I just got my copy of Jeff "loner" Gray's Painted Blazes: Hiking the Appalachian Trail with Loner and am enjoying the book very much. Loner thru hiked the at in '12 and documented his hike on youtube. Like many I really enjoyed his videos and am enjoying getting an inside look into his hike you did not get with the video's. Jeff is also a great guy and supportive of other thru hikers. He was a great supporter of my 2013 hike with my daughter "sassafras" who was 13 at the time.
http://www.shadowarcherpress.com/painted-blazes.html
https://www.amazon.com/Painted-Blaze...painted+blazes