The Rosie Effect

By Graeme Simsion

Follow up to the first book, The Rosie Project, this book finds newlyweds Rosie and Don living in New York City. Rosie is attending college and Don is a visiting professor. Things seem to be going smoothly, although Don is indulging in alcohol every night, even to the point of waking up with headaches. Then Rosie announces she is pregnant.
Don immediately begins worrying about how this new factor will effect the structure of their lives. Don is extremely intelligent but extremely socially inept, which leads Rosie to doubt his ability to be a caring parent.  But the hyper-logical Don approaches the impending arrival with his usual logic and precision and, of course, nearly ruins their marriage.
Don manages to get himself into the strangest situations, including being arrested as a suspected child molester. On the plus side, though, his expertise gets him and Rosie a lovely, spacious apartment rent-free. However, one of the rooms in the apartment is a beer cellar for the rich man upstairs and thus the apartment reeks of beer. Which is kind of a problem for Rosie, who is experiencing morning sickness. And so it goes, good decisions with bad consequences and Don triumphs over all as his essential kindness and loving nature become apparent to even the most critical of observers, including the woman who declared he should never have children.

I think I liked this story better than the first one, The Rosie Project. Don was so different and strange in the first book and he has certainly mellowed in this one. His relationships with his friends are solid and he seems to make new friends without a problem. All these new relationships have helped him improve how he presents himself to the world, but, being Don, he still is misunderstood and inclined to upset and alarm people unknowingly.  This is what makes the book funny and entertaining, how Don messes up and still manages to put everything right. It was a lot of fun to read. Don Tillman is so cool.

For another review, see: http://www.washingtonpost.com/entertainment/books/book-review-the-rosie-effect-by-graeme-simsion-sequel-to-the-rosie-project/2014/12/30/e2b79b14-8ae5-11e4-a085-34e9b9f09a58_story.html

Look Me in the Eye

By John Elder Robison

Ever since he was a little kid, John Elder Robison felt like the odd man out. He couldn't figure out why he seemed to be such a misfit. Add to that his parents' failing marriage, his father's alcoholism and abuse and his mother's slow slide into insanity and it was a recipe for disaster. But John rose above his disadvantages and managed to make a success of himself on his own terms. And it wasn't until he was in his forties that he finally learned he had Asperger's, a milder form of autism.

I really enjoyed this book. Robison writes a fascinating and compelling story about his journey through life learning to cope with his trouble relating to other people and using his amazing talents to have four different successful careers: developing sound systems and special effects for top bands, including KISS; becoming a toy engineer for Milton Bradley without even having a college degree; having a high-end car restoration and repair business; and finally, successful author. His is an amazing story and very much worth reading.