View Full Version : Book suggestion
Nutbrown
07-22-2013, 20:14
My kids' swim coach is leaving for college, GaTech, and I want to get an AT book as a thank you present. Is there one you would suggest? I was thinking about AWOLs guide. If you were introduced to the love of hiking through a book, what was it?
hikerboy57
07-22-2013, 20:18
the essays of john muir.also walter bonatti's the mountains of my life.the journals of lewis and clark are awesome.
Is he already a hiker? If not, I don't think AWOLs guide will be inspirational. It is incredibly useful...just not exactly a pleasure read.
If actually recommend I Hike. it's not a continuous story, nor specifically AT related but its a great read.
AWOL on the Appalachian Trail by David Miller ,
Three Hundred Zeroes: Lessons of the heart on the Appalachian Trail. by Dennis R. Blanchard
rocketsocks
07-22-2013, 20:44
Lots of folks seemed to like "A Walk in the Woods" as did I.
Lots of folks seemed to like "A Walk in the Woods" as did I.
Before this gets crushed, l will agree. I enjoyed the book too
A Walk in the Woods isn't really about the AT, any more than Moby Dick is about whaling. It is an enjoyable book, but it certainly will resonate more with someone in the 40-50 year-old range than with a youth heading to college.
hikerboy57
07-22-2013, 20:53
I find most of the books that have been written about the a t are pretty depressing rather than inspirational what turns me on the most was reading the old explorers tales of mountain men John Colter Lewis and Clark Daniel Boone the guys who wanted to see what was around the next bend
fredmugs
07-22-2013, 21:19
A Walk in the Woods isn't really about the AT, any more than Moby Dick is about whaling. It is an enjoyable book, but it certainly will resonate more with someone in the 40-50 year-old range than with a youth heading to college.
You managed to reference the two worst books I've ever read in one sentence. My fav so far is Southbound by the Barefoot Sisters but I'm reading Skywalkers book right now and it is very entertaining.
rocketsocks
07-22-2013, 21:28
A Walk in the Woods isn't really about the AT, any more than Moby Dick is about whaling. It is an enjoyable book, but it certainly will resonate more with someone in the 40-50 year-old range than with a youth heading to college.
You managed to reference the two worst books I've ever read in one sentence. My fav so far is Southbound by the Barefoot Sisters but I'm reading Skywalkers book right now and it is very entertaining.
You two have got to be puttin me on....Moby Dick not about whaling??? It's a true classic, I mean call me Ismael...I mean sure it's about Capt Ahab, but you don't get there without telling the story of whaling.
Same with a Walk in the Woods, you can't tell the story of the AT with out talking about the history of the AT, which Bryson does quite extensively...then and now.
and I think collage bound kids are a little smarter than you may be giving them credit for...think on it.
but to be fair...not every one liked the book, I get that.
coach lou
07-22-2013, 21:43
I am currently reading 'Decade of the wolf', which is the last book I picked up on my last trip to Jellystone. It is about the reintroduction of the wolf to the park. It is very interesting, and it is kind of getting me all jellied up to get back there. I haven't been since '10'. I would love to get back and take a 5 day walk, but my friend out there can't backpack anymore. :-? I wonder if I know any interesting WBer that may want to check out some new country to backpack in. Possibly after he's got that thru hike bug out of his butt!
hikerboy57
07-22-2013, 21:45
I am currently reading 'Decade of the wolf', which is the last book I picked up on my last trip to Jellystone. It is about the reintroduction of the wolf to the park. It is very interesting, and it is kind of getting me all jellied up to get back there. I haven't been since '10'. I would love to get back and take a 5 day walk, but my friend out there can't backpack anymore. :-? I wonder if I know any interesting WBer that may want to check out some new country to backpack in. Possibly after he's got that thru hike bug out of his butt!
i cant plan that far ahead.
will there be cheesecake?
Tuckahoe
07-22-2013, 21:46
Personally I have found that many of the AT thru-hiker books have just run together for me. I cant keep the experiences of rhe various authors seperate and I cant figure out if its because I am getting old or because all of the books are essentially the same.
The one that I most enjoyed was Just Passing Thru by Winton Porter. Also enjoyed Walking with Spring. Right now I am reading On the Beaten Path by Robert Rubin.
coach lou
07-22-2013, 21:48
i cant plan that far ahead.
will there be cheesecake?
Of course....if TSA will let me take it on the plane! And if we get a lay-over in Chi-town, we won't have to eat in the food court!
