Cadets: don't know what to do with your summer vacation?

[DC]

How about "Riding Rockets" by Mike Mullane?  A *totally* different look at the space program!

For the space program, or at least Project Mercury, you cannot pass up The Right Stuff by Tom Wolfe.

[proveritas]

I also happen to like Tom Clancy's Ryanverse novels. Some of the later ones aren't terribly great, but just about anything he wrote in the 80's and early 90's is pretty good. My favorite is a tie between Red Storm Rising (which is not Ryanverse, incidentally) and The Sum of All Fears. The movie adaptations of all the books suck too, the books are much better!

The Andromeda Strain by Michael Chricton
Jurrasic Park and The Lost World by Michael Chricton
Sphere by Michael Chricton

:clap: A bookworm after mine own heart! I loved Timeline by Critchton also. (I'm *especially* partial to Red Storm Rising though, 'cause I stayed in the immediate vicinity of NASKEF a couple of years ago. Interesting place. The theater stinks though.)

Another book you all may really enjoy if you're into history is John Adams by McCullough. HBO just made it into a miniseries, which we just started, and I can't wait to get into the book. 

Second that on Lies My Teacher Told Me -- you will NEVER look at history the same way again! Along the same lines, 1491 is another great expose on all the pre-Columbus pablum you get pushed on you in history class. Your history teacher will hate you.

[dwb]

To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee.

That was probably my favorite book I was forced to read in high school.

In college, it was probably Native Son, by Richard A. Wright.  That was a great book.

[DC]

How about "Riding Rockets" by Mike Mullane?  A *totally* different look at the space program!

For the space program, or at least Project Mercury, you cannot pass up The Right Stuff by Tom Wolfe.

I also recently read Scott Carpenter's autobiography, For Spacious Skies. It was pretty good, decently written and interesting. His flight (Aurora 7, fourth manned Mercury flight) is frequently criticized, it was neat to see his prospective.