Summer is fast approaching, and many of you might be looking for books to read on flights, car rides, or at the pool. If so, I’ve been in the exact same boat, and I recently found three amazing choices. You can currently buy all of them at Barnes and Nobles as part of a ‘buy two get one free’ deal, adding to a total of about twenty-seven dollars.

First up is ‘The Martian’ by Andy Weir. This book details the struggle of American astronaut Mark Watney, who becomes stranded on Mars after a catastrophic disaster forces the rest of his crew to leave him for dead. Instead of dying, he survives and manages to repair his space suit, and embarks on an epic journey to survive the 1400 days until the next mission is scheduled to land. The novel is narrated by Watney, who records daily journals about his escapades which range from terrifying to hilarious. Watney’s character is so easy to become invested in, as each time something terrible happens to him he simply bounces back up and faces it with humor and gusto.

Interrupting Watney’s journals every fifty pages or so are tense scenes from NASA back on Earth, neatly detailing their attempts to resupply Watney and save his life as he quickly begins to run out of equipment and water. These scenes add more characters, shifting focus away from Watney and keeping things fresh. The novel stays interesting long past when I expected it to be dull. If you ever read Gary Paulsen’s ‘Hatchet’ and liked it, this is a book you need to read.

Next is Daniel Wilson’s ‘Robocalypse.’ It sticks with the sci-fi theme of the previous book, but takes it to a slight extreme. Around a decade into the future, the government begins experimenting with AI, shutting it down whenever it becomes too hostile. After the fourteenth time this happens, the AI, known as Archos, realizes what is happening and kills the research team. Thus begins the robot apocalypse. The book details the fight for survival from multiple viewpoints, each chapter containing one person’s story, captured through some format of media. The characters include an Osage Police Officer, a Taliban militant, an elderly Japanese Mechanic, a Congresswoman’s daughter, a youthful English Hacker, and many more. Now, while it may sound silly, this book can be genuinely chilling at times, as throughout ‘Rob (short for robot)’ begin inventing more horrible robots designed to wipe out humans, including small creatures that drill inside the body and then detonate, or others that can imitate the screams of wounded comrades. One particular scene takes place from the view of a New York apartment, as robots designed to assist the elderly go from door to door with handguns, killing that chapter’s protagonist’s neighbors.

Despite the silly concept, the book ends up being a rather compelling story about humanity’s resilience to survive. It casts dark predictions for our reliance on technology, and passages detailing exactly how your own car would kill you will keep you up at night. In the end, it shows how in order to fight machines, we must become machines, and several character’s descent into madness are actually horrifying, while other characters struggles to leave the darkness are extremely redeeming. It is very similar to ‘World War Z,’ by Max Brooks, which I personally love, so if you liked that definitely go get this.

Lastly is the one book that I haven’t read it, I actually intend to start it today. It’s called ‘Ex-Heroes’ by Peter Clines, and is about a team of superheroes defending Los Angeles one year into a zombie outbreak. Based out of a studio-turned-fortress known simply as ‘the Mount,’ they defend a couple thousand survivors from the un-dead hordes outside. But if that wasn’t enough of a threat, several of their former allies have already become infected, mutating into horrible corruptions of their former selves. The genre mash-up is pretty intriguing, and the book has been largely praised for it’s dark humor. It’s really kind of a combination of ‘Watchmen’ and ‘The Walking Dead.’

So anyways, these are three books that I’m pretty excited. It’s worth noting that ‘The Martian’ was in the running to be our summer reading book for a while, but didn’t get chosen because it was too risque! So go! Read the book that the adults think you’re all too young for! Also noteworthy is that both ‘Robocalyspe’ and ‘Ex-Heroes’ have sequels, so if you like them you can easily keep going. So remember, just twenty-seven dollars. Barnes and Nobles is right down the street. Go, get some books, and enjoy them!