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Another Year or Two
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“I fell in love with all of the characters.”
“ I got hooked and couldn't put it down.”
“I'd read something clever and think, man, Kyle's the best. But then I'd be laughing at the witticisms of Madison or the lovesick yearnings of Lara.”
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Lara lives in the small town of Turnpost, South Dakota. She’s not sure why she started writing a blog. In 2002, it’s just the thing to do.
She’s not the only one blogging. Follow five characters in different walks of life as their paths overlap (or just miss each other) in a variety of ways. A story about unexpected connections and the difficulty of change, ANOTHER YEAR OR TWO is a charming, multilayered glimpse into the thoughts of people who have no idea who is reading what they post.
“I fell in love with all of the characters.”
“ I got hooked and couldn't put it down.”
“I'd read something clever and think, man, Kyle's the best. But then I'd be laughing at the witticisms of Madison or the lovesick yearnings of Lara.”
---
Lara lives in the small town of Turnpost, South Dakota. She’s not sure why she started writing a blog. In 2002, it’s just the thing to do.
She’s not the only one blogging. Follow five characters in different walks of life as their paths overlap (or just miss each other) in a variety of ways. A story about unexpected connections and the difficulty of change, ANOTHER YEAR OR TWO is a charming, multilayered glimpse into the thoughts of people who have no idea who is reading what they post.
358 pages, Kindle Edition
First published April 16, 2013
1 person is currently reading
139 people want to read
About the author
Robin Stephen
11 books9 followersRobin was born in Arizona. Growing up, she loved getting lost on horseback in the wild foothills of the Sonoran Desert. When it was too hot to ride, she got lost in books instead. Her work often explores the deep connections that form between people and animals.
Robin’s epic fantasy series, Drawchilde, has been well over a decade in the making. Set in a world where nature-based magic clashes with a culture of steam-powered expansionism, the four primary books follow the struggle of the outliers who oppose an ancient malice that threatens to annihilate even those who refuse to believe it exists.
Robin now lives in Iowa City with her husband and their fantastic dog. She enjoys gardening, trying to see how many plants she can cram into a fairly small house, and is always dabbling in some creative medium or other. But really she still spends most of her spare time riding horses and reading books.
Robin’s epic fantasy series, Drawchilde, has been well over a decade in the making. Set in a world where nature-based magic clashes with a culture of steam-powered expansionism, the four primary books follow the struggle of the outliers who oppose an ancient malice that threatens to annihilate even those who refuse to believe it exists.
Robin now lives in Iowa City with her husband and their fantastic dog. She enjoys gardening, trying to see how many plants she can cram into a fairly small house, and is always dabbling in some creative medium or other. But really she still spends most of her spare time riding horses and reading books.
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
July 7, 2013
Another Year or Two is a very unique novel with an interesting premise and format. The author Robin Stephen chose to write this novel in the form of blog posts by 5 different characters. When I first started reading the novel, the constant change in perspective took me out of the story and made it difficult for me to get to know the characters. However, I soon began to see many the layers of connections between each character in the story. Once the novel began to flow and the pace began to pick up I really enjoyed that it was told in multiple perspectives. This format made it easy to see how characters can see and experience the same event differently and see how each character relates to the others.
The thing that I liked the most about Another Year or Two was that it was very character-driven. Since there were 5 main characters whose point of view we saw throughout the novel, I was able to see each character as they grew and developed throughout the story. Each character was extremely realistic. I could even see a little bit of my high school self in Lara, my least favorite character through the majority of the novel. My favorite character, Madison, like me was a twenty-something substitute teacher who was unsure where to go with her life. Robin Stephen has successfully developed a novel where both teenage and adult characters share stories that overlap with each other.
While this is not the type of novel that I would usually pick up and read, I enjoyed reading it and it went very quickly for me. I look forward to reading more by Robin and hope that some of her future stories contain some of the same characters as Another Year or Two.
Rating: 4/5 stars. I recommend this novel to both adults and teens as they both can find a character or characters they they can relate to.
The thing that I liked the most about Another Year or Two was that it was very character-driven. Since there were 5 main characters whose point of view we saw throughout the novel, I was able to see each character as they grew and developed throughout the story. Each character was extremely realistic. I could even see a little bit of my high school self in Lara, my least favorite character through the majority of the novel. My favorite character, Madison, like me was a twenty-something substitute teacher who was unsure where to go with her life. Robin Stephen has successfully developed a novel where both teenage and adult characters share stories that overlap with each other.
While this is not the type of novel that I would usually pick up and read, I enjoyed reading it and it went very quickly for me. I look forward to reading more by Robin and hope that some of her future stories contain some of the same characters as Another Year or Two.
Rating: 4/5 stars. I recommend this novel to both adults and teens as they both can find a character or characters they they can relate to.
August 18, 2013
I received a free download of this book from Story Cartel.
I loved this book! It is a sweet, simple story of people living in an everyday world.
