The Rosie Project (Graeme Simsion)

"The Rosie Project" by Graeme Simsion is about Don, a man with Asperger's, who starts "The Wife Project."  The main purpose of "The Wife Project" is to find himself a suitable life partner who meets specific (and I mean very specific) criteria.  Along comes Rosie, a woman who is on the search for the biological father.  Don, being a geneticist, is able to help Rosie with some DNA tests to help determine who her father is.  While helping Rosie, he puts a hold on "The Wife Project," which allows him to step out of his comfort zone and begin to see see the beauty in just letting things happen.

The hectic May and June schedule (OK, let's be honest - the whole September to June teacher schedule) has made it much more difficult to keep up with the extremely long list of books that are waiting to be read, but I must say that I did really enjoy this book. 

I've noticed a trend - that I have been reading lots of books about individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorder.  I must say that this one didn't disappoint.  Like others I have read, this book was written from the point of view of Don, so it portrayed an excellent idea of what may go on inside Don's head and how confusing certain social interactions are for him. 

The other thing I liked about this book was the humour.  You feel so awkward for Don at times, but you can't help but laugh at some of the events that happen in the book.  There are so many different relationships in the book as well characters with such quirky personalities, that there is bound to be someone in this book that you look forward to reading about.

I would highly recommend this novel for a good summer read!

The Night Circus (Erin Morgenstern)

I'd heard about The Night Circus from a few different sources.  It made numerous "Top 2011 Picks" lists last year and I also really take to heart recommendations from friends.

It took me way longer to read The Night Circus than it should have.  I found when I picked it up and started reading, I couldn't put it down... Yet for some reason, I had put it on hold for a bit there. 

Here is my list of excuses:

• I have been supply teaching more than I was in January, so that has left me with fewer days to lounge around and read.
• I've been preparing for my 'future.'
•  I may have watched all of Season 4 of "Chuck" and Season 2 of "Modern Family".  (Ok, I definitely did.)
• "The Bachelor" has recently started back up again, so that takes up 2 hours of my week, every week.
• Other shows have now picked up again after a short Christmas break - such as Grey's Anatomy, Private Practice, Glee, The Biggest Loser, The Big Bang Theory, How I Met Your Mother, and I could go on...

Basically, there has been more TV watching in my free time recently than there has been reading.  This all changed when I went, "Wait!  I borrowed The Night Circus from the library and it's due in 2 days?! Gotta get on it!" 

I really enjoyed The Night Circus by Erin Morgernstern.  The circus arrives in any given town on any given day.  This circus runs only at night and is black-and-white themed.  This isn't just any circus.  Here, two magicians (Marco and Celia) are in a dual and neither one of them is aware that there is to be only one winner (survivor) at the end of it.  When they fall in love (and find out the reality of their situation), they must play out the dual. 

When I first read what the book was about, I immediately thought, "Like The Hunger Games?  It's a fight to the death?"  However, this book is very much not like that, so if that's what you're expecting you won't see it.

Morgenstern uses such good descriptions that you can imagine being there and being part of the experiences.  It was wordy, but not in an annoying way, because you really get kind of mesmerized in the words (and their magic).

The book moves between different times and places, so my suggestion to those who are going to pick up this book (which I would highly recommend) is to make special note of the date and place of each chapter.  You start to make some great connections between characters as you're reading the book. 

I loved it and I would recommend it to anyone (again, if you're down with the whole magic thing, because I know that this isn't everyone's style).  It's a love story mixed with the magic of an entirely different world than we're used to. 

Seriously... I'm Kidding (Ellen Degeneres)

I've been waiting for a while to read this book.  I kind of knew that I was getting "Seriously... I'm Kidding" as either a Christmas or Birthday gift (shh...) so I had to hold off on reading it.  I was super excited when I finally received it for my Birthday and it made it on top of the pile of books that are on my "to-read" list!

I LOVED this book.  Loved it.  I thought Tina Fey's book was funny, but I thought Ellen's book was funnier.  This could be because I am a huge Ellen fan (and didn't know much about Tina Fey when I read her book), but regardless, this book was Hilarious with a capital H. 

I was laughing out loud even as I read the flaps in the book and the back.  And then I was laughing out loud when I was reading her message to readers and her acknowledgements at the beginning of the book.  And so on... The laughing continued.

It's such a random book, with chapters about anything and everything.  A chapter about Meditation?  Yep.  A chapter about Stretching?  Yep.  A chapter about Pros and Cons?  Yep.  She includes something for all ages!  Colouring pages for children, a chapter for the older audience and a chapter for the teens.  It's all there! 

It's like a standup routine, but you're reading it instead of listening to her say it.

One part I thought was particularly funny was a chapter where she suddenly says that she bets you're thinking about how you're thirsty for tequila.  She writes, "So that reader is going to take to their Twitter account and tweet, 'Reading Ellen's hilarious new book.  Thirsty for tequila.'  And if that makes people want to buy the book, I think that's great." (Seriously... I'm Kidding, Ellen Degeneres, p. 139)  Well, I decided to sign onto Twitter and search for this phrase.  Yep, it was there.  In fact, at the exact moment that I made it my most recent tweet, 10 other people also tweeted the exact same sentence.  Awesome.

I suggest you go out and buy this book.  Read it as fast as you can (because I know once you start it, you won't want to put it down).  Then make everyone you know read it by talking about how funny and great it was.  Then once everyone has read it, keep it as a coffee table book or a bathroom reader.  Because it's that funny that you will want to reread sections of it over and over again.  Seriously... It's funny.