Now that school is back is session, the temperatures here in Florida are becoming bearable (during the evenings… sometimes), and Labor Day is Monday, I suppose the end of summer is here. This was a particularly enjoyable summer for me, as it was the first time in many years I didn’t have many academic obligations. As I looked back over what I’d read, I discovered a theme emerging: All Things Space. So here’s what I’ve read (so far) and some possible autumnal, astral reads.

The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Universe and The Restaurant at the End of the Universe – Douglas Adams

My summer of spacey reads started in May with The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy. I was just coming off of A Dance with Dragons, which I started… umm…. maybe the summer before? It was a long time reading/listening and I hit a huge reading slump during the clinical internship. I picked up Hitchhiker because the characters on The Big Bang Theory were fans of the story. It turned out to be the perfect next read: it was short, comical, and absolutely absurd. It had me laughing out loud every few pages! I loved how Arthur Dent’s perpetual flaggergastment prevents him from really losing it or freaking out, and the uncanny luck he and Ford Prefect had in being picked up as things on Earth went a bit squiffy. Adams’ description of how the Heart of Gold spaceship work challenged the reaches of my imagination as I tried to picture the Improbability Drive. And, of course, the answer to the Ultimate Question!

 

I didn’t realize until I started reading that this was actually a series of books, and it’s definitely on my list to read all five. I also read the second installment, The Restaurant at the End of the Universe. It had its equally silly and hilarious moments, but it wasn’t as fun to read as the first book. The story shifted away from Arthur and Ford and more to President Zaphod Beeblebrox to propel the story forward. I’m hoping the light and silly nature of this story continues with the next books.

The Planets – Dava Sobel

As New Horizons was approaching Pluto, I took to Twitter and asked for spacey recommendations. I took the advice of @VeronicaJHex and selected The Planets by Dava Sobel, even though is a bit outdated (it was published before Pluto’s demotion). I haven’t finished it yet, but what I’ve read I really enjoyed. The content is incredibly accessible for everyone, and her words emphasize the sheer enormity of space, making me thinking how apropos the word, “astronomical” really is. The passion with which she wrote really struck me, and I felt my own excitement build with each turn of the page.  For example,

Sometimes the stupefying view into deep space can send me burrowing like a small animal into the warm safety of Earth’s nest. But just as often I feel the Universe pull me by the heart, offering, in all its other Earths elsewhere, some larger community to belong to.

Reading this, I felt like tossing away my career in psychology and spending the rest of my days gazing at the wonder of the Universe and imagining all that could be beyond our solar system. And I haven’t even finished it yet!

 

Our Dried Voices – Greg Hickey

Although I didn’t choose it for its spacey-ness, one of my e-ARCs from Netgalley, Our Dried Voices, could definitely fit in with these other reads. You can read my review here; it kind of reminded me of the movie, Idiocracy, in a way, but I won’t go into too many details because

 

The Martian – Andy Weir

My favorite spacey read this summer, hands down, was The Martian. I absolutely adored the character of Mark Whatney and his log entries were fantastic and funny. I really enjoyed the levity he brought to such a dire situation. But actually what I think really sold me on this book (aside from a perfect opening line) was that I started by listening to it. The narrator, R.C. Bray, nailed that character.

I also found the story was very gripping. I felt a lot of feels; I was nervous during many of the risky experiments, and even got a little misty towards the end. I think it helped that the author used scientific language that was easy to understand, and that’s what kept me engaged. I like this book so much, it falls into the “I don’t know if I can even see the movie” category because I’m afraid Hollywood can’t compete with what the words left in my head.

Something got rattled loose this summer with all these spacey reads and historic moments because I’ve gone down the interstellar rabbit hole! Here’s some of what I anticipate reading before the end of 2015:

• Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, Books 3-5 – Douglas Adams
• The Pluto Files: The Rise and Fall of America’s Favorite Planet – Neil de Grasse Tyson
• How I Killed Pluto and Why It Had It Coming – Mike Brown
• Packing for Mars: The Curious Science of Life in the Void – Mary Roach

So, what about you, readers? Have you been inspired to read about space? Got any good recommendations???? OR has something set you on a different thematic rabbit hole?