal (and tough rockos you ain't getting them). Having read How to be a Normal Person, I see similarities. However, I can read an encyclopedia starting at other A. I mean, who does that? What? Oh my god.

Anyway, Gus is a great character. Although, I do see him as Dule Hill, which is probably not the intention. I do understand the confusion of the world and people and how darn strange they are. That and the hipster concern.

We Three Queens - wow. The book is worth it for them. What great characters. Although, and this is my only complaint, the ending with them is unnecessary. Close it out with Pastor Tommy.

Speaking of Pastor Tommy, I'm not sure I've felt as close to a character who is dead the entire story before. I'd read a Pastor Tommy book.

Not a drug user, but I didn't find it distracting at all. It fit with the characters.

I'm actually indifferent to Casey. Which I'm fine with.

Xander - what is it about people named Xander? He probably likes pickles. Oh my god.

I kind of think this book should be required reading for U.S.ians over the age of 45. Not only does the story of Grumpy Gus and the Asexual hipster stoner who loves him contain a boatload of snark, heart, and quirkiness-- it also ends up explaining modern notions of gender and sexuality like polyamorous, and asexual just by having characters that are those things in unselfconscious ways.

Gus lives in a small, Oregon town, runs his dead father's video rental business, and basically is the adopted mascot of We Three Queens (a pink vespa biker gang). Until Casey comes to run his aunt's coffee shop and Gus's world turns upside down.

All of a sudden he is saying things like "super cool" and "I want to shave your pine beaver" and so desperate to appear normal enough to have a relationship with Casey that he's looking up things on the Internet. The biggest hurdles in this book are accepting your own quirkiness and the fact that Casey is unapologetically both the author of a teen vampire/wolf apocalyptic best selling series as well as asexual-- he isn't interested in ye olde romanticized sexual relationship.

There are lots of low level hijinks, some pot smoking, and a lot of Gus having to learn how to just be himself. This book might make you laugh out loud and/or yearn for your own biker game to smotheringly mother you. Totally sweet romance in a small town setting.

I feel conflicted about how precisely to rate this book. One the one hand, I absolutely love the story and the characters. But...what I do have an issue with are some throwaway lines that are passed off as jokes that just, well, come off as offensive. I do think the author's later works (like those published in 2017) do a bit better, but just something to keep in mind.

On the whole, I do love this book a lot. I relate strongely to a combination of the love interests in this book - Gustavo Tiberius and Casey Richards. Gustavo, also known as "Gus", is the third-person narrator of this story. He has a set schedule that he follows everyday, and he doesn't really deviate from it too much. He wakes up, exercises, reads his daily inspirational message (much to his irritation), takes his pet ferret - Harry S. Truman - to the coffee shop, and then walks over to work at the video rental store that his father left him. It is the year 2014. No one really rents videos from him, and he considers it a good day when he has the least amount of human interaction possible.

It is explained later in the story how he makes a living, because it certainly could not be through Pastor Tommy's Video Rental Emporium. Pastor Tommy is Gus' father. He passed away by the time this book begins, and Gus' friends are a trio of women, collectively called We Three Queens, in their seventies named Bertha, Bernice, and Betty. Gus does not have the heart, nor courage, to ask whether the three are sisters, or in a relationship. They make sure to talk to Gus everyday and rent out a video from the store. Gus' one other friend is the lady who runs the coffee shop, Lottie. He is fine the way he is, but one day an asexual stoner hipster named Casey appears in town and disrupts Gus' everyday routine.

I think the beginning of this story is a bit slower paced as we learned who Gus is and his day to day routine. It's the same thing, day in, day out, for Gus in the small town of Abby, Oregon, home to 657 people. Gus' enjoyment every evening is to read through his encyclopedias, and I think it's charming. Gus has no use for the internet or smart phones. He hates Michael Bay with a passion (but who doesn't). Honestly, I read the opening paragraph and it gave me The Lego Movie feels. But, Gus isn't quite so optimistic and sunshiny. He's more of a...Grumpy Gus.

Casey is the opposite of Gus in that Casey is bright and delightful and full of sunshine at first glance. Casey perplexes Gus, as does his own fascination and attraction to Casey. Gus overthinks things, and internalizes a lot. This leads to both heartbreaking and hilarious scenes. I was really not expecting to get so emotional reading this book, but all the flashback scenes involving Gus and his father, Pastor Tommy? Each one absolutely kills me. Gus is a caring, kind-hearted soul. When he thinks that he wants to catch Casey's attention and make Casey fall in love with him? He decides to change things about himself to be more...normal.

