Publisher Gift via NetGalley | Gaia and Luna

I was contacted by the publisher and given a free digital ARC via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Rating ⭐⭐⭐

This is a super weird little book and I thoroughly enjoyed it. It is very hard to classify, as it is fantasy/fiction, science-y, history, basically everything. That makes it ll the more fun.

In an instant, the universe is created and we are given a running commentary of how existence evolved for eight celestial beings as they wander their paths around the Sun, some all alone and others with satellite companions.

Gaia undergoes the most serious of changes, as her younger sister Luna looks on. They discuss at length what these changes might mean for their futures, as something comes into being that Gaia calls Life. A species that is self-aware, and manages to continue evolving, making new discoveries at such a rapid pace that they can hardly keep up. There comes a point where Gaia is truly concerned for herself, and Luna is as well - though she knows she is helpless in the situation and can do nothing to aid her big sister.

I thought this was such a unique way to talk about the history of our solar system, giving the planets the chance to make their observations and discuss among themselves what it all means. We see the entire galaxy evolve, but the main focus is the sisters, Gaia and Luna.

Gaia is thrilled by the changes occurring and constantly shares new developments with Luna. Luna is (rightfully) a lot more cautious, and worries where some of these changes are heading (you and me both, Sister). Yet as humans continue to evolve, Gaia finally hops on board with the concern Luna has been voicing. When we reach the 1900s, and progress is happening so quickly that that sense of wonder has been replaced with pure dread, it is clear that perhaps humans aren't as cool as Gaia first thought (not wrong; we are, on the whole, pretty terrible to one another and our planet).

Recommended for those looking for a short, unique read about our world.

NetGalley ARC | Teacher in Space: Christa McAuliffe and the Challenger Legacy

I received a free digital ARC from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review

Rating ⭐⭐⭐⭐

I was only three years old when Challenger exploded, so I have no memories of my own in regards to this event. Yet it is one that has endlessly grabbed my attention when I learned about it years later. Even as an adult, I have never stopped learning about NASA, space travel, the discoveries made, and even the tragedies. Time and again we've risen up after falling, honoring those who gave their lives in the pursuit of knowledge by going even further.

Christa McAuliffe was killed along with the six crew members aboard Challenger on January 28th, 1986. She'd been one of 10,000 applicants vying for the spot, and finally was named the winner of the NASA Teacher in Space Project. She would be conducting experiments in space that would be shown in classrooms all across the US.

She would never get the chance, however, because a little over a minute after take-off massive explosions tore the Challenger apart in mid-air. The crew compartment remained intact and investigations have concluded that all seven were still alive when they hit the water - nearly three minutes after the initial explosions. There is no doubt for many who knew him that Michael J. Smith did his best to pilot the remainder of the craft  the entire way down in an attempt to save himself and his crew.

Though the book is new to me, it is a revised edition of the earlier text. I am not sure what information is new and what was written then, though I do know that it was updated in part to include the passing of McAuliffe's mother in 2018.

Christa's story is important, because it is truly a testament to a teacher's love for her students students across the country, and her chosen field. She embarked on a journey to broaden the horizons of many and though her dream was cut short, her legacy has made just such a thing possible.

Despite being such a short biography (around 100 pages), it is filled with so much detail and we really get to know McAuliffe, what drove her to apply, and why she was such a beloved teacher at Concord High School. She was incredibly dedicated and her passion for instilling knowledge into young minds was obvious.

Today there are about 40 schools all over the world named in honor of Christa McAuliffe, as well programs, fellowships, and more.

Einstein's Monsters: The Life and Times of Black Holes

Rating: 4 Stars

I enjoyed this book, even though I was completely and 100% in over my head. I can not adequately explain anything here without having to go back and look at the book for reference.

You might wonder why, then, am I bothering to write a review? I am doing so because there are people who love this subject like I do, and will understand it better than I do. I don't mean that it is written so academically that you will only understand it if you are an expert. I mean that having a solid science foundation, which I do not have, will aid you in connecting, understanding, and explaining the concepts. I love learning about space and our universe, so I am glad I read it; just don't ask me to explain anything.

The Step: One Woman's Journey to Finding Her Own Happiness and Success During the Apollo Space Program

Rating: 3 Stars

I won a copy of this book from the Goodreads First-Reads program.

