Adventure Books
The Hard Way: Stories of Danger, Survival, and the Soul of Adventure
Adventure writer Mark Jenkins has journeyed around the world, crossing wild country, probing the hinterlands, getting arrested over a dozen times. He has made a life out of doing things the hard way. The result is a book that dives headfirst into adventure and experience. Jenkins transports the reader with him as he climbs the ice-encrusted Italian Ridge of the Matterhorn, sea kayaks from battlefield to battlefield along the Turkish coast of Gallipoli, sneaks across Tibet to reach Buddhism's holiest lake, descends unexplored canyons in Australia, and traverses the war-torn Simen Mountains of northern Ethiopia. If you've ever dreamed of escaping, lighting out for the unknown, read this book. In a world increasingly vicarious and secondhand, we all long to make decisions that matter, decisions of consequence. This is precisely what the outdoor life still requires. The Hard Way is a book about doing, not watching -- about leaping before you look.
Amazon Price: $16.95 
Points Unknown: The Greatest Adventure Writing of the Twentieth Century (Outside Books)
"A great treasure-trove of daunting human courage, frailty, and persistence in the face of the unknown."—Library JournalFrom Robert Falcon Scott's final journal entry to Jon Krakauer's reckless solo climb of the Devil's Thumb, David Roberts and the editors of Outside have gathered the most enduring adventure literature of the century into one heart-stopping volume. A frigid winter ascent of Mount McKinley; the vastness of Arabia's Empty Quarter; the impossibly thin air at Everest's summit; the deadly black pressure of an underwater cave; a desperate escape through a Norwegian winter—these and thirty-six other stories recount the minutes, hours, and days of lives pushed to the brink. But there is more to adventure than hair's-breadth escapes. By turns charming and tragic, whimsical and nerve-racking, this extraordinary collection gets to the heart of why adventure stories enthrall us. Includes works by Sebastian Junger, Jon Krakauer, Edward Abbey, Tim Cahill, Edward Hoagland, Ernest Shackleton, Freya Stark, and Wilfred Thesiger.
Amazon Price: $19.95
The Ledge: An Adventure Story of Friendship and Survival on Mount Rainier
“My eyes travel up the frozen walls. I figure it is eighty feet up to the sunlight. The walls above me climb up at about eighty degrees, then they go dead vertical, and then, higher up, they overhang. It is as if I am looking out from the belly of a beast, its jagged white teeth interlocking above me.” In June 1992, best friends Jim Davidson and Mike Price stood triumphantly atop Washington’s Mount Rainier, celebrating what they hoped would be the first of many milestones in their lives as passionate young mountaineers. Instead, their conquest gave way to catastrophe when a cave-in plunged them deep inside a glacial crevasse—the pitch-black, ice-walled hell that every climber’s nightmares are made of.An avid adventurer from an early age, Davidson was already a seasoned climber at the time of the Rainier ascent, fully aware of the risks and hopelessly in love with the challenge. But in the blur of a harrowing free fall, he suddenly found himself challenged by nature’s grandeur at its most unforgiving. Trapped on a narrow, unstable frozen ledge, deep below daylight and high above a yawning chasm, he would desperately battle crumbling ice and snow that threatened to bury him alive, while struggling in vain to save his fatally injured companion. And finally, with little equipment, no partner, and rapidly dwindling hope, he would have to make a fateful choice—between the certainty of a slow, lonely death or the seeming impossibility of climbing for his life.At once a heart-stopping adventure story, a heartfelt memoir of friendship, and a stirring meditation on fleeting mortality and immutable nature, The Ledge chronicles one man’s transforming odyssey from the dizzying heights of elation and awe to the punishing depths of grief and hard-won wisdom. This book’s visceral, lyrical prose sings the praises of the physical world’s wonders, while searching the souls of those willing, for better or worse, to fully embrace it.
Amazon Price: $26.00
Simply Sailing: A Different Approach to a Life of Adventure
Now with an interactive Table of Contents and dozens of pictures.Simply Sailing is the story of a young couple who sold their house, cars, and everything that wouldn't fit on a 34-foot sailboat, resigned from their jobs, and with three young sons, set off on a life of adventure. What they discovered will delight, entertain, and inspire readers to chase their own dreams, to find a solution to the problems that are holding them back, and to finally live.Simply Sailing shows by example how easily one can eliminate stress, become more independent, spend more time with your children, and avoid the traps of commercialism. By simplifying their lives and taking an eco-friendly approach, they wander and explore for longer, rather than rushing to stop at the places on the list before the money runs out. Cruisers will learn how to change a trip into a lifestyle, raise their children in a safer environment, and instill values not based on the mighty dollar, while seeing parts of the world most middle Americans will never experience.Simply Sailing offers lighthearted tales of the adventures and woes experienced by a sailing family. It includes tips for avoiding common pitfalls, simplifying your boat and life, and making a small boat a comfortable home. The stories and advice inspire would-be sailors to leave sooner, travel farther, and enjoy life more fully.
Amazon Price: $4.99
AWOL on the Appalachian Trail
“Makes you feel the pain and joy of an Appalachian Trail thru-hike . . . In vivid colors, David paints a picture of his memorable journey.”—Larry Luxenberg, president of the Appalachian Trail Museum SocietyIn 2003, David Miller left his job, family, and friends to fulfill a dream and hike the Appalachian Trail. AWOL on the Appalachian Trail is Miller’s account of this thru-hike along the entire 2,172 miles from Georgia to Maine. On page after page, readers are treated to rich descriptions of the valleys and mountains, the isolation and reverie, the inspiration that fueled his quest, and the life-changing moments that can only be experienced when dreams are pursued. While this book abounds with introspection and perseverance, it also provides useful passages about safety and proper gear, showing a professional hiker’s preparations and tenacity. This is not merely a travel guide, but a beautifully written and highly personal view into one man’s adventure and what it means to make a lifelong vision come true.
