I am obsessed with books, but even more obsessed with outdoor sports, travel and adventure.  If I had a second life I would be an adventure travel consultant and guiding service.. no joke.   So, therefore, it is no surprise that I love adventure memoirs more than almost any other type of book.  I have read literally all the most commonly seen titles in an REI or EMS, and here are my top picks.  Other people read supermarket mysteries at the beach, but these are my all-time summer favorites. Please pick a few up (or borrow) if you have or wish you had an adventurous spirit it’s worth the read. 

(In no order, I tried and simply couldn’t rank them!)

1.) A Walk in the Woods by Bill Bryson.

Bryson, travel writer extraordinaire is an “expat” of sorts who had been living in the UK for several years before moving back to the US with his family to settle in New England.  He discovers the Appalachian Trail goes right through his community  and runs from Maine to Georgia.  Much to the chagrin of his teenage son, who is embarrassed at his exploits, he immediately decides he will hike the AT in its entirety, even though exercise is something he historically watches other people do rather than take it up himself.  The book is Bryson’s memoir of life on the trail, and my husband and I have read it on our own or out loud to each other in the car on climbing and national park trips for close to ten years. I don’t want to spoil it, but this book is part environmental history, part comedy, and part adventure. There are characters in the book that will stay with you forever.  If you are an outdoors person, chances are these characters will mirror those you have encountered on the trail or at the rock face and wondered if they would live to see sunrise.  Read it immediately, I do every summer, and laugh so hard I cry each time. 

2.) Into Thin Air by Jon Krakauer

No one is as synonymous with adventure writing than Jon Krakauer, and although he is still writing, this will probably remain his best book of all time.  Climbers, Alpinists, and armchair mountaineers know exactly what you are referencing if you simply throw out the date 1996.  In that climbing season 11 climbers perished on the peaks of Everest, many of whom were climbing with Krakauer’s team in May of 1996.  His team was descending from the summit when a storm engulfed multiple parties on the mountain killing and severely injuring several people.  Into Thin Air is an account of the disaster and heroism from Jon’s perspective (which is hotly debated to this day by climbers).  It is gripping and engulfs me every time I read it.  Leave yourself a lot of time if you pick up this book, it will monopolize your brain until the end. The biggest plus to this book is that while most adventure writers are outdoor athletes turned writer’s to finance expeditions… Krakauer is nothing of the sort.  He is equally adept in both fields, and his writing is exceptional.

 

 

 

3.) The Climb by Anatoli Boukreev

This book is on the list purely because it tells the tale of Into Thin Air from the opposite perspective.  Before Into Thin Air was published, Krakauer (working at the time for Outside magazine) published an article immediately after the accident in Outside magazine criticizing Boureev’s team for their actions on the mountain.  While not well written, (some is lost in translation as Anatoli’s native language is Russian), if you are captivated by Krakauer, it is fascinating to read about that day from the other perspective.  Outdoor aficionado’s usually have strong opinions about whose account was more accurate.. so pick it up and join in the debate.  Just how much did oxygen deprivation cloud each man’s judgement and memory? Read the books and venture a guess.

4.) Four Corners: A Journey Into the Heart of Papua New Guinea By Kira Salak

Salak is a contributing editor to National Geographic Adventure Magazine, and a winner of multiple travel and adventure writing awards. She is known for her completely wild solo exploits around the globe in danger zones avoided by some of the most seasoned war photographers.  Her writing is superb, and while her other popular book, the Longest Journey, which chronicles her solo trek in an inflatable kayak to Timbuktu, is enticing, the PNG one wins my vote for the list. Full disclosure, part of my love for the book is because I spent a couple months in between high school and college traveling in the same region.  Papua New Guinea is a forgotten travel destination, and I continue to wonder why as it offers the true adventure traveler an idyllic experience truly void of overweight wealthy Americans with fanny packs and Europeans with expensive luggage and frighteningly tight speedos.  Salak treks solo through the jungle into areas still practicing cannibalism, with no hope of rescue, and some tribal areas that literally have never seen white people. As someone who has traveled there myself, the danger for women even for a few hours alone is staggering.  No matter where I travel, PNG remains the most frightening for me as a chick. The draw for Salak and others to PNG is that it is one of the areas that globalization has yet to really consume, although given the fate of other much loved places, its time could soon come.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

