Monthly Archives: March 2016

Am I Normal Yet?

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Am I Normal Yet? by Holly Bourne

Book of the Week: 13 March 2016

Am I Normal Yet?

Are we at the start of a trend for books to have the word ‘normal’ in the title or is it just a coincidence? Several weeks ago, the Book of the Week was The Art of Being Normal by Lisa Williamson.

Lots of us make an offhand remark about being ‘a bit OCD’ when all we really mean is that we like things to be neat. This book shows us just what suffering from Obsessive Compulsive Disorder really means and how crippling it can be. Evie is 16 and has just started at college. She wants a fresh start with new friends and maybe a boyfriend, but most of all she wants to be regarded as ‘normal’ and for no-one to realise she has OCD. Is keeping a secret the best way to make new friends? What if her illness starts to come back?

Although Evie’s OCD is central to the plot, her dilemmas will be familiar to anyone starting a new school or struggling to make new friends and her chatty style is immediately engaging. Evie is trying to hide her innermost struggles but is entertainingly honest about almost everything else in her life.

Recommended for older readers due to some frank content and some scenes that may prove upsetting for younger readers.

If you liked Trouble by Non Pratt, or Solitaire by Alice Oseman, this may be a good choice for your next read.

Holly Bourne can be found on Tumblr here.

A Darker Shade of Magic

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A Darker Shade of Magic by V.E. Schwab

Book of the Week: 6 March 2016

A darker shade

I like Book of the Week to be something that I have read, but I have to confess to not having had the time to read this one. I have sampled several chapters, however, and if you enjoy imaginative fantasy with lots of careful world-building then this should have plenty of appeal. Here is the publisher’s description:

“Kell is one of the last Travelers—magicians with a rare, coveted ability to travel between parallel universes.

There’s Grey London, dirty, boring, and without any magic. Red London, where life and magic are revered. White London—a place where people fight to control magic, and the magic fights back. And once upon a time, there was Black London…but no one speaks of that now.

Officially, Kell is the Red Traveler, ambassador of the Maresh empire, carrying the monthly correspondences between the royals of each London. Unofficially, he’s a smuggler, a dangerous, defiant hobby to have—as proven when Kell stumbles into a setup with a forbidden token from Black London.

Fleeing into Grey London, Kell runs afoul of Delilah Bard, a cut-purse with lofty aspirations, who first robs him, then saves him, and then forces Kell to spirit her to another world for a proper adventure.”

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