1. A Man on the Moon - Andrew Chaikin 2. Failure is Not an Option - Gene Kranz 3. Lost Moon - Jim Lovell 4. Red Moon Rising - Matthew Brzezinski 5. Rocket Men - Craig Nelson

I met astronaut Mike Mullane (STS-41D, STS-27, STS-36) down at KSC back in 2006 while attempting to see a shuttle launch (scrubbed due to lightning strike). He was selling his book, "Riding Rockets". It was a good, fun read. It's always interesting to get insight from different people and how they react to situations and spaceflight in general.

God I wish the mass public has just 1% of your interest and and curiosity in space and our space programs. You just exude your excitement for the subject in every video! I've been a space junky since I was a kid, watching man walk on the moon, saw a Saturn V actually ON the launch pad (albeit not the launch itself), saw and followed most shuttle launch, stayed up all hours listening and watching NASA streams of the rover landings on Mars, shouted with excitement when the firs exoplanet was discovered in 92', and so much more! Just two weeks ago, I spent 7 hours listening to the Apollo 13 command center broadcasts......heck I even remember watching Apollo 13 come back to earth after an extremely long radio silence during reentry. Thank you......love your excitement and your video's. NASA history (as well as Russian) should not be lost to time. Thanks for bringing it forward for all to see!

"Deke! US Manned Space from Mercury to the Space Shuttle" is everything you ever wanted to know about the space program but was afraid to ask! I can see you read that book cause it's sitting on the shelf behind you.

Chris Hadfields, An Astronaut's Guide to Life on Earth is one of my top rated books. A nice insight to what it is like to be an astronaut. Needless to say that Chris is awesome.

"Carrying the Fire" by Michael Collins is a really good book.

'Failure is not an option' by Gene Kranz and 'Apollo, EECOM' by Sy Liebergot are my personal favorites since they cover my favorite program from the inside of mission control (great perspective!) and especially the Apollo 13 mission, which imho is such an amazing story that only history could write it.

One of my favorite space program reads is Angle of Attack - Harrison Storms and the Race to the Moon. It blew my mind.

Although I had been interested in the space program since I was a kid in the 1960s, and I had the awesome opportunity to be at the launch of Apollo 11, the first book I read about the program was Buzz Aldrin's "Men From Earth". Another favorite of mine, which is mentioned by other commenters is Mike Mullane's "Riding Rockets".

A few of my favorite space books: A Man On the Moon by Andrew Chaiken...Lost Moon by James Lovell...Flight by Chris Kraft and one of my absolute favorites...Failure Is Not An Option by Eugene Kranz.

"Failure is Not an Option", just finished it, was a great read. Gene Kranz is one of my heroes from that era.

I like Lovell’s book. I found it especially interesting how Jim writes about himself in the third person.

Hi Amy,Your friendly National Air and Space Museum Docent here.When visitors want to know more these are my 5 books (like you, no order) I suggest:1. Lost Moon: Jim Lovell's book about Apollo 13, basis for the Tom Hanks's Apollo 13.2. Carrying the Fire: Michael Collins story of a making of an astronaut. He autographed my copy over 30 years ago! 3. To the Edge of Space: Milt Thompson's (one of the 12 pilots of the aircraft).4. A Man on the Moon:Andrew Chaiken book on the Astronauts, their wives and support folks that made Apollo GO!5. Moon Lander: Tom Kelly, whom was the Project Manager at the Grumman Iron Works for the LM.BONUS:6. To A Rocky Moon: Don Wilhelms, covers the geology and the tools of the Apollo Crews that brought back the samples. I visitor that worked at the LUNAR RECEIVING LABORTORY I met one day at the Museum recommendation. Onward and Upward, Amy. . .always!

I have to give a thumbs up to "Moon Shot" by Shepard and Slayton as well, plus "Lost Moon" by James Lovell and Jeffrey Kruger; this last one has been repackaged as the book version of the movie "Apollo 13". One I found in my high school library (in the 70's), and am planning to get a copy of to have, was a book originally called "Rockets and Space Flight", but I think it's been renamed "Frontiers Of Space". It's by Philip Bono and Kenneth Gatland. Bono was an engineer with Douglas Aircraft Company, which became McDonnell Douglas in the 60's, and was one of the first to seriously explore (and design) single stage to orbit (SSTO) rocket systems.

"Deake!" is my favourite book on the early space programme due in no small part to the bits written by his friends, families, and coworkers.

