Books about walking and hiking

Wild: From Lost to Found on the Pacific Crest Trail

by Cheryl Strayed

In desperate need of a fresh start after the death of her mother and divorcing her husband, Cheryl Strayed decided to hike more than 1000 miles of the Pacific Crest Trail by herself, even though she had little hiking experience. What follows is a journey of ups and downs, hope and despair, as she moves toward healing and making sense of her past.

Lillian Boxfish Takes a Walk

by Kathleen Rooney

A friend talked me into reading this after she shared that every member of her diverse book club loved this—the twenty-somethings and the sixty-somethings. That got my attention. It's the last day of 1984, and 85-year-old Lillian Boxfish takes a walk in late-night Manhattan, on a very specific mission. As she walks, she reflects on the life she's lived, the people she's known, and where things began to go wrong. This reminded me of J. Courtney Sullivan's The Engagements because of the strong women at the center of each.

Walking: One Step At a Time

by Erling Kagge

I've had this little book on my stack for well over a year, and am so glad I picked it up as one of my final 2020 reads! I loved it so much. This book in translation (from the original Norwegian) is a little bit personal story, a little bit philosophical meditation on just that—how walking is grounding and expansive. I took a ridiculous number of notes in my book journal (which I shared with the Modern Mrs. Darcy Book Club in our Best Book of the Year event, along with all the quotes I had to read out loud to my family).

Something Wild & Wonderful

by Anita Kelly

After Alexei saves hot hiker Ben from stepping on a snake, they keep running into each other on the 2,500-mile Pacific Crest Trail until they decide to hike together. The farther they go, the more they realize they might not be able to walk away. (Open door.)

Walking with Sam: A Father, a Son, and Five Hundred Miles Across Spain

by Andrew McCarthy

Our team member Ginger raved about this book ... and then when I was looking for an audiobook Will and I could listen to together on our way to the beach, I realized the walk in question takes place on Spain's Camino de Santiago. Will and I were actively anticipating our upcoming trip to Spain, so the timing was perfect! This is the real-time account of the Brat Pack actor's 500-mile walk across Spain with his 19-year-old son Sam, detailing the pair's reasons for embarking on the trip, their long, hot days spent walking—sometimes upwards of 20 miles a day—in the hot summer sun, the fellow walkers they meet along the way, the food they eat, the coffee they drink, the inns they sleep in, what they talk about along the way. We rarely listen to audiobooks together and enjoyed this one so much. The narration was especially good: the elder McCarthy reads the majority but son Sam frequently adds his own voice, which made for a wonderful listening experience.

Flâneuse: Women Walk the City in Paris, New York, Tokyo, Venice, and London

by Lauren Elkin

A flâneur is the French word for an idler or stroller. Elkin turns our attention to the feminine form of that word, noting the different ways women live and walk in cities compared to men. She shares her own memories of walking in various cities where she’s lived, as well as profiles of notable flâneuses like novelist George Sand and war correspondent Martha Gellhorn. Elkin believes walking can help us feel more at home in the world. Don’t be surprised if you feel inspired to go for a walk through your town once you’re done.

A Walk in the Woods

by Bill Bryson

Renowned travel writer Bryson takes to the Appalachian Trail in this laugh-out-loud travel memoir. After returning to America after 20 years in England, Bryson reconnects with his home country by walking 800 of the AT’s 2100 miles, many of them with his cranky companion Katz, who serves as a brilliant foil to Bryson’s scholarly wit. A superb hiking memoir that skillfully combines laugh-out-loud anecdotes with serious discussions about history, ecology, and wilderness trivia. Droll, witty, entertaining.

Open City

by Teju Cole

Julius is a Nigerian-German in his last year of a psychiatric residency at an NYC hospital. His walks through Manhattan offer a stress release, as well as a chance to make sense of a recent breakup and other events in his life. Along the way he interacts with people from all walks of life. This is very much a character study, best for readers who don’t need a plot to propel them along.

The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry

by Rachel Joyce

Highly recommended for fans of A Man Called Ove or The One-in-a-Million Boy.

How to Walk

by Thich Nhat Hanh

The world-renowned Zen Master introduces readers to mindful walking. It can be done anywhere and everywhere, so long as we focus on our steps and our breaths. The destination matters less than the journey. With stories about both walkers and observers, Thich Nhat Hanh makes a strong case for the benefits of this practice.

Walkable City: How Downtown Can Save America, One Step at a Time

by Jeff Speck

This is the book I can't stop talking about. Speck is a bit of a contrarian: at its heart, the book isn't about walking at all. Instead, Speck aims to show how we can deliberately plan urban spaces to be useful, safe, comfortable, and interesting. At a deeper level, Speck reveals how our spaces shape our behavior, whether or not we're aware of it. Pragmatic, relevant, and completely fascinating. (I thoroughly enjoyed my conversation with Speck in WSIRN episode 372: Books that change the way you see your city and the world.)

The Unlikely Thru-Hiker: An Appalachian Trail Journey

by Derick Lugo

What would compel someone who has never hiked a day in their life to take on the Appalachian Trail? Not only did Lugo not have any experience, he was much more of an indoorsy person. But when his job situation changed, the Black comedian came up with a grand plan of how he’d make use of the unexpected free time over the summer. Starting in Springer Mountain, Georgia and ending in Katahdin, Maine, Lugo takes us along on the 2,190 mile hike across the AT as he learns about thru-hiking culture, the unpredictability of nature, and how to maintain a goatee no matter the circumstances.

The Fifth Season (The Broken Earth Book 1)

by N.K. Jemisin

These days writers with great taste are reading N.K. Jemisin. She's one of the best world-builders out there. SFF World calls this a powerful, epic novel of discovery, pain, and heartbreak.... It is a novel that demands much of its readers; it rewards them aplenty and is one of those novels that becomes more powerful after deep consideration and subsequent readings."

The Road

by Cormac McCarthy

From the publisher: "The Road is the profoundly moving story of a journey. It boldly imagines a future in which no hope remains, but in which the father and his son, 'each the other's world entire,' are sustained by love. Awesome in the totality of its vision, it is an unflinching meditation on the worst and the best that we are capable of: ultimate destructiveness, desperate tenacity, and the tenderness that keeps two people alive in the face of total devastation."

Books about walking and hiking

Buckle Up!

summer reading starts May 16th