Now, usually a storyline like this would make me hesitant to read it further. But the biggest takeaway from this is that Casey is not asking Gus to change himself in order for the two of them to be in a relationship in any way. It's Gus who thinks he needs to change aspects about himself, by how he dresses, and how he interacts with other people, in order to get the guy. Casey is a bundle of joy who loves Gus however he is, and I love the shenanigans that ensue even when Gus tries to change himself in sometimes rather drastic fashion.

I think everyone's favorite part are the chapters where Gus calls the cable company to set up his internet. Because those scenes are absolutely hilarious. Gus has no idea how the internet works (remember, it's 2014), and web searches for advice do not go as planned. I did find some of the advice articles to be a bit much. They just went on and on and on when I just really wanted to get back to the main story.

One of my favorite aspects of the story is Gus and his pet ferret. It's adorable. *cue aww-ing* Gus walks Harry S. Truman on a leash around town, and I didn't know this is a thing you do with ferrets? Or is it even something people do? In any case, I find Gus being a pet owner adorably sweet because he takes Harry S. Truman everywhere.

I love Casey. I love that he's ace and that he and Gus are just so perfect together. I love seeing ace rep in books and there's no big falling out or anything when Gus finds out Casey is asexual. Gus is cool and they give the best hugs. There's a lot more explicit consent in this story where the characters make sure the other wants, or is comfortable, with hugs and kisses before they do anything and I love it. Seeing Casey describe what he's comfortable with in a relationship? I just feel like I relate to that so, so much and seeing that written down just make me want to cry? I've read books with ace rep before, and they were wonderful books. This is just the first time where I'm just like, OH. Like that lightbulb moment, you know? It just feels really nice to be able to relate to a character and feel validated and it makes me EMOTIONAL. <3

Like many of the author's stories, this book is about found family and there's an entire cast of characters who all have distinct personalities and makes you want to be friends with all of them.

I do love this book a lot. I do think the story is worth reading for the ace rep, even with the concerns I had regarding some "jokes" throughout the book. How to Be a Normal Person is about finding friends and love, and having the courage to accept the person you want to be. It's a journey from beginning-to-end with Gustavo Tiberius and I can't wait to see what the author has in store for us next in this series!

A (really) laugh out loud romance between a stoner video store clerk named Gustavo Tiberius, who has a pet ferret named Harry S. Truman, and an asexual hipster bakery employee guy named Casey, who decides to woo Gus for reasons Gus can't even begin to understand.

The setup sounds too quirky to work, but it does, because TJ Klune is absolutely gifted at wrapping comedy around real emotion. Gus's misadventures using the internet to figure out how to be normal are hilarious, but his underlying loneliness and grief are deeply touching. Casey is a ray of sunshine, and his patience with Gus made my heart all melty. This book is so many good feelings!

Asexual readers will extra appreciate that this is #ownvoices, that Casey is 100% okay with his asexuality, the main characters do NOT have sex, and Gus finds his physical and romantic relationship with Casey deeply fulfilling.

It’s quite evident that this story came from the very fertile imagination of TJ Klune, however this one isn’t as fast-paced, or as manic, so-to-speak, as some of the others he’s written. And that’s a good thing. It suits the MCs very well and made the story funny, interesting, sweet, and engaging.

Gustavo Tiberius is a pretty sedate, even-tempered, oddball of a guy, and his fated soulmate, Casey, is an asexual hipster stoner with an attitude so laid back he likely never reaches vertical. But together, they’re the perfect mix.

Gustavo has been on his own ever since his father, Pastor Tommy, died a few years ago. Living quietly with his ferret, Harry S. Truman, for company, Gustavo reads encyclopedias as his form of entertainment. TV or the Internet? Who needs them? Not Gustavo who owns a video store in the tiny town of Abbey, Oregon. He also happens to own most of the buildings in the downtown area, so he doesn’t need to worry whether or not the handful of video customers who come in will be enough to support him financially.

Among the characters in this little town are a few women who adore him, and who he might secretly admit, he adores too. These include Lottie, who owns the coffee and sandwich shop next door, and the Three Queens – a trio of Vespa-riding old women, complete with silver hair and pink leather jackets. These women care about him and make him use a daily motivational calendar from which he has to recite the quote each day as they come in to rent a video.

