The Rosie Project, book #8

So I took a huge divergence from my usual reading style for this book.  Rebecca and Leah are in a book club at school and this is the book they were working on for this month.  It looked interesting so I read it too.  

Honestly, it was a really good book.  But, like most good movies and TV shows these days, there was way too much useless profanity in it.  (That is a whole other post I have rolling around in my head.)  Rebecca has invited me to come to their next meeting, and I will be interested to see what the other people think about it.  Were they offended as I was over the language?  Or did they just fly right by it as they have become numb to it?  Does that make it ok?  Is there any hope for "society" when these words become just like other words?  Or are they just like other words?  What makes a word a "bad" word? .... ok, ok I really do want to delve into this deeper at another point ...  but what is your opinion on the blatant use of unnecessary profanity in TV, movies, books, etc.  Is it not that big of a deal?  Should we be outraged and try to fight it (but how?)? Should we choose not to align ourselves with media that uses it? (But what would we watch?  Just no TV or movies?) And if we just ignore it as we become numb to it, will we find ourselves using it without even thinking about it?  What other behaviors are we "looking over" (sex before marriage, living together before marriage, etc) that will soon become "acceptable" to the millennials we are raising?

Ok, off the soap box.  Like I said, besides that part, it was a really sweet love story about trying to balance being yourself, fitting into society when you just don't, and what does LOVE really look like?

The art of love is never a science: Meet Don Tillman, a brilliant yet socially inept professor of genetics, who’s decided it’s time he found a wife. In the orderly, evidence-based manner with which Don approaches all things, he designs the Wife Project to find his perfect partner: a sixteen-page, scientifically valid survey to filter out the drinkers, the smokers, the late arrivers. Rosie Jarman possesses all these qualities. Don easily disqualifies her as a candidate for The Wife Project (even if she is “quite intelligent for a barmaid”). But Don is intrigued by Rosie’s own quest to identify her biological father. When an unlikely relationship develops as they collaborate on The Father Project, Don is forced to confront the spontaneous whirlwind that is Rosie―and the realization that, despite your best scientific efforts, you don’t find love, it finds you.  (picture and description from amazon)

There is a sequel to this book which I am tempted to read, but I'm just not sure ....

O:)
Melissa

A Bride in Store, book #7

This is the book I chose for Book Club to read this month because I absolutely loved the first in the series I read back in April 2015. I honestly can't believe I remembered how good that book was from two years ago, when I can't even remember what I did Monday!

Impatient to meet her intended groom and help him grow his general store, mail-order bride Eliza Cantrell sets out on her travels a week early. But her plan goes sadly awry when her train is held up by robbers who steal her dowry and Axel, her groom-to-be, isn't even in town when she finally arrives.  Axel's business partner, William Stanton, has no head for business and would much rather be a doctor. When his friend's mail-order bride arrives in town with no money and no groom in sight, he feels responsible and lets her help around the store--where she quickly proves she's much more adept at business than he ever will be.  The sparks that fly between Will and Eliza as they work together in close quarters are hard to ignore, but Eliza is meant for Axel and a future with the store, while Will is biding his time until he can afford medical school. However, their troubles are far from over when Axel finally returns, and soon both Will and Eliza must decide what they're willing to sacrifice to chase their dreams--or if God has a new dream in store for them both. (picture and description at amazon)

Happy Reading!  We are on to suspense and mystery next month!

O:)
Melissa

A (sorta) Southern Serenade, book #6

She's a Yankee transplant.He's a good ol' Southern boy.She's a rich heiress of a multi-million dollar family fortune.He's gotten everything he has through old fashioned hard work.She thinks he's arrogant.He thinks she's uppity.She's trying to find her place in this world.He's trying to run from his.It's (sorta) a match made in Heaven. (picture and description from amazon)
O:)
Melissa