Carrying the Fire - Michael Collins

The Martian is an absolute definite for any Space collection

The one book that I keep in my library is "We Reach The Moon". It was published like the day after the Apollo 11 landing. I remember running out to the store and like using my last money (where ever I was getting money at the time, not sure) and buying this book. Between staying up all night reading this book and staying up all night to watch news about Apollo 11 (I was living in Germany at the time) is why I was so emotional about the death of Bonnie the space monkey. OH MAN did was I upset. Anyway. That's the book I keep on my shelf as a near and dear.

Congrats on your book! Enjoy your videos, brings back memories!

My scifi space book is 'Martian Chronicles' by Ray Bradbury. Old, unrealistic but the gossamer stuff space dreams are woven of. ;-)

Just got The Sirens Of Titan from my library on Tuesday and finished it last night, it's been years since I was sucked into a book that hard. Fantastic, thank you so much for the recommendation!

Anything by Carl Sagan is on my list but Cosmos is the most important. That book and the TV series are what really got me into astronomy and space exploration (also the first Star Trek movie that came out the previous December). I have some other space books on my shelf to read, hopefully someday. The periodicals Astronomy and Sky & Telescope too.

I've read 'Apollo' by Charles Murray and Catherine Bly Cox about a dozen times. It's account of how Apollo was conceived, managed and executed on the ground - by the managers, engineers and flight controllers - is phenomenal.

Thank you for all these great suggestions Amy! On an unrelated note, I just came across Kurt Vonnegut's interview with Jon Stewart on Daily Show and then I saw you describing his book and immediately, I thought.... Vonnegut doing this video, mentioning "Breaking the chains of Gravity " as his favorite book before promoting "The Sirens of Titans" in his own special way :D bit of fun!

I almost forgot...Moon Shot by Alan Shepard and Deke Slayton.

Rendezvous with Rama!

Thanks for the list! I've been looking for a good reference on the Dyna-Soar programme and will look forward to reading your recommendation. I also appreciated the mention of the NASA history series (This New Ocean, On the Shoulders of Titans, etc.). I've recently finished working my way through those from the X-15 through to the space shuttle. One addition from that list that I think is worthy of note is "Stages for Saturn" - the Saturn V represented technology the USSR couldn't replicate (large rocket engine with stable combustion) and put Apollo on the path to success and this book describes how NASA got it done. Worthy of note!

"Riding Rockets: The Outrageous Tales of a Space Shuttle Astronaut" by Mike Mullane...funny, informative, painful; just a great book about the shuttle missions and the personalities of many involved...

V-2 by Walter Dornberger (yes I know it's a controversial subject). In 1943 the Peenemunde rocket engineers (including von Braun) were dreaming of building the A9/A10 multistage rocket aircraft to orbit system. On pg.152 Dornberger writes - With our big rocket motors and step rockets we could build space ships which would circle the earth like moons at a height of 300 miles and at a speed of 18,000 miles per hour. Space stations ... could be put into permanent orbits around the earth. An expedition to the moon was a popular topic too. Then we dreamed of atomic energy, which would at last give us the necessary drive for flight into the infinity of space, to the very stars. And all this speculation in 1943! Other key books - True History (2nd Century A.D.) by Loukianos (Lucian) of Samosata - the first known story of a trip to the moon.-1903 Konstantin Tsiolkovski’s The Exploration of Cosmic Space by Means of Reaction Devices -1920 Robert H. Goddard publishes A Method of Reaching Extreme Altitudes.-1923 Hermann Oberth’s book, Die Rakete zu den Planet-enräumen (The Rocket into Interplanetary Spaces).

...I consider your book one of the best ever written on the space exploration, loved it, also I agree with you in almost everything, thank you for your time, energy, enthusiasm, etc.

Love what you're doing. Enjoy your videos, thank you.

My favorite is probably Bryan Burroughs' "Dragonfly", covering the Shuttle-Mir program. It's a little light on technical detail (even contains at least one factual error, claiming the Mir-Progress collision was the 1st accidental decompression in space) - but provides a detailed look at life aboard the space station, including the interpersonal relationships - conflicts and all - between the astronauts & cosmonauts. Also like Andrew Chaikin's "Man On The Moon" - a lay chronology without a lot of technical meat, but full of minor details Cronkite never mentioned during the Apollo flights. Tom Hanks' "From the Earth to the Moon" leaned heavily on this book. James Oberg's "Red Star in Orbit" is one of earliest (1981) peeks behind the Soviet secrecy surrounding their space programs. Dennis Newkirk's "Almanac of Manned Soviet Space Flight" is a chronology of all Soviet orbital missions up to about 1990, with some detailed specs of the various Soyuz designs, and a few hair-raising accounts of close calls. Also on my bookshelf Jim Lovell's "Lost Moon" "Deke" - Slayton's autobiography (with an assist from Mike Cassutt) "The Right Stuff" - both in paperback & on DVD "We Seven" - primarily a NASA promotion, but interesting in the context of history "Celestial Mechanics", by F.R. Moulton etc

My favorite space book that I have is definitely "Two Sides of the Moon", which is a dual autobiography co-written by David Scott and Alexei Leonov. Both go into a lot of detail about their respective careers as an astronaut and cosmonaut; in particular, Leonov spends a good amount of time talking about Sergei Korolev, which I found fascinating.

