Astronaut Untethered

Bruce McCandless, Space Lecture event. November 2017.

Apologies for the lack of detail in this write up - the event was as excellent as usual, with an incredible guest, but it fell in the middle of an incredibly busy couple of weeks for me and already the details are hazy.

While my memory is shot to pieces the same cannot be said of McCandless as his hour long lecture was interesting - and like so many events lately covered all sorts of topics, including quidditch!

From my point of view I was a little sad that there wasn't more of McCandless's memories and personal history - this is the area that I am most interested in - but I quickly became enthralled with his detailed analyses of why we need to keep exploring and the pros and cons of manned missions v. robotic missions.  At a time when I'd just finished Scott Kelly's autobiography which definitely talked about the downsides of space travel this seemed very apposite!

More detailed write ups of this event can be found if you read back through @Space_Lectures tweets and also on Collect Space. The talk, and the chance to briefly meet McCandless were brilliant and the deficiencies here are all mine.  Perhaps I was just overcome by winning in the raffle this time and then getting a wonderful piece of art signed (as shown in the image!)

I can't wait for the next event in March!

October Reading Round Up

I didn't think that I'd read that much in October but when I counted up it was a respectable 20 books again.

There was a lot of non fiction in this mix, and a lot to do with farming in Norfolk during, and just after, World War One all ready for a project next year.

My three top reads for the month in no particular order are:

Endurance by Scott Kelly

No surprises that a space book features in a top read, and having met Scott Kelly last year I was looking forward to this book a lot. Kelly is wonderfully open about his experiences, good and bad, and also pretty indiscreet with some of his memories which made this a fun read. My only (slight) niggle with the book is that it opens with an account of the health issues Kelly experienced following his year in space but he doesn't really come back to this and I would like to have learned a little more about the long term effects, especially as he did touch in this at the talk last year.

On the Bright Side by Hendrik Groen

I was so excited when an email from Net Galley dropped into my inbox offering me the chance to read this second book from Hendrik Groen and although it isn't actually published until January 2018 I think it may well be one of my top books of 2017, just as the first book was last year. Hendrik is back and he's as grumpy as ever despite mellowing in other ways.  This book has real depth and a powerful emotional punch. I just hope I am as brave and bold when I am 84!

Ask an Astronaut by Tim Peake

Oops another astronaut biography in my top reads. I was sceptical about this book when I heard it being announced, it seemed a little but like Peake was milking his fame for a book that wouldn't be very personal at all. However he was very clever and instead of it just being a book full questions about space sent in via Twitter Peake has produced a simple autobiography of his astronaut career using the questions provided by the public as the starting off point. The book can be read by his young fans but has enough technical detail to make it a great addition to my space shelf.

Apologies for the lateness of this October post - computer problems delayed publication.

September Reading Round Up

Our trip to Yellowstone and the other American National Parks has a big effect on me - I don't think that I've ever fallen in love with a place so deeply before.  My day (and night) dreams seem to be full of mountains and wildlife and so has my September reading as I worked my way through numerous memoirs of Rangers who live and work in the National Parks.

Apart from these books I've had an interesting month - many of my books had a space theme and as I blogged earlier this week these were of mixed quality. Unsurprisingly the two books I was complaining about haven't made my best of the month...

Seven Days of Us by Francesca Hornack

This book isn't actually published until the 19th of October but thanks to Netgalley I got to read this early after hearing lots of good things. This is (sort of) a Christmas book - a family are forced into quarantine over Christmas as one of the family has just returned from Africa where she has been nursing in an Ebola style emergency.  Forced proximity with family is always stressful and this family all have secrets...
The book is a little cheesy and I did guess one of the twists but this didn't matter overall as it was just a really good book - it is also set in Norfolk and trying to guess the 'real' locations was an added level of fun to the read.

The Rise of the Rocket Girls - Nathalia Holt

After the success of Hidden Figures earlier in the year I was pleased to find another book about women working in the early days of the American space program. These women worked more with the unmanned programs and were based at JPL in Pasadena, CA.  It was great to hear more about the human computers and as I've been lucky enough to visit JPL this book really came alive for me.

A Galaxy of Her Own - Libby Jackson

Another book focusing on women in space, this is supposedly for children but wouldn't look out of place in any human spaceflight book collection. Jackson goes right back to the nineteenth century to look at women in history who have influenced the space program and features women from all over the world.  We get to 'meet' women from all walks of life - astronauts to computers to the people making the spacesuits. Each woman gets a page to herself and is illustrated by different up and coming artists.

The book isn't officially published until November but I got my copy at New Scientist Live and was lucky enough to get it signed by Jackson too.

A River Runs Through It - Norman Maclean

After reading so many books set in National Parks, Wyoming and Montana it was hard to pick just one as a book of the month.  Finally I settled on this one as it was just so different. On first glance it seems to be just about fly fishing but it was so much more - it is about families, nature, love and duty. I loved it! I wasn't quite so enamoured of the other short stories but this one really spoke to me.