I recently read (cough cough, Audible.com) The Martian for my first ever book club experience. Why a book club? I like to read, but rarely set deadlines to finish a book. That means it often takes me a few months to get through a short book.
How was my first book club meeting? Glad you asked! The entire event was Mars themed, complete with other-worldly cocktails, disco music, and potatoes. Lots of potatoes.
Since you can never have enough chocolate, I decided to concoct a ‘potato growing bed’ complete with Mars and earth soil, and budding potato plants. Chocolate pudding made a great base, and crushed peanut butter Oreos made a delectable multi-colored “soil”. Edible flowers (flower side down so as only to show the green stem) served as the potato buds—and there you have it. Martian soil with potato buds fit for human consumption.
Be warned though, if you make this dish, it might look too real and not so appetizing.
Oh, as for the book, I enjoyed it. The pseudo-science helped make the story extremely believable, and the tale was gripping until the last moments. Now the wait begins for the movie release on October 2nd!
So what did you think of The Martian? Were the facts distracting? Was there too much social commentary mixed into the narrative? Leave your thoughts in the comments below!