One of my favorites is McGraw Hills Encyclopedia of space. It is an older book (around 1968). Lots of early space program details.

🇨🇦! Haha You’re awesome Amy! I am definitely going to be buying these books! Thanks for sharing!

I have Lost Moon with Jim Lovel's autograph and the yellow envelope that he sent it in with a Houston post mark. My favorite possession. Plus a great story on how I got it. Thanks for the recommendations

Awesome vid, thanks for the recommendations

Something I'd recommend for anyone into astronaut biographies is Riding Rockets by Mike Mullane. He might not be a big name astronaut, but it gave and incredible insight into the astronaut corps of the early shuttle program.

Carrying The Fire - Michael Collins ❤️

Ignition! An Informal History of Liquid Rocket Propellants by John Drury Clark is also a very good and funny read.

Very useful book recommendations. Vonnegut is some out there stuff. Glad you like his work.

You never cease to amaze me. All that energetic interest in the early days of space exploration-- an era I grew up in. And now-- you are a Vonnegut fan also? Busy, busy, busy! I'm an old guy and have been reading KV's works for years. Knowing that someone as young as you is reading him, gives me hope for the future. Speaking of reading. I would recommend: Packing for Mars: The Curious Science of Life in the Void by Mary Roach Rocket Men: The Epic Story of the First Men on the Moon by Craig Nelson A Man on the Moon by Andrew Chaikin Two Sides of the Moon by David Scott and Alexei Leonov BTW, I read How Apollo Flew to the Moon by David Woods after seeing your video recommendation. It is fantastic.

I'm currently reading Red Star in Orbit The Inside Story of Soviet Failures and Triumphs in Space by James E. Oberg. Published in 1981.

There is one book I would urge people to read is 'Yeager'- Chuck Yeager's autobiography. He was there at the beginning of manned space flight and his comments about those picked for Astronaut training a very interesting.

Riding Rockets by Mike Mullane, such a great book!

Have you ever thought about posting a list of all your books? I've already picked up two books you have suggested and I'm sure you have plenty more amazing books for all of us to enjoy.

I'm enjoying your book right now, Amy, and I would like to mention "Riding Rockets" by Mike Mullane, a first hand account of what it was like to be a mission specialist in the shuttle program and how it affected the families involved. A great read.

Lost Moon by Jim Lovell. I bet you've already read that though. :)

that is a really good list, I'll check em out, thanks!

I've worn out Wood's "How Apollo Flew to the Moon" and went back for the updated version. I have a few others like, A Man on the Moon; Apollo (Murray&Cox); Chariots for Apollo; Carrying the Fire; and a couple on the guidance systems, and the making of the LM. But I'm going to check out your book and the others you mentioned. I remember seeing, somewhere free online, the book that NASA commissioned to tell the history of the space program. I forget the name but it was very interesting.

When I was a kid, my paternal grandmother had a book titled "Soviet Space Science" on one of her bookshelves. It covered what was known in the West about Soviet space missions and technology through about 1965 or thereabouts. It was my first exposure to the science of space travel and I was fascinated by it.

"Flatland" by Edwin A. Abbott - completely changed my look on life

Nice to see someone with passion.

I have "The Space Shuttle Operator's Manual. It was written in the 80s so all of the air to ground communications refer to Columbia, my favorite orbiter. Also included are large diagrams of the various control panels, so when you're doing your pretend launch and it's time to start the APUs, it will tell you that the switches to do that are in panel C3, or whatever. My friend and I actually laid a couple of chairs on their backs and had a good launch.

love your style!

