Stop what you're reading. Get this book: The Rosie Project by Graeme Simsion

I just finished rereading this for the third time, for an upcoming book club. I enjoyed it so much, even the third time around, that I thought I'd rerun the review in case you've missed this delightful book.

For those who'd like to hear more in-depth discussion, Scott Danielson and I discussed this on A Good Story is Hard to Find podcast (episode 84).

THE ROSIE PROJECT
by Graeme Simsion

You know it's an unusual book when your mother forces you to read it by threatening you with guilt at her deathbed if you don't try it. (Ahem. Not that I've left any of my mother's book suggestions lingering too long on my "to read" list. No. Of course, I'd never do that.)

Guilt and mothers being what they are, plus the "after the 'goodbye'" reminder from her as I was hanging up the phone ... I looked around.

Heck, do people love this book or what? 21 copies at the library. All checked out. With 60 holds waiting for it to come in. Ok, Kindle make me love you. And I do love you, Kindle, I do! $1.99 and one click to download.

Where I literally laughed out loud by the beginning of the second chapter.

I guess Mom really does know best.

And it's a good thing because the description, while accurate, would never make me particularly want to pick it up. Hey, that's Don's problem. So accurate and we can't see what's really inside. Here's the blurb.

Don Tillman, professor of genetics, has never been on a second date. He is a man who can count all his friends on the fingers of one hand, whose lifelong difficulty with social rituals has convinced him that he is simply not wired for romance. So when an acquaintance informs him that he would make a “wonderful” husband, his first reaction is shock. Yet he must concede to the statistical probability that there is someone for everyone, and he embarks upon The Wife Project. In the orderly, evidence-based manner with which he approaches all things, Don sets out to find the perfect partner.

Don tells us the story himself and that is a great part of the charm.

It is funny, it gives us insight into a completely different way of thinking, and it charms us while it does so.

I guess the test of a book one really enjoyed is that you don't want to start another book. You want to let the one you just read rattle around in your head and heart for a while. This, surprisingly, is such a book for me, thus forcing me to turn to nonfiction exclusively for a little while. Most unexpected.

NOTE: For quick explanation of what this book is, use Hannah's fast summing up to a pal: "It's an Abed situation." (Something for Community fans out there.)