I hope you had a chance to take last week's challenge. With all the news zipping at us from all directions these days, it was nice to be reminded that peeling it off the page is not just a viable option, but in many ways a better one. I had a chance to whittle down the stack of New Yorkers gathering dust on the nightstand. That's right, The New Yorker [2] isn't just a collection highbrow of cartoons [3]. It features some of the best long-form journalism going today by writers like Susan Orlean [4] and John McPhee [5] among many others.
Ok! Onto this week's challenge! We're moving from earthbound facts to the far reaches of space. We want you to read something out of this world. There are an almost infinite number of directions you can go with this one. How about some straight-ahead, blow-your-mind space travel science fiction, like Firebird [6] by Jack McDevitt [7], or Leviathans of Jupiter [8] by the prolific and always reliable Ben Bova [9]. Or you can go for some straight-head, blow-your-mind out-of-this-world nonfiction, like Everywhere and Everywhen: Adventures in Physics and Philosophy [10] by Nick Huggett [11]. Or you could go with a more nuts-and-bolts approach, like the Apollo Mission Reports [12]. Or you could reach back to the beginnings of U.S. space exploration and the people who made it happen with Tom Wolfe's [13] still stylish, The Right Stuff [14]. Whatever you choose, leave us a comment and let us know about it!
What about going the other direction? You could read about our intergalactic neighbors who may or may not be making all sorts of weird mischief in our little corner of the Milky Way. I recommend Annie Jacobsen's Area 51: An Uncensored History of America's Top Secret Military Base [15]. Or how about those spandex-wearing, never-aging visitors from the back of beyond who always (at least try to) save the day, like Superman [16], Green Lantern [17], and Silver Surfer [18], among many others.
And don't forget, wherever you choose to boldly go, let us know about it!