This was a quick read and one I thought I would enjoy because I am obsessed with the Apollo program and I long for the days when people were excited about NASA and space missions, and the like. While in most other aspects of life I am glad I did not grow up in the 60s, what I would not give to have been alive for the launch of Apollo 11 and to have seen the grainy footage of Armstrong's first steps on the lunar surface. It seems that in this century, we take space travel for granted, like it something mundane and easy - even with the disintegration and total loss of life from the Space Shuttle Columbia tragedy in 2003.

Unfortunately this was not nearly what I had hoped for, and I almost feel bad in saying so, because this was one woman's personal experience, but there were somethings that she discussed that really bothered me. As a single mom myself, I was interested in that aspect of her life in terms of how she handled her career and parenting responsibilities in a time when divorce was nearly unheard of - but certainly on the rise. I was interested in the workings and operations in regards to her position first as a secretary with IBM and then as a PR writer with the program. I was less concerned with the mini skirts and make-up and affairs.

I first came to know about the Apollo missions mainly from one of my all-time favorite movies, Apollo 13. For reasons I can not fathom, this is not something that was covered in-depth in school. For the life of me I can not figure out why not. Space is cool, planets are cool, walking on the moon is cool - what's not to love. Even my three year old digs moon-gazing, something that was especially cool with the Super Moon a few days ago. But I digress. For whatever reason, while we were of course taught about Apollo 11, the rest of the program itself was not a priority. Such a bummer.

But back to the book...

In the end, I found I could relate to the author in some ways - working hard and putting in the hours to support our families, but in other ways her story was very alien to me because of our generational differences and societal expectations of the times. I know it was impossible to even think of leaving the house without hair and make-up done, wearing anything but skirts and blouses, so once again I am thankful I did not live in the 60s or earlier. I myself am more partial to sleep than make-up, and I haven't worn it in ages. Sorry I'm not sorry.

There is a particular scene in the book I struggle with, and it involves when the author was needing to get some photos of the astronauts in an area of one of the buildings where it was against the rules to wear skirts. This was a rule in the name of safety, as they thought that the men working on the catwalks might either get distracted by a woman in a mini-skirt and fall, or get distracted and drop the tools they were using which might in turn injure or kill someone working below them. I thought it was highly stupid of her to flaunt the rule in the name of getting some photographs, but also a highly stupid rule to begin with. If these dudes can't control themselves, why is it HER problem? Perhaps they shouldn't be cat-calling a-holes and concentrate on working on the flight craft instead of ogling any woman in the vicinity. Yet one more reason I am thankful to be alive now - not that guys do not do this garbage anymore, but it is certainly less acceptable by society's standards.

This book was not terrible by any means, and was one woman's view as she saw it and lived her life, working for IBM during one of the most exciting times in our nation's history. I simply was looking forward to more about the program itself. (Also, conversations abound in this text. If you have read any previous reviews, you know my stance on conversations and that I feel unless the conversation was recorded at the time, there is no possible way everything said can be remembered exactly. That was something that definitely bugged me about this one.) The book is both her personal and professional journey and I'd definitely like to know more about women connected to the space program at this time. I have discovered a few books relating to this topic that I am looking forward to reading those as well.

100 Documents That Changed the World: From the Magna Carta to WikiLeaks

Rating: 3.5 Stars

Review:

I really love books like this, the '50 Objects..." or "12 Maps..." that 'changed the world' type books. This book is no exception, as it covered several documents that truly did change the world, for better or worse. While I disagree somewhat with some of the items included ('War and Peace' and '1984' - I do not consider books to be documents per se), the majority really do help the book live up to its name. How can you go wrong when writing about Magna Carta, the Emancipation Proclamation, the Apollo 11 Flight Plan, and Anne Frank's diary in one volume?

Turns out, you can. Or, at least not 'go wrong', but you can be lacking in detail and description at times. I understand this is not meant to be exhaustive, seeing as how it is quite slim to begin with, so I will get my complaints out of the way before I delve further in to discuss some of the specific documents addressed that I felt were among the most important. There is only one actual page of textual information devoted to each document, though that page often included a small picture of those who signed, witnessed, wrote, etc. the document. The opposite page was usually a picture of the document itself. Additionally, for a good portion of the beginning, nearly all of the documents were from Western Europe. Not all, but a good majority. Surely there were other important documents that could have been included from around the world and not just those few.

