Atmosphere

Okay, so the brand new Taylor Jenkins Reid novel is here, and if you love her work—and honestly, who doesn't?—you are going to be obsessed with this one. I mean, we're talking about the author of The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo and Daisy Jones & The Six.

The book is called Atmosphere, and the backdrop for this one? The 1980s space shuttle program. As Andy Weir, author of The Martian, put it: “NASA? Space missions? The ’80s? This is a collection of all the things I love.” Exactly.

It’s about a woman named Joan Goodwin. She’s a thoughtful, reserved professor of physics and astronomy, content with her quiet life. That is, until she sees an advertisement seeking the first women scientists to join NASA. Suddenly, she has this burning, all-consuming desire to be one of the few people to go to space.

She gets selected and begins training at Houston's Johnson Space Center with this incredible, exceptional group of fellow candidates. You’ve got the Top Gun pilot, the mission specialist who’s worked too hard to play nice, and the magnetic, mysterious aeronautical engineer. As these new astronauts become unlikely friends and prepare for their first flights, Joan finds a passion—and a love—she never, ever imagined.

And then, in December of 1984, on mission STS-LR9… it all changed in an instant.

This is Taylor Jenkins Reid at her absolute best. It’s fast-paced, thrilling, emotional, and completely transporting. It’s a huge, soaring story about the transformative power of love—but this time, it’s set among the stars.