Of course you have to start with "How Apollo Flew To The Moon". It's essential. One of the best things about it is that you learn all the NASA jargon, so when you later listen to flight recordings, you can understand all the numbers, abbreviations and acronyms that are getting thrown around. For an older book, get "Appointment On The Moon" by Richard S. Lewis. It's long out of print, but you can get a used copy on Amazon pretty cheap. It covers all of US space flight up to Apollo 11. It's copyright 1969, so you don't even get Apollo 12, but you get everything manned & unmanned up to that time, including Ranger, Surveyor, Mercury, Gemini, communication & military satellites, etc., usually hard to find all in one volume. It may seem to be outdated at first, but I can't recommend this one enough. Astronaut bios: my favorite are Walter Cunningham's "All American Boys" & Al Worden's "Falling To Earth". Almost all of the Gemini-Apollo era astro bios are very much worth reading, but these are my two favorites. Also, a collection of biographies, "Fallen Astronauts" by Colin Burgess, which gives a biography plus an account of the accidents of the astronauts & cosmonauts who lost their lives at the time, example: Elliot See, Charley Bassett, CC Williams, etc. Get "From The Trench of Mission Control to the Craters of the Moon", a collection of flight controller reminiscences from the Apollo days, featuring a near book length memoir by Glynn Lunney, who is sadly under-represented in space histories. This book is something, when you finish reading it, you wish was 1000 pages longer. A very good hardware history is "Moon Lander" by Thomas J. Kelly. A very frank account of Grumman's struggles to put together the LEM by the guy who ran the program.

Just read " Who really won the space race". by Thom Burnett. It ws one book I just couldn't put down. Infomative and a great read too. Thanks for the tips on the books Amy. There are some of those I will definitely get. Including yours. Oh for sci fi. Any sci fi by Asimov is great. His sci fact stuff is great too.

I caught you on the Science Channel the other day, it was great to see you expanding your presence! Just don't forget us loyal subs ;)

Dennis R. Jenkins' "Space Shuttle: The History of the National Space Transportation System" is awesome, since it has drawings of EVERY phase of the design process!

How did you possibly leave out Kranz's book, "Failure is Not an Option"? Fantastic inside look into the early days of the space program, and inside mission control, besides that it reads better than most history books, like it's more fun and its very re readable. "Full Moon" by Michael Light and Andrew Chaikin is one of my favorites. It's a great big picture book full of the best few hundred Apollo photos, and a couple Gemini too.

I recently finished David Mindell's "Digital Apollo". It has great insight on the pilots vs. automation debates, gives particular focus on the development of the computer systems used, including chronicling the history of MIT's involvement in the programs, and describes certain details of the actual missions that relate to how the computer and automation systems were used by the astronauts in each mission. He keeps the human and social aspects connected throughout... Mindell's focus throughout all his books is human factors and social context. (He just wrote a new book about robotics and automation called "Our Robots Our Selves" that seems good bit I haven't started yet.) ... About halfway through your book now Amy, love it so far.

Thanks for the recommendations, Amy. I just downloaded The Sirens of Titan on my kindle/kindle fire combo, and the audio book from Audible is a $1.99 add-on. Sci-Fi Monday is ready to begin with Kurt Vonnegut!

Amy, do you have a copy of Into Orbit, written by the seven Mercury astronauts? I got a copy of it as a child and it inspired me to become an engineer. A fabulous insight into the first four US manned launches,,their background and the equipment.

Great choices. My tastes usually lean to the science side, Greene, Kaku, Krauss, Feynman, Sagan, etc. I will have to have a read through some of the more mission and engineering focused material out there, thanks!

Interesting, like all your videos. I would like to recommend Stephen Baxter's book Voyage. It is a novel based on the idea of what might have been if the space program had continued with the Apollo flights and then on to Mars. What I think would be of interest to you, Amy, and other Apollo fans was the author's use of Saturn V technology. Thank you for all your hard work.

Failure is not an Option by Gene Kranz and Carrying the Fire by Michael Collins are two of my favorite space books

I would like to see your whole library in a video!!

Love Vonnegut! He's bears much responsibility for warping my early Outlook. I'll have re-read Sirens again.

Into The Black by Rowland White - about the development of the Space Shuttle, and the first flight - STS-1 - I think the ballsiest mission ever. Most of the book is about the Air Force space program, the NRO, the US spy satellite program in general and how both NASA and Air Force pilots went to become test pilots, going through Chuck Yeager's flight school, into NASA to become the next generation of NASA Astronauts after the moon landing program finished. Great read.

Thanks! These all sound like great reads and I'll add them to my list. I would like to mention "First Man: The Life of Neil Amstrong", by James Hansen. This is not only a thorough biography of Armstrong, but provides a great deal of detail about the X15, Gemini, and Apollo programs as well.

John Glenn's autobiography, "John Glenn, a Memoir" is very well written and worth reading. It is not a nuts and bolts book. You will not learn what all the switches and valves in a Mercury were for, but you will learn about a man who flew the spacecraft.

I agree, Amy. Rocketman is outstanding. As is Moon Lander by Tom Kelly.

The Right Stuff by Tom Wolfe.

