Packing for Mars: The Curious Science of Life in the Void by Mary Roach

As much as I'm a fan of "Star Wars", "Ender's Game", and "The Little Prince", I've never really considered myself for space exploration. Then I dive into the light, whimsical tour of the journey to space as written by Mary Roach. Now, I would love to travel to space... but will first support higher taxes so NASA can figure out better ways to account for the input/output of the human body.

I highly recommend Packing for Mars. It will leave you with interesting tidbits and antecdotes you can share whether you're at the Air and Space Museum or in line for the bathroom at a party. What most impresses me with Mrs. Roach's work is the amount of legwork she put into this book. She interviewed, researched, and fact checked her way to a solid piece of digestible (and palpable) non-fiction. I tip my hat and say, "Thank you," for disproving the myth that the original space chimps were avidly "monkeying around" with their bits and pieces.