Now, to the documents I found most fascinating - it is also kind of embarrassing to admit that I did not know some of the facts I learned from this text. In my defense perhaps we were not taught those aspects in school? So many of these documents today exist now in the National Archives and I wish desperately to see them - namely the Fort Sumter Telegram announcing they were surrendering, and the Emancipation Proclamation. These were two hugely important documents that exist as a testament to the resolve of our young country - we were willing to go to war with ourselves to achieve the ends we wanted. The telegram began the war and the proclamation set us on the road to ending it. As an aside, I never knew that the E.P. ONLY freed slaves who were living in the states that had succeeded from the Union - AND applied only to those held by the Confederacy. So, apparently it was a shrug and a 'sorry' to the slaves living in areas recaptured by the Union, or the nearly 500,000 living in those border states who had not succeeded.

I am curious about the exclusion of the Gettysburg Address as an important document and thought perhaps it was excluded due to the inclusion of the Emancipation Proclamation. But both Martin Luther's 95 Theses were included, followed directly by the Edict of Worms. Those documents were separated by only four years, but concerned the same topic, so not sure why Lincoln's famous speech was not considered important enough?

Fun Fact: Apparently our Founding Fathers were not terribly responsible. The original copy of the Constitution had vanished at some point after its signing and no one knew where it was until 1846! Also, it has only been on display since 1952; I didn't realize it was such a short amount of time when I visited in 8th grade on a class trip.

A little dirty laundry gets aired here in the form of which states ratified the 19th Amendment and when - you keep it classy Mississippi, not ratifying until 1984. I am not surprised that many southern states were among the last to ratify it.

The 15 year old girl in me who will forever love Titanic could not help but be wistfully glad to see the inclusion of Titanic telegrams included as important documents that changed the world. Movie references aside, it really was a wake-up call to these shipping companies that safety measures needed to change and improve to avoid another tragedy on such a scale.

There were several documents relating to World War I and II, which should come as no surprise. The Treaty of Versailles is always troubling to me, as it basically assured that there would be another war - how could there not be? Germany was forced to take all the responsible for the Great War, only for the fact that they were the last ones standing when the war came to an end. It should shock no one that the Nazis were able to rise and grab power so swiftly; the treaty was crushing and the reparations were impossible.

When I think of a document, I think of something of the non-fiction, factual variety. This is why I struggle with the inclusion of books - manuscripts - in this text. However, I feel that Anne Frank's diary certainly deserves its place. The importance of this diary can not be overstated and if you do not believe me, try standing in the Annex and imagining living in this cramped space with seven other people, the majority of whom you struggle regularly to even get along with. It is one of the most humbling experiences I have ever had in my life and could not imagine spending two years in that place. Anne's diary gave a voice to the millions who had theirs cruelly and violently taken away. I did NOT like, however, that Miep Gies was simply referred to as the 'family friend' who later saved Anne's diary after the family had been taken away. Even with the focus being on the document itself, surely Miep deserves much more credit than that.

There were so many documents that I found interesting, I could keep writing for a while. I will finish this up with reference to a certain CIA document, dated August 6th, 2001, that stated very clearly an attack on the US by bin Laden was imminent. Unfortunately, this memo was handed to one of the most incompetent presidents in the history of our country, while he was staying at his ranch in Texas. You know, one of his 406 vacation days taken in his presidency, or some absurd number that the GOP conveniently likes to forget whenever they complain about Obama playing a round of golf. As a follow-up, the Iraq War Resolution was included but I couldn't even bother to read such garbage.

So, overall, this really is 3.5 stars. There were so many documents that belonged here, but at times their importance almost felt diminished simply because often only the bare facts were included. It is by no means a be-all, end-all for any of these documents and while I can recommend reading this one, I would also suggest further reading on any of the documents that interest you.

Lost Moon: The Perilous Voyage of Apollo 13

Rating: 5 Stars

Read this one in one afternoon, could not put it down!

