I’m so delighted today to be launching the blog tour for the paperback release of Joe Nuthin’s Guide to Life by Helen Fisher, and sharing my review. It’s already available as an e-book (and I notice it’s currently only 99p for kindle), in hardcover, and as an audiobook – and on 18th July it will be published in paperback by Simon & Schuster, available from your favourite on-line or high street bookseller. My thanks to Sara-Jade Virtue at @TeamBATC for the invitation, and for forwarding a finished copy (which is looking beautiful on my bookshelves) – the e-copy I read was my own, purchased via Amazon.
No, I never did read Space Hopper – I don’t always get things right, and foolishly thought it might not be quite the book for me. Until I saw the wonderful reviews from all my blogger friends, when I was really kicking myself. And it was the reviews when this one was first released that made me buy my e-copy – getting round to reading it (as always…) was another matter, so I was rather thrilled when the blog tour invitation landed in my inbox and I found there was a Joe-shaped space in my reading list.
Joe loves predictability. But his life is about to become a surprising adventure.
Joe-Nathan likes the two parts of his name separate, just like his dinner and dessert. Mean Charlie at work sometimes calls him Joe-Nuthin. But Joe is far from nothing. Joe is a good friend, he’s good at his job, good at making things and good at following the rules, and he’s learning how to do lots of things by himself.
Joe’s mother knows there are a million things in life he isn’t prepared for. While she helps guide him every day, she’s also writing notebooks full of advice about the things she hasn’t told Joe yet, things he might forget and answers to questions he hasn’t yet asked.
Following her wisdom – applying it in his own unique way – this next part of Joe’s life is more of a surprise than he expects. Because he’s about to learn that remarkable things can happen when you leave your comfort zone, and that you can do even the hardest things with a little help from your friends.
Joe-Nathan is a very special young man, living a happy life governed by his established routines – and doesn’t have a mean bone in his body. Sadly, others do – Mean Charlie who works with him at The Compass Store calls him Joe Nuthin, and horrible Owen can be even more cruel. But he has very good friends who are watching his back – sweary Chloe with her quick temper and heart of gold, and the gentle and lovely Hugo (the Boss).
Joe visits the pub with his mother Janet after work on a Friday, they have fish and chips or a Chinese on a Saturday, before he watches a few episodes of Friends – and, at the weekends, they sometimes visit local graveyards where he’s fascinated by the words people choose for their loved ones’ gravestones. But she does worry about how he’d cope if she’s wasn’t around – that’s why she’s written everything down in the pale blue notebook, to answer his every question about the practicalities of life, set out room by room.
And when his life changes, Joe finds she’s written a yellow notebook too – for those times when he still might be in need of her advice. And, although it can’t possibly cover everything, it certainly helps when he sets out to make a friend of Mean Charlie – particularly when Joe finds himself in unfamiliar and uncomfortable territory as he discovers that there are parts of his life that he’d prefer to keep hidden.
Heartwarming, uplifting, emotionally astute, with the most wonderful touches of humour – this whole book really was an absolute joy to read. The themes are perfectly developed, the setting inspired (the layout, the environment, Joe’s day-to-day responsibilities…), and every single character is just so well created – as well as Joe himself, there were others I really took to my heart. And the whole story was quite beautifully written – always entertaining, immensely engaging, but also exceptionally moving and filled with love. Just wonderful – and entirely unforgettable.
About the author
Helen Fisher spent her early life in America but grew up mainly in Suffolk, England, where she now lives with her two children. She studied psychology at the University of Westminster and ergonomics at University College London and worked as a senior evaluator in research at the RNIB. She is the author of Space Hopper (Faye, Faraway in the US) and Joe Nuthin’s Guide to Life.
So glad you loved this one. Joe is a wonderful character!