Lydia Netzer lives in Virginia with her husband and two redheaded children. When she isn’t teaching, reading, or writing her next book, she plays guitar in a rock band. She is the author of How to Tell Toledo from the Night Sky and Shine Shine Shine, a New York Times Notable Book, a Publishers Weekly Best Book, A Library Journal Best Book, and a finalist for the LA Times Book Prize.
Praise for Shine Shine Shine
“Not only entertaining, but nuanced and wise…blending wit and imagination with an oddly mesmerizing, matter-of-fact cadence, Netzer's debut is a delightfully unique love story and a resounding paean to individuality.”―People (People Pick)
“Netzer's storytelling method is as poetic as her language. She slowly assembles a multitude of pinpoint insights that converge to form a glimmering constellation...a stellar, thought-provoking debut” ―The New York Times Book Review
“Over the moon with a metaphysical spin. Heart-tugging…it is struggling to understand the physical realities of life and the nature of what makes us human….Nicely unpredictable…Extraordinary.” ―Janet Maslin, The New York Times
“You're pulled into the drama through the incredible natural beauty of her writing … deftly and wittily done … people say her style reminds them of Anne Tyler, but she reminded me a little bit more of Don DeLillo.” ―Liesl Schillinger, The New York Times Book Review Podcast
“Entirely winning…a refreshingly weird story about the exuberant weirdness of familial love.” ―The Wall Street Journal
“Netzer deftly illuminates the bonds that transcend shortcomings and tragedy. Characterized by finely textured emotions and dramatic storytelling, Netzer's world will draw readers happily into its orbit.” ―Publishers Weekly
“Netzer has beautifully crafted an original story with a cast of characters who make up an unconventional but strangely believable family...This story will shine, shine, shine for all adult readers.” ―Library Journal, starred review
“The novel traces Maxon and Sunny's relationship from their childhoods in Burma and Appalachia to outer space, revealing the futility of chasing an ideal of what's normal…Shine Shine Shine breaks free of the gravitational pull of traditional romantic clichés.” ―The Washington Post
“Lydia Netzer's luminous debut novel concerns what lies beneath society's pretty surfaces -- Sunny's congenital hairlessness, her husband's remoteness, their son's autism. What makes it unexpectedly moving is how skillfully Netzer then peels back those layers, finding heartbreaking depth even in characters who lack ordinary social skills.” ―The Boston Globe
Praise for How to Tell Toledo from the Night Sky
“It's a lovely summer valentine.”―Entertainment Weekly
“Antically inventive, often outrageously funny...Netzer excels at comedy.”―New York Times Book Review
“Two star-crossed stargazers twinkle in Lydia Netzer's spritelyHow to Tell Toledo from the Night Sky.”―Wall Street Journal
“[A] winning second novel...two flawed souls whose love is as quarky as it is quirky...showing us the redemptive power of love as a truly cosmic force.”―The Boston Globe
“A genuinely moving love story at its core, with the added bonus of humor that is sweet and almost soul touching.”―Bookriot Round-Up
“An intelligent and imaginative love story.”―Bookslut
“With a title that reads like a line of verse, the novel's mesmerizing cadence is little surprise. There is a deeper poetry to Netzer's writing, as well. Netzer exposes the magic in the mundane, the enchantment of the earthbound. Her characters, like us, share space with the stars. Perhaps the most breathtaking revelation of Netzer's novel is that the world is more dazzling on our side of the atmosphere.”―Minneapolis Star Tribune
“A diverting romp through two generations of well-intentioned friends and lovers...much-anticipated, fabulous second novel” ―Booklist (starred review)
“Netzer's star burst into existence with Shine Shine Shine and flares even more brightly inHow to Tell Toledo From the Night Sky. Watch her work for further illumination, and pity lesser writers who settle for the commonplace light of ordinary days.” ―Richmond Times Dispatch
“Lydia Netzer delivers an original, quirky love story, glittering with stars and teeming with humor.”―Bustle.com