Book Review: The Rosie Project by Graeme Simsion

The Rosie Project: What it is about

From the publishers: “Don Tillman is a socially challenged genetics professor who’s decided the time has come to find a wife. His questionnaire is intended to weed out anyone who’s unsuitable. The trouble is, Don has rather high standards and doesn’t really do flexible so, despite lots of takers, he’s not having much success in identifying The One.

When Rosie Jarman comes to his office, Don assumes it’s to apply for the Wife Project – and duly discounts her on the grounds she smokes, drinks, doesn’t eat meat, and is incapable of punctuality. However, Rosie has no interest in becoming Mrs Tillman and is actually there to enlist Don’s assistance in a professional capacity: to help her find her biological father.

Sometimes, though, you don’t find love: love finds you…“

The Rosie Project: What I thought

Don Tillman really wants a wife, and the best way to get one is to target his dating on women that qualify as possible wives. His questionnaire rules out many women, if not all. He meets Rosie through a friend of his, and she certainly doesn’t qualify. He helps her find out who her father is and enjoys her company. If only she were wife material!

I loved reading this book. It was obvious, very obvious, which way this story was going, but chances were that Don had missed the window of opportunity with Rosie. I liked it that there was a second story line, in some ways totally unrelated to the wife-finding quest, in which Rosie was looking for her father. Or really, Don is is the one pursuing this goal, because he so much enjoys being in Rosie’s company.

At the end of the book, it’s Don rather than Rosie who makes concessions, but is it too late? And who IS Rosie’s real father? I had problems understanding who her father was, it wasn’t made very clear. In my book group we discussed this and some others also weren’t sure who it was. One or two people also had issues with the last chapter, when everything went really fast and maybe a little unbelievable. But most of the story was good fun.

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Rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars (good to very good)

Number of pages: 288

First published: 2013

I got this: bought it in my local book store

Genre: contemporary fiction

December Overview

December was a mixed month. I read some really nice books, and a few less good ones. But nothing I couldn’t finish, I’m glad to say.

Book that stood out:

I really enjoyed The Kept, a historical fiction about family and identity. Well written, bleak and beautiful.

This is what I read

  

Click on the blue links to go to the review (as you can see, I still need to post a few reviews!).

The Kept by James Scott. Historical fiction, 5 stars.

The Rosie Project by Graeme Simsion. Contemporary fiction, 5 stars.

Unaccustomed Earth by Jhumpa Lahiri. Short stories, 4.5 stars.

Queen Sugar by Nathalie Baszile. Contemporary fiction, 4.5 stars.

This Year Will be Different by Maeve Binchy. Christmas stories, 4.5 stars.

Salvation of a Saint by Keigo Higashino. Mystery, 4 stars.

Have Wormhole, Will Travel by Tony McFadden. Science fiction, 3.5 stars.

***

Dutch blog (reviews in Dutch):

  

1 Ding [The One Thing] by Gary Keller and Jay Papasan. Non-fiction, self-help, 5 stars.

Dead Scared by Sharon Bolton. Mystery, 4.5 stars.

De zonderlinge avonturen van het geniale bommenmeisje [The Curious Adventures of the Genius Bomb Girl] by Jonas Jonasson. Contemporary fiction, 4.5 stars

De gestolen kinderen [The Stolen Children] by Gerardo Soto y Koelemeijer. Contemporary fiction, 4 stars.

De mannenmaker [The Man Maker] by Petra Kruijt. Chick-lit, 3.5 stars

***

Leave me a comment with a book you really enjoyed in December!

Weekly Reading Roundup

*****

The week

Another week in which I went to Amsterdam, this time with a friend who lives nearby. We stocked up on mince pies, selection boxes, Christmas pudding, cheeses, and other goodies, both at Mark & Spencer’s and at Waterstone’s. The latter is a British bookstore, but it also sells a few foodie goodies for Dutch Anglophiles.

At book group we discussed The Rosie Project. Actually, we didn’t, well, hardly. We planned to, but ended up talking about other things and playing a bookish game. We all brought a wrapped up book that we were happy to part with (but that we thought our book club would like). Person 1 picked a book from the pile and opened it. Person 2 could either take a new book, or steal the book of Person 1. In the latter case, Person 1 then chose a new book from the pile. This way, a new person was only added to the game when all previous people were supplied with a book. Stealing didn’t happen as much as I would like (it adds a lot to the fun), but eventually we all had a book that we were (very) happy with. The book I went home with was The Guardian Angel’s Journal by Carolyn Jess-Cooke. A steal!

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Books I finished in the last week: 3

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Books I’m reading & planning to read

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Reviews

Unaccustomed Earth by Jhumpa Lahiri. Short stories about Indian immigrants in the USA. 4.5 stars

De gestolen kinderen [The Stolen Children] by Gerardo Soto y Koelemeijer. A Spanish man realises he may be one of tens of thousands of children that were taken from their parents and adopted by people in favour of the Franco government of the 1950s and 1960s. 3.5 stars

The Rosie Project by Graeme Simsion. An autistic man is looking for a wife. Instead he meets Rosie who definitely does not fulfil his criteria. But he does like her. A lot. 5 stars

That’s it!

What are you reading this week?

Weekly Reading Roundup

*****

The week

The week started well, with a trip to Amsterdam with Suzanne of Bibliosue. She spent a few days in Germany and the Netherlands. We visited the Anne Frank House, where I’d never been before. It was very interesting to see. We had lunch in a typical Amsterdam café and visited the English book store Waterstone’s and a few other shops. I bought just one book, I think Suzanne got two – we were good! We were just having a good time together and completely forgot to take some pictures for our blog friends. What a shame!

Books I finished in the last week: 2

Unaccustomed Earth by Jhumpa Lahiri. Short stories about Indian immigrants in the USA. 4.5 stars

De gestolen kinderen [The Stolen Children] by Gerardo Soto y Koelemeijer. A Spanish man realises he may be one of tens of thousands of children that were taken from their parents and adopted by people in favour of the Franco government of the 1950s and 1960s. 3.5 stars

Books I’m reading & planning to read

Reviews

The Humans by Matt Haig. An alien has taken over the body of a professor who has discovered a secret that will affect the whole universe if it comes out. He learns what it means to be human. 5 stars

And also…

I posted my November overview.

That’s it!

What are you reading this week?