Amazon Price: $14.95
88 Pianos: A Recumbent Adventure Across America
A fearlessly twisted and hysterically funny narrative, 88 Pianos: A Recumbent Adventure Across America, is a vivid and often bazaar collection of stories detailing the author’s quest to find and play 88 pianos while crossing America on a recumbent bicycle.His unconventional musical quest takes him into lands where Hell's Angels measure virility with volume (The Meter is Rumbling) and where ghosts crawl under the sheets (Haunted Hotel). At one with nature, broken glass, road kill, and the used condoms sharing the shoulders of American’s highways, the author pedals merrily through spectacular granite peaks draped in silken clouds (In Lolo Land), along stunning river valleys and into canyons haloed in gold (Still Gold in Them Thar Hills) -- then just as often, battles swarms of insects while struggling up infernal inclines like the stark somewhere/nowhere of Idaho’s Hell's Canyon (Where in Hell is Hell’s Canyon?). Exhausted and exhilarated, amused and tortured, the author relentlessly pursues his pianos, and in the process, fills chapters with chronicles of extreme sports (Skiers on the Roof) and odd characters (The Postman Always Cheats Twice).88 Pianos is a three month, 4,300 mile excursion through the trials and anguish of mental and physical isolation (No Thanks for the Memory), tempered with rye humor and the pure joy of bicycle touring. Along with the rigors one might expect -- the dehydration, the exhaustion, the merciless elements (Three Strikes and You’re Dead) -- the author also encounters some unexpected rigors like hurricanes and inundated trails where dragging the bike through knee deep, snake-infested flood waters become the only path onward (Snakes on a Plain).What unfolds before the reader is a true story of viewing scenic wonders, layered between fascinating glimpses of everyday Americana, at a pace we rarely see in today’s hectic lives.
Amazon Price:
Jungle: A Harrowing True Story of Survival
What begins as a dream adventure for four amicable, if hastily met, muchileros (backpackers) quickly becomes a struggle for survival as they unravel under the duress of the jungle. They are an odd mix to be sure: Marcus, the Swiss mystic; Karl, the shady Austrian geologist; Kevin, the well-intentioned American photographer; and Yossi, the Israeli adventurer. Jungle is the incredible true story of Yossi Ghinsberg's triumph over the most adverse and frightening of circumstances. It is a tale of survival and human fortitude against the wildest backdrop on the planet.
Amazon Price: $23.95
The Best of Outside: The First 20 Years
The man-eating proclivities of Komodo dragons. The complicated art of being a cowgirl. A picaresque ramble with a merry band of tree-cleaners. The big-wave crusaders of the world's best surfers. For the past twenty years, Outside magazine has set the standard for original and engaging reports on travel, adventure, sports, and the environment.Along the way, many of America's best journalists and storytellers--including such writers as Jon Krakauer, Tim Cahill, E. Annie Proulx, Edward Abbey, Thomas McGuane, David Quammen, and Jane Smiley--have made the magazine a venue for some of their most compelling work. The Best of Outside represents the finest the award-winning magazine has to offer: thirty stories that range from high action to high comedy. Whether it's Jonathan Raban sailing the open sea, Susan Orlean celebrating Spain's first female bullfighter, or Jim Harrison taking the wheel on a cross-country road trip, each piece can be characterized in a word: unforgettable. Commemorating Outside magazine's twentieth anniversary, The Best of Outside is one of the most entertaining and provocative anthologies of the decade.
Amazon Price: $16.95
Up: A Mother and Daughter's Peakbagging Adventure
When Trish Herr became pregnant with her first daughter, Alex, she and her husband, Hugh, vowed to instill a bond with nature in their children. By the time Alex was five, her over-the-top energy levels led Trish to believe that her very young daughter might be capable of hiking adult-sized mountains.In Up, Trish recounts their always exhilarating--and sometimes harrowing--adventures climbing all forty-eight of New Hampshire's highest mountains. Readers will delight in the expansive views and fresh air that only peakbaggers are afforded, and will laugh out loud as Trish urges herself to "mother up" when she and Alex meet an ornery--and alarmingly bold--spruce grouse on the trail. This is, at heart, a resonant, emotionally honest account of a mother's determination to foster independence and fearlessness in her daughter, to teach her "that small doesn't necessarily mean weak; that girls can be strong; and that big, bold things are possible."
Amazon Price: $14.00
Becoming Odyssa: Adventures on the Appalachian Trail
After graduating from college, Jennifer isn't sure what she wants to do with her life. She is drawn to the Appalachian Trail, a 2175-mile footpath that stretches from Georgia to Maine. Though her friends and family think she's crazy, she sets out alone to hike the trail, hoping it will give her time to think about what she wants to do next. The next four months are the most physically and emotionally challenging of her life. She quickly discovers that thru-hiking is harder than she had imagined: coping with blisters and aching shoulders from the 30-pound pack she carries; sleeping on the hard wooden floors of trail shelters; hiking through endless torrents of rain and even a blizzard. With every step she takes, Jennifer transitions from an over-confident college graduate to a student of the trail, braving situations she never imagined before her thru-hike. The trail is full of unexpected kindness, generosity, and humor. And when tragedy strikes, she learns that she can depend on other people to help her in times of need.
Amazon Price: $15.95
