Bookanistas: INSOMNIA

Welcome to Bookanista Thursday! Lots of excitement going on here today, so let's get right down to it! Today, I'm featuring a book that I loved enough to BLURB--Jenn Johansson's INSOMNIA. Here's what I said about it:

"Completely unputdownable. I've decided to nickname Johansson 'Scary McScarypants,' because she spooked me in all the best ways. Who do I have to bribe to get book two now?!"

 You should call her Scary McScarypants too. I think she'd love that.

A little about the book, courtesy of Jenn's website!

It's been four years since I slept, and I suspect it is killing me.

Instead of sleeping, Parker Chipp enters the dream of the last person he's had eye contact with. He spends his nights crushed by other people's fear and pain, by their disturbing secrets--and Parker can never have dreams of his own. The severe exhaustion is crippling him. If nothing changes, Parker could soon be facing psychosis and even death.

Then he meets Mia. Her dreams, calm and beautifully uncomplicated, allow him blissful rest that is utterly addictive. Parker starts going to bizarre lengths to catch Mia's eye every day. Everyone at school thinks he's gone over the edge, even his best friend. And when Mia is threatened by a true stalker, everyone thinks it's Parker.

Suffering blackouts, Parker begins to wonder if he is turning into someone dangerous. What if the monster stalking Mia is him after all?

Scary, right?!? This book really creeped me out, but not so much that I wouldn't interview Jenn herself. Here she is, kindly responding to some very random questions!

C: When I met you, I knew we were kindred spirits because we both write emails that are all: RANDOM CAPITALS!!!!!! :) :) :) Can you tell us about a !!!!! :) :) :) moment you've had recently?

J: Sure! It feels like I'm having those almost every day right now with all the crazy release happiness. A particularly fun one though was when I received my final author copies and saw the cool things my publisher did to the cover. The matte with glossy cracks looks INCREDIBLE in person. I just sat and stared...then jumped up and down...then stared more. 

C: I have to admit that I'm a little flummoxed. On one hand, you're all !!!!! :) :) :), but on the other hand, there's a reason I've nicknamed you Scary McScarypants. You bring teh scary in INSOMNIA. How on earth did that happen? Have you always been a horror fan?

J: Haha, it flummoxed me at first as well. I have not always been a horror fan. In fact, for a long time I was terrified of all scary movies. But I have always enjoyed reading scarier books. I think there is something special about the way the brain filters a scary book. It pictures mostly monsters and images that the person can handle, like a built in filter. Brains are tricksy like that. I guess you could say I love playing with people's brains...but not eating them...I'm not a zombie (that I know of).
C: Imagine this: you have insomnia, and your only hope of true sleep is to try and match eyes with either David Hasselhoff or Richard Simmons each night. Who do you choose and why?

J: Oh wow...tough choice. I'd have to consider David Hasselhoff as the lesser of two evils here. I can't handle the incredible amount of bounciness and hyper energy that Richard Simmons give off and I'm certain I'd end up killing him. The Hoff and I, I have a feeling we'd hit it off. We both love Germany and the color red, for example. It's like we've always been destined to be friends.

C: Totally random questions! I specialize in them! What one TV show or movie franchise do you wish they'd revive? I want more Space Ghost Coast to Coast with the fire of a thousand suns.

J: This is hard actually because there are so many that I think they'd mess up if they brought them back (like Friends...I LOVE it...but please don't ruin our happy memories with a depressing revival). My top choice would have to be Eureka. It lends itself well to starting off in a new place. Plus, I adore how much it makes my brain work. (Wow, I talk about brains a lot. I'm suddenly ultra-aware of it.) If you all haven't seen Eureka, every season is currently on Netflix instant. You must remedy this immediately. I have three names for you: Nathan Stark, Zane Donovan and Holly Martin (Felicia Day). 

You can all thank me for this later. C: Imagine this: You're in high school, and I'm your best friend. A sparkly vampire and a glow-in-the-dark werewolf want to take us to prom. Should we ditch them, or should we go?

Oh...we definitely ditch them. And go party it up hardcore on our own. We could invent new dances and do a spotlight-Thriller-duet performance. There would be much envy had by all...so much...so, so much.

Plus, we could make vampires and werewolves cry, which has been on my to-do list for quite some time now. ;-) 

C: If you had a theme song, what would it be?

J: My theme song would be Dark Side by Kelly Clarkson. My kids call it "Alien Baby Music"...I really don't think I need to say anything more than that...

C: And for my last question: !!!!!!! :) :) :) ! :D????

J: !! ;-)!! :) :) :) !! =oD =oD ^^ !!!!!

Thank you so much for having me! This was such a fun interview. You = the best! :)

*****

Thanks so much for visiting us, Jenn! And the best part of this is that Jenn is giving things away! Books! Critiques! Enter below!

a Rafflecopter giveaway
a Rafflecopter giveaway

And don't forget to stop here to sign up to review SALLY SLICK AND THE STEEL SYNDICATE before you visit the rest of this week's Bookanista awesomeness!
 

Carolina Valdez Miller celebrates 17 & GONE by Nova Ren Suma

Christine Fonseca praises THE PLEDGE by Kimberly Derting
Corrine Jackson is wild for WHEN IT HAPPENS by  Susane Colasanti

Elana Johson invites you to her ABANDON release par-tay!

Katy Upperman is bewitched by NANTUCKET BLUE by Leila Howland
Lenore Appelhans  swoons for STAR CURSED by Jessica Spotswood…with an annotated snippet
Stasia Ward Kehoe is wild for THE PERKS OF BEING A WALLFLOWER by Stephen Chbosky
Tracey Neithercott  highlights WHERE THE STARS STILL SHINE by Trish Doller
Tracy Banghart  raves over JUMP WHEN READY by David Pandolfe