I'm an extremely avid reader, have been for years. In fact, I can't even remember a time when I didn't feel at home with a book, whether that be lounging on the sofa or with a torch under the covers - I need my books. I use them as an escape, I become entranced by plots, characters become my best friends and my worst enemies.
However, books can be quite an expensive hobby to maintain if I was to buy every book I've ever owned, new, straight from the shelves of a book store. Unless it is my birthday, Christmas, or another special occasion, every book I own is pretty much second hand - either from charity shops, car boots, or passed on to me by friends and family.
Two days ago I stumbled upon this amazing website: goodreads.com - I can't believe it's taken me this long to find it! I've always wanted to keep a catalogue of every book I read, along with a short review (the inner librarian in me I'm afraid!) and this site does just this and more! There is a community, you can join book clubs and there are freebies to be had!! Oh yes, I was so excited to see that publishers frequently offer 1 or more books - not just that - but they are ADVANCED copies! Now of course I understand that for them, giving away a book or two is nothing yet they get so much back. They will get feedback, hopefully positive, which will encourage many more readers to then go out and buy the book. Marvelous. And. Guess what?! I got one! Yay.
This morning I had an email to confirm I had been allocated an advance copy of The Rosie Project by Graeme Simsion. Here is the blurb given:
“I am thirty-nine years old; single, intelligent, fit, in excellent health and I have a relatively high status and above-average income as an associate professor. Logically, I should be attractive to a wide range of women. In the animal kingdom, I would succeed in reproducing.
However, there is something about me that women find unappealing. I have never found it easy to make friends, and it seems that the deficiencies that caused this problem have also affected my attempts at romantic relationships. The Apricot Ice-cream Disaster is a good example.”These are the words of Don Tillman, an odd, charming, highly successful Professor of Genetics, whose long history of ‘not fitting in’ has convinced him that he is not wired for romance. But at weekly dinners with his elderly neighbor and valued new friend, Daphne (Don can count all his friends on the fingers of one hand), she convinces him to re-evaluate his prospects.
And so, in the orderly, evidence-based manner with which Don approaches all things, he embarks upon The Wife Project, designing a questionnaire to help him find the perfect partner: a punctual, non-drinking, non-smoking female who will fit in with his regimented lifestyle.
When Rosie appears on the scene, it is clear that she fits none of his selection criteria: a spontaneous, outspoken barmaid who smokes and curses, and simply adjusts the time on Don’s clock when he complains that they have fallen off his carefully planned schedule. Yet an unlikely partnership blooms when Don agrees to help Rosie search for her biological father. As Rosie pushes Don out of his comfort zone again and again, he finds to his surprise that he may be having fun. But can a real relationship take root if Don isn’t wired to feel emotion like everyone else? Graeme Simsion’s moving and comic novel, sustained by a remarkable narrative voice, takes the reader on an immensely satisfying journey as Don seeks to see more within himself than he ever thought was possible.
It doesn't sound like one of my usual sort of books, but I am intending on branching out so I am eager to get it. I am also going to make sure to post a good honest review once to finished - once I get the hang of reviewing books. It's hard to know what to write. I shall let you know when it gets here!
Much Love,
Lottie
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