With limited internet capabilities, I brought along quite the stack* of books to entertain me while I’m living inside the HI-SEAS habitat. Outside of my Martian duties, my PhD responsibilities and time spent exercising I spend my spare time reading books, playing video games and watching shows and movies.
The books that I’ve chosen are a good mix of my interests and do not, by any means, represent a complete list of books that I’ve read (you can find a more comprehensive list over on goodreads). I don’t intend to read all these books, but as of today I’m setting a goal to read one book per week, so really we are only talking about 10 more books, in addition to the 4 I’ve read and the 4 I’m finishing. I’m happy to take recommendations, but as far as the HI-SEAS mission is concerned, this list is pretty much written in stone.
*The Kindle Paperwhite that I’m using measures a hair over 10 mm in thickness.
Books in Progress
The Book On The Taboo Against Knowing Who You Are – Alan Watts
Mindfulness in Plain English – Henepola Gunaratana
Red Mars – Kim Stanley Robinson
Outliers – Malcolm Gladwell
Books to Read
Starship Troopers – Robert A. Heinlein
Personal MBA – Josh Kaufman
The Jasons – Ann Finkbeiner
Tao Te Ching – Lao Tzu
The Moon is a Harsh Mistress – Robert A. Heinlein
The New Alchemy – Alan Watts
The Fault in Our Stars – John Greene
Fleet of Worlds – Larry Niven
Uncertainty – Jonathan Fields
Pushing Ice – Alastair Reynolds
Redshirts – John Scalzi
The Innovator’s Dilemma – Clayton M. Christensen
Blue Mars – Kim Stanley Robinson
Pragmatism – William James
Autobiography of a Yogi – Paramhansa Yoganada
Cutting Through Spiritual Materialism – Chögyam Trungpa
The Innovator’s Solution – Clayton M. Christensen
Man’s Search for Meaning – Viktor E. Frankl
The Startup Owner’s Manual – Steve Blank and Bob Dorf
Zen Mind, Beginner’s Mind – Shunryū Suzuki
The Lean Startup – Eric Ries
Tunnel in the Sky – Robert A. Heinlein
Time Enough for Love – Robert A. Heinlein
The Puppet Masters – Robert A. Heinlein
Friday – Robert A. Heinlein
Green Mars – Kim Stanley Robinson
Tao of Pooh – Benjamin Hoff
Te of Piglet – Benjamin Hoff
Books Read
An Astronaut’s Guide to Life on Earth – Chris Hadfield (4/5)
The Martian – Andy Weir (5/5)
The Joyous Cosmology – Alan Watts (3/5)
Spin – Robert Charles Wilson (5/5)