The Rosie Project

by Graeme Simsion
5/5 stars
Simon & Schuster, 2013
292 pages
Adult Contemporary Romance

Source: Received an ARC through Amazon Vine in exchange for an honest review.

I saw this book and kind of skipped over it as pleasant but not necessarily must-read. Then I saw a review comparing the feelings it evokes to those elicited by Rainbow Rowell's fabulous Attachments, immediately sending this book to the top of my to-read list. And I'm so glad because it worked out very well for me!

Don is a professor of genetics who has reached the age of thirty-nine without meeting a suitable partner. He decides to tackle this lack by creating a questionnaire for what he dubs The Wife Project. Soon after he meets Rosie who he deems completely unsuitable but something about her interests him and he begins to help her with her own quest to find her father, discovering that not everything can be quantified on paper including but especially love.

It is suggested by the text that Don has Asperger's or is at least on some part of the autism spectrum evincing many of the symptoms of that diagnosis though it is never explicitly stated. He has a rigid schedule and is upset when it's disrupted, he is compulsively orderly, and he struggles with social cues, maintaining only a handful of friends. However his time with Rosie disrupts his well-ordered days and introduces him to a wide variety of new acquaintances who actually appreciate his ability to consume information such as a barman who is impressed with Don's knowledge of cocktails or the baseball fan who discusses stats with Don. I loved seeing Don's world open up and how his skills were appreciated rather than looked down upon.

The book reads very cinematically, appropriate as it is my understanding that it began as a script and it falls within the framework of a screwball/romantic comedy, made even clearer toward the end when Don studies various romcoms to win Rosie. I don't want to go in to too much detail but there are so many funny moments as I previously hinted at above.

But for the most part, it's just the way this book made me feel. I know that's not very descriptive to you, a potential reader of this book, yet that's the way it is. I would love to provide concrete examples of why this book worked for me but it's the total package that pleased me and has me singing its praises. This will definitely make my faves list of 2013 and will be pushed on various persons of my acquaintance in the hope that it brings them as much pleasure as it did me.

Overall: Simply an excellent feel-good read. Left me feeling all sweet and fuzzy. I definitely second the Rainbow Rowell comparison as well as Tara Catogge's comparison to the fantastic A Confederacy of Dunces with its bold, not the norm hero.

Take the Cannoli

Take the Cannoli by Sarah Vowell
Simon & Schuster, 2000
219 pages
Essays; Humor
4/5 stars

Source: Library

Continuing on my Sarah Vowell binge, I picked up this early release, a compilation of essays previously published in other editions. My guess was that the title references the famous The Godfather line "Leave the gun. Take the cannoli" and I was correct; that film serves as an inspiration for an essay here as Vowell visited Italy partly due to her love of the film.

The essays here are varied in topic, mostly focusing on Vowell's life, pop culture often music, and American history. I think my second favorite essay was "What I See When I Look at the Face on the $20 Bill" where Vowell and her sister follow the Trail of Tears, the forced march of Native Americans (including the Cherokee from whom Vowell descends) from Georgia to Oklahoma in the 1830s as the United States government stole their land.  This happened under the presidency of Andrew Jackson, who was originally ranked very high but whose legacy has been challenged in recent years, in large part due to his actions in this regard. I loathe AJ so I am thrilled with this change. However this essay is more personal due to Vowell's ancestry.

My favorite essay was actually the first titled "Shooting Dad." Vowell's father is a gunsmith with conservative leanings counterbalanced by Vowell's more liberal leanings. For a long time, she didn't get guns but as she grew older, she appreciated the artistry of his work and they learned to communicate better even when they disagreed. It was a great way to start off the collection.

Like most collections though, there are invariably a chapter or two that don't speak to the reader. That happened here too. Maybe I tried to plow through the book too fast and would have enjoyed savoring a chapter a day. I just became a little tired of Vowell's voice and the topic of the essay didn't speak to me the way earlier ones had. Still I am very happy to have read this and I will continue to seek out Vowell's writing because it is generally enjoyable with wonderful accents of humor.

My Love Affair with Jewelry

My Love Affair with Jewelry by Elizabeth Taylor
Edited by Ruth A Peltason
Simon and Schuster, 2002
230 pages
Non-fiction; Coffee Table Book
5/5 stars

Source: Library

Summary: Stunning pictures of some of Elizabeth Taylor's favorite jewelry with some of her anecdotes.

Thoughts: After I read two bios of Elizabeth this summer, I was very intrigued by the jewelry that played a role in them.  Then I saw that this book existed so I requested it from the library.  It's not so much a book as a coffee table book with gorgeous, sometimes magnified, views of some of her jewels and stories from her about them.

My favorite parts were her reminiscences and seeing the Krupp and Taylor-Burton diamonds.  I don't know much about jewelry and I don't own any proper jewels but those diamonds were gorgeous.

Besides the jewelry, there are also many rare photographs of Miss Taylor wearing them, most from her private collection.  I really liked seeing her with Richard Burton; now that is a love story.

Overall: A gorgeous book that would be worth many examinations of its contents.

Cover: Liz is stunning as always although I probably would have preferred to see her with some of her diamonds.