- "Devil in the White City" by Erik Larson
- "Arctic Dreams" by Barry Lopez
- "Storms of Silence" by Joe Simpson
- "High Tide in Tucson" by Barbra Kingsolver
- "Denali - a literary anthology" editted by Bill Sherwonit
- The six most recent issues of "The Sun"
- The four most recent issues of "The Surfer's Journal"... oh the agony!
P.S. After having just read through the list of books everyone sent in to format it for readability... well... it reminded me how fortunate I am to have so many amazing, wonderful, thoughtful people in my family and circle of friends. Thanks not only for the book suggestions but also your humor, insight and support... cheers.
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Matt,
I am sitting here with Chad and Clifford. Here is what we have come up with as our five favorite books:
Catcher in the Rye by Salinger (Chad - if you want to go old school)
Deep Survivial by Laurence Gonzales (Chad - great book of real tales of survival; very well written;up your alley)
Locos by Felipe Alfau (Barrett - for a very literary mindtrip; characters take over the story; same characters in different roles, etc)
City of the Century by Donald Miller (Barrett - phenomenal, readable history of Chicago through 1895)
The Phantom Tollbooth by Norton Juster (Barrett - my favorite kid's book; if you've never read this, it's an easy, amazingly creative and classic read)
... by Oliver Sacks (Chad - anything by this author; he wrote the basis for Awakenings... loosely based on his story; all loosely medically based)
Clifford recommends the following authors (all sci-fi):
George RR Martin
Katherine Kurtz
Tolkien (that'll take up some time)
Guy Gavriel Kaye (sick!)
Marian Zimmer Bradley
I believe that these will keep you busy. Are they our favorites? Some days. But in general they are just great reads. Barrett
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I just read a really good one called My Sister's Keeper by Judy Picult.
erin
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awakening the Buddha within
by lama surya das
maybe check out
Gaviotas: A Village to Reinvent the World too--pretty cool story and below is a link talking about the village
http://www.friendsofgaviotas.org/about.htm
take care man,
paul
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The Time Traveller's Wife
Veronica Decides to Die - Paulo Coelho
The Sparrow - Maria Doria Russell
Accidents in North American Mountaineering
The Case for Christ - Lee Stroebel?
(these are somewhat influenced by recent readings - if I remember others from previous years, I'll send them along, too.)
-Suz
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1) Wyoming Stories II by Annie Proulx. Dark, funny, really well written. This is her second volume of short stories set in Wyoming.
2) Fermat's Last Theorem by Simon Singh. Maybe it's because it was the first really good science writing I'd read, maybe it was because I studied so much math, but I thought this was a great read. Right now I'm reading Bill Bryson's A Brief History of Nearly Everything, which is also excellent. I'll have to go back and see if the other is really as good as I remember.
3) The Climate of Man by Elizabeth Kolbert. OK, I haven't actually read this book, but I've read the New Yorker series that it's based on. It's the one I was telling you about, and it has since won some awards, and it's really good. It's also set at least partly in the Arctic. (Can you say that non-fiction is "set" somewhere?)
4) Cassandra by Krista Wolf. This is a retelling of the Iliad from the perspective of Cassandra, the prophetess who forecast the fall of Troy. It's a strange book and wouldn't make sense if you hadn't read the Iliad and people tend to either strongly like it or dislike it. I liked it so it's on my list, though I don't necessarily recommend you read it.
5) Oryx and Crake by Margaret Atwood. I'm not sure if I like this better than a lot of other novels, but I liked it a lot and I think you might enjoy it.
Alright, that's it! Let us know what other people recommend, and what you end up reading.Take care,
Hannah
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Any request for a top 5 always immediately causes me to panic and argue that there's no such thing, but here goes some 'topofthehead' recommendations.
recently I've been reading books by a chap called Tom Holt - and I think they're very enjoyable - or is that my love of a dark english sense of humour ;)
if you haven't read the phillip pullman 'his dark materials' trilogy then that will keep you entertained for a while: i don't know anyone who has disliked them!!!!
I've also enjoyed books by andrei kurkov; haruki murakami (start with norwegian wood or west of the border before moving on to something heavier if it works for you);
Phillip Ball's: Critical Mass may interest the scientist inside you;
Jasper Fforde (first book is the Eyre Affair - more of my kind of english humour - about five more if you like that);
personal favourites are: Hitckhikers Guide to the Galaxy and George Orwell's 1984. Many more were that came from... Rich
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Jane Erye by Charlotte Bronte
Simple Abundance, A Daybook of Comfort and Joy by Sarah Ban Breathnach (Men's version is A Man's Journey to Simple Abundance Edited by Michael Sigell)
How To Know God by Depak Choprah
The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People by Steven Covey
All the Harry Potter books by Rowlings
Love,
Mom
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Book: La sombra del viento, Carlos Ruiz Zafón. I do not know the English title, might sound like: The shadow of the wind, but I am sure you will find it in Amazon, etc. in a good translation.
