What are you reading?

[ScottS]

Just finished Hyperion. Blew my mind.

[Jon Frohlich]

Just finished Hyperion. Blew my mind.

By Dan Simmons? One of my favorite books of all time.

Fall Of Hyperion is very different in structure but well worth it too.

[ScottS]

Just finished Hyperion. Blew my mind.

By Dan Simmons? One of my favorite books of all time.

Fall Of Hyperion is very different in structure but well worth it too.

Yup, I'll read the rest in the series eventually. I think I'll do an "easier read" for my next book reading..

[greenonion]

Dune! Very very good and relevant as Pilgrim has told us before. Took his advice and jumped in. Have a ways to go since I’m trading off between it and another long book on crazy person Keith Moon (but what an incredible drummer). I digress. So far highly recommend Dune

[montanahiker]

Dune! Very very good and relevant as Pilgrim has told us before. Took his advice and jumped in. Have a ways to go since I’m trading off between it and another long book on crazy person Keith Moon (but what an incredible drummer). I digress. So far highly recommend Dune

I loved Dune. Want to read it again before the movie comes out and then work my way through the next couple books in the series.

What's the Keith Moon book? Is it any good?

[OneHalf50]

Just finished 14ers Disasters. Good book to learn from. Especially helped me to understand some of the weather patterns that are so different from what I am used to. Hoping to make it to CO this summer and get some 14ers in before we leave for winter to warmer climates.

Currently reading The Alienist. Yes, it's the book the tv series was based on. No, it's not hiking related. It is written by Caleb Carr. Published 1994. I had actually read one of his books - The Angel of Darkness - years ago (probably when it was published in 1997) and liked it so much that I had looked for it many times over the years (pre IOT) so I could read other books by the same author. Of course, back when you actually had to go to a book store, once the book fell off "the list" it would be removed from the shelves and I forgot about it for a while until recently. IOT wins again!

[greenonion]

Dune! Very very good and relevant as Pilgrim has told us before. Took his advice and jumped in. Have a ways to go since I’m trading off between it and another long book on crazy person Keith Moon (but what an incredible drummer). I digress. So far highly recommend Dune

I loved Dune. Want to read it again before the movie comes out and then work my way through the next couple books in the series.

What's the Keith Moon book? Is it any good?

“Dear Boy: The Life of Keith Moon” It is quite good if you like The Who and are willing to subject yourself to the wild, selfish, immature, and somewhat narcissistic personality of Moon. I think it’s going to start wearing on me as he gets more self destructive a bit later in life prior to dying an early death. Lots of interesting things about the band and their experiences and history. 548 pages. He was Neil Peart’s favorite drummer which of course says a lot. As great as Peart was he is a bit too technical compared to the wild abandon and pure raw talent that Moon was. For me anyway. I got the book off Amazon but it was shipped from England so maybe hard to find?? Holler if you want it and can’t find and we can probably work something out... after I finish which will take some time. Have enjoyed going back through a bunch of Who songs focusing on the drums. Holy moly.

[Hiker Mike]

I am currently reading the "The Winter Army" by Maurice Isserman. It is about the U.S. Army's 10th Mountain Division. I am about half-way through and I can recommend it.

[ltlFish99]

I am currently reading stuff on this site, as usual.

[PikaSteve]

The Next Everest by Jim Davidson
Subtitled: Surviving the Mountain's Deadliest Day and Finding the Resilience to Climb Again

I enjoyed this just-published book documenting Jim's two Everest trips in 2015 and 2017. The first half of the book recounts the chaos Jim experienced after an earthquake ended his expedition only a few hours after leaving base camp. The second half of the book tells his story of post traumatic growth ultimately leading to a return trip to Everest.

He shared several interesting photos and videos during a virtual talk hosted by Tattered Cover Book Store earlier this week:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MXHYtCKdRcg

[JChitwood]

Just finished Endurance by Alfred Lansing the story of Ernest Shackleton’s voyage to Antarctica in 1914. The book has been touted for years and I’m sure many 14ers.com folks have read it. I purchased it years ago but for some reason never got around to starting it. I’m glad I did it’s now tied with The Emerald Mile as my favorite adventure book.

For those who are unfamiliar, it’s the story of an expedition that intended to attempt the first crossing of the Antarctic continent but got stuck in ice floes before reaching land. The ship was crushed and the crew took to the ice pulling three heavy lifeboats until they ran out of ice and put in the open water of the Southern Ocean probably the stormiest seas on the globe. Somehow they made it to the relative safety of remote Elephant Island from which Shackleton himself and five crewman embarked in a 20’ lifeboat to attempt to reach a whaling station on South Georgia Island across 700 miles of the most treacherous waters on the planet. That they even found the island was a triumph of navigation but they arrived during a hurricane and were forced to land on the wrong side. The water was too rough to attempt to sail around the island so they had to trek over 10,000’ glaciated peaks to get to the whaling station with only 50’ of hemp rope and a carpenter’s tool serving as an ice axe. Shackleton then made three attempts to return to Elephant Island to retrieve the 22 remaining crewman but was turned back by weather and ice each time finally succeeding on the fourth attempt. Amazingly, the only losses on the entire expedition were a few fingers and toes.

They endured years of sub zero temperatures and were constantly wet from sea spray and rain. They had no modern footwear or anything resembling Gore-Tex. I’ll think of those men the next time I start to bitch that the temp has dropped below 50 on a hike.

[greenonion]

Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir (author of The Martian). Very good so far. About 90 pages in.