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
Diary of a Young Naturalistchronicles the turning of 15-year-old Dara McAnulty's world. From spring and through a year in his home patch in Northern Ireland, Dara spent the seasons writing. These vivid, evocative and moving diary entries about his connection to wildlife and the way he sees...
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...
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...
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,...
Eden
Lebbon, Tim
Paper Book
From the bestselling author of Netflix's The Silence comes a brand-new horror eco thriller. Earth's rising oceans contain enormous islands of refuse, the Amazon rainforest is all-but destroyed, and countless species edge towards extinction. Humanity's last hope to save the...
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...
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 history of bees
Lunde, Maja
Paper Book
A #1 International BestsellerHaunting, illuminating, and deftly written, this dazzling and ambitious literary debut follows three generations of beekeepers from the past, present, and future, weaving a gripping and thought-provoking story of their relationship to the bees -- and to their children...
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 troop
Cutter, Nick.
Paper Book
"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 This "grim microcosm of terror and desperation haunting" (Christopher Golden, New York Times bestselling author) follows a scout troop on a...
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...
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...
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 cold vanish : seeking the missing in North America's wildlands
Billman, Jon
Paper Book
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, determined characters who try to find them. ...
The lost city of Z : a tale of deadly obsession in the Amazon
Grann, David.
Paper Book
A grand mystery reaching back centuries. A sensational disappearance that made headlines around the world. A quest for truth that leads to death, madness or disappearance for those who seek to solve it. The Lost City of Z is a blockbuster adventure narrative about what lies beneath the...
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...
Wild : from lost to found on the Pacific Crest Trail
Strayed, Cheryl
Paper Book
NATIONAL BEST SELLER * Oprah's Book Club 2.0 selection. * 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...
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
NOW AN AWARD WINNING MAJOR MOTION PICTURE DIRECTED BY SEAN PENNJon Krakauer's Into the Wild examines the true story of Chris McCandless, a young man, who in 1992 walked deep into the Alaskan wilderness and whose SOS note and emaciated corpse were found four months later.Internationally bestselling...
The night will find us : a novel
Lyons, Matthew (Short story writer)
Paper Book
They say never go into the woods at night... School's out for summer and that means one thing to Parker, Chloe, and their four friends: a well-deserved camping trip in the Pine Barrens, a million-acre forest deep in the heart of New Jersey. But when old grudges erupt, an...
The new wilderness : a novel
Cook, Diane
Paper Book
Bea's five-year-old daughter, Agnes, is wasting away, ravaged by the smog and pollution of the overdeveloped, overpopulated metropolis they call home. Bea knows she cannot stay in the city, but there is only one alternative- The Wilderness State. This vast expanse of unwelcoming, untamed land is...
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...
Greenwood : a novel
Christie, Michael
Paper Book
A magnificent generational saga that charts a family's rise and fall, its secrets and inherited crimes, from one of Canada's most acclaimed novelists Longlisted for the Scotiabank Giller Prize * "A rugged, riveting novel . . . This superb family saga will satisfy fans of...
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 : rediscovering nature in the modern world
Stuart-Smith, Sue
Paper Book
'The wisest book I've read for many years ... Much more than a gardening book, much more than a guide to mental health ... Hugely recommended' Stephen Fry THE SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER A Times and Sunday Times Best Book of 2020 How can gardening relieve stress and help us...
The salt path
Winn, Raynor
Paper Book
NOW A MAJOR MOTION PICTURE STARRING GILLIAN ANDERSON AND JASON ISAACS "Polished, poignant... an inspiring story of true love."--Entertainment Weekly A BEST BOOK OF 2019, NPR's Book Concierge SHORTLISTED FOR THE COSTA BOOK AWARD OVER 400,000 COPIES SOLD...
The electricity of every living thing : a woman's walk in the wild to find her way home
May, Katherine
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
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...
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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