Charlotte from Charlotte Somewhere takes the Inside Out Challenge

Hello! Oh, do I have an excellent post to share with you today.

Charlotte is a fellow Northern Book Blogger. Her blog, Charlotte Somewhere, is definitely worth a read and a follow. She's currently on the shortlist for a UKYABA for best content and design, and if you take a look at it you'll see why! Charlotte writes with style and wit, and I'm very happy that she's brought that to the Book Worm Hole for today's Inside Out challenge.



First, please introduce yourself, including any blog addresses or twitter handles you like.

Hi, I’m Charlotte from www.charlottesomewhere.wordpress.com, on Twitter as @charlotteswhere. I’m a book blogger who reads mainly YA, fantasy and crime novels and has an affinity for dark and twisty things. And fire.


Can you tell me about a book you have read that made you feel joy?

Nevernight by Jay Kristoff. Assassins. Murder. Blood. Violence. A girl who can manipulate the shadows. What’s not to feel joyful about? I adore this book (and its sequel Godsgrave). The story is delightful. The writing style is perfect and the footnotes throughout are some of the funniest things I have ever read in my life. I will never have enough of this book.


What about a book that filled you with sadness?

The Amber Spyglass by Philip Pullman. This is the third book in the His Dark Materials trilogy. It ends with the two main characters who are completely in love, sacrificing their future together to save the rest of the world. Yeah. Yeah. It’s all very noble and wonderful. However, they then find themselves both sitting on the same bench in their own worlds NEVER able to be together again. Never. Even my dark and shrivelled heart finds that sad.


Have you read a book that made you feel angry?

What kind of angry? This is hard Liam! The book I’ve chosen here is a book that I loved but the issues in it made me angry. It is The Last Days of Archie Maxwell by Annabel Pitcher, which deals with the dangers of gender stereotyping small boys. As the mum of a small boy, this is an issue that makes me angry. So much pressure is placed on Archie in this book as the only boy of the family and the effects of this on his mental health are quite scary.


Has a book ever disgusted you?

This is a tough one to answer, because it depends how you want to define disgust. I’m going to take it as a really strong physical reaction to a book, and I’m going to say Holly Bourne’s Am I Normal Yet? I LOVED this book. Holly is the best writer. However, the scene with the therapist and the out of date chicken sandwich horrified and disgusted me in equal measure. I share some of Evie’s mental health issues and this scene had me feeling physically ill for some time afterwards.


Can you tell me about a book that made you afraid?

I Am Thunder by Muhammad Khan. The way that the radicalisation in this book happened was terrifying to me. It scared me how easy it was for the radicals to influence Muzna, how subtle they were, and how slowly but completely they changed her. Then when Muzna realised what was happening, it added a new level of fear and worry about how things would work out for her. I was on edge for the whole of this book.


And finally, can you tell me a little bit about a book that you know inside out?

The Trick is to Keep Breathing by Janice Galloway. I first read this when studying a Scottish literature module at university and have probably read it on average once a year since. It tells the story of Joy following the unexpected death of her boyfriend (who was cheating on his wife with her). It is the story of her breaking down and trying to put herself back together again, and it deals a lot with mental illness and identity. I’ve read it so often my copy is starting to fall to pieces.



Thank you Charlotte. I still don't believe that you have a swinging brick for a heart!

Liam