Math Heroine

I am reading a novel about a young woman who loves math! Okay, the heroine of Aimee Bender's An Invisible Sign of My Own actually appears to have severe OCD, and math and numbers probably help her keep her world in order. But whatever. As a real life math-loving supergirl, I often am infuriated by the stereotype that women and girls are incompetent at math or don't like it. So any representation of a female who is good at math works for me.

I adored math in high school, especially trigonometry and math analysis. Calculus admittedly was a little esoteric for my taste, but it still is math and, as a consequence, earned my admiration. I could have been a mathematician, I bet, but I went to college and majored in English literature with the intention of becoming a writer. I love books and writing, as well, so there you go. Today I am neither a mathematician nor a writer, but the career I have pursued involves writing and even a teeny bit of math.

Anyway, back to the book. An Invisible Sign of My Own is the cutest little dysfunctional read.  Well, the character is dysfunctional, anyway.  I'm not quite finished yet, but unless it takes a decided turn for the crappy in its last 48 pages, I highly recommend it. I just learned from Google that it was made into some sort of movie last year starring Jessica Alba, and I'm not sure how I feel about that (was that film ever even released?).  Once I'm done with Invisible Sign, I have four other novels waiting for me. I went on a small literary purchasing spree at the end of last month (something I do frequently), and I now am working through my bounty.

I may have a lot of time for reading over the next few days because I think I may be getting sick. That's my way of saying I am getting sick while maintaining a cloak of denial. Even if I keep this denial thing up, I have to take care of myself because I'm going to see one of my all time favorite bands on Friday night, and sniffles and coughing fits simply will not do. So it's all zinc and chilling out for a while to show whatever virus I've picked up who is boss. I have faith I will win; I am a supergirl who loves math, after all.