One of the best books I read in 2014. 
 Sci fi, but of the realistic futurist variety. This is a perfect SFF book to give to the reader you know who swears they don't like SFF. Bet they won't even realize they're enjoying genre (cue evil laughter). 
 An astronaut is marooned on Mars and has to use his wits and skill to survive, mostly while unable to communicate with his crewmates and NASA, who are also trying to find ways to get him home. There is a lot of science in this book, and in other hands this might have been very dry material. 
 But it isn't, thanks to the brilliant narrative voice. Mark Watney comes alive on the pages, engaging you, making you forgo sleep, food whatever to get to the next page. 
 Realistic, tense, funny, and also incredibly hopeful. I've been recommending this book right and left. It really is a must read.