5.) Alive: The Story of the Andes Survivors by Piers Paul Read

Most have either seen the movie or are familiar with the story of the 45 rugby players and supporters who crashed into the Andean high peaks in 1972, but fewer have actually read the book which is a shame.  Out of 45 passengers, only 16 survived through extreme circumstances like eating the body of your dead friend. This book is an absolute must read, and the story of triumph, survival, and heartache will stand as one of the greatest survival narratives of the century. Once again, leave yourself a day or two if you begin it, because unless you already know details of the outcome, you will likely be glued to the book. 

 

6.) Touching the Void, by Joe Simpson

In 1985 Simpson and his partner were attempting the summit of the Siula Granda in the Peruvian Andes, when Joe breaks his leg on the descent and his partner tries to rescue him.  I actually saw the docu-drama of this story before reading the book, and I still cannot decide which is better.  The documentary of this story was so painful to watch that my jaw hurt the next day because I was clenching my teeth so tightly while watching it. I don’t want to say much about this story, because it is not well-known outside of the outdoor community, and it is in the most astounding survival story of climbing I have ever read; so I’d rather not spoil it for you. It is a phenomenal blend of exploring the thoughts and emotions of Simpson and his partner with the events as they are unfolding.  What happens to Simpson in this book will absolutely blow your mind.

 

 

7.) We Die Alone: A WWII Epic of Escape and Endurance by David Howarth

In this account of the 1943 escape of Jan Baalsrud from the Nazi’s in Norway after an ambush, the details of the story are so extreme that if I had been told it was a fiction instead of a non-fiction I would have found it much more plausible.  Baalsrud astonishingly fights of avalanches, frost bite, Nazi’s, food deprivation, and his own mental demons to survive a Nordic winter solo and unplanned.  The tenacity of Baalsrud mixed with his quiet demeanor makes the reader feel like Jason Bourne is a boy scout car camping with a toy bow and arrow.  As an added bonus, if you are someone captivated by pictures and dreams of massive fjords, the imagery of the landscape is phenomenal. 

8.) The Places in Between by Rory Stewart

Rory Stewart, the now ubiquitous Scottish socialite turned Afghani human rights advocate takes the reader into a region that most Westerners could not even find on a map prior to 9/11.  In 2002 Stewart walked across Afghanistan through mountain passes, desert, and teenage soldiers.  The book does an excellent job of mixing and explaining culture and ideology with the history of a region most know nothing about.  I will fully admit that prior to my read of this book I thought of Afghanistan as a desert wasteland with a boring history.  Stewart’s book more than proved me wrong. 

9.) Into the Wild by Jon Krakauer

Krakauer makes the list twice for his short account of Chris McCandless’ escape from society into the wilds of Alaska where he ultimately meets his demise.  I will be up front that this book is not an uplifting tale with a wonderful ending of happiness and glee, but it is a classic story of something many dream of and few attempt:  Completely abandoning societal trappings in an attempt to survive in the wilderness.  Others have attempted and completed this feat without incident, and lived to write the tale, but there is something unique to Krakauer’s writings and my generations’ obsession with this story that makes “Alexander Supertramp,” suck us all in.  And yes, as usual, the book is better than the movie.

 

 

10.) Where the Mountain Casts Its Shadow by Maria Coffey

So I am realizing that I somehow subconsciously left the two sad and contemplative books for the end, but nevertheless I do love this book.  Rather than an adventurous account of a mountaineer overcoming adversity, this is Coffey’s examination of what happens to the families and communities of those who die in the mountains pursuing their love of risk and adventure. Coffey’s boyfriend Joe Tasker passed away on the north ridge of Everest, and it had a profound effect on her and her family for life.  She dares to raise and discuss the question many extreme outdoor athletes avoid… “Do they have the right to take such risks? What, if any, benefit does it hold for their family and society and large?”  I have yet, and hopefully never will, receive the phone call she does informing her of the death of a loved one in the place they love more than anything, but the book does give me pause as we have vicariously “known,” more than a couple who died or came close in this way.  The book puts the stories you hear at the campfire or at the rock wall of the most recent death of that season into a different perspective.

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