Welcome to my sixth annual list of outdoor book recommendations. Each year, I consume dozens and dozens of books. Some are fiction. Others are memoirs. And quite a few of them are books about the outdoors.
While my book tastes vary based on my mood, nothing helps me get through a rainy or gloomy day like a book about the outdoors. If you’re looking for a recommendation from my 2024 bookshelf, here are five books that I truly loved about some aspect of the outdoor space. Enjoy!
#1 – A Walk in the Park
My absolute favorite outdoor book of the year was A Walk in the Park: The True Story of a Spectacular Misadventure in the Grand Canyon. Readers may recognize Kevin Fedarko’s name from his epic book The Emerald Mile about Kenton Grua’s record-breaking run through the Colorado River in 1983 using a wooden dory. Fedarko’s sophomore book also takes place in the Grand Canyon. But this time, it follows his journey on foot as he and his hiking partner (National Geographic photographer Pete McBride) attempt to traverse the entire length of the Grand Canyon below the rim. Few writers can capture the majesty of this iconic landmark the way Fedarko does. His knowledge of the Grand Canyon’s geology and storied past is like a love song that captured my soul. Arizona has some of the best hiking I’ve ever experienced. I’ve dabbled with hiking the Grand Canyon, having fastpacked the gorge rim-to-rim-to-rim in 2017 and hiking through it on my Arizona Trail thru-hike in 2022. But nothing comes close to Fedorko’s journey, and this book made me want to return and hike many more miles inside the canyon immediately.
#2 – Take Less, Do More
Fans of the ultralight gear company Gossamer Gear know its motto: Take Less, Do More. But fewer hikers will recognize the company’s founder Glen Van Peski. This memoir isn’t about Van Peski’s efforts to create a cottage gear company. It’s about his philosophy of life. Through stories and anecdotes, Van Peski shares his life lessons about generosity, gratitude, and happiness. Like the minimalist movement writ large, Van Peski concludes that life is far better when it is simple. The fewer things you carry (physically, mentally, and metaphorically), the more room you leave for the things that truly matter: experiences and people. I listened to Take Less, Do More as an audiobook (which Van Peski reads) just before I walked the Camino Portugues in the spring of 2024, and I took the book’s message as a challenge. Rather than packing for a hiking adventure in Europe in my typical way, I experimented with leaving a lot of items behind. I wanted to see if simplicity improved my pilgrimage, and I was pleasantly surprised by the outcome. Even readers with no interest in ultralight backpacking or minimalism will ask themselves one question at the end of this book. Are you prioritizing the things you value most?
#3 – The Comfort Crisis
After recommending this title to one of my hiking companions on the Colorado Trail, I felt compelled to immediately read it again. After three years, I still find this book as compelling as ever. Michael Easter looks at how humans have become more comfortable than our ancestors, yet we simultaneously seem to be experiencing higher rates of depression, anxiety, obesity, and other health risks. In getting to the root of the problem, the Easter weaves the story of his misogi (a transformational test to push one’s limits) on a 5-week caribou hunt in Alaska with scores of recent data about how humans need big physical challenges to mentally and emotionally thrive. The author’s background as a journalism professor makes this book a quick, digestible read. The Comfort Crisis is for anyone who’s experienced the mental transformation of a thru-hike, yet struggled to explain their sense of happiness amid extreme discomfort to their more sedentary friends or loved ones.
#4 – The World Walk
I have always tried to follow the mantra of living a life ‘less ordinary.’ But Tom Turcich’s adventure puts my own to shame. After losing a friend when he was a teen, Turchich resolves to experience everything life has to offer. So in 2015, he set out on a round-the-world adventure on foot with his dog, Savannah. His tale isn’t just about all the beautiful places they visited (though there are many) or the harrowing stories (like being held at knifepoint in Central America). Its about self-discovery and the lessons Turich takes from each of the cultures he experiences. Trying to distill a 28,000-mile, 7-year journey into a single book is a difficult task, and I appreciated his candor in sharing the loneliness of such a massive trek. If you have a sense of wanderlust and desire to see places off the beaten path, The World Walk is a great read.
#5 – Great Surveys of the American West
This 400-page book, written by a history professor at Florida State University in 1962, isn’t everyone’s cup of tea. I bought Great Surveys from the West from a used bookstore on a whim while writing my upcoming book about how each state high point got its name. These four geologic surveys, led by Ferdinand Hayden, Clarence King, John Wesley Powell, and George Wheeler, explored and mapped much of the Western US in the aftermath of the Civil War. I already knew some aspects of Clarence King’s life from Martha Sandweiss’s book Passing Strange and a bit about John Wesley Powell from Promise of the Grand Canyon, yet this book perfectly satisfied the geography nerd and history buff in me. While reading this book, I felt as if I was putting myself into the adventurous shoes of each of the 19th-century survey parties as they set off into the ‘unknown’ to capture the magnificence of the American West. This book definitely earned a spot on my permanent bookshelf right beside How the States Got Their Shapes.
Looking for more book ideas?
Check out my prior reading lists to help get you through the doldrums of being indoors when you’d rather be hiking, climbing, or backpacking: