They were:
- Bringing Down the House: The Inside Story of Six MIT Students Who Took Vegas for Millions, 2003, by Ben Mezrich
- Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir
In Bringing Down the House, it supposed to be a non-fiction book, but I read that some of the stories are embellished a bit. In any case, it is probably more accurate than the movie that was based on the book several years later – whitewashed.
In Project Hail Mary, I’m sure it has been written about a ton, especially since the movie came out with the same title. I was interested to see how the movie differed from the book, and the movie was pretty close to the book. Of course, the book was able to delve in to a bit more detail. I was glad to read a biological explanation of how the body of Rocky worked. That was not explained very well in the movie.
There was one line that really struck me. Page 360. “The hardest part about working with aliens and saving humanity from extinction is constantly having to come up with names for stuff.” This has a biblical ring to it. Was that on purpose or accidental?
The book was a quick and interesting read, but I did find many of the characters flat and stereotypical. The Russian liked to drink vodka, the Asian astronaut talked in short curt sentences. When some of the scientists had sex, they talked about it roboticly. Ryland Grace would talk science all the time, and with the help of a computer, he somehow managed to communicate with the alien creature in a matter of days or weeks. (I find that very unlikely.) Andy Weir seems to think that middle school science teachers spout out numbers and facts on a daily basis, and they want their students to do the same thing. That is not the case. Overall, 3 of 5 stars.