Reading on the Trail

[Jess Blank]

I've always been a 'read myself to sleep' person and usually have some reading material on backpacking trips. I was thinking about taking my kindle with me on the AT. Does anyone have recommended reading while on the trail? I've read almost all of the 'hiking' and a lot of the 'outdoor adventure' books as well as a lot of material from naturalists. I was just wondering if there was a books out there that became part of your journey while you were hiking?

[Sierra2015]

Hi there. What sort of books do you like?

Have you read Call of the American Wild? I read that last week and while it's harsh... it's also amazingly interesting and informative.

I also like Lonesome Dove, Prince of Tides, The Son by Philip Meyer, C. S. Forester's nautical Hornblower series, The Caine Mutiny, True Grit, Kevin Hearne's The Iron Druid series, anything by Orson Scott Card, Brent Weeks' the Night Trilogy (I think that's what it's called), and Stieg Larson's trilogy.

Of that list I would suggest either the Caine Mutiny or Prince of Tides. Or Lonesome Dove. Or True Grit. Crap. I want to go over that list again! Lol.

What are you looking for specifically? I read a lot and I can shamelessly say I go through a book or two a week.

[moldy]

I read all the time. I like something other than outdoor adventure while on a outdoor adventure. For me the perfect book for backpacking, 1 cheap, 2 fiction, 3 small, 4 flammable. I usually find them in hostels, shelters and junk stores. I usually have a backup.

[Lone Wolf]

i always carried a Readers Digest and crossword puzzles

[Hikes in Rain]

I'll read the back of a toothpaste tube if nothing else is available! Moldy's suggestion is spot on, except for No. 4, which always chokes me! While I haven't yet tried hiking with a Kindle (and don't even own one), they look to be about the size and weight of a "real" book, and can store a whole library. That's intreging! I do have the Kindle apps on my phone and laptop, with 352 books as of this morning......

[Kerosene]

I'll second the C.S. Forester Hornblower series. I've vacillated between using my iPhone to read or bring my Kindle on my 7-9 day section hikes. This last go-round I just used the iPhone (in Airplane mode with few apps running and low display intensity to prolong battery life). The Kindle app doesn't use much power.

However, I also find that, by the time I get to camp, set everything up, refill the water, eat, get read for bed, etc. that I'm pretty tired and ready to go to sleep. It's great for zero days though!

[Hikes in Rain]

Forrester also wrote The African Queen, back in 1935. It's every bit as good as the Hornblower series, but doesn't track the movie exactly, particularly the ending sequences. I was a little stunned when I read it.

[Bronk]

I found several books in shelters, carried them for a day or two while I was reading them and then left them in the next shelter for others to read. I found A Walk Across America by Peter Jenkins, Dharma Bums by Jack Kerouac and Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy that I can remember off the top of my head.

[Old Hiker]

Terry Pratchett - Disc World - fantasy and MANY of them - very funny
Elmer Kelton - westerns
Louis L'Amour - westerns
Heinlein - SF
Carl Hiaasen - FL humor - almost local in flavor, but VERY funny

Looking at Kindle type next time maybe. I like to read while eating and during breaks. Found The 3 Musketeers on my phone + a couple of other classics. Read through them. Downloaded one to finish. It worked and didn't use my battery up too much. I may do this again instead of ANOTHER electronic to carry.

Picked up paperbacks at hostels and carried them forward a couple of times - found The Hobbit at one shelter and carried it until I had re-read it, then dropped it at a motel in Hot Springs for their library.

[Rain Man]

I do like a book on the trail, though rarely a paper one. I have begun downloading them to my smartphone. However, what I really prefer is audio books. I don't listen constantly, but with a good audio book going in my ear, I can climb some pretty good size mountains and hardly realize it. I either borrow "Playaways" from the public library or mp3 files to my phone. Advantages of audio books include (*) can hike while "reading," (*) can listen in car on way to/from the trail, and (*) arms don't get cold and tired holding the book up while in the sack, (*) etc.

I prefer historical books, either real events or "novel" versiions.

RainMan

.

[Pedaling Fool]

http://www.amazon.com/UFOs-Conspirac.../dp/B007K4H8VS

[Slo-go'en]

I have a hard time putting down a physical book until it's done. Which can make for some long nights For some reason I don't have that compulsion with ebooks. With the Kindle, I can just read a chapter or two and put it away.

When starting a book you find in a shelter, make sure the last chapters are still there. I once got 1/2 way through a book before I noticed the ending was missing and it was the kind of book which really needed an ending. If you really need paper to start a fire, use the first chapters, not the last!

[Jess Blank]

I also like Lonesome Dove, Prince of Tides, The Son by Philip Meyer, C. S. Forester's nautical Hornblower series, The Caine Mutiny, True Grit, Kevin Hearne's The Iron Druid series, anything by Orson Scott Card, Brent Weeks' the Night Trilogy (I think that's what it's called), and Stieg Larson's trilogy.

Whoa! Thanks for the list! I've read most of Orson Scott Card, and Larson's trilogy, and Lonesome Dove, but the rest will be new to my list. I loved True Grit the movie. I tried to read Master and Commander and just couldn't get into it so I'm wary of nautical books, but since it comes so recommended I might try it again.

I like all kinds of books, some of my favorite books for reading about the natural world or being in it are The Man Who Walked Through Time, anything by Ed Abbey or Ellen Meloy, Pilgrim at Tinker Creek. I like science reading if it can tell a story like Sagan, E.O. Wilson and Oliver Sacks. And I love fiction. Anything that can invent a world that I couldn't imagine on my own, or anything that lets me have a new perspective. I wasn't sure if on a hike this long if people had favorite stories that really resonated with their experiences on the trail. So I was searching for that, and of course just great new book suggestions!

[Jess Blank]

I think the Kindle is going to be a good carry for me, I'm worried about draining the battery on my phone which I will want to use for photographs and it really is very light (5.98 ounces) and will have any book I want available to download anytime I find wifi. I've thought about starting the Game of Thrones series, you can get all of the available ones at one time on the Kindle, I just worried about joining the large population of people waiting forever for the next book to come out, but large bulky books like that definitely have a e-book advantage.

Audiobooks are a great idea too! I've subscribed to Audible before.

[Terry7]

i always have atleast 10 audio books on my mp 3 player when you got to set in your tent all day waiting out a rain storm you will be glad you got some thing to listen to

[rocketsocks]

along time ago I started collecting magazines, after a short time I had a whole bunch. My asked why I was saving them, I said because I wanted to read the articles...she said well why don't you just tear out the articles and save those...Brilliant! so that's what I do now. If I come across something that looks interesting...Rrrrip, staple, read at leisure. I also like to read maps, I can get lost in a map and the birds 'll be singin.

Audio books on tape are another big favorite of mine...couple a few titles on my ipod

The Exorsist~written and read by William Peter Blatty, he really knocks it outta the park.

Longitude~ Dava Sobel about John Harrison, an 18th-century clockmaker who created the first clock (chronometer) sufficiently accurate to be used to determine longitude at sea—an important development in navigation.

Basin and Range~The first of John McPhee’s works in his series on geology and geologists, Basin and Range is a book of journeys through ancient terrains, always in juxtaposition with travels in the modern world—a history of vanished landscapes, enhanced by the histories of people who bring them to light.

A short history of nearly everything~Written and read by Bill Bryson, and as the title suggests...it's a history of nearly everything, at least many of the big break throughs in history anyway, and encompassing many different disciplines, mainly the hard sciences.

just to name a few

[Feral Bill]

Oddly, I find Shakespeare goes well in the backcountry. Also Tolkien.

[Deadeye]

Cujo.....
.

[colorado_rob]

I read the entire 5-book Game of Thrones series last year on the AT, probably at least one full hour a day (using my Kindle app on phone; I carried extra batteries). Tolkien is a fantastic idea, Bill.

[Jess Blank]

A short history of nearly everything~Written and read by Bill Bryson, and as the title suggests...it's a history of nearly everything, at least many of the big break throughs in history anyway, and encompassing many different disciplines, mainly the hard sciences.

just to name a few

I love this book!! I also love the tearing things out bit. Sometimes it's the simplest hacks that are the best!