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Re: What are you reading?

Posted: Mon Nov 30, 2009 5:03 pm
by zruffert
Born to Run by Chris McDougal was a GREAT book, I read it cover to cover twice in a row, as someone who has always hated running because it cause me pain (in an unnatural, bad way) it changed everything for me.

Magnetic North: A trek Across Canada by David Halsey is a Great Read for the adventuresome, outdoorsy type. David Halsey travels by Foot, Dogsled and Kayak across Canada from coast to coast.

The Last Season by Erik Blehm is another book that I couldn't put down, it tells the story of a Yosemite park ranger that goes missing, all of the above are non-fiction

Re: What are you reading?

Posted: Mon Nov 30, 2009 5:59 pm
by Ridge runner
I don't have much time to read during school, but here are a few that I've started and plan to finish over Christmas break:

"When the Rivers Run Dry" by Fred Pearce - Talks about how some of the great rivers of the world are drying up, the environmental effects, and the battles that are created between who owns the water.

"Pushing the LImits" by Henry Petroski - A book about engineering masterpieces (notable bridges, skyscrapers, and dams around the world) as well as some of the failures in engineering.

"Hitler's Scientists" by John Cornwell - How Hitler used mathematicians, biologists, chemists, and engineers to produce the weapons and technology used during WWII.

"Classic Climbs of the Cordillera Blanca Peru" by Brad Johnson - For next June! :D :D :D

Re: What are you reading?

Posted: Mon Nov 30, 2009 8:24 pm
by djbritton
+1 on the following:

-The Shack by William P. Young
-Life of Pi by Yann Martel
-The Alchemist by Paulo Coehlo

All are great, quick reads.

Re: What are you reading?

Posted: Mon Nov 30, 2009 8:45 pm
by I like it on top
Just finished Halfway to Heaven, actually enjoyed it very much. Currently reading The Last of His Kind, and on the list is Riding the Breath.

Re: What are you reading?

Posted: Mon Nov 30, 2009 9:36 pm
by abqben56
There are people on a site like this who haven't read Desert Solitaire? Abbey was a bit of a fraud, but a tremendous writer.

+1 on The Club Dumas. Wish I could read the original Spanish.
Just finished Pynchon's Mason & Dixon. Didn't like it the first time around, but got into it this time.
News of the World, by Philip Levine.
Working on Middlekauff's The Glorious Cause, about the American Revolution.

And about to start Hofstadter's The Paranoid Style in American Politics. Seems apt for the times. Perhaps some of the off-route guys should look at this one.

Re: What are you reading?

Posted: Mon Nov 30, 2009 10:25 pm
by Papillon
abqben56 wrote:There are people on a site like this who haven't read Desert Solitaire?
+1
abqben56 wrote:Just finished Pynchon's Mason & Dixon. Didn't like it the first time around, but got into it this time.
Carrying that into the backcountry beats any training regimen ever suggested on this site. Hands down.

Re: What are you reading?

Posted: Tue Dec 01, 2009 7:30 am
by sstrauss
Beyond Backpacking by Ray Jardine

awesome ideas on ultra light backpacking. I think this guy also invented the cam, very interesting
He came up with the Friend....there were other camming devices at the time as well. Just improved the design.

Jardine is a crazy guy. I think he's an Aeronautical Engineer. One day decided he didn't like it anymore and left. Started climbing rock. Puts up a few 5.13 and 5.14, invents the friend. Decides he accomplished everything he can. Starts backpacking. Does the PCT, AT, and CDT in sneakers and 20 lbs on his back and made his own gear. Sells the idea to a guy named "Koup". You know it as GoLite. Now he's off Kayaking the oceans supposedly.
Brilliant guy. Good book.

Re: What are you reading?

Posted: Tue Dec 01, 2009 11:06 am
by Tjohn67238
Currently reading "The Last of his Kind" by David Roberts and "The Backpacker's Field Manual" by Rick Curtis

Re: What are you reading?

Posted: Tue Dec 01, 2009 2:38 pm
by Summit Assassin
K2 - Viesturs & Roberts
Tom Brown's Field Guide to Nature - Tom Brown, Jr.
King Me - Steve Farrar

Re: What are you reading?

Posted: Tue Dec 01, 2009 2:57 pm
by Papillon
sstrauss wrote:
Beyond Backpacking by Ray Jardine

awesome ideas on ultra light backpacking. I think this guy also invented the cam, very interesting
Does the PCT, AT, and CDT in sneakers and 20 lbs on his back and made his own gear.
I believe he did the AT in 90 days. He was a proponent of bringing some kind of quilt instead of a tent, bag, bivy, etc., if I recall. The one thing he did that I could not handle involved his cookware cleanup where he made some kind of a slurry with his dirty water. Nasty...

And I don't think he was running any of the trail. He'd start before dawn, snooze during the hot afternoon hours, eat dinner around 5 PM and then close the day with 8-10 more miles.

Re: What are you reading?

Posted: Wed Dec 02, 2009 10:36 am
by Yalegirl09
I just finished "Annapurna" and it may be my all time favorite mountaineering book! :D

Re: What are you reading?

Posted: Wed Dec 02, 2009 11:00 am
by guitarczar
The Big Year by Mark Obmascik - an entertaining read; birders are intense ! - i'm hoping to get Halfway to Heaven for Christmas !