Best Books of 2014- The Winner, hands down

I read a lot of really good books this year, so I thought I'd do a series of year-end posts about them. I'm not ranking them after today, except in that I loved them all. I recommend them all equally, though often for different reasons. But one book stood out to me as the absolute best, so I'll start with it.

Even if you're not a science fiction fan (it used to be verboten to say Sci-Fi, but I don't know if that's still the case), you need to read this book. Yeah, it's set in space (Mars, to be exact), and yes, it's hard science (as in: the rules of science and physics are the rules of this story)(in other words: no magic or wizards), but more than that- it's an edge-of-the-seat thriller that is also warm and human, and laugh out loud funny.

I said, when I finished it, that this was going to make a kick-ass movie, and I am thrilled to know that it's already in production. I will make a point to drive the 100 mile round trip to see it in a theater.

Small small caveat- it opens with a profanity, and there are bad words here and there throughout. The bad words are entirely appropriate, and as long as their parents didn't mind, I would not hesitate to give this book to a YA reader.

I loved loved loved loved loved it.