X-Mas Wishlist - What Books to Add?

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It's not an adventure book, but I'm reading Forest and Crag by Guy and Laura Waterman right now, fascinating history of the northeast mountains. It's as big as a textbook. :D
 
clg898 said:
I've only read "Touching the Void" by Simpson. I'll have to read more of his stuff.

Try "This Game of Ghosts" next. It picks up where "Toucing..." leaves off, but it also describes his life before Peru going back to childhood. The accident in Peru is just one item in a large catalog of abuses his body has absorbed.

Matt
 
Wanna Get Away?

For quick, riveting collections of stories about survival and adventure, try some of the titles edited by Clint Willis (Adrenaline Books). The anthologies offer alternative reading strategies to busy schedules, "readius interruptus" and an opportunity to get very far away in a short period of time.

Here are a few of my recommendations:

Climb. Stories of Survival From Rock, Snow and Ice.

High. Stories of Survival From Everest and K2.
Epic. Stories of Survivial From the World's Highest Peaks.
Adrenaline 2000. The Year's Best Stories of Adventure and Survival.
Ice. Stories of Survival From Polar Exploration.

In addition, ever want to know what it feels like to be stung by a jellyfish or succumb to heatstroke or suffocate in an avalanche? You might be interested in,
Last Breath. Cautionary Tales from the Limits of Human Endurance.
Peter Stark (author) reenacts what happens inside our bodies and minds in the last moments of life when we push ourselves to the absolute limits of human endurance.
 
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Ed Webster's book is excellent.

Clint Willis is the editor who turned me on to David Roberts and many other mountain writers. He does a great job of gathering together diverse selections that give the reader an excellent taste of the authors as well as a fantastic reading experience. Oh, and he lives in my town. ;)

The new Viesturs book and Blum's "Annapurna" are on my list of to-read-soons. BTW, great avatar, Katie!
 
I'd recommend Spiked Boots by Robert Pike. It's a book about NH's Great North Woods and the logging camps and life there back in the day. You can boost your testosterone level just by reading it!

Original copies of this book are collectors items and worth $100+, but it's been reprinted and it's available at Mountain Wanderer.


bob
 
cantdog said:
I 2nd the suggestion for Spiked Boots. I didn't consider it because I thought the request was for books of extreme adventure. If you like Robert E Pike, consider Tall Trees, Tough Men. I discovered the mentioned book after finishing that one.

Great books...he has some good photos as well. They were written when some of the people from the era were still alive. There is mention of the guy who invented the cantdog. Not to be confused with Cantdog, a true original. ;)
 
cantdog said:
I 2nd the suggestion for Spiked Boots. I didn't consider it because I thought the request was for books of extreme adventure. If you like Robert E Pike, consider Tall Trees, Tough Men. I discovered the mentioned book after finishing that one.
Both are excellent books. :cool:
 
In the same vain as spiked boots is a book I found accidentally called " Smoke from a thousand campfires" its cronicles the life of a Northern NH game warden named Paul Dougherty. Its quite a long book and although I wasnt expecting much, it turned about to be a very enjoyable read and a great look into the life of a game warden in the north woods, which by the way is fairly interesting.
 
Rumor has it that Santa may bring "Not Without Peril", which most here probably have already read. Mrs. Forestgnome thinks I'm too blase out in the woods so she wants to scare me :eek: A collection of misadventures sounds interesting and instructive.

Happy Trails :)
 
I really enjoyed "The Cruelest Miles: the heroic story of dogs and men in a race against an epidemic" by Gay and Laney Salisbury. The true story of the origins of the Iditarod trail also covers Alaskan history the history of dogsledding.
 
forestnome said:
Rumor has it that Santa may bring "Not Without Peril", which most here probably have already read. Mrs. Forestgnome thinks I'm too blase out in the woods so she wants to scare me :eek: A collection of misadventures sounds interesting and instructive.
Just don't let her read it... :)

Doug
 
DougPaul said:
Just don't let her read it... :)

Doug

LOL!!! :D.....A family joke is that they all piched in for a life insurance policy on me. Bear, moose, lightning, rockslide, hypothermia, whatever.
 
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Two adventure/survival books I would recommend are Between a Rock and a Hard Place & Touching the Void. Both great reads.

A favorite book that has been discussed on this site is "Deep Survival" by Lawrence Gonzales. While it is not an adventure book, it is a book that all who adventure should read.
 
Noah John Rondeau

This book is a classic to me, it describes the life and times of an Adirondack Hermit that lived in the High Peaks, interesting reading for those who traverse the woods.

Maybe someone already talk about this earlier in the thread, sorry, i was too lazy to read them, ha ha. be safe! ;)
 
I'm pretty sure the David Roberts book on Ireland mentioned earlier in this thread is actually about Iceland.

A good one for children, and everybody here will enjoy it too, is "Lost on a Mountain in Maine," by Donn Fendler, recounting the nine days he spent lost on and around Katahdin when he was 12 years old.
 
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