Books Set in or About the Outdoors

Playing Books & Bites Bingo? Here are some suggestions for the books set in or about the outdoors square!

Updated January 29, 2024
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The perfect storm : a true story of men against the sea
Junger, Sebastian.
Paper Book
In October 1991, three weather systems collided off the coast of Nova Scotia to create a storm of singular fury, boasting waves over one hundred feet high. Among its victims was the Gloucester, Massachusetts-based swordfishing boat the Andrea Gail, which vanished with all six crew members aboard.
Diary of a young naturalist
McAnulty, Dara
Paper Book
A BuzzFeed "Best Book of June 2021" From sixteen-year-old Dara McAnulty, a globally renowned figure in the youth climate activist movement, comes a memoir about loving the natural world and fighting to save it. Diary of a Young Naturalist chronicles the turning of a year in Dara's...
Into thin air : a personal account of the Mount Everest disaster
Krakauer, Jon.
Paper Book
#1 NATIONAL BESTSELLER * The epic account of the storm on the summit of Mt. Everest that claimed five lives and left countless more--including Krakauer's--in guilt-ridden disarray.  "A harrowing tale of the perils of high-altitude climbing, a story of bad luck and worse...
World of wonders : in praise of fireflies, whale sharks, and other astonishments
Nezhukumatathil, Aimee
Paper Book
"Hands-down one of the most beautiful books of the year." --NPR From beloved, award-winning poet Aimee Nezhukumatathil comes a debut work of nonfiction--a collection of essays about the natural world, and the way its inhabitants can teach, support, and inspire us. As a child,...
Soil : the story of a Black mother's garden
Dungy, Camille T.
Paper Book
A seminal work that expands how we talk about the natural world and the environment as National Book Critics Circle Criticism finalist Camille T. Dungy diversifies her garden to reflect her heritage. In Soil: The Story of a Black Mother's Garden, poet and...
Eden
Lebbon, Tim.
Ebook
An "instantly cinematic" horror eco-thriller "that will make you wonder what the world would be like if humans were to give it back" (Josh Malerman, New York Times bestselling author of Bird Box). "As terrifying as it is exhilarating." --Alma Katsu ...
Fieldwork : a forager's memoir
Regan, Iliana
Paper Book
From National Book Award-nominee Iliana Regan, a new memoir of her life and heritage as a forager, spanning her ancestry in Eastern Europe, her childhood in rural Indiana, and her new life set in the remote forests of Michigan''s Upper Peninsula. Fieldwork explores how...
The Wager : a tale of shipwreck, mutiny and murder
Grann, David
Paper Book
#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER * From the author of Killers of the Flower Moon, a page-turning story of shipwreck, survival, and savagery, culminating in a court martial that reveals a shocking truth. The powerful narrative reveals the deeper meaning of the events on The Wager...
The history of bees
Lunde, Maja
Paper Book
"Imagine The Leftovers, but with honey" (Elle), and in the spirit of Station Eleven and Never Let Me Go, this "spectacular and deeply moving" (Lisa See, New York Times bestselling author) novel follows three generations of beekeepers from the past, present, and...
The troop
Cutter, Nick.
Paper Book
WINNER OF THE JAMES HERBERT AWARD FOR HORROR WRITING "The Troop scared the hell out of me, and I couldn't put it down. This is old-school horror at its best." --Stephen King Once every year, Scoutmaster Tim Riggs leads a troop of boys into the Canadian wilderness for...
Seven steeples
Baume, Sara
Paper Book
One of Wall Street Journal's 10 Best Books of the Year * Shortlisted for the Goldsmiths Prize * Shortlisted for the Dylan Thomas Prize * An Irish Times Best Book of the Year "One of the most beautiful novels I have ever read." --New York Times Book Review The acclaimed...
The ruins : a novel
Smith, Scott
Paper Book
Eerie, terrifying, unputdownable—Scott Smith’s first novel since his best-selling A Simple Plan (“Simply the best suspense novel of this year—hell, of the 1990s”—Stephen King). The Ruins follows two American couples, just out of college, enjoying a pleasant, lazy...
Finding the mother tree : discovering the wisdom of the forest
Simard, S.
Paper Book
NEW YORK TIMES BEST SELLER * From the world's leading forest ecologist who forever changed how people view trees and their connections to one another and to other living things in the forest--a moving, deeply personal journey of discovery "Finding the Mother Tree...
The lost city of Z : a tale of deadly obsession in the Amazon
Grann, David
Paper Book
#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER * From the author of Killers of the Flower Moon and The Wager comes a masterpiece of narrative nonfiction "with all the pace and excitement of a movie thriller"(The New York Times) that unravels the greatest exploration mystery of the...
The cold vanish : seeking the missing in North America's wildlands
Billman, Jon
Paper Book
FINALIST FOR THE KILLER NASHVILLE SILVER FALCHION AWARD Perfect for readers of Jon Krakauer and Douglas Preston, this "authentic and encyclopedic" book examines real-life cases of those who vanish in the wilderness without a trace (Roman Dial)--and those eccentric,...
Elderflora : a modern history of ancient trees
Farmer, Jared
Paper Book
The epic story of the planet's oldest trees and the making of the modern world   Humans have always revered long-lived trees. But as historian Jared Farmer reveals in Elderflora, our veneration took a modern turn in the eighteenth...
The river at night
Ferencik, Erica
Paper Book
An Oprah.com Page-Turning Novels Pick A 2017 Indie Next Pick A Bustle Most Anticipated Thriller Novel of 2017 An Entertainment Weekly "Must List" Pick A high-stakes drama set against the harsh beauty of the...
