Today is National Trails Day, a day that exists to “bring the next generation outside and into the wonder of the natural world.” Since I am what a friend once called a “hothouse plant” (you should hear what my enemies call me), I generally celebrate holidays of this nature, that is “nature holidays”, by reading a good book about getting outdoors.
So in today’s edition of Book Tag, please suggest your favorite book, fiction or nonfiction about The Great Outdoors, getting out and enjoying God’s creation, sunshine and open spaces.
Remember the rules: In this game, readers suggest ONE good book in the category given, then let somebody else be “it” before they offer another suggestion. There is no limit to the number of books a person may suggest, but they need to politely wait their turn with only one book suggestion per comment.
My kick-off suggestion is Peter Jenkins’ classic A Walk Across America, the true story of a young man who decided to walk across the country from the Atlantic coast to the Pacific in search of . . . himself? Meaning? Patriotism? It’s a great story, and I absolutely loved living vicariously through Mr. Jenkins’ journey through the United States of 1979. (Jenkins only made it to New Orleans in the first book, so there’s a sequel, The Walk West.)
Oh, and thanks for the summer reading suggestions from last week. I’ve already reserved a few of the books you all suggested at the library so that I can read them this summer, outdoors while watching someone else hike down a lovely woodland trail. From my lawn chair. Under a shade tree.
Ready, set, go!
A Walk in the Woods by Bill Bryson
Wild by Cheryl Strayed (FYI – I read it before Oprah picked it for her book club.) In honor of NTD, check out this site for views from space of some of our most amazing national parks.
http://www.wired.com/wiredscience/2011/08/national-parks-from-space/
In Beauty She May Walk
by Leslie Mass
chuckling–I”m right there with you! 🙂 My Mom used to beg me to “get my nose out of that book and go outside”. I’d go out on the deck and read my book! tee, hee
Dana, In beauty May She Walk sounds amazing. I looked it up and it’s about a woman hiking the Appalachian Trail at age 60. I am headed toward that age, and I would not make it five miles.
My second pick is My Side of the Mountain by Jean Craighead George. Brown Bear Daughter and I wrtoe about this young adult/children’s classic here: http://www.semicolonblog.com/?p=1112
I just finished reading Freckles by Gene Stratton Porter earlier today, and (as you know, I’m sure) it’s about nature and Freckles does a whole lot of walking in it. 🙂 I also thought of My Side of the Mountain, but I see you beat me to that.
Thoreau also comes to mind. I just read this blog post on Janet’s (Across the Page) nature blog in which she quotes extensively from Thoreau’s “Walking”: http://www.discovering-nature.net/2012/06/05/why-nature-why-now/
They Almost Always Come Home by Cynthia Ruchti. Fiction set in the Boundary Waters Area. What would you do if your husband is late returning from a solo 2 week camping/canoeing trip? Would you go after him, even if you had never canoed/camped? This main character did! Good for those who want to see the great outdoors through the eyes of someone else!
Sherry, I have no interest in hiking the AT, but I love day hikes. Leslie’s memoir helped me realized that I’m not too old to train for longer distances. I have slowly built up and can do 10 miles in one day, but usually just hike 3-6 as my schedule allows. Learning the history of the area and identifying flora/fauna keep me entertained.
Even though this is a cooking blog, I have a list of my favorite books. Two of my favorite books about rivers are “A River Runs Through It” by Norman Maclean and “The River Why” by David James Duncan.