The Martian by Andy Weir

  I was late coming to the party.  So many people were reading this book and saying truly great things about it. I usually try to avoid the books that "everybody reads" but....  Finally, it was offereed at  sale price for Kindle so I said, "What the heck?"  

Obviously, this is the story of astronaut Mark Watney who is accidentially left by his crewmates stranded on Mars.   I like to think of this book as the modern day Robinson Crusoe, except that ,of course, Robinson had his Friday but Watney has literally no one.   Part of the writing was a little dry.... he goes on for an awfully long time about planting potatoes in his own shit but it's understandable.  Feeding yourself is a rather large problem when you are on a different planet.

I found the writing enjoyable - at times even laugh out loud funny.  My husband is an engineer so there were moments where I could really relate to Watney.  I thought the book read like a screenplay.  I thought it was very plausible right up until the end where there were parts where suspending my disbelief became a little difficult.  All in all an enjoyable read.   Not my usual cup of tea but good.