The Book Club Blog

Books for any occasion and other life stuff

The Travelling Book

A little while ago we asked you to let us know what book was on your ‘must read’ list, that you didn’t already own.

The Elegance of the Hedgehog was on Paige Nick’s list – so off went the book to her.

It is now in my grubby little paws. Am dying to get into it, but have actually just started reading A Million Miles from Normal (Paige Nick) and am loving it. Such an easy read, but so funny. What a sense of humour Paige has. Anyway, i digress slightly.

I shall be reading The Elegance of the Hedgehog next. After that i need to send it on it’s merry way to someone who is chomping at the bit to read.

Any of you out there?

The stipulation is that once you’ve read it, it needs to be passed on. You have to post it off to someone who will then do the same once they are done with it.

Any takers out there?

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You heard it here first…

Well, if you haven’t heard yet, then you will have heard it here first!

A Million Miles from Normal‘, the novel by the newly published South African author, Paige Nick is now available at Kalahari, Exclusive Books and Wordsworth. Today is the official release date and what better timing? Just after the long weekend, going back to work, children almost back at school, now is the perfect time to head out and purchase your copy (or just click on the book cover and it will take you straight to Kalahari and you can order online.)

I have to admit that I received an  advance copy so my review will be further down the page.

The Blurb:

All Rachel Marcus wants is a cool job, a guy who has all his own teeth and a decent cup of tea. Is that too much to ask?

Rachel Marcus has a great life and an amazing job as a top copywriter at an advertising agency in Johannesburg, or rather Rachel Marcus HAD a great life and an amazing job as a top copywriter at an advertising agency in Johannesburg – right up until she got fired. Forced to sell everything she owns and leave Joburg in a hurry, Rachel decides to move to New York City, where she plans to make a fabulous life for herself and prove to everyone back home that she’s not a complete disaster.

Except the only job she can find is at a crap ad agency, with a hippie freak for a boss and an alcoholic drug addict for an art director. The only apartment she can afford is the world’s smallest cockroach-infested rat trap. And all the men she meets are stalkers, ex cons and whack jobs. In fact, the only up side to her new life is her new best friend – her frustratingly petite neighbour, Sue.

Will Rachel Marcus ever get it together or is she destined to spend the rest of her life working on ads for sanitary pads, trawling Internet dating sites and dreaming of that elusive cup of Five Roses? Only time will tell, but one thing is for sure: living in the Big Apple will change Rachel’s life forever.

I loved this book!

It was chick lit with an edge. Not the usual fare that one gets when reading about a girl looking for a guy, you know the usual story – girl meets guy, girl gets together with guy, something happens they break up, then get back together again and live happily ever after…This was so much more than that.

‘A Million Miles from Normal’ has substance.  The characters are vivid with  a realness about them which makes you want to get to know them. The reasons for Rachel leaving Joburg are not revealed straight away, and when they are revealed, it is in such a way that you feel for Rachel as you would for an ‘In real life’ person. The descriptions of New York City makes you feel as though you could be there, in Rachel’s shoes, even if you have never been there before. And the references to ‘Five Roses Tea’ adds a particularly homely touch which adds that extra touch of humour and quirkiness, that I have yet to find in another ‘homegrown’ book.

This book has a believability about it, and the story is an interesting one, it focuses on Rachel’s job at a ‘below the line’ advertising agency and the people she meets. It is her experience in New York which brings an honesty to the pages and your own reading pleasure.

‘A Million Miles from Normal’ is hugely entertaining, I enjoyed it immensely and I definitely recommend it.

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