Hello Fellow Challenge Readers!

How did your reading go in December? “Present Time” proved to be a little tricky, didn’t it? The topic was pretty general and the time of year was busy, not an ideal formula. I hope you found and enjoyed something good to round out our Challenge year.

I did well – I read The Rosie Project by Graeme Simsion. If you are a fan of quick-moving, amusing yet thoughtful books, or if you’re a fan of “The Big Bang Theory”, you’re going to like this book.

Don Tillman lives his life by precise, strict rules and schedules. Any deviation can lead to anxiety and panic and he has trouble reading social cues and emotions. He has found a niche where he’s comfortable – a professor of genetics at a prestigious university – and a group of friends (well, two friends) who accept him as he is.

Although Don is perfectly happy, he decides that he would like a wife and thus begins the Wife Project. Don creates an impossibly detailed questionnaire with the intention of weeding out undesirable candidates. Of course, no one can meet Don’s impossible standards. As a joke, one of Don’s friends (it’s questionable how good a friend this person is!) sends Rosie his way without telling either that a) Don is looking for the impossibly perfect wife and b) Rosie is not looking for a date. A great deal of amusing chaos ensues, which ultimately forces Don to look at his life and his choices.

I found that Don strongly reminded me of Sheldon on the television series “The Big Band Theory”. A somewhat lovable genius but good heavens, he can be annoying. The book is also surprisingly thoughtful. It is framed as a comedy about one man’s peculiar personality, but while doing so, it also examines how we observe others and how we think about ourselves. Are we always honest with ourselves, or do we hide behind excuses and stories? A fun book with lots to say.

That wraps up the 2018 Online Reading Challenge. I hope you enjoyed our reading year! And I hope you’ll join us next year for the 2019 edition for another year of exploring a variety of subjects through books. Be sure to visit again on January 2 for all of the details and a list of Challenge topics. It’s going to be another great year!

Until then, have a great holiday! See you in 2019!