The Martian

The Martian is an amazingly captivating novel. I was a little nervous about reading this book because it is so heavily worded with math and science and I was weary about feeling like I was reading a textbook. But author Andy Weir brings main character Mark Watney to life so quickly that I couldn't help but want to read the entire book in one sitting. I love the voice of Watney, he is hilarious. Reading his journals, he just sounds like a normal guy. I liked that he was so relatable in that sense. Even just a few pages in I was completely hooked and was rooting for Watney to make it off Mars alive. 

In a talk that Weir gave at Google in August 2015, he mentions that he did all the research himself and had no contact with NASA until after the book was published which makes the amount of detail and accuracy of his work all the more astounding.  

What's really great about this book is the way Weir makes you feel like you're really there with Watney. You can feel how isolated he is that made it all the more compelling. I was in awe of how Watney was able to survive. Sure, he's a professional astronaut for NASA, but I couldn't get over what a riveting tale of survival this was. The isolation and lack of communication are normal for any tale of survival. But once communication was made, it was the idea that he may still not be able to survive that kept me glued to this book until the end. 

This was one of the first books I chose to get me out of my rut of reading only murder mystery novels and I couldn't have picked a better one. I can't recommend this book more highly to anyone looking for a great read, regardless of genre.