93.
Author: Mary Roach
Title: Packing for Mars
Publication: Hardback
Pages: 321 pages
Genre: Nonfiction, science, travel writing
Acquisition: gift from hubster
Date Completed: December 13, 2010
Rating: 4.5 stars out of 5

In Packing for Mars, reporter Mary Roach sets out to do what she does best: combine the genres of travel writing and popular science to produce a text that both lightens and entertains without going over the heads of the general populous. Her latest text takes readers through the history and science that might, someday, lead mankind to set foot on Mars.

Despite the suggestion of the title, the subject of a manned spacecraft traveling to Mars is more of a flourish than a meaty part of her writing. I surmise that the reason for this could simply be that Roach is working with the subject matter she knows best - people - and no one has yet set foot on the distant planet.

Roach is no scientists, but she is a wonderfully intuitive reporter who doesn't shy away from any topic - even sh*t burgers. Her gift for narration is entertaining, and is more than enough for me to overlook my quibbles about the title of the book itself.

Packing for Mars would be a great read for fans of Roach, as well as those who may have been turned off by her selection of subject in the past (but really, who doesn't love reading about cadavers and corpses, sex, and the soul?).