16 Books to Read About Space If You Can’t Stop Thinking About Artemis II

If you were inspired by astronaut Christina Koch, pick up Through the Glass Ceiling to the Stars, the story of Eileen Collins, who was the first American woman to command the first shuttle mission after the Columbia disaster.

The incredibly inspiring true story of four Black women who helped NASA launch men into space. Mathematicians Katherine Johnson, Dorothy Vaughan, Mary Jackson, and Christine Darden battled both racial and gender discrimination, all while proving their knowledge was needed to get astronauts into space. Continue to be inspired by watching the film adaptation, too!

In this moving memoir, astronaut Chris Hadfield shares the intense lessons he learned while becoming an astronaut and the experiences he encountered commanding the International Space Station (ISS). One reviewer stated, “It’s full of wisdom and humility on every page.”

Women like Sally Ride, Judy Resnik, Anna Fisher, Kathy Sullivan, Shannon Lucid, and Rhea Seddon have paved the way for women in NASA. The Six tells the courageous stories of these six women and their journeys to prove that women belong in space, too.

American Astronaut Eugene Cernan was the last man to set foot on the moon during the Apollo 17 space mission in 1972. This harrowing story shares the fear, love, and sacrifice Cernan endured to get to the moon.

When Joan comes across an advertisement seeking the first women scientists to join NASA’s space shuttle program, she burns to be one of the few people to go to space. Soon, she begins training at Houston’s Johnson Space Center. But as the new astronauts prepare for their first flights, Joan finds a love she never imagined.

When NASA offers Bee a chance to lead a dream project, years of scraping by in academia finally seem to be paying off. That is, until she arrives at NASA and finds out her co-lead is Levi Ward, who may be annoyingly tall and attractive but also made it abundantly clear he loathed her in grad school. Now, the pair must learn to tolerate one another for the sake of science.

Sending emails and video diaries to a discontinued NASA email address is harmless, right? After all, the messages are bouncing back to Hallie Goodman’s email, anyway. But when NASA astronaut Christopher Ortiz opens up messages that have been forwarded by NASA’s IT department, a cosmic kind of love seems to form between these two star-crossed lovers.

What possibly could go wrong (or right) when rivals Rebecca and James are selected for an analog Mars mission in Antarctica? It turns out that avoiding someone you hate isn’t easy when you’re forced to spend months locked up together—pretending you’re on a different planet. Add this enemies-to-lovers trope to your TBR list.

When event planner Amerie Price accidentally spills her Americano all over Vincent Rogers, she finds not only is he hot—but that he’s a hot astronaut, too. Luckily for Amerie, who’s jobless, single, and about to be ousted from her apartment, she and Vincent work up a deal: He’ll give her a rent-free room if she pretends to be his doting partner to appease his family.

For smuggler Jasmine Bashara, the last thing she expected was to accidentally get tangled in a conspiracy to take over the city of Artemis—the first lunar colony. If you’re up for a fast-paced sci-fi adventure, read what life looks like on the moon in Andy Weir’s Artemis.

If you love stories that literally keep you on the edge of your seat, lock in and join in on all the hype for this sci-fi thriller. In Project Hail Mary, a “last-chance” quest is all astronaut Ryland Grace has as the only living survivor of a mission to save Earth and the human race. After you’ve finished this can’t-put-down read, head to the theater and watch Project Hail Mary, starring Hollywood heartthrob, Ryan Gosling.

The future of humanity lies in the hands of astronaut Sally Jansen when a large alien object is headed straight for Earth. What is it, and can Sally save humanity?

Dive deep into the Children of Time series by Adrian Tchaikovsky. The human race escaped a dying Earth in search of a new place to call home. But when they find a terraformed planet perfect to sustain human life, they find that this new world is already inhabited. So, who does this new world really belong to?

Astronaut Mark Watney is left stranded on Mars. Using his knowledge and skills, he must survive with the hope that he can be saved. Once you’re done, watch the award-winning movie adaptation, starring Matt Damon.

In a remote outpost in the Arctic, scientists are forced to evacuate their post after rumors of a global war. However, astronomer Augustine refuses to leave his post. In this post-apocalyptic-dystopian world, Augustine is on a race to warn the astronauts of the Aether of the current condition of Earth, but the radio waves have gone silent. And Augustine isn’t alone. A mysterious child named Iris shows up, and it’s up to them to make contact with the astronauts at the end of the world. Watch the movie titled The Midnight Sky on Netflix.