Regards – Wolfgang
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Heyya Matty, Thanks for the update. Now ThatS! what I wanted in anupdate, pics, personal information, a few details,good job. Hmmm... five favourite books. Well, I'll give you my all-time favourite five books.It's a bit hard, some of them I read a long time ago and they seemed profound or important then, but that doesn't mean I could go back and read them. There's plenty of other books, more recently read, that were great reads. They just don't make it into my"life-time most important book list". Part of the problem, is that some books become a partof my identity, for whatever reason, independent of their objective quality. The same way we might identify with the car we own, our choice of hobbies,our work or our clothes. They're more important than they are good. anyhoo,
1) Labyrinths: a collection of short stories by JorgeLuis Borges. The perfect combination of art, thoughtand sentiment. As short, sharp and clean as an arrowto the heart.
2) Tao Te Ching: Lao Tzu. My grandfather gave this tome when I was 13. I guess it's been the closest thingto religion I've ever been introduced to by someone I truly respected.
3) Tropic of Cancer: Henry Miller. What can I say? Iwas 18, drunk and sleeping on the streets of Paris.
4) Wind, Sand and Stars: Antoine de St. Exupery. Noman is an island, all the time. Yet, it's when we are alone that we have the space to see to the horizon.
5) Quest for the Lost City: Dana Lamb. Only thecoolest, least pretentious adventure book and the only one that convinces you that adventure can be had by anyone with the correct spirit.
That'll keep you busy. If you have the time, it wouldbe great to put everyone's suggestions into one longlist. more soon,
-d
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Regarding books, Immediately I thought about these (not 5, but three)
1. The Name of the Rose, by Umberto Eco (I loved it, but is really really hard to read). Probably you've seen the movie
2. Sophie's World, by Jostein Gaarder. A very easy to follow introduction to philosophy, in the shape of a novel.
3. Guns, Germs and Steel, by Jared Diamond. Pulitzer winner.
4. The Three Musketters, and Vingt ans apres, by Alexandre Dumas. They have been lying on my bed table since I was 12. I know the book so well, that I can open any chapter and read it independently.
That is an interesting mixture. Hopefully you can find something suitable for your polar nights. Or you can read South, by Ernest Shackleton regarding his adventure on the cold Antartic, or his biography. If you get into that, I also suggest the biography of Roald Amudsen.
Cheers,
Pato & Co
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As for your list of 5 favorite books, I can't really narrow it down to 5 but here are some that I love:
Confederacy of Dunces - John Kennedy Toole
Crime and Punishment - Doestoevsky
Rabbit Run - John Updike
Grapes of Wrath - John Steinbeck (really, anything by Steinbeck is very worth reading)Anything by George Orwell
Anything by Flannery O'Connor
All the best,Robin
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A book that I think you will enjoy:
Blink, non-fiction about understanding where instinct comes from and how to recognize it in our brain. AWESOME BOOK.
Stay warm, remember, when you feel sleepy and your outside, it means your brain is freezing. Little lesson I learned in Kenai, AL.
Love
Sylvia, Brian and Logan
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Sounds exciting! I've never been to Alaska, but I've seen spectacular pics. As for the books, check out:
Confederacy of Dunces (comedy),
War and Peace,
Don Quijote (the classics).
The first one is a much easier read, yet very intelligent. Good luck!
John Byers
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I really like Martin Eden, a famous Jack London book. But anything by London going to be alright.
I liked One flew east, one flew west, one flew over the cuckoo's nest.
Also, if you can find a book called The Tracker, I guarantee you would like it.
I like the L'engle books, fantasy space/time travel/telepathy etc etc- but they are very much fantasy.
I read Ultra Marathon Man, its OK too from an intense point of view.
Alaska looks pretty cool- and from what you say and the guys here that worked on the Slope remember, it seems like it might be a good place for me to bring my cold-weather experience sometime in the future.
Hope you have a good Vokhtah!!
Later,
Trale
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1. Dragon Tears DEAN KOONTZ
2. Fear Nothing DEAN KOONTZ
3. Seize the Night DEAN KOONTZ
4. Watchers DEAN KOONTZ
5. Icebound DEAN KOONTZ
Had to put the last one in there. Good luck with the reading. If you do read any of these tell me what you thought.
