What are you reading?

[jmanner]

Finishing Thucydides' History of the Peloponnesian War while on the train/bus to work and reading Hamilton's The Mantle of Command: FDR at War, 1941–1942

Of course, I am always perusing my guide books to plan spring skimo trips or whatever. Sometimes its fun to just read about routes, I've definitively ended up climbing stuff I didn't plan to based on memory from prior readings.

[Deanxpv]

Just finished Night by Elie Weisel and am now onto the book Militarism by Karl Leibnecht (spelling?).

[mommyhiker]

Just finished Dreamland: True Tale of America's Opiate Epidemic by Sam Quinones.

Next book: Rise and kill first : the secret history of Israel's targeted assassinations by Ronen Bergman.

[Vermont Mike]

A little ways in to "Dark Star Safari" by Paul Theroux about the author's overland journey from Cairo to Cape Town. It's my first time reading Theroux and I'm really enjoying his writing so far (although it's a small sample size).

[druid2112]

Almost finished with 438 Days by Jonathan Franklin. It tells the tale of a fisherman who was swept into the open ocean off the coast of mexico and survived (you guessed it!) 438 days in an open boat drifting across the Pacific until running ashore in the Marshall islands, some 6000 miles away. Interesting, but sort of written at about a 6th grade reading level

[MtnHub]

Sue Monk Kidd. The Invention of Wings -- the fictionalized history of the Grimké sisters who were at the forefront of the abolitionist and women's rights movements.

This is one of the best and most beautifully written books I've read in a very long time. I highly recommend it!

[BenjaminTaylor]

This Is All A Dream We Dreamed - An Oral History of the Grateful Dead
Blair Jackson & David Gans

Transcendent Summits
Gerry Roach

I'm about a quarter of the way into both of these and really enjoying them. The GD book is fascinating the way it alternates between different peoples' points of view to bring perspective to their storied history.

Roach's autobiography is also a gripping read so far. While I've spent plenty of time perusing a few of his guidebooks (Fourteeners, Thirteeners, and the Lost Creek Wilderness), it's great to learn more about his history and early years.

[MtnHub]

I'm enjoying some of the Xmas books I received this past holiday:

Joe Hutto. The Light in High Places

Hutto is a WY naturalist who writes in beautiful, almost poetic prose and describes his work studying the bighorn sheep of WY as well as the WY wilderness and the lost art of being a true cowboy.

[12ersRule]

Here's a few I've read over the past year or so:

"Cat's Cradle" - Kurt Vonnegut. Fun one!
"The Last Englishman" = Keith Foskett. Common man doing the PCT trail. Didn't care for it at all.
"AWOL on the Appalachian Trail" - David Miller. Common man on the AT. Very good!
"River: One Man's Journey Down the Colorado, Source to Sea" - Colin Fletcher - very good!


Just started "The Man who walked through Time" - by Colin Fletcher. So far, so good!

[montanahiker]

I finished Jim Bridger: Mountain Man last month. Great book on an interesting character who had a big impact on the northern Rockies. It motivated me to pick up Blood and Thunder (about Kit Carson).

[Dave B]

Due to being furloughed, I've read a crap ton lately, been pretty happy with these couple of recommendations from upthread.

The Emerald Mile (Kevin Fedarko) - Great history of the Grand Canyon raft scene, wish the author hadn't ended every other paragraph with a "cliffhanger"

Endurance, Shackleton's Incredible Voyage (Alfred Lansing) - I feel soft AF after reading about what that crew went through.


And a couple others

Monkey Wrench Gang (Edward Abbey) - A good one to read before/after The Emerald Mile. The world needs more Hayduke.

How to Change Your Mind (Michael Polan) - Doing the drugs to change your perspective on the world for the better, pearl clutchers beware!

Packing for Mars (Mary Roach) - Funny and unique perspective of space travel

[seano]

I finished Jim Bridger: Mountain Man last month. Great book on an interesting character who had a big impact on the northern Rockies. It motivated me to pick up Blood and Thunder (about Kit Carson).

Blood and Thunder is a great book, with lots of interesting NM history.

I finally read Ueli Steck's My Life in Climbing last fall. While it lacks flowery prose, it offers a fascinating view into how Steck thought about mountaineering and risk.

I'm currently working on Heinrich Harrer's Seven Years in Tibet. (Before this, Harrer was part of the FA team for the Eiger's north face.) It reminds me a bit of Eric Shipton's writings about early Himalayan exploration, which are also well worth reading.