Book Journey

Don Tillman is a professor of genetics with a few social issues, possibly with a touch of Asperger’s.  Don is awkward in social situations, including trying to find someone suitable for dating and eventually, as his genetics mind calculates – marriage.

Don, as his nature tends to be, decided that the proper way to meet that special someone would be not to waste time on idle chit-chat (which he hates) over ridiculous dating rituals, but instead to create a 16 page survey for potential female partners to complete to filter out the undesirables.  Undesirables in Don’s mind, are those who have tendencies to be late to appointments, vegans, those who smoke, and/or drink.

Thus, the Wife Project is born.

When Rosie Jarman walks into the room where Don is working on the Wife project applicants, she is not only late, but also excuses herself in the middle to go out and smoke.  SMOKE!  Did she even read the application?  As time goes on Don finds that Rosie pretty much does everything that was on his list of undesirables.

Yet Rosie, with her wild red hair, does have something that Don is interested in.  Rosie is hoping to find her biological father, and Don just happens to work with DNA testing, decides that while she is eliminated from the wife project, he wouldn’t mind assisting her in what could be called the Father Project.

As quite an unlikely pair, (every person Don meets his mind automatically calculates how old he thinks they are as well as their BMI), Don and Rosie find out throughout the Father project that not all relationships, fall into report worthy categories.

 

YAY!  I say YAY!  The Rosie Project was a fun quick audio jaunt with a geeky over detailed guy named Don, and a fiery red-head named Rosie.  Loved it!  I have heard people refer to this as a “Big Bang Theory” type read and I would tend to agree.  Picture the geeky dude who over thinks and analyzes everything because that’s the way he is wired, and then the girl who lives each day to the fullest.  Put them together to solve out a problem, and you have The Rosie Project.

I think this is a time to bring our the words, Awesome Sauce. 

The Rosie Project was fun and funny.  Don’s quirky ways were laugh out loud at times. He calculates everything with a scientific mind right down to how long it takes him to shower…. and adding in an extra minute when he conditions his hair because of the “leave in” instructions.  As the two go through the story line, I smiled often.  And that… is a good thing.

Dan O’Grady is an excellent narrator for this book.  He gives a believable rendition of Don. 

I thoroughly enjoyed this audio.  It was light and fun and perfect for coming off a busy season and wanting something that fits that category.

Give this one a try, at 7 hours and 32 minutes on audio it is a perfect sized audio to finish in a week or less while working in the house, cooking, or while calculating your BMI. 😉

Much like Downton Abbey, Longbourn gives us a look at what happens downstairs in the kitchens, and maids and footman’s quarters of the Bennet household (the Bennet’s of Pride and Prejudice).  From the housemaids Sarah and Polly, to the Housekeeper Mrs. Hill, to the mysterious and handsome new footman named James Smith, there is just as much emotion and drama going on below the stairs as there is above. 

 

 

In a modern world of many books taking a turn at the Pride and Prejudice classic (how can we ever forget Pride and Prejudice and Zombies???), it is almost with a sign of relief that I entered into this audio book knowing that I was entering the Bennet household zombie, vampire, and sea monster free. 

As a big fan of the Downton Abbey Series (insert *sigh* here) and seeing many positive things said about the book, I eagerly downloaded this one to my phone.  I am, as many are, fascinated that we as a society are not only intrigued with the rich and famous of the world, but also with the goings on of those who work for them.  It is like a whole new era of potential rewriting.

Narrator Emma Fielding executed a wonderful flow to the book.  Her voice was smooth and engaging. 

Overall, I am going to be in the minority on this one.  Perhaps my feelings are based on the fact that I have never read Pride and Prejudice in its entirety (I know, I know.. put the torched down!  I am working on it!) I found Longbourn to be a bit drawn out and not as action packed as I had hoped – instead it was more of a slowly drawn out romance read, strongly leaning on a few main characters instead of the household.  Romance reads have never been my thing.  Longbourn does have its moments.  My favorites are when the staff engage with the characters we know from Pride and Prejudice.  I am sure if I had read P & P I would have connected more with the happenings.

I may have chosen the wrong time to listen to it, my mind tended to wander during the audio and it did not hold me for whatever reason.  In this case, it may have served better to have read the book. 

I do, as I mentioned, realize I am in the minority on this one, and as I do in any review that was not as favorable as I had intended, I offer to you reviews from bloggers I trust who had other opinions on Longbourn:

Beth Fish Reads

The Lost Entwife

Literate Housewife