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becksusername's review against another edition
funny
informative
medium-paced
4.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Misogyny, Sexual harassment, Animal death, Excrement, and Sexism
Minor: Alcohol, Grief, Medical content, Mental illness, Sexual content, and Body shaming
keeganrb's review against another edition
informative
fast-paced
3.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Vomit, Excrement, and Misogyny
Moderate: Sexual content and Animal death
starlightsong's review against another edition
funny
informative
lighthearted
medium-paced
3.5
This book makes me sad. Why? Because I'm completely uninterested in the subject matter of anything else Mary Roach has ever written, but I really enjoy her writing style here. I love astronomy, but reading nonfiction intimidates me, partially because I'm afraid I'll just forget everything that I read, but also because I find a lot of what I've tried reading to be difficult to get through. With this book I don't have the latter problem... well, mostly! I'm easily grossed out, so sections on things like vomiting during a spacewalk, chimpanzee masturbation, body odor, and bowel movements were a bit more skimmed through than read. And honestly, there was a lot more discussion about poop or sex than I expected or wanted, which is mainly what's keeping me from truly loving this book. But the majority of it was an awesome look at all the planning and research that goes into getting people into space and keeping them up there, and what it takes to be an astronaut. I loved learning about things like the tests that potential astronauts have to undergo, the effects of isolation in space, the effects of gravity and weightlessness on the body, the animals that have been sent into space, the crash tests that were performed, and the challenges of getting a flag on the moon. On these sorts of things, I took as many notes as I could. I just wish more time was spent on more serious topics, especially since I was unfamiliar with Mary Roach before this and honestly got zero indication from the blurb that there would be so much space poop talk. That is, however, not a fault of her writing style, which as I've said, I enjoyed a lot more than I expected to! She blends serious scientific discussions with humor in a way that I find really approachable and fun to read.
3.5 stars.
3.5 stars.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Vomit
Moderate: Sexual assault, Misogyny, and Medical content
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