2025 Reading Challenge discussion

This thread is to discuss The Martian by Andy Weir the first book of the The Martian series.

Pages: 384 pages

Length: 1 Month (May)

Participants: Nicolas, Eirelyn, Asia .

Everyone reads at their own pace during a Buddy Read. Because participants can be at different parts of the book at different times, it is extremely important to mark spoilers so that the book is not ruined for someone who is not as far along as others!!!

Mark spoilers by placing {spoiler} before the text and {/spoiler} after the text but use the < and > instead of the { and }.

Thanks for the thread, SarahKat. :D

I've been wanting to read this one for a few years now, so I'm glad to finally be getting to it. :D

I listened to this on audio in March (it was one of Audible's editors extras last year so free, and it has officially become one of my all time favourite reads... EVER.

A five star read (a 6 if I could give it 🤣) and it's rare that I say I want to reread something but this is officially on my list (the only other ones are Harry Potter).

Enjoy!!

Wow, Ashleigh, what high praise! :D That makes me even more excited to get into this one!

I read this when it was quite new and loved it. Later I saw the movie, long enough after it that I forgot just enough to enjoy that as well.

I rounded this up to 5 stars and the ONLY reason it was rounded up was for one minor thing, and I give very few 5 stars.

I don't know if I have enough time this month to reread it, but will definitely try to join the conversation.

My review gives NO spoilers. I read it when I was on Shelfari, so this was moved here in 2016.

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

I am about 30% of the way through this one, and I'm really enjoying it so far! :D

I thought it would have more of a (view spoiler)[heavy, dramatic feel to it, but while the subject matter is pretty dire for Mark, his personality makes it feel more lighthearted, funny, & entertaining.

When the people back at NASA found out about him still being alive, and the one said, so seriously, something like, "I wonder what Mark's thinking right now," and then it switched to Mark's journal entry, asking some silly question about Aquaman, I laughed out loud. XD (hide spoiler)]

It's been an intriguing read so far, and I look forward to finding out what happens!

I'm through chapter 15.

Mark just (view spoiler)[lost his potato crops when the HAB blew away! :( NASA tried to launch some food to him, but without all the safety tests beforehand, it didn't go well. That was the last I read. Mark just asked how the launch went. :'( I'm getting really worried for him now, and I hope they can find a way to help him survive! This is the most invested I've felt in a character's well-being in a long time! (hide spoiler)]

Eirelyn wrote: "I am about 30% of the way through this one, and I'm really enjoying it so far! :D

I thought it would have more of a heavy, dramatic feel to it, but while the subject matter is pretty dire for Mark..."

There is some excellent humour in this book, that's for sure :)

I finished this a couple nights ago, and I just have to say that I am (view spoiler)[SO RELIEVED(!!!) that Mark survived!!!

Omg, I wasn't sure it was going to end up that way. I was so scared for him, lol. I was so immersed in his world; I felt like I was right there on Mars with Mark. And I was more invested in his well-being than pretty much any character I've read. I think a big part of that was the fact that *every single thing* that happened was basically a matter of life and death. That is not true for most books, so that made this one especially nerve-wracking, knowing that, at any moment, with anything that went wrong, he could die!

But really none of that would have mattered if Mark hadn't been likable. And he so was. He had such a great sense of humor and mindset for dealing with everything he went through. I absolutely loved reading about him.

I haven't watched the movie yet, but I'm looking forward to seeing how Matt Damon portrays him. He's a great actor of course, but Mark's personality & demeanor...I've never really seen Matt Damon portray this kind of personality before (I basically envisioned Dylan O'Brien as Mark for the entire novel because that's who his personality reminded me of), so I'm interested to see how that goes.

I can't say enough about how much I enjoyed this novel, to be honest. It is one of the best I've read, and I'm pretty sure I'll end up giving it a perfect 5 star rating...which is rare for me. But I can say that it was, without a doubt, the best book I've read this year! (hide spoiler)]

I just watched the movie for the first time, and I was pleasantly surprised! Both by how accurately Matt Damon portrayed Mark Watney and by how closely the movie followed the book. There were a few things left out, especially towards the end, but even in a 2 1/2 hour movie, they can only put in so much, so that's okay. The movie still had all the great character development that the book had, and I really enjoyed it!

Eirelyn wrote: "I just watched the movie for the first time, and I was pleasantly surprised! Both by how accurately Matt Damon portrayed Mark Watney and by how closely the movie followed the book. There were a few..."

The film was good, I agree. However, I'm still glad I had a gap between reading the book and seeing the film.

Eirelyn wrote: "I finished this a couple nights ago, and I just have to say that I am

I read this back in March but this is our I felt about it too. I felt as if I was right on Mars with him. I don't think I have ever felt like that about a book before. I was so immersed. I also gave it a 5 star rating for I couldn't really find anything wrong with it. It was... Perfect 😅

Okay I just had to physically remove the spoilers because Goodreads didn't when I quoted you 😅

Karin, that makes sense, having a gap between reading & watching. For me, I was just so into the book & didn't want it to end...so when it did, I just wanted more! lol. I was glad I had the movie to watch then. XD

Ashleigh, that's exactly what it was for me too -- feeling so immersed! There have been very few books where I have felt completely immersed in it, but this was certainly one of them. I have been thinking about this book ever since I finished reading it. :D