The Martian

The Martian by Andy Weir, 369 pages.
I read this back in 2014 (but didn't blog about it) after Christa had recommended it (I think, it was long ago). I read it again this year after my sons and I watched the movie and after my younger son started reading the book.
Mark Watney, a botanist and mechanical engineer on a mission to Mars, ends up stranded on the red planet when the rest of the crew leaves him behind, believing him already dead, as they are forced to abort their mission.
Watney is a great character and it's great fun to read his mission logs as he attempts to figure out: 1. how to let people on earth know he's still alive, 2. how long it will take for someone to come and get him, and 3. how he can possibly survive that long without starving, dying of thirst, or running out of heat, oxygen, or some other item essential for life. Mark figures out the possible solutions, does the math, and gets a plan in place. He then deals with the unexpected circumstances that derail his carefully thought-out plan and tries to figure out how to survive the new, even more dire situation.
A great read.