Gypsyphoenix
07-22-2013, 21:52
A Walk For Sunshine by Jeff Alt. I fell in love with this book!
rocketsocks
07-22-2013, 21:59
Of course....if TSA will let me take it on the plane! And if we get a lay-over in Chi-town, we won't have to eat in the food court!
I don't know Lou, you drop that thing on someones foot and cause there head to explode like those sledge hammer hits the weight, hits the bell things at the carnival. Bing!
slbirdnerd
07-22-2013, 22:29
A Walk in the Woods isn't really about the AT, any more than Moby Dick is about whaling. It is an enjoyable book, but it certainly will resonate more with someone in the 40-50 year-old range than with a youth heading to college.
i actually had to read that book IN college and still love it. plus dennis blanchard, awol on the traill, odyssa, the things you find by kevin runolfson and currently: just passin thru by winton porter.
Skywalkers book is off to a good start. I loved AWOLs book. Barefoot sisters first book was pretty good. Their second one left a lot to be desired, but maybe it was because I yo-yo'ed the two, and by the middle of the second one I was as tired of reading about their adventure as they were walking it.
Rain Man
07-23-2013, 09:39
If you were introduced to the love of hiking through a book, what was it?
A Walk in the Woods, by Bryson "introduced" me to AT backpacking. Loved it and still do.
But in addition to that, I think I would recommend As Far As the Eye Can See, by David Brill, for a book, or Then the Hail Came, by George Steffanos, for an online memoir. Both are of "the old days" (1980s) by current dates. The first is about the AT experience, but more as a series of great essays about his trail experiences. The second is a great day-by-day account. Both, in my opinion, are pretty phenomenal in appeal to me and I have read both more than once.
Don't forget Model-T (J.R. Tate) and his classic, Walking on the Happy Side of Misery, nor leave out Jennifer Pharr Davis' books now. I could go on.
Rain:sunMan
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Hiking the Appalachian trail 2 volume set
22931
hikerboy57
07-23-2013, 10:44
the two at books i would recommend are becoming odyssa by jpd, and walking with spring by earl shaffer.
coach lou
07-23-2013, 10:53
the two at books i would recommend are becoming odyssa by jpd, and walking with spring by earl shaffer.
I enjoyed Walking with spring the best. As I said in another book thread, no one will ever see the AT as Earl did.
Man, I'm going to have a snerious overdue book charge from the HB57 Library :D
Nutbrown
07-23-2013, 11:01
wow everyone. Thanks for all the suggestions. I too have read A Walk in the Woods, and really enjoyed it, even though Bryson tends to come off a bit condescending.
I wanted to get a more obscure book since quite a few people have read that one. I'm not sure if their coach is a hiker, but he does need more 'hiker funk' in his life. Time to go spend time browsing the shelves with this list!
Rain Man
07-24-2013, 14:12
Time to go spend time browsing the shelves with this list!
You still go to a library to search for library books? How quaint!!! tee hee Just pulling your leg a tad, but truly, I've learned that online searches cover all our branches, not just the one I might be in. And they will do inter-library loans for users. Cool.
Rain:sunMan
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Book, jeez! Give the kid a nice thank you card with a $20 bill stuffed inside. Students are poor!
fredmugs
07-25-2013, 09:49
You two have got to be puttin me on....Moby Dick not about whaling??? It's a true classic, I mean call me Ismael...I mean sure it's about Capt Ahab, but you don't get there without telling the story of whaling.
Same with a Walk in the Woods, you can't tell the story of the AT with out talking about the history of the AT, which Bryson does quite extensively...then and now.
and I think collage bound kids are a little smarter than you may be giving them credit for...think on it.
but to be fair...not every one liked the book, I get that.
Moby Dick was just very difficult to read. I have no commentary on the subject matter - just the writing style. As far as Bryson is concerned you can write a book about the AT without spending 2/3 of it complaining about the federal government.
Nutbrown
07-25-2013, 11:26
Book, jeez! Give the kid a nice thank you card with a $20 bill stuffed inside. Students are poor!
I would agree usually, but this college bound kid comes from a very affluent family. He won't be having a hard time rubbing together two twenties for his pizza and suds.
Hill Ape
07-25-2013, 12:02
just to clarify a subtle distinction... awols guidebook is not the same book as awol on the at. awols guidebook is just that, a great tool to use for planning and on trail data. does this kid have any interest in the trail, or are you trying to inspire it in him?
unrelated to the trail, but as a welcome to georgia, i'd get him the book "damn good dawgs"
Nutbrown
07-26-2013, 16:32
I guess I just want him to be aware of what will be right around the corner from him. Im thinking about getting Walking With Spring, and maybe I'll slip one of those one page maps of the first bit of the trail under the cover.