What I hear you saying is...

Spring has sprung here in sunny NorCal, and it's time to start thinking about reading lists for this coming summer. Lately I've been on a tear with adventure & survival novels, so I thought I'd put together a short list of my favorites for folks interested in the genre. Some of these books are famous while others somewhat obscure. Each are epic. So pour yourself that tall glass of ice tea, get comfy in that hammock, and prepare read about a group of sorry souls in dire straits… In no particular order:

1) Endurance: Shackleton's Incredible Voyage
by Alfred Lansing

This is the story of William Shackleton's ill-fated excursion to Antarctica. Stranded on the ice, their ship crushed to splinters by the ice floes, this is the quintessential survival and escape story, and the measure of one leader's total commitment to getting his team out safely. I won't give away the outcome, but it's truly remarkable. Start here if you haven't read it.

2) Into Thin Air
by John Krakauer

The most contemporary and well-known book on this list. The story of what happens when (relatively speaking) mountaineering n00bs attempt Mt Everest and don't follow the rules of the mountain. Reads almost like a mystery in sections, as the teams get separated and Krakauer must re-piece the catastrophe by hearsay and muddy recollection of the other survivors.

3) We Die Alone
by David Howarth

A WWII story of a commando attempting to escape the Germans in Nazi-occupied Norway. Wow, just wow. If it were fiction, you'd question the author for straining plot credulity, but the tale is truly white-knuckle. This book landed on my doorstep as a gift and is one of the best I've ever read in the genre. Get it today.

4) Skeletons of the Zahara
by Dean King

Yes, it's "Zahara" with a "Z". Moving from one temperature extreme to the other, this is the story of a crew of American sailors in 1815 shipwrecked and then captured by Bedouin slavers in West Africa. Make sure you top off your ice tea before starting this one - you're going to get very, very thirsty.

5) The Lost City of Z
David Grann

The story of adventurer Percy Fawcett's Amazonian exploration and his sketchy disappearance. Author David Grann attempts to trace the footsteps of Fawcett in modern times and runs into an interesting set of obstacles in researching the man and the mystery. A great tale with an "El Dorado" theme.

6) Adrift
by Stephen Callahan

I just finished this a couple of nights ago. One man, one raft, 72 days, and open ocean. Interesting narrative as Callahan demonstrates that the Boy Scout's motto "Always be prepared" applies as much (or more) to mental and spiritual preparedness as to having the right gear. A good read, though I might not bring it along on an Atlantic cruise. (Jinx)

7) Mawson's Will
by Lennard Bickel

Another Antarctic mis-adventure that will have you sucking air through your teeth as you witness the extreme abuse the human body and spirit can endure. In fact, "Endurance" would have been a more appropriate title for this book, had it not already been taken. I guarantee the climax will make you yell out loud across the room. (Go ahead… "That's what she said!" Good. Got it out of your system? Let's continue.)

8) Eiger Dreams
by John Krakauer

Another Krakauer, I know. But very few people except fans seem to have read this one. Imagine waking up in pitch black, bivouacked at 22k feet and realize that your tent that was perched on the ridge is now under 2 tons of snow, along with your climbing buddies. The only part exposed is the tiny corner you find yourself in, that dangles over a precipice into the void. Good luck! Great essays if you like mountain climbing.

10) Blue Latitudes: Boldly Going Where Captain Cook has Gone Before
by Tony Horowitz

I threw this one in for fun because it's really well-written, and I like Horowitz' approach to the book, which is to visit all of the places Captain Cook (remarkable chap!) visited and compare the then-and-now aspects. His interviews all across the Pacific islands and territories are fascinating, as is his biography of Cook.

So there are a few - 10 actually - to keep you busy! Send me your suggestions in the comments so I can write another 10 next summer. Cheers~

Photo Credit: Library of New South Wales

As a follow up to the survival post, i came across this article via Coudal about an experience working in the Canadian Arctic:

[After seeing his friend's truck go crashing through the ice] The driver behind in the convoy had stopped well short of the hole in the ice and had already given up his buddy for dead before he saw that gloved hand rise up with the fuel tank. Negotiating the thin ice around the hole, the other driver pulled the fallen man out. A helicopter — an unusual sight, but not unheard of — just happened to be passing over. The pilot saw the incident, and landed nearby, soon flying the fallen driver to the nearest hospital within two hours. The driver was treated for hypothermia and frostbite, and released that night.

The rescued driver immediately went to the bar, where he wasted no time telling his story. A number of his listeners didn’t believe him and even took umbrage with the tale, at which point, the rescued driver became aggrieved, and a fight broke out. Less than twelve hours after he was submerged beneath the ice of the Arctic Ocean — a situation that no one in recent history had ever survived — the rescued driver was nearly beaten to death in a dingy bar. He was taken back to the same hospital he had just left, and this time, he was there for two months.

Brutal.