How to Be Books in Order

The How to Be books are contemporary romances built around a question Klune likes to poke at from every angle: what does normal even mean, and who gets to decide. These novels are lighter than some of his darker fantasy work, but they are not flimsy. The jokes come fast, the characters are gloriously specific, and the whole series is rooted in the idea that love should make room for who people already are, not force them into a shape that looks easier from the outside.

How to Be a Normal Person introduces Gus, who runs a nearly empty video store in Abby, Oregon, reads encyclopedias for fun, and would really prefer to be left alone. Then Casey shows up and wrecks that plan in the nicest possible way. Casey is asexual, affectionate, and completely uninterested in treating Gus like a problem to solve. A lot of the book's charm comes from watching Gus try to become normal for someone who never asked him to change in the first place.

It is oddball in the best way.

The sequel, How to Be a Movie Star, opens things up through Josy, an aspiring actor in Los Angeles who is chasing his big break and stumbling into a romance with Q-Bert, a writer-director. That setup adds a little Hollywood energy, but the book still circles back to Abby and the people who make that town feel like home. The connection between the two novels is part of the fun. You get a new central couple, but you also get the sense of returning to a place where everybody is at least a little eccentric.

What carries across the series is tone. These are warm, character-first books with a lot of banter and a lot of heart. The stakes are personal, not world-ending. People are trying to figure out intimacy, friendship, identity, and self-worth. Klune also lets sexuality and attraction be part of that conversation in a direct, easy way. The first book centers an asexual lead. The second brings in demisexual identity. None of that feels like an afterthought. It is part of how the characters move through the world.

If you want romance that is funny without turning mean, and sweet without sanding down anyone's weird edges, the How to Be series is a great fit. Expect small-town comfort, eccentric side characters, feelings disguised as jokes, and a steady message that being understood matters a lot more than being normal.