Born On A Blue Day by Daniel Tammet

Wow! I read this book because I wanted to understand more about autistic spectrum disorders since T (my grandson) was diagnosed with pervasive developmental disorder-not otherwise specified. When Born On A Blue Day first came out, I wanted it right away. What better way to learn about autism than by reading a book by a person who has it?

Daniel Tammet has another form of autism, Asperger's Syndrome. Asperger's is considered a higher functioning form of autism because the kids diagnosed with it usually don't have language delays. All ASDs involve problems with socialization and with connecting to people. One of the issues the author discusses is his lack of feeling toward other classmates. He didn't care that they teased him or tried to embarrass him. He barely noticed them. Another example is when his father became very ill. Tammet writes that he wasn't sure how to react as his father collapsed. He knew that he should stay with his father until his mother arrived. At the end of the book, he does write that he realizes how much his family loves him and as much as he is able, he loves them back.

Parts of the book just totally blew my mind away. Tammet describes how he thinks--in shapes, numbers and colors. He explains his thought processes as he solves a puzzle. There is no way I can repeat any of it here because it was beyond my ability to understand or conceptualize. We don't think that way, most of us, and that's not to say it's wrong but it is most definitely different. Reading this book helped me to understand better why our T has trouble processing language and repeating sounds.

Daniel Tammet also has savant syndrome. He is able to do the most amazing feats with numbers. He raised money for the epilepsy foundation by memorizing a record breaking number of decimal place numerals for pi--over 20,000. It took him over five hours to recite all those numbers by memory!

One of his proudest moments was meeting Kim Peek, the autistic savant upon whom Dustin Hoffman's character in Rain Man was based. Tammet has participated in a lot of research projects to help us understand more about how people with autism think and process. He is self-employed and works from home although he did recount troubles he's had with job interviews. He is in a long lasting relationship with his partner overcoming issues of becoming emotionally close with another person. He and his partner own their own home.

It's an amazing, inspiring story. Daniel Trammet is awesome. Read his book and see for yourselves!

Read With Abandon

Booking Through Thursday

Today’s suggestion is from Cereal Box Reader

I would enjoy reading a meme about people’s abandoned books. The books that you start but don’t finish say as much about you as the ones you actually read, sometimes because of the books themselves or because of the circumstances that prevent you from finishing. So . . . what books have you abandoned and why?

It's been a long time since I abandoned a book. I think the last one was a fluff book that I tossed because I didn't have the patience to "waste my time" if that makes any sense...

There have been a couple of books recently that I was really tempted to abandon because they were just not my cup of tea and I became very irritated with the plot. One was Beach Road by James Patterson and another was Brimstone by Douglas Preston & Lincoln Child.

One more book I almost put down was a recent read about the Hartford circus fire and that was because the first part was so emotionally wrenching for me at a time I was feeling very depressed.

Water For Elephants by Sara Gruen

This is one more of those very rare books I've read in which I was sorry to come to the end! It was funny, poignant, riveting and inspired anger against bullies and crooks. It had all the elements a book lover would want: mystery, action, adventure, horror, love ... and animals.

Jacob Jankowski is the narrator, telling his story at two critical points in his life: at age 90--or is it 93?--and at 23. When he is 23, he is within days of graduating with a degree in veterinary medicine and joining his father in practice. His world is shattered when his parents are suddenly and tragically killed in a car accident. It is around 1930 and his parents were penniless because of the Depression. Jacob is too grief stricken to concentrate on his studies and with no where else to go, he decides to jump a freight train.

But it's not a freight train...it's a circus train, belonging to the Benzini Brothers' Marvelous Travelling Show (or something like that). The ring master and owner is not a Benzini but an unscrupulous and ruthless fat man named Uncle Al. Jacob is befriended and protected by a circus worker named Camel, who finds him employment and shelter.

Camel warns Jacob about an especially vicious roustabout named Blackie and the cruel practice of "red lighting"--which is throwing someone from a train, usually to avoid paying them their salary. Jacob begins working for the man in charge of the animals, a seemingly charming man named August who is married to the lovely and very talented Marlena. August has a secret, though--he is a jealous man given to violent and unpredictable moods. He reminded me of the character Klaus from The Greatest Show on Earth.

Uncle Al abandons one city for another in attempt to snap up what's left of a defunct circus for a cheap price. It's there he buys a very special elephant named Rosie.

There is love and there is a murder. Who is murdered and who did it? Read and find out! It's a great book!

Typography

Booking Through Thursday

You may or may not have seen my post at Punctuality Rules Tuesday, about a book I recently bought that had the actual TITLE misspelled on the spine of the book. A glaring typographical error that really (really!) should have been caught. So, using that as a springboard, today’s question: What’s the worst typographical error you’ve ever found in (or on) a book?

Oh boy, that is some boo-boo! I belong to the Stephen King Book Club and one month they sent me a copy of Salem's Lot. Many of the pages are out of order, at least 20 of them! When I notified the company, they sent a replacement book...same problem. So I called and explained what the problem was and apparently they weren't going to redo the books because they sent me a refund. Duh!

Booked By Three For October

Shelly's Book Shelf

1. Do you have favorite sites for getting book info? Share 3 (or more!).

I sure do. My top favorite sites are:

Book Crossing
Paper Back Swap
Good Reads

2. How about favorite author sites? Share 3 (or more).

Dean Koontz

Stephen King

Diana Gabaldon

3. And finally, are there 3 or more book review blogs you never miss reading? And no, you don't have to name this one! :)

Well...the two I like to read most are:

Callapidder Days and So Many Books, So Little Time I'm looking for more book lovers' blogs myself!

The Book of the Dead by Douglas Preston & Lincoln Child

The Book of the Dead is the last of three in the Agent Pendergast series. I'm not sure why it's a trilogy, though, because there are actually six or 7 books with that character and they're all somehow related. Dance of Death and this book focus on the hatred and battle between the Pendergast brothers, FBI Special Agent Aloysius and his brilliant but murderously pathological brother Diogenes. The previous book left off with Diogenes framing his brother for some horrific crimes and then stealing millions of dollars worth of diamonds from the Museum of History. Aloysius goes to prison and Diogenes drops out of sight...or does he? These two books reunite some old favorite characters from early stories.

Of the Pendergast trilogy, I was most disappointed in this book. I know I'm in the minority because most people really enjoyed the series and I wondered if I missed the boat somehow. The first part of the book was too slow for me. There was too much time spent on trying to break Pendergast in prison, friends trying to break him out and police captain Laura Hayward being too proud to listen to Detective D'Agosta. One thing is for sure: poor Museum of Natural History, site of more brutal serial killings than any where else in the world probably. Two murders occurred before the opening of the Tomb of Senef...given the past history of disaster within the museum you'd think everyone would be more cautious? I guess those monkeys never learn. The one thread I found spooky was when Hugo Menzies/Diogenes came visiting Margo Green. Very creepy!

There was a character that turned me off and why was his last scene with the warden necessary? Agent Coffey. The man should have been deposited in a prison himself, not deported to another FBI office! Everyone of the books has had the prerequisite Ass in Charge.

A plotline that was a total turn off but ended out well: Diogenes seducing Constance Green. I guess it was predictable but it was done too easily. What came later was awesome!

The second part of the book was a lot more interesting and the only reason I gave the book 3 stars. At that point, Pendergast has been broken out of one of those "no one can escape from here prisons" and reunited with his old crime fighting buddy Vincent D'Agosta. Laura Hayward's come to her senses and realizes she needs to unite with D'Agosta and Pendergast to save all those unfortunates in the Tomb of Senef...oh, and she loves him, too.

Best of all was the sudden change in Constance Greene. Her pursuit and battle with Diogenes scenes were the best I've read in a long time.

I felt cheated by "The Event". I absolutely can see one brother goading another into trouble, I just can't see that particular outcome. Diogenes supposedly suffered brain damage in the ventromedial frontal cortex from the incident, which involved lights and sound. For revenge, he wanted to induce it in millions of people. His first two victims had total psychotic breaks and became violent. They were beyond reason and so I wondered how Diogenes was able to think at all or be around people--years of self control? Too weird. I couldn't find any information on the so-called "Higginbottom region" but maybe it's out there somewhere.

I know there's at least one more book now, one that focuses more on Constance Green. I haven't decided whether I want to read it or not. I've been alternately exasperated, bored, and enthralled with the story so far...not sure I've been enthralled enough to move on to the next level.

Live and In Person

Booking Through Thursday

I said in August, when we talked about fan mail, that I planned on expanding that to live meetings when the time was right. Well, that time is now!

* Have you ever met one of your favorite authors? Gotten their autograph? No, I wish!
* How about an author you felt only so-so about, but got their autograph anyway? Like, say, at a book-signing a friend dragged you to? I got autographs from Lara Parker and Stephen Mark Rainey at Dark Shadows festivals some years ago. I wasn't dragged there. I wanted to go and enjoyed the books they wrote, they're just not my favorites.

* How about stumbling across a book signing or reading and being so captivated, you bought the book? Nope, hasn't happened...not yet anyway!