Weekly Reads (LIstens): The Martian

I hard a lot of buzz this past fall surrounding debut author Andy Weir's book, The Martian. It immediately went on my to-read list. After seeing a library school classmate's review of it on goodreads, it got bumped up to the top of the list (her comments were that it was way more than she was expecting and super FUNNY!). I'm sold, thanks. I got a hold of the audiobook copy and didn't look back. I normally only listen to shorter audiobooks because I lose my attention space and get bored, but I loved this one. I found myself sitting in my car before going somewhere or hanging out there for a couple of extra minutes after I've arrived just to listen to a little more of the story. And my classmate is right. It is FUNNY. Like ridiculously so, and I wish that Mark Watney and I were besties.

My rating: 5 stars

Goodreads Summary:

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?