Reading List

Currently reading Light This Candle by Neal Thompson, a (the only?) biography of Alan B Shepard, the first American into space and the fifth person walk on the Moon.

Look forward to your take on it when you're done. Moon Shot is one of my all-time favorite books.

I'll be posting a review of it to my blog soon. I'll bung the link here when it's done.

Review of Light This Candle, "The Life and Times of Alan Shepard, America's First Spaceman", by Neal Thompson finally posted to blog.

See here: http://spacebookspace.blogspot.com/2008/04/light-this-candle-neal-thompson.html

Currently Reading Return to the Moon by Harrison H. Schmitt. Will be putting a review up on the blog when I'm done. So far, it's... very dry. But Schmitt does put together a compelling argument.

Return to the Moon finished and reviewed - see here.

Currently reading Apollo EECOM by Sy Liebergot. Expect a review on the blog when I'm done.

I just finished Failure is Not a Option by Gene Kranz! I enjoyed it quite a bit!

Apollo EECOM by Sy Liebergot finished and reviewed on my blog.

Finished Journey to the Moon by Eldon C. Hall, about the development of the Apollo Guidance Computer. Not as interesting as I'd expected, and the edition I bought was apparently missing its appendices. Review to go up on the blog soon.

Review of Journey to the Moon posted on blog.

I'm currently reading We Have Capture by Tom Stafford. It's proving to be one of the better ones of those I've read so far. A review will go up on the blog when I've finished it.

Review of We Have Capture now on blog.

Review of Moon Shot now on my blog. Disappointed with this one - didn't think it was very good at all.

Some more reviews have gone up on the blog

- Rocketman, Nancy Conrad (review here)
- Spaceships, Robert Goehlich (review here)

I've also posted a short piece about Apollo 10, as it was the 40th anniversary of its launch yesterday - see here

Another review has gone up on the blog - How To Build Your Own Spaceship by Piers Bizony (see here)

Something a bit different this month - a fiction novel about the Space Race, The Pilgrim Project by Hank Searls - reviews is here.

Today I posted on my blog the first in a series of daily posts celebrating the 40th anniversary of Apollo 11. You can find it here.

Don't forget to check back each day...

The following reviews have been posted so far as part of my Apollo 40 celebration:

Apollo 11 Owners' Workshop Manual, Chris Riley & Phil Dolling - review here
Carrying the Fire, Michael Collins - review here
Return to Earth, Buzz Aldrin - review here
First Man: The Life of Neil A Armstrong, James R Hansen - review here

I'm surprised you don't have Andrew Chaikin's A Man on the Moon. That's supposed to be a good one.

Not got round to picking up that one yet... and I have plenty to read as it is. But it's certainly on the wants list.

Oh, and a review of First on the Moon went up yesterday - here.

Read Moon Shot by Alan Shepard. It was written a few years ago and is a really good read. Its the book that got me interested in space and NASA.

I wasn't too impressed with that one.

Um, looks like I've forgotten to keep this thread updated over the past couple of months. So...

A review of One Small Step, PB Kerr - a YA novel about a boy who goes to the Moon, set at the same as Apollo - see here.

A review of Winged Rocketry by James C Sparks - a 1960s about, well, about what the title says - see here.

And a piece of Apollo flash fiction by yours truly, 'The Old Man of the Sea of Dreams' - see here.

>23 stricklerracing: I believe I read that one too a few years back-very good!

Oops. Sorry. Keep on forgetting to keep this up to date.

First, I moved my Space Books blog recently after falling out with blogger.com. It's now on wordpress.com and can be found here.

Second, there has been a few more pieces posted since my last update above:

- a flash fiction piece about Apollo 20, titled The Old Man of the Sea of Dreams. Enjoy.

- a review of Reference Guide to the International Space Station, Gary Kitmacher - see here.

- a review of T.Minus: The Race to the Moon*, Jim Ottaviani, Zander Cannon & Kevin Cannon - see here.

(*more touchstone insanity - it won't find the book if you use its actual title, but it will if you mangle the title to TMinus...)

I should add that I'm currently reading Moon Lander, Thomas J Kelly. And I'll be posting up a review once I've finished it.

My review of Moon Lander now posted here.

Just posted a review of Apogee Books' Pocket Space Guide: Project Constellation - see here.

New review posted: Apollo Advanced Lunar Exploration Planning - see here.

Another review posted - Mission to Mars by Michael Collins. See here.

Neat Blog there Ian!

Thanks. Glad you like it.

Review of One Giant Leap: Apollo 11 Forty Years on now up on my Space Books blog here.

A new review is up on my Space Books blog. It's of A Vision of Future Space Transportation by Tim McElyea. See here.

I seem to be reading and reviewing books on space at a far higher rate than ever before. Here's a third one for March - Apollo - The Epic Journey to the Moon by David West Reynolds. Review is here.

Been almost a year since I posted here. Whoops. I have been posting reviews to the blog, although not as frequently as I'd like. Here's a list of the ones posted since the title mentioned above:

Space Stations - Base Camps to the Stars, Roger D Launius - review
"Magnificent Desolation" DVD - review
Lunar Module Orientation Guide - review
Spacesuits, Amanda Young - review
Reflections from Earth Orbit, Winston E Scott - reveiw

Two new reviews up on Space Books:

Voices from the Moon, Andrew Chaikin - see here
The Space Station, Kent Alexander. See here.

New review up on Space Books: Packing for Mars, Mary Roach - see here.

New review: Leap of Faith, Mercury astronaut Gordon Cooper's autobiography - see here.