One day, instead of seeing Lottie when he stops in for his morning cup of coffee, Gustavo is shocked to discover a gorgeous blond hipster behind the counter. Lottie’s nephew Casey is visiting from California. They’re instantly drawn to each other, but Gustavo has no idea of what to do about that, and when later that week, he overhears Casey telling his aunt that Gustavo isn’t normal, he rushes home to hide. And then he buys the Internet for research since his encyclopedia is outdated and has no information on how to be a normal person. The vignettes between Gustavo and the customer service reps of the cable company are totally campy and ridiculous, but as funny as anything I’ve ever read or heard—mainly because they could so easily be true!

Derrick McClain does an outstanding job of narrating this tale and gives Gus, aka Grumpy Gus, the perfect intonation to suit his personality, but it’s the voice he gives Casey that carries the whole story, IMHO. If I ever imagined what the voice of a stoned hipster might be, the voice Derrick uses for Casey is ten times better. Priceless!

As the two navigate the waters of a potential relationship, and Gus discovers more about what it means to be asexual and how it might affect his time with Casey, Casey’s best friends show up, ostensibly to visit. In reality, they’ve come to give Gus the third degree and make sure he’s good enough for Casey. They’re very protective of him, but not quite as protective as Lottie and the three queens are of Gus. Misunderstandings and hilarity are the name of the game for all, except Gus and Casey who speak their own language—the language of love.

This is a funny, sweet MM romance, with emphasis on the romance. There’s no sex, explicit or implied, but there is love, and not only the love between Gus and Casey which blossoms slowly, but through flashbacks of times with his father before he died of cancer, we come to know Gus and what makes him tick, and we see the love of a father for his son in the memories Gus recalls. It’s a beautiful and unique love story, and I highly recommend it in the audiobook format.

"How would you define "normal"?"
Would you consider the audio edition of How to Be a Normal Person to be better than the print version?
I hadn't read prior to listening. I did enjoy the audio version very much though, Derrick McClain is so awesome at giving various and completely different characters a voice.

What other book might you compare How to Be a Normal Person to and why?
Any other TJ Klune book, he really gets down into the heart of difficult issues, conveying in such a way that you truly understand. Also, Amy Lane, if you're looking for a different Author or perspective.

Which scene was your favorite?
I'm going to say the entire book for the most part. It's nice to see Klune having fun, inserting humor into a story.

If you were to make a film of this book, what would the tag line be?
How to Be a Normal Person (?) why you want to change it?

Any additional comments?
How would you define "normal"? Really, I want you to think about that. You see this book listed under gay romance and probably right away thought, hot man sex. Well, you'd be wrong. But there is nothing wrong with that. The book has to stand on story and content without all those smexy bells and whistles and it definitely achieved that.

A fun, quirky gay romance without a lot of sexual tension or angst. This is my first story with an A-Sexual character and I really enjoyed getting to know the characters, especially Casey. McClain did such a great job breathing life into Casey and Gus, I laughed so hard a couple of times. Definitely worth a listen.

There is no elevator to success. You have to take the stairs. – Inspirational message- From Gustavo’s Calendar.

Book Lovers, where do I even begin with this one! seriously, I can’t even explain how much I really loved this story. How to be a normal person is TJ at his funny best.

Don’t look back. You’re not going that way. – Inspirational message- From Gustavo’s Calendar.

An asexual stoner called Casey, which by the way I had to embarrassingly google, cos Ang hadn’t a clue what asexual meant *blushes*

A socially, awkward Gus, who owns a video store and many other buildings throughout Abby.
Three lesbian/possibly sisters…maybe.

So they are our people, through all the laughs and swooning (I don’t know if that is a word but I am using it) TJ still brought all the emotions and all the FEELY Feels to the table.

Totally NO Sex, just like seriously AMAZING hugs and some pretty cute kissing!

f there was that one character you could fall helplessly in love with, it would be Gus. He was so cute with his routine, he missed his dad. Who passed away. He lives on his own, he has no *gasp* Internet so that’s like a life without a smart phone, social media and he has a FLIP PHONE! He is so cool; I want to become his best friend. Oh wait he has a pet, wait for it… a pet Ferret named Harry S. Truman, and he hates Michael Bay. And and and he reads encyclopedias!

Then he meets are Asexual scruffy stoner Casey, he is a hipster writer with the must lovable personality and has a wicked sense of humor and best of all he just adores Gus. He has moved to town, to get away so he moves to Abby and lives with his Aunt who runs a coffee shop. The coffee shop that Gus goes to every morning to get said coffee, and he also owns the building too.

That is when poor ol Gus, has to purchase the Internet, cos you know he has to research How to be a normal person, because our Gus thinks he’s not normal, I loved him and so will you!

