Everyone has that one book that affected them so strongly; they feel the urge to share it with the world.  Mine happens to be Robyn Schneider's novel, Extraordinary Means.  While this book is a sad and painful story, that is not what lingers with the reader. Instead, the honest and charming writing tells a simple, yet a believable story. Balancing between sickness, life, death, and love, the characters do not romanticize anything. They are plainly accepting things for what they are.

The plot is not a difficult read if anything, the storyline is predictable, but a pleasant surprise as it is true to life. The story is made unique due to the inspiring message it suggests, which eased its way through my heart like a favorite lullaby. I did not have to wrestle with interpreting symbols to find meaning because the story is not trying to be over dramatic or too intellectual. It is genuine and straightforward but does not fail to get its point across.

Living and dying are not all that different, and this novel is an eye-opening reminder of that. The former is looking at a glass half full while the latter is looking at it half empty. For some of us, it has to take a tragedy, a phenomenon, a strong force, or some sort of extraordinary means to realize life started its countdown the moment we opened our eyes and took our very first breath, but somehow, mundane things, plans, and thinking too much of the future make us forget to actually live the moment. I appreciate the story for reminding me these things, and, given the opportunity, I am sure you will find the same.

Life as we know it rarely goes as planned. Who knows what is going to happen tomorrow, or even just a few hours into the future? There is very little in life we can control besides the time we have now, and while we have this moment, the story enjoins us to make meaning out of it, to make room for people who really matter, to laugh more, to “seize the day” or whatever you may want to call it, to take a detour, to do anything fun - anything that makes you happy, anything that isn’t always planned out. So when you go on to live in your moments, be sure to put one aside to take the time to read Extraordinary Means.