David Brent 📚
I tried reading Bill Bryson a long time ago and wasn't into it. Second attempt, years later: on the strong rec of a friend, I picked up A Walk in the Woods. It is GREAT. Solid narration on the audiobook helps, but even the print version would make this one of the best books I've read in a long time. It's a very enjoyable memoir with some light humor (occasionally making me LOL) and a sprinkling of history. #Books #Bookstodon #AmReading #NonFiction #Memoir #Hiking #FridayReads @bookstodon
Apr 3 at 2:55pmWeb
Show threadRatboy (reformed dino pirate)1d ago
@dbsalk @bookstodon it’s the only Bryson I’ve ever read but I very much enjoyed it.
Show threadcetan1d ago
@jaykass @dbsalk same here. I very much liked this book at the time. I should re-read it.
Show threadDavid Brent 📚1d ago

@cetan @jaykass I think my bar for giving a book 4 or 5 stars is whether I would want to re-read it, and this one definitely hits that mark. My friend who recommended it said she's read it at least a few times and might re-read it again soon.

It makes me want to be more outdoorsy and give hiking a try, though I'm grounded enough to know that an extended excursion along Appalachian Trail would be a ridiculous undertaking for someone like me.

Show threadThin Crust Tavern Cut23h ago
@dbsalk @cetan @jaykass I read it too. How would you define extended?
Show threadDavid Brent 📚22h ago
@GregArcus @cetan @jaykass Good question! I don't know? For me, it probably wouldn't take much for a hike to be considered "extended." I was in middle school the last time I slept outdoors (passing out in front the house where I lived while working in Door County doesn't count), and now I'm on the wrong side of 40. Lugging a heavy pack over distance and uneven terrain sounds hard. I'd have to work up some endurance before I attempted a multi-day, let alone multi-week hike.
Show threadcetan21h ago

@dbsalk @GregArcus @jaykass don't forget that we have portions of the Ice Age Trail in southern Wisconsin that you can hike and camp along. It's no AT but that's not really the point. The point is getting out and exploring. :)

Even a one-nighter would be fun IMHO. Or just setting up a base camp and going on long there-and-back day-hikes for a weekend would be an adventure.

Show threadDavid Brent 📚21h ago
@cetan @GregArcus @jaykass Thanks for the tip. That definitely sounds more my speed. I'd probably want a more experienced hiker with me regardless. I'm prone to screwing things up, you know.
Show threadcetan21h ago
@dbsalk @GregArcus @jaykass Ice Age Trail runs right through Devil's Lake State Park. You could camp there and do day hikes. I think it's like 10 miles in the park itself and then 3 or 4 miles just outside the park on either end of the trail. And Devil's Lake has some good elevation changes so you wouldn't just be flat-land hiking. :)
Show threadMaria Langer | 📝🛥️💎1d ago
@dbsalk @bookstodon I've read quite a bit of Bill Bryson and I really like his work. In fact, I don't think there's any of them that I didn't like, although some of them did not age well. The last one I read was about his trip to Australia and it seemed very out of date. Of course, it is pretty old.
Show threadDavid Brent 📚1d ago

@mlanger This was published in 1998, and while I would hope that not much has changed along the Appalachian Trail in the past 3 decades, my guess is that change - both good and bad - is inevitable.

I think my first attempt with Bill Bryson, over a decade ago, was I'm A Stranger Here Myself. I probably gave up on it after a couple days. This is so much better.

Show threadJeff23h ago
@dbsalk @mlanger It's been 17 years since my thru-hike but the ATC had been routing the trail around towns it once passed through and adding more switchbacks. It's probably longer and less challenging with a little more forest and a little less Americana. But Bryson didn't hike much of the trail anyway so the book probably holds true.
Show threadLisaH1d ago
@bookstodon @dbsalk One of my favorite books! 👏👏