Looking for a great book for my friend.

Hi guys,
I don't really read a lot of novels, so I am pretty much clueless what I could get for my friend for her birthday. I'm looking for a book that inspires to do some star gazing. She absolutely loves to read. She reads mostly fiction. Sartre, Dostoyevksy, Gabriel Garcia Marquez, some poetry and some modern teen writers. She is a really big dreamer. She absolutely loves thinking about and looking at the stars. If I could I would buy her a fascinating book that somehow has a connection to the stars but I don't think science fiction would be the right fit. Do you have any recommendations or ideas?

The book that immediately springs to mind is Stardust by Neil Gaiman.

I would recommend Contact, by Carl Sagen. For an astrophysicist Sagan wrote a pretty good novel in my opinion. Your friend may be familiar with the movie by the same name but the book was different enough to make it worth her while to read - there are a few surprises not contained in the movie.

My work in part is in support of space science and long ago, before I worked there, Sagan visited our facility. From everything I've heard from those who had met him he was certainly passionate about every facet of space exploration. That, coupled with his scientific acumen provide a storytelling ability which is both entertaining and informative on several levels.

The Truth About Diamonds, Nicole Ritchie.

Oh, you mean not that kind of 'star'? Well.

Maybe non-fiction? Packing for Mars by Mary Roach talks about advancement in space exploration that moves us towards a landing in Mars. Plenty of interesting tidbits, and one of my favourite parts is NASA's study on the logistics of making the prolonged space travel self-sustaining, including how to recycle human waste into food, and how tricky it is to manage human waste in the first place.

Contact is a good suggestion.

If she likes stars, does she like aliens? If so, look up El Chupacabra:a novella. Don't worry it's not in Spanish. But it does have aliens.


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