Kevin
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My top 10 books I would recommend for you, in no specific order:
1. Gone Baby Gone, by Dennis Lehane
2. The Fountainhead, by Ayn Rand
3. Bringing Down the House, by Ben Mezrich
4. The Sparrow, by Mary Doria Russell
5. Blink, by Malcolm Gladwell
6. Marley and Me, by John Grogan
7. One Hundred Years of Solitude, Gabriel Garcia Marquez
8. The Red Tent, by Anita Diamant
9. Life of Pi, by Yann Martel
10.The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down, by Anne Fadiman
watch out for the polar bears! see you at christmas, hoepfully you got someone good for the grab bag!
c
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A Walk to Remember
The Notebook
The Giving Tree
All the Places You Go
Nice Girls Don't Get the Corner Office
The Bible- by God :-)
Heart to Heart - by Britney Spears
I will try to come up with additional good reads and send them your way!!!! :-)
Happy Reading!
Catie
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Haven't read:
Collapse by Jared Diamond
The Hero with a thousand faces by Joseph Cambell
Awesome:
Ancient Wisdom Modern World by Dali Lama
If you haven't read it, you MUST get Arctic Dreams by Barry Lopez. Absolutely stunning book about the arctic. Good info about history, nature, science, & good reading.
Lastly, Bear Attacks their causes and avoidance by Stephen Herarro - this is the definitive book about bears, and it seems like it may be relevant to where you are.
Just got back from teaching a mountaineering I course through the ORC; all went well. Gotta unpack all my wet crap then do some homework & sleep.
Take care,
Logan
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Given you work for an oil company, I recommend "ThePrize: The Epic Quest for Money, Oil and Power" byDaniel Yergin.
I also recommend "The Path Between theSeas" by David McCullough, which is about the buildingof the Panama Canal.
By the way, you really are crazy. You hoping to marry an eskimo up there?
Chris Kroll
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Books:
1984 - Orwell
Clockwork Orange - Burgess
Fight Club - Palanuik
The Old Man and the Sea - Unknown
Lonesome Dove - McMurtry
Wade Osborne
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not much time today to write, but a couple books pop readily to mind:
Hunger - Knut Hamsun
The Snow Leopard - Peter Matthiesen
Zen and The Art of Motorcycle Maintenance - Robert Prisig
Jason Killian
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Ah, this is easy!
Water for Elephants (just published this year…FANTASTIC…everyone I know keeps telling everyone else to read it too!)
Battle Cry, Leon Uris…old book but always on my top 10
To Kill a Mockingbird…you’ve probably read it a few times already….still my favorite!
In Cold Blood…another old favorite
Innocent Man….new John Grisham…very, very good…his first non-fiction
Jan Mosely
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...as for the books, I always have been a Kurt Vonnegut fan, and I liked Tolkein's Lord of the Rings Trilogy, but read the Hobbit first. Sorry, these are old books, but I have not had much free time to read lately. Most of my time is spent taking care of my daughter or working around the house. We watch a lot of Disney/Pixar type movies, such as Madagascar, Finding Nemo, Toy Story, Monsters Inc., and Cars, over and over again. I suppose I complain a lot, but it has truly been an incredibly wonderful experience to have a daughter.
Richard
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Nice pics. Hope all is well.
My five in the non-fiction category are as follows:
1. Bar none, my first pick is: "Endurance" by Alfred Lansing [topic: Shackleton]...(but I think you have read that one); so a second pick is "The Last Place on Earth" by Roland Huntford [Amundsen and Scott's race to the South Pole].
2. "The Second World War" by Winston Churchill (its 6 vols, but heh you have time)
3. "Track of the Grizzly" by Frank Craighead [First radio tracking of grizzlys in the Yellowstone area, circa 1960]
4. "West with the Night" by Beryl Markham [First westward transatlantic flight]
5. "Cadillac Desert" by Marc Reisner [water in the West]
Bonus Pick: "A Stillness at Appomattox" by Bruce Catton [last year of the civil war in the east]
Enjoy,
Lee
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Forgive me if you've already read any of these, but:
Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies by Jared M. Diamond (Paperback - April 1, 1999)
Collapse: How Societies Choose to Fail or Succeed by Jared Diamond (Hardcover - Dec 29, 2004)
Arctic Grail: The Quest for the Northwest Passage and The North Pole, 1818-1909 by Pierre Berton (Paperback - Aug 2000)
Ghosts of Cape Sabine: The Harrowing True Story of the Greely Expedition by Leonard F. Guttridge (Paperback - Nov 2000)In the Heart of the Sea: The Tragedy of the Whaleship Essex by Nathaniel Philbrick (Paperback - May 1, 2001)
The last three are about tradgedy and despair in desolate wastelands, which should be fitting topics while up on the North Slope. If you're not in the mood for non-fiction, I recommend the entire Patrick O'brian "Master and Commander" series (aka Aubrey/Maturin series) if you enjoy Royal Navy historical fiction.
Beer and coffee,
Chad McMullen
Seattle, WA (capital of the state of Alaska)
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