After reading so much science fiction in a row, I was feeling a little genre-shame, so I dug out a buzz-worthy book from last year (my copy's cover notes that it's a Today's Book Club selection) -- The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time by Mark Haddon. It's a murder mystery, where the murder victim is a dog and the detective is a 15-year old boy with autism. I was surprisingly moved.
I squeaked in #7 just at the end of the month last night, which, if I may be a little OCD about the numbers for a second, puts my "rate" at 7.5 books/month, which would mean I'll get to 50 in 6.6 months. In any case, this goal feels eminently doable. And, it's been quite nice to plow through a bunch of books -- it feels like the old days.
Jason Dufair
I really enjoyed this book. It was even more interesting as I had just finished it and then became acquainted with a neighbor who is a high-functioning autistic person. I really have enjoyed getting to know her (she and her mom have been two of our helpers that have been giving their time due to Anna's health).
I also recommend Johnathan Safran Foer's "Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close" - similar only in that the protagonist is a young man who exhibits (at least as far as I could tell) autistic behaviors.
Also, if you haven't read William Gibson's "Pattern Recognition", it would be a fun one to add to your "cool hunting" pile - the protagonist is an official cool hunter.