Don't get me wrong, I do love a good adventure story full of drama and magic, but this story was a great read for me because I could relate to it. I fell in love with all of the characters. They were regular people, going about their daily lives in a small town, just like me. They had their share of heartaches, but have learned to celebrate the small triumphs and to find something to be thankful for in every situation.
I enjoyed how the book was presented in a series of blog entries, and how the reader was often able to see the same situation from two or more perspectives. It was also neat to see all the different personalities coming out in the blog entries themselves. Lara's posts had some slang phrases and lots of run-on sentences, which is exactly how many teenage girls talk. Wendy's posts showed a lot of uncertainty with technical situations (often resolved by Kyle) and she had a tendency to post comments on Kyle's blog that could potentially be embarrassing for him, but he took it in stride.
I would have loved to see blogs written by Chad, Taylor, and Annette.
The story had a happy ending, but was left pretty open - perhaps for future novels with these characters? I want to keep reading their blogs. :-)
I would recommend this book to people who need a little bit of a slow-down, feel-good story to keep them grounded in this hectic life.
I loved this book! It is a sweet, simple story of people living in an everyday world.
Don't get me wrong, I do love a good adventure story full of drama and magic, but this story was a great read for me because I could relate to it. I fell in love with all of the characters. They were regular people, going about their daily lives in a small town, just like me. They had their share of heartaches, but have learned to celebrate the small triumphs and to find something to be thankful for in every situation.
I enjoyed how the book was presented in a series of blog entries, and how the reader was often able to see the same situation from two or more perspectives. It was also neat to see all the different personalities coming out in the blog entries themselves. Lara's posts had some slang phrases and lots of run-on sentences, which is exactly how many teenage girls talk. Wendy's posts showed a lot of uncertainty with technical situations (often resolved by Kyle) and she had a tendency to post comments on Kyle's blog that could potentially be embarrassing for him, but he took it in stride.
I would have loved to see blogs written by Chad, Taylor, and Annette.
The story had a happy ending, but was left pretty open - perhaps for future novels with these characters? I want to keep reading their blogs. :-)
I would recommend this book to people who need a little bit of a slow-down, feel-good story to keep them grounded in this hectic life.
April 18, 2013
I love reading, and I love all mediums of text. I mostly read novels, but at the same time I have dozens of newspapers, magazines, and blogs that I like to follow. But this is the first time I’ve read a novel that was like a blog. I didn’t quite know what to expect at first, but I really got sucked up into the story. The characters are quirky and all distinctly different. I could never decide on a favorite. I’d read something clever and think, man, Kyle’s the best. But then I’d be laughing at the witticisms of Madison or the love sick yearnings of Lara.
I picked up the book because I love stories about regular people from small towns in the west. And this one definitely fit with what I like. It is fun and happy and bitter sweet at times and, above all, very real. I think it is the multiple first-person narrators that give it such a real feel.
It appears this is the author’s first book, but it looks like she’s got some other stuff in the works. That is cool. I look forward to reading more, and I hope some of these characters come back in future stories.
I picked up the book because I love stories about regular people from small towns in the west. And this one definitely fit with what I like. It is fun and happy and bitter sweet at times and, above all, very real. I think it is the multiple first-person narrators that give it such a real feel.
It appears this is the author’s first book, but it looks like she’s got some other stuff in the works. That is cool. I look forward to reading more, and I hope some of these characters come back in future stories.
January 8, 2015
To get the legal stuff out of the way, I was sent this book as part of a Goodreads giveaway.
To save me from repeating the standards of the book, I really enjoyed this book. It was written from the perspective of the various characters blog posts and I think that is what gives this book it's charm. There's no fear of losing the story in pages on pages of useless description. To me, it felt as if it focused a lot on change and how it affects people on different stages and walks of life, even if it's the same situation. I also liked how it showed how the little things that we do, that we don't even think about, can affect everyone around us, even if we have never met them. This book really is able to play up how everyone is all connected. I feel that it's incredibly representative of life.
I am definitely going to be recommending this book to my friends!
To save me from repeating the standards of the book, I really enjoyed this book. It was written from the perspective of the various characters blog posts and I think that is what gives this book it's charm. There's no fear of losing the story in pages on pages of useless description. To me, it felt as if it focused a lot on change and how it affects people on different stages and walks of life, even if it's the same situation. I also liked how it showed how the little things that we do, that we don't even think about, can affect everyone around us, even if we have never met them. This book really is able to play up how everyone is all connected. I feel that it's incredibly representative of life.
I am definitely going to be recommending this book to my friends!
June 14, 2013
The History of Turnpost
(written by the author)
Turnpost came into existence in 2009, when my husband and I road-tripped from Iowa to Montana and back for a wedding. We passed through the town of Spearfish, SD. Neither of us had ever been to that region before. We spent a night camping in the forest and part of a morning wandering the small streets. I was charmed by the landscape, and came home wanting to write a book with that backdrop.
