November 28 is Red Planet Day. Mariner 4 was launched on this date in 1964. There are lots of books on this subject, fiction and non-fiction so I'm just going to mention a few today.

After several recommendations I finally read The Martian, by Andy Weir ... and I liked it! A huge dust storm and a freak accident strands one astronaut on Mars. He is, however, not dead. Now what? I was sucked into the action as he figured out how to communicate with NASA, figure out how to (maybe) grow food until a rescue mission might reach him ... all sorts of interesting 'challenges' occur ... And, in case you missed the ads, it's now a movie! :-)

May 2013 was when Curiosity reached Mars. What was it's mission? What did it find? How did it get it's name? Ron Miller (best known for his space paintings) explains all this in Curiosity's Mission on Mars: Exploring the Red Planet.

It's been a long time since I've donned a pair of 3-D glasses (yes, I have my very own pair!) but it was worth it to see the pictures in Mars 3-D: a Rover's-Eye View of the Red Planet by Jim Bell. There are nice descriptions with each picture.

The Martian Chronicles, by Ray Bradbury was one of my first science fiction books. What an introduction! The story that stuck with me the most is the one where a father promises to show his son some Martians ... and then does. (It's more impressive than it sounds here, trust me). ;-)

Find Mars and the Mind of Man on the November 25, 2014 post.

Reading Hermit With Dog