Tag Archives: Mary Knudstrup

On the shelf: ‘The Rosie Project’ by Graeme Simison

Books, Citizen Journalism, Entertainment, Reviews, , , , ,

By Mary Knudstrup, Grand Rapids Public Library, Main Branch

 

The idea of a multi-page questionnaire to weed out the unsuitable and find the perfect wife might seem terribly off-putting until you get inside the head of Don Tillman, a 39-year-old genetics professor who can’t seem to get past a first date. Don has, to put it mildly, a unique way of looking at life due largely to the fact that he has an undiagnosed case of Asperger Syndrome. Always socially awkward (he has only two friends), Don is searching for the perfect woman to complete his life, thus “the wife  project,” sixteen pages to weed out the smokers, drinkers, and late-arrivers.

 

Enter Rosie Jarman, a total washout as far as Don’s questionnaire is concerned but beguiling in her own way. And she has a project of her own: tracking down the identity of her biological father, the perfect assignment for a genetics expert like Don. What follows is Don’s increasing self-awareness as he loosens up his micro-managed life in his effort to help Rosie. Don’s literal and unsubtle observations often don’t play well with those on the receiving end, but fill his narration with good-natured humor and sly insightful truthfulness.

 

The Rosie Project is a GR Reads pick that will keep you engaged and entertained as you watch Don being nudged away from his spreadsheet approach to life and into the spontaneous and unpredictable world of a totally unsuitable woman.

On the shelf: ‘Swimming to Antarctica: Tales of a Long-Distance Swimmer’ by Lynne Cox

Books, Citizen Journalism, Entertainment, Reviews, , , , ,

By Mary Knudstrup, Grand Rapids Public Library, Main 

 

Lynne Cox has spent a lifetime breaking records in the water; at 15, she shattered the men’s and women’s world records swimming the English Channel; at 17, she broke the world record for the Catalina Channel; the next year she became the first woman to swim the Cook Strait between the North and South Islands of New Zealand. She has swum the treacherous Strait of Magellan, the shark-invested waters around the Cape of Good Hope, and the frigid passage across the Bering Strait as a way of opening the borders between the Soviet Union and the United States.  

 

But this book is no mere recitation of accomplished feats. Cox writes with the heart and ease of a true storyteller, taking the reader along on each incredible crossing, whether it’s riding in the slipstream of dolphins or dodging sewage in the Nile River. Her love of the water and the sheer joy she experiences when swimming reveals itself over and over. 

 

“I felt as if I were swimming through a black-and-white photograph of the sea at night. And in the phosphorescent ocean . . . silvery bubbles rolled out of my mouth, and as my arms churned the water, they etched a trail of white iridescent light across the shimmering black sea.”

 

However, it isn’t just her infectious enthusiasm for swimming that captures the reader. Cox’s story is one of overcoming obstacles with amazing patience, determination and good humor. She admits to fear and exhaustion but doesn’t let it defeat her. She warmly gives credit to the individuals and teams that assist her in accomplishing each goal.

 

No longer concerned with breaking records, she has turned her attention to using her talent to quietly foster good-will between countries. Whether it’s jumping from a wind-tossed boat, approaching a Soviet diplomat for permission to swim to Russian soil, or navigating her way through icebergs, her perseverance and can-do attitude is ever present. 

 

Swimming to Antarctica is a great adventure story to add to your reading list.

On the shelf: ‘Packing for Mars’ by Mary Roach

Citizen Journalism, Entertainment, , , , , ,

By Mary Knudstrup, Grand Rapids Public Library, Main

Packing for your summer vacation? Be sure to take along Mary Roach’s Packing for Mars. Not exactly a travel guide, but an informative and often hilarious look at the arduous task of getting a human into space. This is not book about rocket thrusters and gaining orbit, but a look at the more intimate aspects of space travel that confound NASA scientists.

While reviewing the history of the space race, Roach unabashedly investigates some of science’s most delicate engineering challenges. Among her topics are digestion, and egestion in a zero-gravity environment and the problems that result from “two men, two weeks, no bathing, same underwear.” She revels about the joys of weightlessness; “(it’s) like heroin, or how I imagine heroin must be. You try it once, and when it’s over, all you can think about is how much you want to do it again.”

Her writing is smart, sassy and well-researched, loaded with footnotes that stand out as quirky entertaining side-bars to the main text; for example, did you know that guinea pigs and rabbits are the only mammals thought to be immune to motion sickness? Dogs, on the other hand, come by the old adage “sick as a dog” quite honestly. She also delves into the problem of taking a corned beef sandwich on a space mission and the contribution of cadavers to the space program.

While never losing sight of the heroic feats that astronauts perform, Roach probes fearlessly into the “ick factor” of living in space and in the end gives the reader an even deeper appreciation for what astronauts endure in terms discomfort and lack of privacy. Whether you are scientifically inclined or not, Packing for Mars will take you to places you’ve never been before.