Chestermere Public Library’s Novel Book Club met on June 19 to discuss An Astronaut’s Guide to Life on Earth by Chris Hadfield. For those who don’t know, Chris Hadfield is a Canadian who visited space 3 times, and was the Commander of the International Space Station for expedition 34/35 in 2013. This book is not so much the “guide to life on earth” as you would expect from the title; it’s more about how Chris Hadfield dreamed of being an astronaut from a young age and carefully positioned himself to achieve that dream. Not a small feat being that there was no Canadian space program at the time. All the details of astronaut training are fascinating. They train for years for their mission and practice every situation, no matter how unlikely it is to happen. They use the power of negative thinking and sweating the small stuff — in direct contrast to all the messages that tell us to think positive! Astronauts need to always look forward toward the next thing that will kill them, and have a plan to deal with it. This book is a quick and interesting read. You learn details of the US and Russian space programs in more depth than you typically hear on the news. As a bonus, you can then watch Chris Hadfield’s YouTube videos where he demonstrates things such as how to sleep in space, how to brush your teeth, how to be sick (there are barf bags on the space station!), gives a TED talk and more. And of course, his Space Oddity music video recorded onboard the space station is a must see!
The Novel Book Club is on hiatus for the summer. We will resume on September 18 at 7:00pm to discuss The Valley of Amazement by Amy Tan. This is a long book so you will want the extra time to read it. Are you interested in joining us? Pick up the book at the Library, and then come to the meeting. New members are always welcome.