Trail of the lost : the relentless search to bring home the missing hikers of the Pacific Crest Trail
Lankford, Andrea
Paper Book
From an award-winning former law enforcement park ranger and investigator, this female-driven true crime adventure follows the author's quest to find missing hikers along the Pacific Crest Trail by pairing up with an eclectic group of unlikely allies.  ​  
Forest bathing : how trees can help you find health and happiness
Li, Qing
Paper Book
The definitive--and by far the most popular--guide to the therapeutic Japanese practice of shinrin-yoku, or the art and science of how trees can promote health and happiness Notice how a tree sways in the wind. Run your hands over its bark. Take in its citrusy scent. As a...
This wretched valley
Kiefer, Jenny
Paper Book
"A hallucinatory nightmare of a novel that blends adventure, horror and historical fiction, and isn't shy about violence or strangeness."-New York Times "If you love wilderness horror, This Wretched Valley is a must-read."-Alma Katsu, author...
Into the wild
Krakauer, Jon.
Paper Book
NATIONAL BESTSELLER * In April 1992 a young man from a well-to-do family hitchhiked to Alaska and walked alone into the wilderness north of Mt. McKinley. Four months later, his decomposed body was found by a moose hunter. This is the unforgettable story of how Christopher Johnson...
The new wilderness : a novel
Cook, Diane
Paper Book
A Washington Post, NPR, and Buzzfeed Best Book of the Year * Shortlisted for the Booker Prize "More than timely, the novel feels timeless, solid, like a forgotten classic recently resurfaced -- a brutal, beguiling fairy tale about humanity. But at its core, The New Wilderness is really...
Wild : from lost to found on the Pacific Crest Trail
Strayed, Cheryl
Paper Book
#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER * A powerful, blazingly honest memoir: the story of an eleven-hundred-mile solo hike that broke down a young woman reeling from catastrophe--and built her back up again. At twenty-two, Cheryl Strayed thought she had lost everything. In the...
Greenwood
Christie, Michael
Paper Book
WINNER OF THE ARTHUR ELLIS AWARD LONGLISTED FOR THE 2019 SCOTIABANK GILLER PRIZE A CBC BOOKS "BEST CANADIAN FICTION" TITLE OF THE YEAR NATIONAL BESTSELLER From the award-winning author of If I Fall, If I Die comes a propulsive, multigenerational family story,...
Will to wild : adventures great and small to change your life
Stanger, Shelby
Paper Book
Embrace adventures both big and small and pursue your wild ideas with this "profoundly inspiring and laugh-out-loud funny" (Jaimal Yogis, author of The Fear Project) guidebook from seasoned adventurer and podcaster Shelby Stanger. Will to Wild is an instruction...
The well-gardened mind : the restorative power of nature
Stuart-Smith, Sue
Paper Book
One of Garden & Gun's Favorite Books of 2020 A distinguished psychiatrist and avid gardener offers an inspiring and consoling work about the healing effects of gardening and its ability to decrease stress and foster mental well-being in our everyday lives.
Outdoor kids in an inside world : getting your family out of the house and radically engaged with nature
Rinella, Steven
Paper Book
NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER . "An imperative call to action" (Nick Offerman)to get children off their screens and into nature, with tips for bonding activities that teach the importance of outside timeand build tough, curious, competent kids-from thehost of the Netflix series and podcast...
The everybody ensemble : donkeys, essays, and other pandemoniums
Leach, Amy
Paper Book
In short, gloriously inventive essays, Whiting Award-winning author Amy Leach's The Everybody Ensemble invites us to see and celebrate our oddball, interconnected world Humans, please turn your guns into kazoos. Are you feeling dismay,...
The laws of the skies
Courtois, Grégoire
Paper Book
Winnie-the-Pooh meets The Blair Witch Project in this very grown-up tale of a camping trip gone horribly awry. Twelve six-year-olds and their three adult chaperones head into the woods on a camping trip. None of them make it out alive. The Laws of the Skies...
The salt path
Winn, Raynor
Paper Book
The story of the couple who lost everything and embarked on a journey, not of escape, but salvation. Just days after Raynor learns that Moth, her husband of 32 years, is terminally ill, the couple lose their home and their livelihood. With nothing left and little time, they make...
The Electricity of Every Living Thing : A Woman's Walk in the Wild to Find Her Way Home
Paper Book
From the bestselling author of Wintering, Katherine May, The Electricity of Every Living Thing is a life-affirming and poignant exploration of nature, and how reconnecting to wild landscapes can create peace in our unquiet minds. 'A windswept tale, beautifully...
The Overstory : A Novel
Powers, Richard.
Paper Book
The Overstory, winner of the 2019 Pulitzer Prize in Fiction, is a sweeping, impassioned work of activism and resistance that is also a stunning evocation of--and paean to--the natural world. From the roots to the crown and back to the seeds, Richard Powers's twelfth novel unfolds in concentric...
North woods : a novel
Mason, Daniel
Paper Book
NATIONAL BESTSELLER * A NEW YORK TIMES BOOK REVIEW TOP TEN BOOK OF THE YEAR A WASHINGTON POST TOP TEN BOOK OF THE YEAR * FINALIST FOR THE NATIONAL BOOK CRITICS CIRCLE AWARD AND THE MARK TWAIN AMERICAN VOICE IN LITERATURE AWARD A sweeping novel...
The home place : memoirs of a colored man's love affair with nature
Lanham, J. Drew
Paper Book
"In me, there is the red of miry clay, the brown of spring floods, the gold of ripening tobacco. All of these hues are me; I am, in the deepest sense, colored." From these fertile soils of love, land, identity, family, and race emerges The Home Place, a big-hearted, unforgettable memoir by...

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