Book of the Week for April 20-April 26

The Martian

Why it’s interesting:

I did not see Interstellar, and I’m not even super in to sci-fi anything. But my husband and a really good friend are both science nerds (sorry guys). I started reading this book because it is this month’s Books & Bars book, and I thought Chris would like it. It gets really scientific and technical in a few spots, but the main character is so perfectly human that I couldn’t put it down. I had to know what happened to him.

The blurb:

Six days ago, astronaut Mark Watney became one of the first people to walk on Mars.

Now, he’s sure he’ll be the first person to die there.

After a dust storm nearly kills him and forces his crew to evacuate while thinking him dead, Mark finds himself stranded and completely alone with no way to even signal Earth that he’s alive—and even if he could get word out, his supplies would be gone long before a rescue could arrive.

Chances are, though, he won’t have time to starve to death. The damaged machinery, unforgiving environment, or plain-old “human error” are much more likely to kill him first.

But Mark isn’t ready to give up yet. Drawing on his ingenuity, his engineering skills—and a relentless, dogged refusal to quit—he steadfastly confronts one seemingly insurmountable obstacle after the next. Will his resourcefulness be enough to overcome the impossible odds against him?Did you like this book? What are you reading right now?