My favorite books about mars & imaginative worlds in and about space

Why am I passionate about this?

I’m an actor and writer who has been delving deep into my imagination for as long as I can remember. I’m originally from New York where I studied film/TV and acting, and worked in the less imaginative world as a writer/producer at NBC News. After moving to Los Angeles, I became a long-time member of the respected "Theatre East", while performing in a number of theater productions, and then went full tilt into film and TV. I also write screenplays of varying genres and in fact my two books are also in screenplay format as I would love to see them on the big and small screens. 


I wrote...

Monster on Mars

By Ginger Marin,

Book cover of Monster on Mars

What is my book about?

Robo-Tot XL, a.k.a. “Rolley”, is a toddler-sized worker robot that gets no respect around NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory. After a scientist mistakenly punches in the wrong destination code, Rolley accidentally gets blasted away on a crew-less exploratory mission to Mars. The little robot soon discovers that the Red Planet has a lot more going on than we earthlings think, including a magical Martian underworld and a beastly beast on the surface. Will Rolley survive or be eaten “alive”? Monster on Mars is a fun story for the whole family.

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The books I picked & why

Book cover of The Little Prince

Ginger Marin Why did I love this book?

Probably one of my earliest reading experiences, this is delightful book for all ages.

A pilot, who has crashed in the Sahara Desert, encounters a strange young boy who calls himself the Little Prince. He has traveled there from his home on a lonely, distant asteroid with a single rose.

It’s other-worldly in a simple and charming tale of the human condition and for a child, especially, it will spark the imagination from that point on to eternity.

By Antoine de Saint-Exupery, Richard Howard (translator),

Why should I read it?

15 authors picked The Little Prince as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it. This book is for kids age 13, 14, 15, and 16.

What is this book about?

Few stories are as widely read and as universally cherished by children and adults alike as 'The Little Prince'. Richard Howard's new translation of the beloved classic-published to commemorate the 100th anniversary of Antoine de Saint-Exupery's birth-beautifully reflects Saint-Exupery's unique and gifted style. Howard, an acclaimed poet and one of the preeminent translators of our time, has excelled in bringing the English text as close as possible to the French, in language, style, and most important, spirit. The artwork in this new edition has been restored to match in detail and in colour Saint-Exupery's original artwork. By combining the new…


Book cover of The Red Planet: A Natural History of Mars

Ginger Marin Why did I love this book?

Be transported to Mars in this simply told yet factual history of the Red Planet.

You’ll discover the weather, the atmosphere, what it’s like to walk amidst the dusty clay ground and what it would be like to traverse it via a rover. But from that point, the author conjectures how Mars came to be in its place in our solar system.

Highly readable for all ages. A necessity if you think you’d want to move there someday.

By Simon Morden,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked The Red Planet as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Uncover the mysteries, wonders and natural history of Mars: as close as you'll get to an eye-witness perspective of the incredible 'Red Planet'.


'Impassioned and thought-provoking, it's a highly readable work of popular science' The Observer


'A book of titanic clashing elements, stupendous impacts, cataclysmic eruptions, devastating forces, planet-wrenching seisms... You'll never look at that red dot in the sky the same way again.' Ian McDonald, author of Luna: Moon Rising


The history of Mars is drawn not just on its surface, but also down into its broken bedrock and up into its frigid air. Most of all, it stretches…


Book cover of Space Atlas: Mapping the Universe and Beyond

Ginger Marin Why did I love this book?

Break out your telescope and this book.

This is one of those coffee table books you’ll pick up time and again. A wonderful resource for kids and adult space fanatics alike to get the imaginative juices going as we all look to the stars and planets and wonder about our place in the universe.

It’s part of a National Geographic book series so you know you’re getting the best-sourced and most recent info. Even writers of fiction need good sources from which to create!

By James Trefil,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Space Atlas as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

For space enthusiasts, science lovers, and star gazers, the newly revised edition of National Geographic's enduring guide to space, with a new introduction by American hero Buzz Aldrin, combines thoroughly updated maps, lavish photographs, and elegant illustrations to chart the solar system, the universe, and beyond.

