The Martian by Andy Weir

A lone astronaut must figure out how to survive on Mars. This book has been made into a blockbuster movie which received rave reviews. It is a groping read but only if you are interested in the science and engineering aspects of the problem. Character development is non existent and the plot consists of "we are in a hole how can we use science to fix it" followed by "something else has gone wrong how can we use science to fix that". I haven't seen the film yet but it will be interesting to see how they flesh out the characters and drama for the big screen. One thing that bugs me more than it should is that there are a few obvious errors in the science that are obvious even from a high school knowledge of physics and chemistry (I spotted several related to atmospheric concentrations but there are plenty more).   Nevertheless it is an enjoyable read.