books that help

I read it too on Kindle as when I asked someone else this was recommended.  I suddenly related to lots as at that time I was still awaiting assessments and didn't want to read too much as wanted to be me.

It is a very useful read and better as a book rather than Kindle as you can keep looking bits over.

I have read "Am I Autistic" by Lydia Andal but that's more because I'm still looking into whether I have autism\aspergers (from what I've read and test results I'm pretty sure). 

Also "Autism: I think I might be Autistic" by Louise Allen. Again very good and has a brief giude to some coping methods at the end.

Both of these books helped me realise a lot of my behavioural quirks, especially when younger, are probably down to being on the spectrum.

I am about 10% into "NeuroTribes: The legacy of autism and how to think smarter about people who think differently" which is very interesting so far and covers more of the history of everything around the condition and gives a good background. As I always want to know the background of things, this is very interesting to me in learning more about the spectrum, it also mentions ABA therapy which a friend of mine actually used to do for a family friend of his who had an autistic child (referred to also as Lovaas therapy).

I haven't yet read anything specific about coping with being on the spectrum, although I noticed when browsing on Amazon was that a lot of the books aimed at adults on the spectrum are aimed at women? I've heard there are differences in how it affects males and females, I'd like to know more about that.

I've read the beginning free sample on Kindle of Nerdy, Shy and Socially Inappropriate which I found very good and might buy the book.

I think I might get the Complete Guide to Aspergers, I've heard several people give it positive reviews in forum posts and articles and it has very good reviews on Amazon.

EDIT: On the issue of coping with the social side of things, I recently (before thinking I was on the spectrum at all) read How to make friends and influence people. I'd kept hearing about it and how it was still relevant despite how long ago it was written so I thought I'd gice it a read.
I found it incredibly useful, although also a lot of stuff in there was things I'd figured out the hard way after over 15 years working in offices and having to figure out how to interact with people and how to act. I still struggle a lot but these days I manage fairly well most days, in part because I work in a small team of very nice friendly people who I trust and like. I still avoid most social events but can just about do a quick drink after work with a small amount of people then use my long journey home as an excuse to leave early.

Thanks to everyone who replied with tips on books they found useful. At the moment I have gone for 'Anxiety and Asperger syndrome' by Tony Dubin. Saw it on Amazon and seemed to get good reviews and as easy to purchase seemed straightforward option. Once read will feed back. 

Hi, I liked "A field guide to Earthlings - an autistic /Asperger view of neuro-typical behaviour".

This website is also good, and free to read:

franklludwig.com/autism.html

I am 41 and was diagnosed in Jan 2013.  I got support from Prospects (NAS) in Glasgow and read 'The Complete Guide to Aspergers' by Tony Attwood and although it is 350 pages long it is great - I found myself recognising traits in myself that were covered in the book and has sections in it such as diagnosis, special interests, social understanding and friendships and Language.  It is very good. it cost me at the time £15.99.