More Space Stuff

Hi all. Here's my review of Chris Hadfield's An Astronaut's Guide to Life on Earth.

I think I enjoyed this book a little more than Mike Mullane's somewhat similar Riding Rockets. It's hard not to like Chris Hadfield. He's apparently the uber-Canadian: personable, humble, friendly, and competent. And he can play the guitar! His made-for-social media persona, along with his PR-savvy son, have changed the stodgy old NASA publicity machine for good (and, as far as I can see, for GOOD). His descriptions of the time he spent on the International Space Station and, even better, his trips to and from the Station on the Russian Soyuz spacecraft, are fascinating. My only quibble is that our narrator is a little too perfect. It's as if Reese Witherspoon's character in Legally Blonde decided to skip the law and try space travel instead. Hadfield is relentlessly cheerful and positive, though, and in this case I find it contagious. Five Stars! And hoorah for our neighbor from the North!