Our April meeting at Paw Paw restaurant was quite successful with some new faces around the table which was great. The only slip-up was me running late and then getting my car impounded. I will tell that story when next we meet.
Reviews for The Rosie Project from the group ranged from 'Hysterical' to 'Well-constructed but a bit lightweight'. On average it was rated around 8.
I did a bit of digging on the author, Graeme Simsion, and found that he was formerly an Information Systems Consultant for Simsion Boules & Associates (70 staff) and has written two books and numerous papers on data modelling. He received a PhD in data modelling in 2006. He says he didn't do any research into Asperger's syndrome for the Rosie books, other than having worked in IT departments for 30 years.
To balance all this nerdiness, he also runs a wine distribution business called Pinot Now. In addition to the Rosie books he has written 13 short stories and 13 short films and plays.
His third novel, The Best of Adam Sharp about a relationship rekindled on the Camino de Santiago is due out soon. It is a collaboration with his wife, Anne Buist, a perinatal psychiatrist whose psychological thriller, Medea's Curse is her 4th published novel. Buist also writes erotic fiction under a pen name, Simone Sinna, including the titles: Embedded, Expose, Exclusive, Heartbreaker, Ballbreaker, Were-Devil's Revenge and Were-Devil's Curse.
They have two children. It's a wonder they found the time.
Simsion has won a host of awards for The Rosie Project which has sold more than a million copies and which Bill Gates has nominated as his favourite novel.
Sony Pictures bought the rights in 2014 but filming has had a few hiccoughs since then and it is not known when the movie will appear.
If you want to know more about the complicated rules of eye colour inheritance here's an article:
Interestingly, since 2013 Asperger's has no longer been considered a discrete condition. With the release of the latest Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders it has been merged into the spectrum of autism disorders: http://www.livescience.com/37333-dsm-aspergers-disorder.html A bit disappointing, really.
My favourite quote from the book is this one:
Humans often fail to see what is close to them and obvious to others.
... Which is a bit scary if you think about it for too long.
We are adding the book, The Sands of Sarasvati by Finnish author, Risto Isomaki, to the list. It has been translated into English by Lola Richards, and is described as eco-science fiction. There is a graphic novel based on the translation but we are not cheating, we are reading the novel.
Our June book is The Obstacle is the Way which may not appeal to all since it comes out of the business writing category. It has been described as a cult classic since it was published in 2014 and essentially seeks to teach us what the Stoics learnt all those centuries ago in Greece. But if you'd like something more literary instead, a suggestion has been made by one member that as an alternative we could read and review several of the poems written by Les Murray and published in On Bunyah. Sounds a bit like an English exam, doesn't it?!
One of our members knows Roly Sussex (ABC's Word for Today) and has suggested he would make an entertaining guest speaker about the origin of words at a future meeting. More to come. And on that note, may I recommend The Etymologicon by Mark Forsyth (The Inky Fool blog) for some fascinating anecdotes about the origin of words and how they came to be used today. I've just finished it and plan to read The Horologicon next.
Finally, one of our members, Muriel Baker, has offered her apartment in Coorparoo for next week's book club (Wednesday 4 May). We could bring a plate or eat at one of the nearby restaurants after we've dispatched the book. Let me know if you plan to come and I will give you the address. There is plenty of parking in the street and on site.
Happy reading!
Are you already in a bookclub?
You may feel that you cannot commit to another bookclub because you are already a member of one (or two!)
We’d still love you to join us just as a Newsletter subscriber. We’d love to hear what other bookclubs are reading and what you think are the pick of the titles that we must read!
In the same way, we hope you will take away from our reviews some pearlers to share with your regular club.
