The Best Book I've Read This Summer

I spent just under four hours yesterday tweaking my syllabus and adding in some lessons and activities. And that's just for Unit 1 (there are three units), and I'm still not finished. Remember when I said I needed to do a little tweaking? Mmmmm. It's a good distraction from thinking about selling the house, though.

Ok, best book I've read in a long time, right here:

The Martian by Andy Weir

Have you seen the movie trailer yet? Can. Not. Wait. To. Go. See. It.

Set in modern times, main character Mark Watson is part of NASA's third trip to Mars. His team of 6 astronauts is scheduled to live on the planet for a few weeks and collect samples, run tests, all that fun stuff. A storm quickly moves in, though, six days after they've settled on the planet, that causes them to abort and in the process, he's pinned down by some huge pieces of flying debris. The crew thinks he's dead and they are forced to leave in a hurry.

But he's alive. And by the time NASA discovers this (because the storm wiped out all comm systems) it will take months to figure out how to rescue him. He doesn't have enough food to last for that long. Not by a long shot.

The story is a whirlwind of problems and unbelievable solutions, told from the "Martian's" perspective and then eventually from many other characters involved in his saga. The book is entertaining and crammed with space knowledge and also humor to lighten it up at times.

I highly recommend this as a book to read for the sheer pleasure of it and also because, as we know, Mars travel and colonization isn't very far into our future. We could be facing problems like these very soon and it's fascinating.

Go get it and start it today!