Rx: “The Girl He Used To Know”
Prescribed by: Tracey Garvis Graves
Prescribed for: Anyone looking for a beautifully written love story, told in two voices, over two time periods, and with richly developed characters you will wish you knew personally.
Side Effects: A desire to live out your dream of being a librarian and a weird craving for a game of chess.
Directions: Annika and Jonathan meet in college when he joins the school’s chess team. After one game, he’s discovered she is a better chess player than anyone he knows, and she is someone he is head over heels attracted to. Annika has spent most of her life feeling like an outsider, unable to really read people and make connections. Their relationship eventually unravels, but they reconnect years later in Chicago and the attraction is still there. Now it is 2001 and Jonathan works on Wall Street and Annika is a librarian. Will the tragic events of September 11th keep them apart again? This is a story about love lost and found, acceptance, and self-awareness. This is the first time I can remember seeing a woman on the autism spectrum portrayed with such clarity, raw emotion, and empathy. This book will squeeze your heart.
Special Instructions: For their first date, the second time around, Jonathan takes Annika to her favorite restaurant where she always orders the same two things, a strawberry Italian Soda and Stuffed Shells, a far cry from the grilled cheese and chicken nuggets she favored in college.
Recommended Beverage: Easy Italian Ice Cream Soda by A Live Well Lived
Recommended Dish: Stuffed Shells Recipe with Spinach by Craving Some Creativity
Refill: https://www.indiebound.org/book/9781250200358
Julie Bond is a voracious reader with eclectic tastes running the gamut from YA lit, to psychological suspense, and anything dog-related, of course. You can find her haunting her favorite San Francisco Bay Area indie bookstores. Email her at ObsessiveBookFanatic@gmail.com
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