Tumbler, for Gus. Was so funny #dead “I’m gonna get yo mouth pregnant” laughing so much right now, just thinking about that part and when he rings up about the Internet. Funniest thing ever!

I’m not sure what else to put in my review, I loved the characters I think the writing was flawless and the story was perfect. It makes you feel, I was enchanted with How to be a Normal Person.

Oh my god, I nearly forgot the best part, my favorite part was Stoner Scrabble, while eating cookies and hypothetical pizza. When Casey spelt out Can I Kiss you, I almost died! I was swooning hard; I swear it was perfect. That game. Ha! Perfect. Casey and Gus are now one of my fav couples!

Don’t change yourself for anyone. Be happy with who you are. – Inspirational message- From Gustavo’s Calendar.

That! That, right there is everything that this book is and more. It has such a powerful message when you are reading this story. -Me, Ang. PNR Book Lover Reviews

Totally check, out my Full review on website!!!

Gustavo Tiberius leads an ordered life. Each day when he wakes, he gets up, does his push ups, checks the daily inspirational message waiting for him on the calendar given to him by the We Three Queens (a trio of women who may be sisters or may be in a polyamorous relationship – Gus has never been quite game enough to ask), feeds Harry S Truman (the ferret inherited from his father, Pastor Tommy), showers, shaves, dresses for work at the video rental store he owns (also inherited from his father), and places Harry S Truman in his carrier before they head out to Lottie’s Lattes for his morning coffee. Every day, he tells himself today is going to be an okay day. Gus likes it like that. He likes routine, he likes knowing what to expect. Gus also has resting bitch face, a snarky reply always at the ready, and three lesbians and a coffee shop owner who always looked out for him and he considered his friends (even though Lottie insists on using alliteration for her shop’s name). Sure, he may get lonely (not that he’s ever actually admit to that) and he misses his father, but he has a job, he has his friends and life is okay. Right up until he walks into Lottie’s Lattes one morning to find a hipster stoner behind the counter where Lottie should be. And he instagrammed Gus! Who does that?!

Casey Richards, needing a change of pace and scenery, has moved to the quiet town of Abby and is working for his aunt at Lottie’s Lattes. When Gus first meets Casey, he has no idea how to deal with the obviously stoned (hey, it was Casey’s first day on the job, he was nervous!), gorgeous hipster who insisted on photographing Gus and posting it to Instagram, oh my god! Casey is smitten with his Grumpy Gus from the get go and sets about slowly working his way into Gus’ heart.

To begin with, I wasn’t entirely sure I particularly liked either MC, although I certainly found them both interesting and highly amusing. Gus. He is completely adorkable (he would so hate that description!). It took a little while to get to know him, but I grew to adore him. Quite a lot. I have to admit Casey’s love for pot made it harder for me to warm to him. Yes, I know in the blurb it states he’s a stoner, so I didn’t start reading this book unaware of that. I completely own that it’s my personal dislike, but I found it difficult to really connect fully to the character. Even so, I completely loved him for Gus. He brought out the fun in Gus. Casey pushed him out of the comfort zone he had settled into after the death of his father, causing Gus to be less withdrawn from the world around him. I absolutely adored their banter and the love that grew between them. The pacing of their developing relationship felt really natural. It was relatively slow, but it was never boring. I also really liked how both Gus’ quirkiness and Casey’s asexuality were dealt with in the context of their relationship. Again, it felt very organic.

The other relationship I loved most in this book is the one between Gus and his father, Pastor Tommy. With Pastor Tommy having died three years before this story starts, their relationship is shown in little vignettes and is beautifully done. Even shown in snippets, it was wonderful and my heart ached at times for the unfairness of life (even the fictional kind). The other side characters – the We Three Queens, Lottie and Casey’s trio of friends – provided some fantastic humour and we’re certainly no mere cardboard cut-outs! Sometimes larger than life, but never caricatures.

The humour. Oh my god, the humour! It was laugh out loud. It was perfect. It carried the story and the characters without becoming slapstick (well, too slapstick. A little slapstick was just right), and regularly had me laughing out loud. I adored the three maybe sisters/maybe polyamorous lesbians, except for maybe Bernice. Her level of fangirling was downright scary!

How To Be A Normal Person is funny and sweet. It is a story about love. From the romantic love between Gus and Casey to the love of friendship and the familial love Pastor Tommy had for his son, this book beautifully shows it in its myriad forms.

