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zachnachazel's review against another edition
5.0
Such an amazing book that captivated me in so many ways. How a student who seems incapable of studying can find a way to excel beyond any thought possible, to lessons in sacrifice, obedience, perseverance, and humility. To the extremes of what it takes to become an astronaut.
kami5's review against another edition
3.0
Enjoyed the read - it was a fun encapsulation of the difficulties about living in space, down to the nitty gritty details that usually don't come out of interviews or articles. It was a fascinating window on how space is tough on astronauts and what it takes to make it through a year on the ISS. 3.5
apatrick's review against another edition
3.0
This is pretty interesting, but at the end, I really wished Kelly had talked more about his life after returning to Earth. Maybe he'll write a follow-up. I'm not that interested in his life before the year-in-space experiment, but I guess everyone wants to tell their story. I was surprised that being a twin didn't feature more heavily in his writing, but I suppose he probably wanted to preserve his brother's privacy. Too bad he didn't feel the same way about his ex-wife. She comes out looking pretty terrible, but he looks even worse for portraying her as pretty terrible.
Anyway, aside from all that, the space stuff is pretty cool. It's a great conversation starter -- would you ever go up in space and why or why not? I think I'm a little bit terrified of ever leaving the planet, even just to orbit it.
Fun fact: because NASA was Kelly's employer, they couldn't actually ask him to participate in a study with his twin brother on how that much time in space would affect his genes. Once he talked about the possibility at a press conference, though, it could proceed. For me, that's an interesting intersection of privacy laws and science.
Anyway, aside from all that, the space stuff is pretty cool. It's a great conversation starter -- would you ever go up in space and why or why not? I think I'm a little bit terrified of ever leaving the planet, even just to orbit it.
Fun fact: because NASA was Kelly's employer, they couldn't actually ask him to participate in a study with his twin brother on how that much time in space would affect his genes. Once he talked about the possibility at a press conference, though, it could proceed. For me, that's an interesting intersection of privacy laws and science.
fsuarez's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
emotional
informative
inspiring
medium-paced
4.0
Equal parts heartfelt and informative. It was fascinating reading about Scott’s journey to becoming an astronaut as well as having a first hand account of the many things we do not know about and do not see on the ground.
samialeigh's review against another edition
adventurous
informative
inspiring
lighthearted
reflective
slow-paced
4.0
jupiterheathen's review against another edition
4.0
Audio book this time! Dry performance, but doesn't take away from the content. I still felt inspired.
elysareadsitall's review against another edition
3.0
I expected to love this book because I love reading about space, and I found this one on a list of best books about space. However, I struggled getting through it and continued not finishing it. I ended up turning it up to 3x speed to get through it. Scott Kelly reads the audiobook, and he just didn't seem excited. The writing and his voice are both just straightforward, which was odd. The book isn't written sequentially, which I found confusing because it lessened the emotional impact of much of his story.