What are you reading?

[mountainprairie]

For anyone who's interested in the American West, I highly recommend All the Wild that Remains: Edward Abbey, Wallace Stegner, and the American West by David Gessner. It's informative, funny, and insightful. One of my favorite books of the last few years.

I recently finished The Emerald Mile: The Epic Story of the Fastest Ride in History Through the Heart of the Grand Canyon by Kevin Fedarko. Excellent primer on water issues in the West, while also being a very memorable and fun-to-read adventure narrative.

And I just started Into the Silence: The Great War, Mallory, and the Conquest of Everest by Wade Davis. So far it is dense, but really good.

[AnnaG22]

For anyone who's interested in the American West, I highly recommend All the Wild that Remains: Edward Abbey, Wallace Stegner, and the American West by David Gessner. It's informative, funny, and insightful. One of my favorite books of the last few years.

^+1

I really want to read The Emerald Mile; it looks fascinating. I just finished reading Ed Viesturs' and David Roberts' The Mountain... they do a pretty neat job of condensing the history of the big mountains they've covered in their various books.

[bmcqueen]

I started reading Tom Wood's new book Trading Steel for Stone: Tales of a Rustbelt Refugee Turned Rocky Mountain Rescuer on my way home from Peru. Very good so far - had me laughing out loud a few times on the plane. Tom is a local guy from Evergreen who is a member of Alpine Rescue Team. Check it out.

[Point North]

Just read If I Die in a Combat Zone, by Tim O'Brien. He was drafted in '68 and sent to Nam as a foot soldier. An ordinary grunt. It's a very realistic and in places, painful read. The senseless deaths and loss of limbs to mines, and so forth. It makes you realize just how stupid war is, at least the Vietnam war.

Then I picked up O'Brian's fictional book, The Things They Carried. While it is based on his experiences, it's a novel, and soon you can tell he's just making things up. Which is why I can't read fiction. I turned the book back in to the library after a few chapters.

Currently I'm reading The Last of the Soviets by Svetlana Alexievich. It's an oral history of Russians who lived through the fall of the USSR and its aftermath, up to 2015. Very good read so far. One thing is consistent -- few Russians liked Gorbachev, and fewer now. He's blamed for the demise of a secure way of life, and the fall of a great nation.

[greenonion]

"The Elephant Whisperer" by Lawrence Anthony. Beautiful book based on conservation in South Africa and the challenge of living with a pissed off, distrustful herd of elephants after their matriarch was killed by humans. Many other African animals discussed and many and various interesting stories. Don't let the "Whisperer" part of the title turn you off (as it's been over-used in other popular culture).

[mkrier]

"The Wright Brothers" by David McCullough. Great story, inspiring characters.

"The Devil in the White City" by Erik Larson. Parallels stories of Daniel Burnham/Dr.HH Holmes during 1893 Chicago World Fair. Good but not great. Two intriguing but unrelated stories.

[davebks]

when you finish devil in the white city, read his in the garden of beasts. its pretty great.
i also heard Isaac storm is great.

I am back at the RA Salvatore books. Man I love his stuff.

[fahixson]

I like Erik Larson's stuff too. I thought Devil, Isaac's Storm, and Thunderstruck were all great. For some reason, I didn't like In the Garden of Beasts nearly as much, but just finished Dead Wake: Last Crossing of the Lusitania and found it very interesting.

[MtnHub]

Sam Keith. One Man's Wilderness -- an Alaskan Odyssey

This is the fascinating true account of an Iowan, Richard Proenneke who at age 50, took off for Alaska and built his own cabin in the wilderness. It is based on his journal and photographs. It was also made into a PBS feature documentary, Alone in the Wilderness.

[USAKeller]

Sam Keith. One Man's Wilderness -- an Alaskan Odyssey

This is the fascinating true account of an Iowan, Richard Proenneke who at age 50, took off for Alaska and built his own cabin in the wilderness. It is based on his journal and photographs. It was also made into a PBS feature documentary, Alone in the Wilderness.

That sounds good! Did you ever get a hold of No More Dragons?

[TM5000]

Masters of Doom by David Kushner.

https://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss ... s++of+doom" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

This is the story of id Software, mostly focusing on John Carmack and John Romero.

They are best known for developing first person shooters Doom and Quake.

I played Doom when it was first released, and I found the backstory of the minds behind it very interesting.

[12ersRule]

"The Sun also rises" by Hemingway. Reads like a series of Bonehead posts.