As an author who is very likely (undiagnosed) on the spectrum, and someone who has family members who have been diagnosed with autism, I’ve found myself gravitating towards characters that I can personally relate to. These stories represent characters that rise above their challenges and encourage me to do the same. They have given me hope that what may seem to some as limitations I have are in fact positives that allow me to help others.
I love Katniss Everdeen as much for her strength as for her quirks; the things that make her feel like a real person. She finds relating to people challenging, which is something I struggled with growing up. Her anxiety can be felt when she plays with objects to calm herself, which I still occasionally do. Yet despite her difficulties in connecting with people, everything she does is for the sake of others. She is strong and capable in the face of adversity, which is something I work to achieve in my own life. Learning that her character may be on the spectrum, and my ability to identify with her, led me to start wondering if I may be on the spectrum as well.
Sixteen-year-old Katniss Everdeen regards it as a death sentence when she is forced to represent her district in the annual Hunger Games, a fight to the death on live TV. But Katniss has been close to death before - and survival, for her, is second nature. The Hunger Games is a searing novel set in a future with unsettling parallels to our present. Welcome to the deadliest reality TV show ever...
Sherlock Holmes is one of my favorite characters because although he seems to detest most people, at his core he finds justice for others. From his brusque nature to self-medicating his anxiety, to his tendency to speak in a lecture-like tone, Sherlock manages to overcome his challenges to win the day. I’ve had my own struggles using alcohol to cope with the stresses of day-to-day life. Thankfully, I rarely drink now. I also tend to ramble on about minute details if the mood strikes, and I found Sherlock’s interlinking of evidence and similar attention to detail to be an exciting part of the story. What makes Sherlock even more interesting is that the diagnosis of autism wouldn’t be conceived for well over fifty years after A Study in Scarlet was published.
Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's A Study in Scarlet is the literary debut of the world's most famous fictional detective, Sherlock Holmes, introduced by Iain Sinclair with notes by Ed Glinert in Penguin Classics.
Convalescing in London after a disastrous experience of war in Afghanistan, Dr John Watson finds himself sharing rooms with his enigmatic new acquaintance, Sherlock Holmes. But their quiet bachelor life at 221B Baker Street is soon interrupted by the grisly discovery of a dead man in a grimy 'ill-omened' house in south-east London, his face contorted by an expression of horror and hatred such as Watson has…
This is the fourth book in the Joplin/Halloran forensic mystery series, which features Hollis Joplin, a death investigator, and Tom Halloran, an Atlanta attorney.
It's August of 2018, shortly after the Republican National Convention has nominated Donald Trump as its presidential candidate. Racial and political tensions are rising, and so…
What I admire most about Lisbeth Salander are her strength and courage, and the challenges she overcame while being highly introverted. Despite her inability to connect with others, and her violent nature, she used her anger to right wrongs, and had a strong sense of morality. I actually see a lot of Lisbeth in myself, as I’m also a software engineer. Chain smoking to treat her anxiety is something I relate to, as I smoked cigars for eight years to help deal with my depression. What I like about her most is she overcomes her abuse and overcomes her abusers; something I’ve had to do in my own life. The story is emotionally difficult to read at times, but the sense of elation I felt when she found justice for herself was worth the turmoil.
Forty years ago, Harriet Vanger disappeared from a family gathering on the island owned and inhabited by the powerful Vanger clan. Her body was never found, yet her uncle is convinced it was murder - and that the killer is a member of his own tightly-knit but dysfunctional family.
He employs disgraced financial journalist Mikael Blomkvist and the tattooed, truculent computer hacker Lisbeth Salander to investigate. When the pair link Harriet's disappearance to a number of grotesque murders from forty years ago, they begin to unravel a dark and appalling family history.
James Halliday is a futuristic Willy Wonka, creating a fantasy world to bring people together, despite his own social awkwardness. Unfocused on his personal appearance and social norms, yet laser-focused on his creation, The OASIS, he has a child-like exuberance that makes him endearing. Like Halliday, I can hyper-focus on projects I’m deeply interested in. His story of shyness and unrequited love resonates for me, as I’ve had a few unrequited loves in the past, ones that in some ways still affect me to this day. What I appreciate about him the most is the things he does are out of love, even when it’s not reciprocated. Ultimately, although Halliday uses his fantasy world to cope with the challenges of life, he passes on the knowledge to Wade, the protagonist, that the best things in life happen in the real world.
SOON TO BE A MAJOR MOTION PICTURE DIRECTED BY STEVEN SPIELBERG
It's the year 2044, and the real world has become an ugly place. We're out of oil. We've wrecked the climate. Famine, poverty, and disease are widespread.
Like most of humanity, Wade Watts escapes this depressing reality by spending his waking hours jacked into the OASIS, a sprawling virtual utopia where you can be anything you want to be, where you can live and play and fall in love on any of ten thousand planets. And like most of humanity, Wade is obsessed by the ultimate lottery ticket that…
This is the fourth book in the Joplin/Halloran forensic mystery series, which features Hollis Joplin, a death investigator, and Tom Halloran, an Atlanta attorney.
It's August of 2018, shortly after the Republican National Convention has nominated Donald Trump as its presidential candidate. Racial and political tensions are rising, and so…
Hermione Granger is a character that took some time to grow on me, admittedly. Finding friends was challenging for Hermione, as she intimidated others with her deep knowledge of magic and tended to ‘correct’ others and lecture them when they either skirted rules or weren’t paying well enough attention in class. I feel this echoes my own childhood, where I was too focused on studying and seeming intelligent, instead of learning how to help others without making them feel uncomfortable. What I admire most about Hermione, and the books in general, is that despite her social challenges, she is defined by the friendships she created with Harry and Ron. And as for many people on the spectrum, she championed others who faced unfair challenges, such as the house elves.
Galloping gargoyles ... 2022 is the silver anniversary of J.K. Rowling's magical classic Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone!
The boy wizard Harry Potter has been casting a spell over young readers and their families ever since 1997. Now the first book in this unmissable series celebrates 25 years in print! The paperback edition of the tale that introduced us to Harry, Ron and Hermione has been updated and dressed in silver to mark the occasion. It's time to take the magical journey of a lifetime ...
Harry Potter has never even heard of Hogwarts when the letters start dropping…
After the End War, a small group of survivors struggle to rebuild civilization inside the Crag, humanity’s last refuge. Sam, a seventeen-year-old hunter, was left outside the mouth of the cave as an infant and is believed by some to be the Sky Child, the one foretold to bring peace and prosperity to the Crag.
Sam must face Chaff, a tyrant who hides the secret of the harvest to maintain control of the Crag. Cruel, manipulative, and deadly, Chaff takes something from Sam he can never give back. Sam's need for revenge could bring about the death of everyone in the Crag, which goes against everything the Sky Child stands for.
