We read to connect—to nature and deepest parts of ourselves. We seek books to challenge ourselves on the journey of the mind. Reading is an exploration of ideas and a source of solace when needed. This is our well-curated collection of the books we can't put down, the books we share around, and the books we take when heading afield.
There's no particular order here, just like there's no real order in how these books are stacked on our shelves. But if you're looking for something to read, maybe this list will give you some ideas. Or maybe, like many of our books, it'll just sit there until the right moment comes along. Either way, here it is.
Concerning Field
- Into the Wild, Jon Krakauer
- Undaunted Courage, Stephen Ambrose
- The Call of the Wild, Jack London
- The Oregon Trail, Francis Parkman
- The Apache Indians, Frank Lockwood
- Robert Brown & Vancouver Island Exploring Expedition, Hayman John
- Traplines, John Rember
- Down the River, Edward Abbey
- The Indian History of British Columbia, Duff Wilson
- Walking in the Woods, Yoshifumi Miyaza
- Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance, Robert Pirsig
- The West Beyond the West, Jean Barman
- American Serengeti, Dan Flores
- Tracking Gobi Grizzlies, Douglas Chadwick
- Guns, Germs and Steel, Jared Diamond
- Coming to into the Country, John McPhee
- Desert Solitaire, Edward Abbey
- Travels in Alaska, John Muir
- One Man's Wilderness, Sam Keith
- Riverman, Ben McGrath
- Geology of Olympic National Park, Rowland Tabor
- Indian Legends of the Pacific Northwest, Ella Clark, Tiffany Harrison
- Lewis and Clark and the Image of the American Northwest, John Allen
- Yellowstone Ecology, Sharon Eversman, Mary Carr
- Closer to the Ground, Dylan Tomine
- Pacific Northwest and Alaska, Sierra Club
- Blue Highways, William Least Heat Moon
- Exploring America's Backcountry, Donald Crump
- Off the Beaten Track, Svante Lundgren
- A Wild Idea, Jonathan Franklin
- In the Land of Wilderness, Marty Meierotto
- My Life in the Wilderness, Robert Hilliker
- Shadows on the Koyukuk, Jim Rearden, Sidney Huntington
- Eating Stone, Ellen Meloy
- That Wild Country, Mark Kenyon
- The Solace of Open Spaces, Gretel Ehrlich
- The Log of a Cowboy, Andy Adams
Concerning Survival
- U.S. Army Survival Manual FM 21-76, U.S. Department of Defense
- Woodcraft, Elmer Kreps
- Trapper's Bible, Jay McCullough
- Building With Logs, U.S. Forest Service
- Your Cabin in the Woods, Conrad Meinecke
- Cabin, Will Jones
- The Book of Camping & Woodcraft, Horace Kephart
- The Craft of Log Building, Hermann Phleps
- Log Cabins and Cottages, William Wicks
- The Science and Art of Tracking, Tom Brown
- Field Guide to Living with the Earth, Tom Brown
- Field Guide to Wilderness Survival, Tom Brown
- Field Guide to Nature Observation and Tracking, Tom Brown
- Camp-Lore and Woodcraft, Daniel Beard
- Our Southern Highlanders, Horace Kephart
- How to Stay Alive in the Woods, Bradford Angier
Concerning Hunt
- The Hunter’s Game, Louis S. Warren
- Beyond Fair Chase, Jim Posewitz
- Grizzly Years, Doug Peacock
- A Man Made of Elk, David Peterson
- Gunsmithing, Roy F. Dunlap
- A Study Of Bows And Arrows, Saxton T. Pope
- Hunting Trips of a Ranchman & The Wilderness Hunter, Theodore Roosevelt
- The Old Man and the Boy, Robert Ruark
- The Wilderness of Denali, Charles Sheldon
- History of Remington Firearms, Roy Marcot
- The Hunting Rifle, Jack O'Connor
- The Hunting Book, Oliver Dorn
- Elements of Hunting, Reginald Summerhays
- Sheep and Sheep Hunting, Jack O'Connor
- Bear Hunting, Jerry Meyer
- Hunter & Angler, Ben Long
Concerning Fly Fishing
- Simple Fly Fishing, Craig Mathews and Yvon Chouinard
- Habit of Rivers, Ted Leeson
- A River Runs Through It, Norman Maclean
- The History of Fly-Fishing in Fifty Flies, Ian Whitelaw
- The Founding Fish, John McPhee
- A Temporary Refuge, Lee Spencer
- The New Fish, Simen Sætre, Kjetil Østli
- The Imperiled Cutthroat, Greg French
- Salmon, Mark Kurlansky
- Waves and Beaches, Willard Bascom, Kim McCoy
- Headwaters, Dylan Tomine
- The Flyfisher, Gestalten
- Chasing Rumor, Cameron Chambers
- A Concise History of Fly Fishing, Glenn Law
Concerning Forest
- A Forest Journey, John Perlin
- The U.S. Forest Service, Harold Steen
- The Forest Service and The Greatest Good, James Lewis
- Timber, Ralph W. Andrews Chrome
- Buchanan-Smith’s Axe Handbook, Gordon Buchanan-Smith
- Norwegian Wood, Lars Mytting
Concerning Yvon Chouinard
- Let My People Go Surfing, Yvon Chouinard
- The Responsible Company, Yvon Chouinard
- Some Stories, Yvon Chouinard
- Conquerors of the Useless, Yvon Chouinard, Jeff Johnson, Chris Malloy
- The Future of the Responsible Company, Vincent Stanley, Yvon Chouinard
Concerning Cooking & Foraging
- Wilderness Cooking, Berndt Berglun
- Camp Cookery, Horace Kephart
- The Nordic Cookbook, Magnus Nilsson
- Japan: The Cookbook, Nancy Singleton Hachisu
- Wildness, Jeremy Charles, Adam Leith Gollner
- Meateater Fish and Game Cookbook, Steven Rinella
- Eater Guide to Wilderness Skills and Survival, Steven Rinella
- How to Eat in the Woods, Bradford Angier
- Mallmann on Fire: 100 Recipes