I would like to take a stab at validating books. Having never done this before, I am curious how to go about getting started. Does anyone have any suggestions? Thank you, Sarah -----Original Message----- From: Brian Miller [mailto:brian-r-miller@xxxxxxxxx] Sent: Monday, August 21, 2006 5:40 PM To: bookshare-discuss@xxxxxxxxxxxxx Subject: [bookshare-discuss] just submitted... Hello all, I just submitted for validation an incredible novel. Lori Lansens, The Girls, 2005. A synopsis follows: Conjoined twin sisters Rose and Ruby Darlen have been known simply as "The Girls." Raised by Aunt Lovey, the nurse who took them in after their mother abandoned them, they have lived all their lives in the small town of Leaford, in an old farmhouse bordered by cornfields. This is the story of their shared life, two sisters who are ordinary in most respects but who have a relationship of profound and unmatched intimacy. For Rose and Ruby are conjoined twins, connected inseparably, facing the world side by side. The Girls is the affecting chronicle of their incomparable life journey, a heart-rending story of love between sisters. Now nearing thirty, Rose and Ruby are soon to be history's oldest conjoined twins, and Rose decides it is time to write the story of her short but extraordinary life with Ruby. From their awkward first stepsRuby's arm curled around Rose's neck, her foreshortened legs wrapped around Rose's hipsthis is an unmatched story of the most intense love imaginable. As Ruby watches Rose write her memoirs, she decides she wants to tell her part too; for though they are as close as two people can be, their lives and voices are wonderfully, powerfully distinct. Every experience of growing up comes rushing through in their tellingtheir first loves, their painful choices, losses, and triumphs -- but every experience is doubled, sometimes joyfully and sometimes painfully. The Girls charts the depths of a miraculous friendship, unsettling and beautiful in its closeness. As the two stories parallel, diverge, and intertwine, building to an unforgettable conclusion, Lansens aims at the heart of human experience and the fundamental joy of intimacy. I hope someone picks up this gem soon. Brian Miller