The 25 (Essential) Books for the Well-Read Explorer

I'm not sure how (as I've never been a subscriber), but I'm on Outside Magazine's e-mail list. I just received an e-mail where they've published a list of the 25 (Essential) Books for the Well-Read Explorer. This piqued my curiosity, so I took a look.

In general, I was pleased that I had read and loved a number of their choices. I'll give some highlights and personal thoughts on a few of their selections.

25. "Old Glory", Jonathan Raban (1981). This book would be in the top 5 on my own list. I simply adore this story of an Englishman who decides to take a 16-foot boat down the Mississippi River from Minneapolis to New Orleans. And yeah, with this book and Mark Twain's "Life on the Mississippi" on the short list of my favorite books, you can guess that I'd love the chance to see the Mississippi from a boat.

24. "A Walk in the Woods", Bill Bryson (1998). They can keep this one. Bryson can be funny, but his humor crosses too often into snarky for my taste.

19. "Young Men and Fire", Norman Maclean (1992). I didn't know McLean had another book besides for the classic "A River Runs Through It, and Other Stories ." This is now on my short list.

14. "Arctic Dreams", Barry Lopez (1986). Beautiful and loving description of an environment so foreign from what most of us know (or will ever see.)

9. "Coming into the Country", John McPhee (1976). A classic. I don't know how only one McPhee made this list. My own list would have a number of McPhee books.

5. "Desert Solitaire", Edward Abbey (1968). Now they've made me angry. Only #5? Really?!? This might be my very favorite book. I probably re-read it about once a year (drawing eye rolls from Darling Wife when she sees it on my night-stand), and I enjoy it more every time. It's beautiful, honest, funny, delicious writing. Can there really be four better?

4. "The Snow Leopard", Peter Matthiessen (1978). This is a great book, and deserves to be prominent on the list, but not above "Desert Solitaire."

1. "Wind, Sand, and Stars", Antoine de Saint-Exupéry (1939). This, like the rest of the top three, I've never heard of, but they'll be on my list.