"Voices from the Moon," Andrew Chaikin, a stunning collection of high-resolution photographs from the lunar missions.

I want to let you know how much I enjoy your videos. I grew up in Huntsville, AL where my father worked for IBM on the IU. I have always had an interest in the space program and am impressed with your knowledge and passion for space flight. Could you give me any direction on where I might find reference material or any information aimed more at the contractor side, specifically IBM's involvement with the program. Thanks in advance for any help you may have, and thank you for the entertaining and informational videos. I hope to purchase your book soon.

I've read this new ocean my love for the Mercury program is undying

My favorite book is one you mentioned, Chariots For Apollo. I also have Liftoff by Michael Collins which is a light history of manned spaceflight from Mercury to the Shuttle.

Peter Ryan's "Invasion of the moon", was my introduction to Apollo/Gemini/Mercury programs. I still love it.

Hey Amy, one of my favorite astronaut autobiographies (though not really vintage in any way) is Chris Hadfield's book "An Astronaut's Guide to Life on Earth", I'm sure you've heard and/or already read it. It really gives a more complete picture to what being an astronaut is like from family life to the years working at NASA in between missions to the life of an astronaut in space (tons of life lessons too) all from one of the most famous astronauts to fly in the last 2 decades and first ever canadian commander of the ISS!!!

Andy Weir's "The Martian" is my personal favourite book of all time.

Just discovered your videos. Awesome!

Andrew Chaikin's "A Man on the Moon" anyone?

I read three of these. Now I'm super interested in the one about Mercury. will check it out if I can find it. My favourite is "Man on the Moon" by Andrew Chaikin though.

I loved "Encyclopedia of Soviet Spacecraft" by Douglas Hart... because it was written just before the fall of The Soviet Union fell... so it had most missions in but was full of unknowns. In the following year, the publication Spaceflight contained a lot of articles filling in those unknowns so my copy had notes and insertions galore. Lists of which Cosmos flights were actually Yantar spy satellites and all that sort of thing.

"Moonshot" by Deke Slayton and Alan Shephard, "The Right Stuff" Tom Wolfe and a incredible picture/info book called "Apollo" are mine. Love that hairstyle!

Two of my favourite things: books and space :)

Best Vonnegut book of all time. Very deep. Nice to see on your list.

Just getting to see this video for the 1st time. Thanks for the tips.

I need to study but I have an unhealthy addiction to these videos.

It would be neat to see the path of some of the Apollo or earlier astronauts and how they got to NASA. I go to Purdue University, the Alma Mater of Neil Armstrong, and have learned so much more about him that I didn't know by just attending. We also had Jene Cernan and Guss Grissom. As well as many shuttle astronauts. Love your videos from the cradle of astronauts at Purdue University. Boiler up!

Andrew Chaikin's "A Man on the Moon" has been mentioned here several times, and it is indeed brilliant. The other book I'd recommend is "Rocket Boys" by Homer Hickam, the autobiographical story about how Sputnik inspired the 11 year old Homer to build and fly home made rockets. Homer went on to achieve his goal, which was to work for NASA. The book was the basis for the film "October Sky".

If you want an idea for a cool clip, tell the story of Christmas 1968 when Apollo 8 was orbiting the moon and the whole world was glued to their TV sets. I was 10 years old and it was my introduction to the space program. Even at that age, you could sense how profound the moment was and the sense of wonder and possibility that was in the air. It was a magic spiritual moment where it seemed that the whole world came together.

The Sirens of Titan is amazing! I hope to go to the Vonnegut Museum this year!

I wonder what it means when I say as far as science fiction goes I still like "The Martian Chronicles". Amy, could it be said that you are in tune with "all things Apollo"? That is you do gravitate to that period or just that everything really led up to Apollo? Myself I really like the Gemini period, so much done for the first time. I do like to look at how a certain design worked out and try with the help of hindsight. (like what if the Saturn heavy lift rocket was not shelved and it was used to launch a shuttle type vehicle that had the people on top rather than the side). I do like to play a lot of "what ifs" in regards to design.

"Ignition" is a must read for space fans imo. It is not exactly about space but shows a lot about how rockets work.

Apollo 12 crew was my favorite too. They just seemed to have the most fun.

I already read How Apollo flew to the Moon after Amy show it in another video. Really nice reading, I also recommend!

Great Book List!! Mine would be different Bust respect to your list

Recently read astronaut Mike Massamino's book: Spaceman. He recants his life and flight on the Spaceshuttle Columbia. I thought is was amazing and truly enjoyed it.

One of my favorite books is "Apollo, The Race to the Moon" by Charles Murry & Catherine Bly Cox. Just a great read with so much behind the scenes detail.