The Rosie Project by Graeme Simsion

Socially awkward and super intelligent, geneticist Don decides that he needs a wife. Rejecting the scattershot approach of normal dating, he creates a rigorous, scientific survey to find the perfect woman. In the middle of the Wife Project, he is distracted by a young woman named Rosie who asks him to help find her biological father. In The Rosie Project by debut author Graeme Simsion, Don's logical, orderly life is thrown into chaos as Rosie shows him that not all problems can be solved with science.

Don is a fascinating protagonist, and looking at the world from his coldly logical perspective is in turns illuminating, sad, and funny. As this is a romantic comedy, some of the situations that the characters get in are almost too cute -  Don doesn't wear a dinner jacket to a fancy restaurant and has to use martial arts to defend himself from the bouncers, and Rosie has keep him from getting arrested. In addition, Don's progression to less unemotional and logical is believable, yet I never felt in touch with his feelings, though this may be because Don was never in touch with his feelings. Simsion's first novel is a great light read for anyone who likes romantic comedies with a scientific flair and a healthy helping of a new perspective.

Shannon Wood, Adult Services Librarian