This book is so different from everything I have ever read. I was actually kind of shocked by that. I loved every page of it though! This is my first T.J. Klune book and it most certainly will not be the last. I just have to figure out which one of his books to read next. If they are all this amazing and awesome I am in trouble.

Gus is an interesting fella. He has his daily routine that he follows everyday, every week, every month, and has done so for all of his life. He’s okay with his okay life. He’s okay with his okay job. He’s okay with his okay routine. Everything is okay until one day it no longer is. That’s the day when he meets Casey and decides he wants to be normal, not abnormal, not weird, and most certainly not strange. Gus being Gus does the only thing there is to do he calls Pacific Northwest Cable to buy the internet. The internet can tell him How To Be a Normal Person.

I laughed throughout this book. Gus and his view of the world and how he handles the numerous new situations in his life is great. Casey the asexual stoner hipster was an amazing match for Gus. They get each other. Not many people get Gus. I’m pretty sure Gus doesn’t get Gus. Casey gets Gus. The We Three Queens and Lottie were the best possible group of friends to go along with this stoner romantic comedy of books. This book is filled with humor, wit, awkward moments, caring hugs, sweet kisses, and well played alliterations. I am so glad I finally got around to reading it.

ebook (edit)
Review Okay so I will preface this review stating that I am a HUGE TJ Klune fan. Anyone who knows me is aware, however my love for his work does not mean that this is not a 5 star read.

From start to finish I was invested in every character especially Gus. He was so perfect and he was just waiting for Casey to come and break him out of his routine and boy does he. From hawaiian shirts, to getting home internet (those "recorded" calls are genius) and to opening up to people he has called his friends was a joy to read.

Then there is Casey, the instagramming hipster who just blows into Gus's life and will not allow Grumpy Gus and his judgemental eyebrows from making them into something. And his friends.. just seriously they were fantastic.

Then there are the little things, like the INTENSE hatred of Michael Bay, lesbian vespa gangs and a ferret named Harry S Truman that make this such a well rounded book.

Lastly it's TJ's portryal of his asexual stoner Casey. It's mentioned and he and Gus build a relationship around it but it's not presented in a way that makes it seem like it's abnormal (which it isn't) it's just the way he lives his life and it's beautifully presented.

Thank you TJ for putting out another fantastic book.

I loved this book! The first person narrator reminded me of so many people i've known - totally dysfunctional, yet at the same time, part of a logical construct. As other reviewer have state, to give away the plot [nengligible, but classic] doesn't really give an idea what the book is about.

very funny. very smart.read it

Such great book! Offers an alternative perspective in M/M romance genre in which the characters do not engage in wild monkey sex. This is currently my favorite bedside reading (replacing the author's earlier work, Tell Me It's Real).

"How To Be A Normal Person" gives us the hilarious mental convolutions of a guy who is desperate to deserve love. TJ Klune is a master. He can write the torture of anxiety with such exquisite wit that we're laughing helplessly at the same time we painfully identify. No author does a better job infusing characters with such a vibrant, engaging voice. I cannot pick up one of Mr. Klune's books unless I know I have a chunk of time to finish it as soon as possible.

My Review:
Overall: 4.5
Performance: 5.0
Story: 4.5

This story was epic in just how fun and funny it was. I can't imagine reading it could be near as much fun as listening to it, because the narrator was amazing. His inflections for Gus and Casey were absolute perfection. Through his voices, he managed Gus's disdain, Casey's stoned cluelessness, and the We Three Queens astounded and confounded comments perfectly. I LOVED listening to this book.

And, wow, I don't honestly know what else I can say about this book. I can pretty much guarantee that it's like nothing you have ever read before (TJ Klune's brain is a bizarre, but fabulous place). There are moments when it's twisted. There are moments when it's sweet. And there are moments when it's heartbreaking...Gus's remembered moments with his father slayed me. I can't imagine what an incredible man he was to raise Gus to be completely okay with being this VERY off-the-wall character.

And yeah, Gus has his moments of self-doubt...thus the online "Normal" lessons.
Oh. My. God.
The things that came up in the narration of these lessons literally kept me laughing out loud and rolling with laughter.

It's a fabulous, feel good book about two men who learn to love one another despite and because of their differences. I'm so glad that I listened to it. I HIGHLY recommend it!!

Absolutely loved this. Incredibly funny, hugely insightful. Gus is a brilliant example of a neurodiverse character who is allowed to exist in and of himself without the need to fight his corner. I've been slightly addicted to TJ Klune's work ever since.