I set to writing East of Turnpost, a story about two sisters, May and Taylor, who have been geographically separated for a long time but end up living together on Taylor’s remote ranch outside the fictional town of Turnpost. In writing the story I made up details about the town, dropped in a few secondary characters, and didn’t think a whole lot more about it. I finished writing the book in 2011. (It’s still awaiting some rewriting before it is published.)
Then, in 2012, I had space to fill. I had just finished writing The Questionable Company of Sprites and I wanted to work on something rather different. I felt I needed to work on developing unique voices and points of view for different characters, so decided to create a blog in which I posted fictional accounts written by five different characters. I built the website on a lightweight blogging platform called Chyrp, and went to town.
It was an unbelievably fun project. I got to spend time with a host of different characters and the town of Turnpost fleshed itself out. Although only tangentially connected to the characters from East of Turnpost, I enjoyed writing about a place I’d already “been.” The project finished up at about 70,000 words in length.
After that, I returned to Finn’s world for a time, but after rewriting The Teardrop Game I found myself looking for another break. I’d enjoyed my first blogging exercise so much, I started another one. This one was titled The Diary of Roger Jones (now finished) and concerns a veterinarian who eventually ends up in Turnpost but starts during his childhood on a ranch in rural northern Nevada.
I didn’t really set out to create a fictional town in South Dakota and populate it with dozens of characters, but now that it’s happened I have no regrets. I plan to return to Turnpost regularly for the rest of my writing career.
(written by the author)
Turnpost came into existence in 2009, when my husband and I road-tripped from Iowa to Montana and back for a wedding. We passed through the town of Spearfish, SD. Neither of us had ever been to that region before. We spent a night camping in the forest and part of a morning wandering the small streets. I was charmed by the landscape, and came home wanting to write a book with that backdrop.
I set to writing East of Turnpost, a story about two sisters, May and Taylor, who have been geographically separated for a long time but end up living together on Taylor’s remote ranch outside the fictional town of Turnpost. In writing the story I made up details about the town, dropped in a few secondary characters, and didn’t think a whole lot more about it. I finished writing the book in 2011. (It’s still awaiting some rewriting before it is published.)
Then, in 2012, I had space to fill. I had just finished writing The Questionable Company of Sprites and I wanted to work on something rather different. I felt I needed to work on developing unique voices and points of view for different characters, so decided to create a blog in which I posted fictional accounts written by five different characters. I built the website on a lightweight blogging platform called Chyrp, and went to town.
It was an unbelievably fun project. I got to spend time with a host of different characters and the town of Turnpost fleshed itself out. Although only tangentially connected to the characters from East of Turnpost, I enjoyed writing about a place I’d already “been.” The project finished up at about 70,000 words in length.
After that, I returned to Finn’s world for a time, but after rewriting The Teardrop Game I found myself looking for another break. I’d enjoyed my first blogging exercise so much, I started another one. This one was titled The Diary of Roger Jones (now finished) and concerns a veterinarian who eventually ends up in Turnpost but starts during his childhood on a ranch in rural northern Nevada.
I didn’t really set out to create a fictional town in South Dakota and populate it with dozens of characters, but now that it’s happened I have no regrets. I plan to return to Turnpost regularly for the rest of my writing career.
June 28, 2013
I really had to digest this book before I wrote a review or even gave it a rating. At first I couldn't decide if it was because I know the author or because I really had to mull it over or cause I don't really understand blogging. And after a few days of mulling it over and thinking about the characters I decided its because I don't really get blogging and I doubt I had even heard of blogging at the time these characters were doing it!
The characters are very real people and having grown up and lived in small town North and South Dakota these are very easily the people you would have encountered and known. When Wendy would lock up the dental office I pictured my small town dental office and when Lara and Kyle walked their dogs I pictured a very typical Dakota town. The author did a great job of writing in each characters voice and I really enjoyed all their connections, even if they characters didn't know it. The storyline played out well and I was disappointed when it ended. I found the ending sort of abrupt and at first it left me feeling like the author just stopped, but quickly I appreciated how it was wrapped up and that because of the blog style of the novel their could not be a tidy end. Again its me not getting blogging!
The thing I really had to mull over was why were these people blogging, most of them I could accept but I struggled with Casey - a blog about his personal life just seemed a bit out of character.
Overall I really enjoyed this book - I got hooked and couldn't put it down.
The characters are very real people and having grown up and lived in small town North and South Dakota these are very easily the people you would have encountered and known. When Wendy would lock up the dental office I pictured my small town dental office and when Lara and Kyle walked their dogs I pictured a very typical Dakota town. The author did a great job of writing in each characters voice and I really enjoyed all their connections, even if they characters didn't know it. The storyline played out well and I was disappointed when it ended. I found the ending sort of abrupt and at first it left me feeling like the author just stopped, but quickly I appreciated how it was wrapped up and that because of the blog style of the novel their could not be a tidy end. Again its me not getting blogging!
The thing I really had to mull over was why were these people blogging, most of them I could accept but I struggled with Casey - a blog about his personal life just seemed a bit out of character.
Overall I really enjoyed this book - I got hooked and couldn't put it down.
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews