I love a good book

Desertbound's Recommended Reading List

(in no particular order)

How could I forget! To Kill a Mockingbird must be on my list as well.

1. Peace Like a River ~ Leif Enger
A young boy deals with a chronic illness while exploring the possibility that his father performs miracles. A poetic, lyrical and beautifully told story.

2. The Long Walk ~ Slavomir Rawicz
A Polish army officer is imprisoned by the Russians and sent to Siberia. The incredible journey of him and his companions as they escape and make their way across the Gobi desert and the Himalayas to freedom.

3. Jane Eyre ~ Charlotte Bronte
An absolute classic. One of my favorite books of all time. Interesting perspective on values and morality.

4. Follow the River ~ James Alexander Thom
The gripping account based on actual events of a white woman’s escape from an Indian tribe and her treck back home. Not for the faint of heart.

5. A Vagabond for Beauty ~ W.L. Rusho
The mysterious true story of Everett Ruess, a young man that disappeared in the Escalante wilderness in the early ‘30’s.

6. Desert Solitaire~ Edward Abbey
A wilderness advocate's must read. Gritty, unapologetic look at government, civilization and the wonder and beauties of the desert southwest.

7. Endurance~ Shackleton's Incredible Voyage - Alfred Lansing
The harrowing account of the crew of the ship Endurance that was trapped in the Antarctic ice for over a year.

8. *Stargirl* ~ Jerry Spinelli
Every teenager or parent of a teenager should read this book! It explores all kinds of issues about individuality, self-image and what love really is all about. I hear there is a sequel out now...

9. Seabiscuit ~ Laura Hillenbrand
The true story of the horse racing legend. So well-written with painstaking attention to detail- enough to make you feel as if you are in the jockey's seat. Triumphant!

10. Crow Lake ~ Mary Lawson
This family's closet is full of skeletons at Crow Lake. Poetically written with an interesting perspective.

11. The Count of Monte Cristo ~ Alexander Dumois
Definitely not the movie. Is Revenge worth the price of your own Redemption?Classic story to be enjoyed over the summer or curled up with in front of the fire on a cold winter's night.

12. Proper Edge of the Sky - The High Plateau Country of Utah ~ Edward A. Geary
Anyone interested in Utah geography and geology will love this non-fiction book that is so beautifully written and researched.

13. Touching the Void ~ Joe Simpson
A harrowing true account of near death and ultimate self-rescue in the Peruvian Andes. Wow.

14. Between a Rock and a Hard Place ~ Aaron Rhalston
If you have the one above, you have to have this one, too.

15.Red - Passion and Patience in the Desert ~ Terry Tempest Williams
Wonderful book of essays about wilderness and the desert.

16. Climbing Free: My Life in the Vertical World ~ Lynn Hill
Autobiography of the first person, a WOMAN, to make a "free" ascent of the Nose on El Capitan in Yosemite National Park in 1993. A free climb uses only hands and feet. No jummars, ladders or other equipment. Hill was allowed to rest at belay stations, and had a climbing partner to catch her when she fell, but she led all the way and managed to climb sections that had never before been completed without the aid of equipment. Hill returned to The Nose in 1994 and climbed it in less than one day. A free ascent of The Nose has not been accomplished by any other climber. After twenty-six years of climbing, Hill seriously considered the question, "What do we conquer in a mountain?" "Certainly, we do not 'conquer' anything by climbing to the top of a rock or peak," she wrote in Climbing Free. "For me, climbing is a form of exploration that inspires me to confront my own inner nature within nature. No matter where I am in the world or what summit I've attained, the greatest sense of fulfillment in my life is connected to people."

16.Pride and Prejudice ~ Jane Austen
Another one of my all time favorites. I think Rock has read it more times than I have.

Right now I am enjoying the Twilight series.