The Rosie Project by Graeme Simsion

I love it when you can enjoy humor in a story but also learn a little about human nature. Graeme Simsion puts us in the mind of Don Tillman, a brilliant genetics professor who, obvious to everyone but himself, has Asperger’s syndrome. He has never had a second date and only has five buddies, if you count the two children of his best friends, Gene, his department head, and Gene’s wife, Claudia. The fifth is a guy he met at the ballpark. He knows he doesn’t experience emotions like everyone else and thinks he’s just wired differently. His life revolves around strict schedules and all things scientific. He decides he wants a partner and designs the Wife Project, a 16 page, scientifically valid survey to filter out the drinkers, the smokers, and the late arrivers which he believes will help him find the perfect wife.

Rosie Jarman is all these things and Don immediately decides she is unsuitable. But Rosie didn’t seek out Don to apply for his project. She has one of her own. She wants to discover the identify of her biological father and enlists Don’s help because of his expertise in genetics and DNA analysis. They embark on the Father Project and through DNA testing (samples obtained in a variety of nefarious ways) systematically eliminate one candidate after another.

Rosie habitually arrives late, drinks, smokes, and does things spur-of-the-moment. But she is also beguiling, smart and fun. When an unlikely relationship develops, Don is forced to realize his most enjoyable moments have all been with Rosie and, despite his best scientific efforts, you do not find love—it finds you.

I read the Rosie Project when it came out in 2013 and loved it then. When my book club asked for suggestions, I recommended it. I loved it again when I reread it for the meeting and so did the women in the club.