This last couple of weeks I’ve read some great and some not so great books. Here they are. [book-info] Now sci-fi isn’t my usual fare, especially where there is more emphasis on the science than the fiction, but The Martian has been getting so much buzz lately that I decided to check it out. Within a few minutes of listening I was hooked by Watney’s situation; abandoned on Mars, has to use his ingenuity to survive in an inhospitable environment until rescue can come. Written as it is in a first-person journalistic style this is a perfect book for the audiobook medium, and R.C. Bray did a wonderful job of bringing Mark to life. Mark is a very witty and engaging protagonist and it is very easy to root for him. Weir did a fantastic job of explaining the various challenges Mark encounters and his solutions in a way that was easily comprehensible to someone like me who is not science minded. The story of Mark’s plight and his attempts to secure his rescue was very appealing on a human level. I gave The Martian five stars out of five. [book-info number=1] I picked up Agatha Raisin and the Quiche…