Recommendations for adventureous outdoorsy non fiction books.

[ThatBloodyWoman]

I love to read stories of people's challenges, adventures etc., but there are squillions out there.

Any recommendations for good 'uns?

I'll start -I am currently enjoying 'A boat in our baggage-around the world with a kayak' by Maria Coffey.....

The most obvious is Touching the Void by Joe Simpson which is one of the most gripping books I've ever read.

Also a very good one about 2 guys cycling round the world but mind has gone blank...

Yes to, 'Touching the Void.'

There's also the one about the man who had to cut his hand off when he got trapped - can't remember what it's called but it should be Googleable.

Mountains of the Mind is v good.

The White Spider - about the north face of the Eiger

Both 'into thin air' and 'into the wild' by Jon Krakauer

Truly excellent reads.

Yes - Into Thin Air was terrifying. The book about the cyclists is Discovery Road by Tim Garrett and Andy Brown.

Wild by Cheryl Strayed is brilliant. Basically a 'lost' young woman hiking the Pacific Crest Trail and finding herself again through the journey.

Feet in the Clouds is also good.
I also recently read Maurice Herzogs account of the ascent of Annapurna.

One of my favourite books ever is 'The worst journey in the world' by Apsley Cherry-Garrard, a member of Captain Scott's second expedition to the Antarctic. The journey in the title isn't the south pole journey but another the author took across the ice shelf to find an emperor penguin's egg. It is an amazing survival story.

'100 Family Adventures' by the Meek Family - nice pics, jokes and great ideas of outdoorsy things to do with your family.

I'd second "Into Thin Air", its brilliantly written.

A completely different sort of book, which I gave to my mum at Christmas and she really liked, is "The Voyage of the Princess Matilda". Timothy Spall and his wife sailed a barge round the coast of the UK and this is their account.

I've read really good reviews of a book called, I think, "A Shepherds Life" written by a Cumbrian Shepherd. It ws published a couple of weeks ago, and sounds fascinating. The author (name escapes me) is from a family of sheep farmers, his ancestors have farmed there for generations. He went to Oxford Uni but then returned to carry on farming.

A slightly more sedate book is Bill Bryson's A Walk In The Woods. Terribly funny.