What are you reading?

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Bill Cummings
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Re: What are you reading?

Post by Bill Cummings »

I haven't seen this one mentioned here yet--sorry if I missed it: The Week magazine gives a glowing review to David Roberts' Alone on the Ice: The Greatest Survival Story in the history of Exploration. That subtitle comes directly from Sir Edmund Hillary. It's about Douglas Mawson's forced 1912-13 solo trek of 100 miles across Antarctica. Haven't read it yet, but it sounds great.

Also have enjoyed Endurance and The Last Place on Earth (on the Amundsen--Scott race to the South Pole). Night of the Grizzlies is good, too, if you don't mind a story that's kind of, um...grizzly.
Bill "Blind Willie" Cummings

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wooderson
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Re: What are you reading?

Post by wooderson »

Bill Cummings wrote: Night of the Grizzlies is good, too, if you don't mind a story that's kind of, um...grizzly.
+1... this is a great read. Just don't read it while sleeping in your tent at Many Glacier CG unless you want to lay there all night paralyzed with fear (not that I've ever done that, of course).

Another good bear book is Stephen Herrero's Bear Attacks. Ditto the above.

I believe both of these are two of lord helmut's personal favorites....
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Kiefer
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Re: What are you reading?

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Oman
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Re: What are you reading?

Post by Oman »

Last ones I liked:
The Cellist of Sarajevo by Steven Galloway. A sniper is assigned to keep alive a cellist who vows to play a street concert a day for each person killed in a bread line by a bomb during the Bosnian civil war. Beautiful writing, great plot.

In the Time of Butterflies by Julia Alvarez. Fictionalized account of four Dominican sisters who take on their country's bloodthirsty dictator in the 1940s and 50s. A little cartoony, but still moving.

The End of the Affair by Graham Greene. Somehow got through college without reading this account of a love triangle during World War II London. Literature with a thumper plot. Greene is a stud.

The Round House by Louise Erdrich. National Book Award winner. Holy crap. Boy investigates the rape of his mother on the Ojibwe / Chippewa reservation of North Dakota. Made me remember how much I miss Tony Hillerman, though this book may be even better.
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highpilgrim
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Re: What are you reading?

Post by highpilgrim »

Hero: The Life and Legend of Lawrence of Arabia by Michael Korda. It's a compelling biography of a real badass, T. E. Lawrence. At 5' 4" tall, Lawrence was diminutive physically, but was a giant in terms of what he accomplished and the risks he took and challenges he overcame. It was interesting to learn and now partly understand some of the formative process that helped to create the mess that is the current middle east.
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Randy G.
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Re: What are you reading?

Post by Randy G. »

Savage Summit by Jennifer Jordan

Picked it up this morning.
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14erFred
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Re: What are you reading?

Post by 14erFred »

Death Grip: A Climber's Escape from Benzo Madness by Matt Samet (well-known rock climber and former editor of Climbing Magazine)...incredible writing and inspiring story...I can't put it down.
"Live as on a mountain." -- Marcus Aurelius
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tommyboy360
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Re: What are you reading?

Post by tommyboy360 »

14erFred wrote:Death Grip: A Climber's Escape from Benzo Madness by Matt Samet (well-known rock climber and former editor of Climbing Magazine)...incredible writing and inspiring story...I can't put it down.
Rock climbing, searching, confused, lost, reckless, depression, addiction... this book is AMAZING. It's based on a climber from New Mexico and Colorado. The book consistently relates to rock climbing but the author also mentions 14ers like the Elk Range and Longs.

A must read. I'm on a different experience but this book speaks to me and gives me hope. It's a dark read with a beautiful finish. It's not a book about climbing. Very scientific especially if you're into the bio-chemistry of Rx meds and understanding depression. Regardless, this book could not have been timed more perfect for me. Excellent.
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edhaman
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Re: What are you reading?

Post by edhaman »

"Divinity of Doubt: The God Question," by Vincent Bugliosi, making his case for being an agnostic. The author is the guy to prosecuted Charles Manson. His earlier book, "Reclaiming History," which soundly debunks all of the conspiracy theories about the Kennedy assassination, shows an outstanding research ability. This book presents the best exposition I've seen of the fallacies, inconsistencies, and lack of logic in the Bible; although he obviously isn't sufficiently knowledgeable about science to take on the atheists in the chapter on that subject.
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taylorzs
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Re: What are you reading?

Post by taylorzs »

Besides school reading, I am working on two books right now. One is "The Ancestor's Tale" by Richard Dawkins. This is a story of human evolution starting with Homo sapiens and going all the way back to the beginnings of prokaryotic life on Earth 3.5 billion years ago. He stops at every common ancestor we share with every other living species on Earth and talks about that ancestor and what Earth was like at each particular point in history. Really great evolutionary biology book! The other book is " The Christ Consiracy; The Greatest Story Ever Sold." Acharya S. This book is about the history of the creation of the christian bible during the Dark Ages and the true origins of most stories of the bible; death and resurection, divine conception, etc... which are all rooted in earlier religions, primary ancient Egyption religion (old enough we now substitute the word religion for mythology). This is a great read, that gives a cultural anthropoligist's take on the origins of Abrahamic religions in general, and christianity in particular.
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WarDamnPanic
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Re: What are you reading?

Post by WarDamnPanic »

Challenge of Rainier. Planning on climbing it in August so I thought this was a good place to start...
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fevercity
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Re: What are you reading?

Post by fevercity »

The San Luis Valley: Land of the Six-armed Cross [Virginia McConnell Simmons]

Recent trip to the San Juan's made me want to learn more about the 'SLV'. Best book on the valley's history.
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