"Me too. Can we listen to it again?" asked my on from the passenger seat beside me.
"Happy Happy Happy!" I heard from the backseat.
"Yes!" said my son. "Happy Happy Happy!"
It was my second time reading Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir, and the first time on audiobook. I had read the book soon after its 2021 release. I had read his previously released books Artemis and The Martian, and searched his authors profile. He is a self-professed space nerd (as you can guess) and used to be a computer programmer. And he's very witty. Slyly funny. Sneak up on you, chuckle to yourself smart funny. I love that trait in people, but especially in authors.
I was almost 7 hours into my 15 hour read when we had two hockey games in one weekend, with a 2 hour drive roundtrip each time. Normally I listen to the audiobooks while on walks, or while cleaning and the kids are at school. That way I don't have to worry about certain words or mature situations they shouldn't hear. But with almost 8 hours in the car over three days, I wanted to use my time finish the book. The kids headphones were glued to their ears anyways, so I would be listening alone.
Or so I thought.
I'm not sure when it actually happened, but at some point in our first day driving to hockey, my 12 year old son began listening.
"What is this?" He asked. I gave a brief synopsis of the story and resumed the audiobook. Over the next hour he would occasionally press pause and ask questions. "What is xenon? Where is Erid? What is the Hail Mary?" We'd discuss and continue listening.
After the hockey game (he won!), we had barely pulled out of the parking lot before he piped up again. "We can listen to your book again. If you want."
Oh, I did want.
I knew after reading Project Hail Mary that I would want to listen to the audiobook, too. Some books were just made to be audiobooks (Hello, Daisy Jones and the Six!). Or maybe it is just that the narration is THAT good. Narrator Ray Porter sounds exactly as I imagine Dr. Ryland Grace to sound, and Rocky... well, Rocky is Rocky. Wonderful, serious Rocky.
My 10 year old daughter jumped into Project Hail Mary with an hour or two left in the book. "Who is Rocky?"
Which, after a lot of explanation and the finishing of the last chapter, led to her exclamation. "I love Rocky!"
We then began a deep dive into audiobooks. We finished Project Hail Mary on a Monday night, on our way home from hockey practice. Immediately, the question became "What next?'
Since then, we have listened to Refugee by Alan Gratz (my son's choice), Atomic Habits by James Clear (my choice), Bomb by Steve Sheinken (my son's choice), and The Bicycle Spy (both kids choice). All because one day we listened to a really interesting book on a really long drive. So, thanks, Andy Weir and Ray Porter for writing and narrating a book so well that even my tween kids approve.
