I’m not much of a space nerd, but I do enjoy a good suspense action thriller. I’ve heard nothing but amazing things about Andy Weir’s The Martian, so I decided to check it out. Oh. My. Wow. Is it possible to give a five-star book six stars? Mark Watney is a botanist/engineer on a six-man crew doing a short mission on Mars. Midway through, a dust storm hits, and Watney is stabbed. Presuming him dead (and rightfully so, because his vitals have gone blank on […]
In space, no one can hear you scream like a little girl
While standing in the checkout line at the grocery store, waiting as patiently as I could while a previous customer argued over coupon redemption and dug around for and counted out exact change, this book caught my eye. I don’t have a lot of experience with the sci fi genre but it was either that or some tabloid with one Kardashian or other on the cover. I picked it up, glanced at the cover, perused the enthusiastic blurbs and read the first few pages, suddenly […]
You Think YOU’RE Alone?
“Tears. I’m not going to say whether they are tears of joy or sadness, but just know. Tears.” I said that to my husband about five minutes ago, when I finished this fucking fantastic novel. I loved it. I started it last night around 7:30. I finished it five minutes ago. During that time I slept, worked a nine-hour day, and read this book. I don’t really read science fiction. And I don’t even know if that’s how I’d categorize this book. Yes, it is […]
A wonderful start to 2015
I had the most wonderful surprise waiting for me when I got back from two weeks in the UK. Well, we had random patches of cat vomit spread around the flat as a loving Christmas gift from our two cats, who we callously abandoned to be fed and looked after by various friends and family members, but I also had a package waiting for me on the living room table. So after feeding the demanding furry dictators we pretend are our pets and cleaning up […]
MacGyver goes to space
Goodreads summary: “Six days ago, astronaut Mark Watney became one of the first men to walk on the surface of Mars. Now, he’s sure he’ll be the first man to die there. It started with the dust storm that holed his suit and nearly killed him, and that forced his crew to leave him behind, sure he was already dead. Now he’s stranded millions of miles from the nearest human being, with no way to even signal Earth that he’s alive–and even if he could […]
OCD, The Martian, and Me
#145: The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar and Six More by Roald Dahl: 2 stars. #146: Anna and the French Kiss by Stephanie Perkins: 4 stars. #147-8: Lola and the Boy Next Door and Isla and the Happily Ever After by Stephanie Perkins: 1 star each. #149: OCD, the Dude, and Me by Lauren Roedy Vaughn: 1 star. #150: The Martian by Andy Weir: 5 stars.