Top 10 Recommended Reads

I was recently asked to provide a list of 10 ‘recommended reads’ as the featured author in the September 2012 issue of Geographical Magazine. I thought I’d share the list here and encourage you to add some of your own favourite books.

The list contains far more adventure-related books than it might otherwise have since it was for a geography magazine who had just reviewed my book about expeditions (in fact, I’m not sure my real top ten would have any adventure books). They are in a vaguely biographical order.

Top 10 Recommended Reads

1. Extreme Alpinism: Climbing Light, Fast & High – Mark Twight

I’d read this at school, discuss extreme climbing techniques, then go walking across Exmoor with a cheap Eurohike tent and a rucksack full of Pot Noodle. His collection of stories, Kiss or Kill: Confessions of a Serial Climber is good too. (Amazon.com)

2. The Mammoth Book of Mountain Disasters – Hamish MacInnes

These epic tales prepared me well for my own wonderfully disastrous first mountaineering trip to Kyrgyzstan in 2003. (Amazon.com)

3. Then We Came to the End – Joshua Ferris

A delightful reminder of the folly and farce of the modern work place. This is to office life what Catch 22 is to war. (Amazon.com)

4. Pedalling to Hawaii – Stevie Smith

I may now have written a book about it but at the time I was stunned that someone could cross an ocean in a tiny pedal or rowing boat. (Amazon.com)

5. If Nobody Speaks of Remarkable Things – Jon McGregor

I enjoy travel for seeing more of the world but firmly believe that there is beauty in the every day, as this book illustrates so well. (Amazon.com)

6. The Testament of Gideon Mack – James Robertson

A fantastically enticing mystery. I’d love to explore Robertson’s fictional (?) ‘Black Jaws’ underground river gorge. (Amazon.com)

7. Mad, Bad & Dangerous to Know – Ranulph Fiennes

Fiennes’ realisation that he could make a living from expeditions made me wonder if I could do the same. (Amazon.com)

8. Moods of Future Joys – Alastair Humphreys

Whilst Fiennes showed me it was possible, Humphreys set the standards to which I aspired. Refreshingly honest and ego-less, like all of his books. (Amazon.com)

9. Blood, Sweat & Charity – Nick Stanhope

I started my website/business with the idea of being a human version of this book. (Amazon.com)

10. Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close – Jonathan Safran Foer

This sits alongside Jon McGregor as some of the most beautiful writing I’ve come across. (Amazon.com)

What books would tell a story about you?

Got any recommendations for me based on my list?

Add your comments below.

What would be in your top ten? Add your recommendations below.