I’ve read a lot of books this year, and I thought with Christmas approaching I’d pull together a list of those that I’ve enjoyed the most in case you’re stuck for a present to buy someone or just looking for something to read over the festive period yourself. Some have been published this year, but others have been around for a while. Links are to the books page on GoodReads, rather than a particular online or other bookseller. I’m sure you can work that bit out, but I’d recommend your local bookstore as a first port of call.

If you have any suggestions yourself, then do please leave a comment below.

 

 

 

 

 

Yellowstone: A Journey through America’s Wild Heart by David Quammen [LINK] There are some amazing images in this book coupled with the writing of David Quammen it’s a great overview of one of America’s best know national parks. It’s a great coffee table type book, but also a great read generally.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Scorched Noir by Garnett Elliot [LINK] This is a great collection of eight (I think) short crime stories set down in the American SouthWest. You can feel the climate and surroundings on each page, and the heroes and villains are well written and in your face.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The World-Ending Fire: The Essential Wendell Berry by Wendell Berry [LINK] If you’re not familiar with Wendell Berry this is probably a good place to start as this book is a collection of his writing from across his entire life. He explores many issues in the natural world and the world in general, and this book will certainly make you stop and think not only about the world around you, but also your place in it.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

RISINGTIDEFALLINGSTAR by Philip Hoare [LINK] This is very much a set of personal reflections but also how water, the sea and the animals and plants around it have interacted with the author and authors and poets before him. The book looks backwards in time, but also forward to what may come to pass. I found myself totally drawn into the telling of tales, many of which I knew very little about.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Moods of Future Joys by Alastair Humphreys [LINK] modern day adventurer Alastair Humphreys set off to ride by bicycle from his home in the UK to Australia. Along the way his journey changed as a result of world events, and his route took him through the middle-east and Africa (and perhaps on a journey that wouldn’t be possible now. This is the first volume in his adventures, and I am thoroughly looking forward to reading the next one, but I’d recommend this if you want to read about some solo adventuring.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Floating: A Life Regained by Joe Minihane [LINK] If you like wild swimming or have read Roger Deakins “Waterlog”, then this is probably the book for you. Minihane re-swims the lakes and rivers and watercourses that Roger Deakin first wrote about. At the same time Minihane has his own journey of self-discovery. If you haven’t read “Waterlog” then this is still worth a read, but if you have then you’ll be interested to see how things have changed since Roger Deakin swam his book, and how perhaps he took some licence with what he wrote.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Mawson’s Will by Lennard Bickel [LINK] Possibly, like me, you have never heard of Douglas Mawson, but his adventure and tale of survival ranks up there with the likes of Scott, and Shackleton. How Mawson survived and overcame the conditions in Antarctica that threaten his life on a daily basis is quite incredible.