The Martian by Andrew Weir
Since having a kid, I usually can get in a solid 3 minutes of reading at bedtime before I pass in a puddle of my own drool, with my makeup and bra still on. Gone are the days where I'd start reading on a work night and look over at the clock at some point to realize it's 3am and if I go to sleep RIGHT NOW, I'll get a whole 4 hours in before my alarm goes off. And it was totally worth it. Now, while those days probably weren't excellent life choices... they are what makes me me. A book that I can't put down makes me feel alive. And The Martian had me traveling back to my pre-toddler-owning days. That is possibly the biggest compliment I can pay a book... I was willing to forego precious, precious sleep to find out what was going to happen next to Mark Watney.
I have so far recommended this book to three people and the only thing I'm upset about is that I didn't discover it's awesome-ness early enough to give it as a Christmas gift.
Synopsis:
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?