First and most importantly, I have always been a little obsessed with the story of Apollo 13. I recently read 'Failure is Not an Option' by Gene Kranz, who you might recall was on duty at Mission Control at the time that Apollo 13 experienced that first explosion that would bring three men in space dangerously close to death. Both books are fantastic and offer great insights into the same story, albeit with very different experiences. This one has been on my to-read list for quite a while, but something was always stopping me from reading it. I wanted to, so badly. However, Apollo 13 has long been one of my favorite movies from childhood and I was terribly afraid that if I were to read Jim Lovell's account of what actually happened, I'd be sorely disappointed to find out Tom Hanks lied to me and the story didn't go as depicted. But eventually my need to know all things Apollo 13-y, I decided to dive right in.

I was NOT disappointed. Not in the least.

Something I enjoyed that I didn't realize I would, is that we are not only given the play-by-play account from The Man himself, Jim Lovell, but were also taken back to his early days in the program - and even further back to see how his love of rockets began. It also looks at his time in college and then finally joining the space program and its early days. He then recounts for the reader the tragic event of Apollo 1 that could easily have derailed the entire program forever.

This is just as much a biography of Lovell as it is a biography of the doomed mission that will always be recognized by the now-famous line, "Houston, we have a problem." As an aside, I always hear the line in my head as "Houston, (dramatic pause) we have a problem" but time and again when I watch the movie I am reminded it is a line that rolls easily off Hanks' tongue as if it were just any other old piece of dialogue and when the alarms are going off, it is just a quick run-together of, "Houston we have a problem" with more of the emphasis on 'problem'. Also, as it is told in the book, the sentence Lovell ACTUALLY said was, "Houston, we've had a problem." Maybe this kind of stuff is only interesting to me, but I can see why the line was altered a little. The past tense doesn't make it sound nearly as dire or desperate. So, there's a little Hollywood meddling for you.

But anyway, as I was saying, I was very happy as I read to find that much of what actually occurred was to be found in the movie. Now naturally there was no way to account for and portray every character, and Mattingly (Gary Sinise) played a much bigger role in the movie it seemed than the book, but the movie really did a great job of telling the story without compromising for Hollywood. As I was reading, scenes from he movie would be playing in my head as I read something I was familiar with and it was nice to see that mirror image. As Swigert got the call to stir the tanks, I found myself shouting at him not to. Sadly, he could not hear me!

One thing that I always enjoyed from the movie was the scene where Tom Hanks finally gets annoyed with the NASA doctor and rips off his electrodes so he is no longer being monitored. This scene was totally anti-climactic in real life and was done with little fanfare, and not much freaking out by those in Houston. In real life, he removed the electrodes and it took a few minutes for Lovell to even be asked about it, to which he simply responded that he no longer had them on. That's that. 

Additionally, on the inside covers Lovell chose to include a diagram detailing the Aquarius and Odyssey and their components, as well as a step by step timeline  of events as they occurred. Appendix A goes into further detail about the Mission timeline, and the remaining two Appendices then detail NASA employees both involved in the Apollo 13 rescue, and all manned Apollo missions before and after.

I highly recommend this one, whether you have an interest in space or not. It is about so much more than that. It is about the struggle to survive against the odds, to trust those who are thousands of miles away, but might as well be millions, to do their job and bring you home. It is told in such a way that the reader does not feel they have to be a rocket man to understand what is going on. Even at its most technical, I was not overwhelmed by the vast amounts of technology and jargon - and a lot of lines said in the movie now make a lot more sense - gimbal lock, anyone?

P.S. If you don't love Tom Hanks, you might be a terrorist.

Failure is Not an Option: Mission Control From Mercury to Apollo 13 and Beyond

Rating: 5 Stars

Review:

I really enjoyed this book, despite me not being as interested in the technical side of things as in the human aspect. I was most interested in reading about the Apollo project, mostly 11 and 13 of course. Apollo 13 is one of my favorite movies and I wanted to know the real story beyond the Hollywood dramatization. I did find Mercury and Gemini interesting, the more I read about them, but was most eager of course for Apollo. Kranz tells his story well, and I also was interested in his own life and upbringing, which he recounts for us as well. I was concerned there would be too much focus on the technical aspects of the space program, but was pleasantly surprised to find that this was not the case. Kranz tells his stories with the right mix of human and technical elements. Highly recommended, I can only hope that Kranz's suggestions will not fall on deaf ears forever and that our once-great space program can be revived and grow to what it was.