A guided tour of the solar system, the Milky Way galaxy, the universe, and beyond, with detailed maps and fascinating imagery from recent space missions partnered with clear, authoritative scientific information. Starting with the sun and moving outward into space, acclaimed science writer and physicist James Trefil illuminates each planet, the most important moons,…


Book cover of The Martian Chronicles

Ginger Marin Why did I love this book?

Ray Bradbury is a master storyteller of science fiction whose works have been embedded in my brain for years.

I remember reading this book (compiled, rewritten, and edited from some of his other works) and much later loving the television show that had been created from it.

It’s set in the 21st century when Earth began its colonization of Mars, a prospect that some in our troubled society hope will actually happen.

Bradbury suggested it wouldn’t end well.

By Ray Bradbury,

Why should I read it?

15 authors picked The Martian Chronicles as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

The Martian Chronicles, a seminal work in Ray Bradbury's career, whose extraordinary power and imagination remain undimmed by time's passage, is available from Simon & Schuster for the first time.

In The Martian Chronicles, Ray Bradbury, America’s preeminent storyteller, imagines a place of hope, dreams, and metaphor— of crystal pillars and fossil seas—where a fine dust settles on the great empty cities of a vanished, devastated civilization. Earthmen conquer Mars and then are conquered by it, lulled by dangerous lies of comfort and familiarity, and enchanted by the lingering glamour of an ancient, mysterious native race. In this classic work…


Book cover of Leviathan Wakes

Ginger Marin Why did I love this book?

The Expanse series is truly expansive world building at its finest.

A science fiction thriller filled with interesting personalities created from Earth’s many factions who now live among the stars (on asteroids and moons) and only one alien, an entity of unknown origin that is being manipulated for different means (end of the human race, anyone?).

Who, what, where, when – it’s all there in delicious and highly imaginative detail.

A masterpiece in this genre that will keep you immersed so much so you won’t want to come up for air. Books are best when you want to live in them.

By James S. A. Corey,

Why should I read it?

17 authors picked Leviathan Wakes as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Humanity has colonized the planets - interstellar travel is still beyond our reach, but the solar system has become a dense network of colonies. But there are tensions - the mineral-rich outer planets resent their dependence on Earth and Mars and the political and military clout they wield over the Belt and beyond. Now, when Captain Jim Holden's ice miner stumbles across a derelict, abandoned ship, he uncovers a secret that threatens to throw the entire system into war. Attacked by a stealth ship belonging to the Mars fleet, Holden must find a way to uncover the motives behind the…


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Book cover of This Animal Body

Meredith Walters

New book alert!

What is my book about?

Neuroscience PhD student Frankie Conner has finally gotten her life together—she’s determined to discover the cause of her depression and find a cure for herself and everyone like her. But the first day of her program, she meets a group of talking animals who have an urgent message they refuse to share. And while the animals may not have Frankie’s exalted human brain, they know things she doesn’t, like what happened before she was adopted.

To prove she’s sane, Frankie investigates her forgotten past and conducts clandestine experiments. But just when she uncovers the truth, she has to make an impossible choice: betray the animals she’s fallen in love with—or give up her last chance at success and everything she thought she knew.

By Meredith Walters,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked This Animal Body as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Frankie Conner, first-year graduate student at UC Berkeley, is finally getting her life together. After multiple failures and several false starts, she's found her calling: become a neuroscientist, discover the cause of her depression and anxiety, and hopefully find a cure for herself and everyone like her.

But her first day of the program, Frankie meets a mysterious group of talking animals who claim to have an urgent message for her. The problem is, they're not willing to share it. Not yet. Not until she's ready.

While Frankie's new friends may not have her highly evolved, state-of-the-art, exalted human brain,…


5 book lists we think you will like!

Interested in Mars, space warfare, and galaxies?

10,000+ authors have recommended their favorite books and what they love about them. Browse their picks for the best books about Mars, space warfare, and galaxies.

Mars Explore 71 books about Mars
Space Warfare Explore 43 books about space warfare
Galaxies Explore 19 books about galaxies