Spring is just around the corner and with that comes warmer weather. Which means that for those of you who enjoying doing so, it’s time to get back outside. For the rest of us who don’t enjoy leaving the house, might I offer you some excellent reads featuring things that happen out of doors? That way anyone can enjoy nature without actually, you know, touching it.

I was walking by the new shelf recently and this one jumped out at me. I love any kind of good weather book, so I knew this was a must read. The thing I liked most about this one was that it talked about a lot of different topics about weather - not just one kind of event. We got a little bit about tornadoes, fires, hurricanes and even extreme heat. That was the most interesting part - partially because I read it when it was 100 outside and partially because that is not something that we normally think about as dangerous weather. And yet, extreme heat waves cause more deaths than any other kind of weather. This was a great read - I learned a lot. If you are any kind of weather geek like me, definitely check this out.

Since I love weather books, it tracks that I also enjoy books about wildfires. They are weather-adjacent. And this one was about a tough chick who decided to be a hot shot. I mean - who does that? Plus she was almost 40 when she hired on for her first fire season. After reading about how physical this job is, there is no way I could have ever hacked it. Also, I’m not good at roughing it. Fighting fires in full gear in 100 degree weather and not then not showering for 14 days does not sound like my idea of a good time. Good read, but would I do this? Yeah…no. If you enjoy this and want more, you can also check out the new release from River Selby called Hotshot. It talked about her time as a firefighter.

It has been a minute since I read a good surfing book, so when I saw this one, I was excited. The author was a former speech writer for President Obama and in order to beat the depression he faced with the current state of the world, he decided to start surfing. Luckily for him, his brother-in-law surfed. Unluckily, he was also a Joe Rogan superfan and they didn’t have the best relationship. I enjoyed the surfing part of this book. I didn’t realize there was such great surfing in New Jersey where the boys started. I honestly thought the author was crazy for thinking he could tackle a wave in Hawaii on the North Shore. While I liked David’s stick-to-it attitude and his work ethic, it bugged me a bit with how much he cared about his brother-in-law’s opinion about everything. Just have fun and surf, dude.

So the previous book mentioned this one. For some reason, I never read it when it came out. I think I read somewhere that it wasn’t really about surfing. Um…no. It’s all about surfing. And it won the Pulitzer Prize doing it. This was a great read - although it did take me more than a month to get through (which is like decades in my reading years). This was an excellent read and was probably better than the previous surfing book, but both are worth reading. This author also did some East Coast surfing after he spent years travelling around the world looking for good surf a la The Endless Summer. If you want an easy surf read, check out Litt’s book. If you want to dig a little deeper and go back quite a bit farther, this is the one for you. Of course, you can just read both. That’s what libraries are for! 

I’ve read a handful of books about river rafting. This was a good read. It takes a little getting into because the first part is about the author and her bumpy family life growing up. That said, this same childhood made her super tough, which is perfect for being a river guide.This is another one of those situations where I would never want to do it. I’m a good swimmer, so I’d be ok with the boat ride, but I don’t camp and I certainly don’t rough it in the wilderness. My favorite part was when the author talked to the river. Some people probably think she’s crazy when she does it, but I found that to be comforting. If you liked Wild, this is that, but on water.

I spent three days in which I did not have to leave the house reading about a guy who walked all the way around the world. I always gravitate to these stories about epic quests to travel great distances by motorcycle, or bicycle, or in this case, on foot. Still not good at roughing it and I don’t enjoy being in places where I don’t know anything - including the language. But this author seems to thrive in that environment. He planned to walk around the world for 9 years before he did it and then it took him 7 years once he started. Great read that captivated me once I got into it. Would I do this? Absolutely not. Should you read about it? Yep. It’s good.

Ok friends, those are my nature picks for you. Did I inspire you to go outside and experience it for yourself? Maybe. Is my couch still pretty comfy for reading on? Also yes. Either way, a good book is always a good book. Hope this helped you find a good one.

Happy Outsiding…
:) Amanda