Celebrating Books and Reading
Tif Marcelo
Mainly because its well written and I went along with the fun story. Light, fun reading. That said there were a number of books that could have filled this spot for July.
Ignore all I could and ought to read and just read what I feel like.
Read slowly.
Linking up with Feed Your Fiction Addiction
Welcome in. As I sit here its 1 degree Centigrade ( about 34 F I think) outside with a good frost on the ground. I am about to have a cup of coffee and then hit the pavement for my morning walk. I think I am building a good habit there!
Last Thursday I went into the city, picked up a friend and then went around the other side of the harbour, to Eastbourne, and had for lunch, chips, Bluff oysters and coffee. I had never had oysters before and these are a delicacy from the bottom of our South Island. Okay I now get why they are! We sat beside the sea to eat them. The harbour was like a mill pond. We could see Wellington across the other side and through the harbour mouth the alps of the South Island covered in snow. When I got home I thought what a perfect blissful day! Simple but the best.
Enjoyed both. Two Steps Onwards takes up where Two Steps Forward left off really, three years later. It is written by a husband and wife team. Most likely these books aren’t for everyone, but if you enjoy walking as in the Camino and people making walking journey’s and inner journey’s then you’ll like them. I do, well I am not going to do such walking, I don’t mind if others do! But I like the inner journey.
Hope to finish this one today or maybe tomorrow morning. Heard about it on a podcast, not sure which book one now! It’s more about friendship and tension rather than books but a good enough read. From the library.
Another from the library. There are two Jennifer Ryan author’s. This one is the English one! I like her WW2 books. I have listened to the other two, so first time reading in print.
Hope all in the USA had a happy 4th July. Always nice to celebrate.
I had a good week, we had cold frosty mornings and lovely sunny cool days for the most part. Gone today though. I know many places in USA have been very hot, couldn’t manage in that kind of heat!
The Rosie Effect
Graeme Simsion
Published: Audible Studios
Date: 2014
Format: Audiobook
Length: 9 hrs 9 min
Narrator: Dan O’Grady
Genre: Fiction
Source: Own book
With the Wife Project complete, Don settles into a new job and married life in New York. But it’s not long before certain events are taken out of his control and it’s time to embark on a new project….
As Don tries to get to grips with the requirements of starting a family, his unusual research style gets him into trouble. To make matters worse, Don has invited his closest friend to stay with them, but Gene is not exactly the best model for marital happiness. As Don’s life with Rosie continues to be unpredictable, he needs to remember that emotional support is just as important as practical expertise.
The Rosie Project
Graeme Simsion
Published: Penguin Books 2013
Format: Audio
Narrator: Dan O’Grady
Length:7 hours 30 minutes
Genre: Romantic comedy
Source: Own audiobook
Meet Don. Don is a genetics professor who just might be somewhere on the autistic spectrum. He looks a little like Gregory Peck and is getting married. He just doesn’t know who to yet. But he has designed a very detailed questionnaire to help him find the perfect woman. And it’s definitely not Rosie. Absolutely, completely, definitely not. Rosie, meanwhile, isn’t looking for love; she’s looking for her biological father. Sometimes, though, you don’t find love: love finds you…
My thoughts
This book was every bit as good as many readers before me have said. I really enjoyed it. I listened to the audio, often while I was out walking. I caught myself either laughing out loud with surprise or just grinning. It was so entertaining. New Zealand born, Australian raised author Graeme Simsion has done a fabulous job.
Don thinks differently to most people – he lives a very ordered life, he struggles to understand emotions and is a very factual thinker. Whenever he describes a person he meets, its very factual and always carries certain statistics. Because he is like he is, he has often been teased and ridiculed in his life. Yet his way of thinking and the skills he has, makes him a very marketable person on a variety of fronts.
As a genetics expert, he sets out to help Rosie find her actual father, her mother is dead and she regards her dad as her step-dad. The extreme lengths that they go to provides much of the humour. Don also believes in telling it like it is, and his social relationships are few. However he is capable of them as evidenced especially by Daphne, a fellow professor and his wife.
Rosie is everything Don is not looking for in a wife, but as their relationship develops, so too does Don. I truly wasn’t sure how this book was going to end, I loved the way it did, but could have accepted a different one if I had to.
It is (for me) difficult to understand people who are different, and so I welcome any book that helps me to see ‘inside’ a difference, so that I become more comfortable, understanding and accepting of the person who is an embodiment of that difference. This book is superb.
Dan O”Grady narrated The Rosie Project really well. He spoke as I would imagine Don would speak. It was so believable it was as if Don was speaking. At first I was a little annoyed at his speaking of the women parts, a slight variation and that was all. However after awhile I settled down. The fact that it was in the 1st person and Don was telling the story sort of suited the narration. I don’t often listen to men narrating because of the way they narrate women’s voices. I have to say it was okay in this book. If you haven’t read this book I highly recommend you listen to the audio version.
The Book Date 