Travel, Adventure & Sports Recommendations from our 2020 Winter Newsletter

From climbing the highest mountain in the Pyrenees at the age of 5 to scaling Mount Everest unaided twice in one week at 3, Kilian Jornet has lived an extreme life, and in his memoir, Above the Clouds, he chronicles the ups and downs of his journey. Told in a humble voice, Jornet’s memoir is an engrossing read for amateur adventurers and those who are enticed by the concept of sky running but are unaware of what it actually entails. — Aric

Surfers, nature photographers, adventure travel enthusiasts, take a look—Distant Shores is a gift book worth reveling in! Few people have traveled to such remote corners of the world in pursuit of their passion, and Chris Burkard seems to have found them all, bringing back dramatic landscape photography of perfect waves with a single surfer and an empty lineup. From Chile to Iceland, Christmas Island to Russia, these shots are an inspiration and an instant armchair adventure. — Melinda

Magdalena: River of Dreams is the story of the Rio Magdalena, the great river at the center of Colombia’s history. Davis uses the river path as the basis for his narrative arc, exploring the natural, cultural, and political history of a complicated country. Amplifying the voices of the people he meets, and with great respect for Colombia and Colombians, Davis is fierce in his desire to tell the full spectrum of the country’s history, far beyond the violence that has beset it.  — Tori

As Jessica Lee seeks her own identity through looking at the past, she reflects on the distance created by language barriers, on Taiwan’s precarious history, and on her grandfather’s struggle with immigration and sense of place. She wanders the evocative landscape of Taiwan’s mountains and coast in a quest to forge an intimate connection with her family’s mysterious history, and constructs an alluring portrait of the island’s unique and enchanting existence along the way. — Tori

After US soccer star Megan Rapinoe’s game-winning goals in the 2019 Women’s World Cup captivated the world, Rapinoe has gone on to engage women (and men) everywhere with her brilliant leadership in promoting equal pay, racial justice, and LGBTQ+ rights, and through her straight talk to President Trump on an international stage. Now, in her memoir One Life, she chronicles how her conservative California upbringing, her role as the first woman soccer player to come out, and the internal reckoning that called her to take action for equality allowed her to fully use her place at the center of the world’s stage as a force for good. A perfect gift for every strong person in your life. — Casey 

Still Running takes us on a "moving meditation." Combining decades of experience as a runner and Zen practitioner and teacher, Goddard blends the arts of moving and stillness and encourages us to become closer while traveling farther. A guidebook for starting or continuing your running practice with a renewed beginner's body, mind, and spirit...gentle enough even for those of us who struggle most. — Kalina

San Francisco is one of the US cities most alive in the collective public imagination, and Gary Kamiya (Cool Gray City of Love) and Paul Madonna (All Over Coffee) know it well. Now they have come together to illustrate (figuratively and literally) some of the lesser-known true stories from the city’s bones. Taking cues from architecture, locations, and ruins, they guide the reader through a pantheon of characters, economics, and culture from the 18th century on. For aficionados of small bites of history and of the City itself. — Jocelyn

With scenic photographs and vivid vignettes of everything from day trips to multi-month adventures by foot, road, bike, rail, and water, Unforgettable Journeys transports you through some of the planet’s most beautiful and remote routes. Feed your wanderlust while sheltering in place…and take some mental notes about where to venture when we can finally get back out there! This book is for everyone.  — Kalina