Thank you to NetGalley for providing me with an early copy of this book.

I really liked that the goal of the book was to link scientific research done in Antarctica to the author's stories, so it personalizes science so others will care about it.

I really liked the illustrations and wish there had been more. (I now realize that a few of the illustrations may have been missing from my copy since there were random blank pages.) Because of the illustrations, I would recommend a hard copy over an ebook.

Overall, it was a quick read, I enjoyed it, and learned some really cool things.

If this wasn't an arc, I probably would have dnfed. I was aware this was a memoir, but I expected more information about Antarctica and adventures there and less about the author's relationships, friends, coworkers, jobs and uninteresting anecdotes. The (in my opinion) pointless illustrations are also very minimalist, usually one or two colors with big words spread out over the page. Not quite what I was looking for, illustration or content wise. I did like learning about the slang and terms used in Antarctica though, even if it was from over twenty years ago.

This book was a delightful! If you've ever wondered about what it's like living in Antarctica, Ott wonderfully discusses living and working at American research station McMurdo! The book is filled with wonderful stories, statistics, and art about Antarctica. This book is accessible for non-scientists and scientists alike!

Her father’s early death caused her to fill every moment with something meaningful because he hadn’t had the chance. She had the life she wanted in New York’s art world, but felt anxious and dissatisfied, too weighed down to work on art projects. Traveling to Antarctica and experiencing the weather there is a test of human resilience.
Kind of a hodgepodge, as the author jumps around with whatever seems to occur to her to include. Lots of interesting tidbits, but some I wonder why she thought I’d want to know.

Michelle Ott has written a charming memoir ,she shares her time spent in Antartica first as a janitor then as a baker.While there she falls in love so this is a romantic stay also we learn scientific facts about this beautiful environment.Enchanced with charming drawings this was a delightful read.# NetGalley # chroniclebooks

This was a charming blend of memoir, science, and whimsical illustrations by an artist/photographer who spent four stints working in Antarctica washing dishes, keeping track of provisions, and making round cookies (approximately 24,000 in five months!). The morale-boosting effects of round cookies (as opposed to bar cookies made in a sheet pan) were mentioned on five separate occasions in this short volume, but after discovering how many Ott made while in Antarctica, I can see why she might be obsessed with this fact.

The memoir wasn’t written in chronological order but skipped around according to theme as Ott connected her personal stories to scientific themes. I think this worked well for this particular subject matter. Ott is adept at breaking down complex scientific facts into easily digestible illustrations. My only quibble with this book is that I would have liked more illustrations (and there well may be more in the published version since this was an ARC and there were definitely several pages that felt incomplete illustration-wise).

This was a quick, fun read and I even managed to learn a thing or two about weather, geology, topography, and space.

Outer Space is Closer Than Antarctica by Michelle Ott is a look at one woman’s journey on a quest for personal peace. Working in a high stress environment, Ott decided to spend a season working at McMurdo Station in Antarctica. She starts in the janitorial group but works her way up, a couple of seasons later, to baking, making round cookies for the staff because round makes them feel more homey than bar cookies. Ott is an artist and reflects on her personal life and work life with drawings of scientific things that occur in Antarctica. Not only is it a personal story but also a science lesson, as well,