I finished this book earlier this year, and I've thought about it quite a lot. I must confess it did take me a long time to finish it, maybe a couple of months, but I wouldn't say that was a bad thing – it was more the kind of book you pick up once in a while, read a chapter, and put down satisfied. 

Chris Hadfield, the well-known Canadian astronaut, has had an amazing life to read about. I'm a bit biased –I love space stuff– but I think most people would enjoy reading the crazy training astronauts have to go through and the unbelievable routine of life in space. From his beginning as a pilot to how he became an internet sensation in space, Chris Hadfield narrates his journey of hard work and big dreaming.  

Some of the reviews I've read complain that he is too proud or has "too big an ego", but I don't really agree with this view. Yeah, the guy describes how he won awards, did great, and got important jobs – but it's true! It must be pretty hard to sound humble when you've got to narrate all your big achievements, and this is a man who has many. 

Still, I won't go around saying it's perfect. As you can see, I rated it three and a half stars. As much as I enjoy reading on how people brush their teeth in space, or the life-like simulations of space travel at NASA, there's a lot of the book spent on giving life advice. And it may be a bit too much. 

I don't know how to fully explain it, but many times I just felt the advice was not relatable. I just didn't feel like it could apply to me. Or, on the other hand, it felt like some random quote you read on Pinterest – a bit cheesy or overused. I'm not trying to say Chris Hadfield is not a genius or that I didn't learn anything from his book, not at all, but sometimes his constant advice or metaphors made the reading slow down.

Still, pretty awesome book! I always enjoy reading about space, and NASA must be one of the coolest organizations ever. 

This is batshit.   Crazytown bananpants.   

Like I have no clue what to say except that this is hilarious and just what I needed; I'm still unsure of what to read now because nothing is working for me, but this?   This did.  

It's hilarious and brilliant, and I didn't have to think too hard, I just had to sit back, read, and have fun.

'Sweet tiger jesus' makes me laugh so hard. 

Ah, just what I needed!

Energy consumption is too high, and in only 60 more days the world is due to run too low on  power to keep everything going. The World’s Best Scientist’s coolest plan is to build a solar power plant on the surface of the moon, because it will always be exposed to the sun. Major Meowser (the leader), Waffles (the pilot), Blanket (the technician), and Pom Pom (the scientist) are called together and tasked with training for and completing the mission.

I bought this as a birthday present for my niece, along with the sequel, CatStronauts: Race to Mars. It was cute, although I had some problems with it, mostly due to my being unable to make my brain shut up about the internal logic issues. For some reason I could accept that the cats' spaceship came out of a giant box and included instructions, and yet it bugged me that a power blackout during the day could cause complete darkness, and that Waffles was able to eat a sandwich through his spacesuit helmet.

Blanket was probably my favorite CatStronaut - I particularly enjoyed Blanket’s love for his little robot friend. Waffles was probably my second favorite. It made me smile to see that Waffles and Blanket had such similar levels of affection for completely different things.

My few issues with it aside, this was a nice little volume, and my niece enjoyed looking at the cats. I haven’t heard from her yet about whether she liked the story.

(Original review posted on A Library Girl's Familiar Diversions.)