1. The Awakening by Kate Chopin
“But whatever came, she had resolved never again to belong to another than herself.”
The Awakening was first published in 1899, but don't let the 100+ years set you off, because this book is so great. The struggles that Edna faces will hit you right in the heart, and the dramatic ending and memorable characters make this book worthwhile. This book offers a feminist narrative at a time when there weren't many. If those points aren't selling this one, it is very short.
2. The Lord of The Rings Trilogy by J.R.R. Tolkien
“It's a dangerous business, Frodo, going out your door. You step onto the road, and if you don't keep your feet, there's no knowing where you might be swept off to.”
If you decide to settle in for the (long) journey through Middle Earth with Frodo, prepare to be amazed at Tolkien's writing. His poems and his descriptions will make you fall in love with the world he's created, and while the movies are great, nothing compares to the original.
3. Milk and Honey by Rupi Kaur
“people go
but how
they left
always stays”
Divided into four sections, each full of heartbreak and strength, Milk and Honey will make you feel all the feelings. The poems are accompanied with beautiful line drawings, and the book, for being so short, has so much to offer.
4. Into the Wild by Jon Krakauer
“You are wrong if you think Joy emanates only or principally from human relationships. God has placed it all around us. It is in everything and anything we might experience. We just have to have the courage to turn against our habitual lifestyle and engage in unconventional living.”
After graduating from college and donating the entirety of his $24,000 savings account, Chris McCandless took to the road, eventually making it to Alaska and venturing alone into the wilderness where he lived off the land for almost four months before his tragic death. Jon Krakauer's telling of this true story is haunting, inspiring, and extraordinarily well-written. Regardless of your own desire to give everything up and rough it in Alaska, Krakauer's knack for story-telling will leave you in awe of the pull that the often harsh and unforgiving wild has on the spirit, and inspired by McCandless wisdom and idealism.
5. Wild by Cheryl Strayed
“It had nothing to do with gear or footwear or the backpacking fads or philosophies of any particular era or even with getting from point A to point B.
It had to do with how it felt to be in the wild. With what it was like to walk for miles with no reason other than to witness the accumulation of trees and meadows, mountains and deserts, streams and rocks, rivers and grasses, sunrises and sunsets. The experience was powerful and fundamental. It seemed to me that it had always felt like this to be a human in the wild, and as long as the wild existed it would always feel this way.”
I can't say enough about this book. If you like to travel, camp, hike, or be outdoors in general, you'll appreciate the journey Strayed documents hiking the PCT. If you're struggling with loss, or not knowing which direction your life is taking, you'll appreciate the honesty in this book. She leaves no detail out, no matter how painful or sad, and the result is a book that will make you laugh, cry, and feel more empowered by the end than you did before.
6. A Movable Feast by Ernest Hemingway
“When spring came, even the false spring, there were no problems except where to be happiest. The only thing that could spoil a day was people and if you could keep from making engagements, each day had no limits. People were always the limiters of happiness except for the very few that were as good as spring itself.”
“We would be together and have our books and at night be warm in bed together with the windows open and the stars bright.”
Hem gets two quotes here, one to show that this book will make you appreciate time spent alone, and one to show that despite his (occasional) annoyance with human contact, he still can write a good love story. And that is why I love him, and this book, so much. A Movable Feast makes me fall in love with travelling, writing, spending time alone, and the idea of being in love-and Hemingway does it all so well you don't even notice until it's over. (Plus, look at that face, you know you want to read his book.)
7. Book of Longing by Leonard Cohen
“I know she is coming
I know she will look
And that is the longing
And this is the book.”
You might know Leonard Cohen as the guy who wrote "Hallelujah" but he has some great books of poetry too. This one was written almost entirely during his time at a Zen monastery, and comes with drawing he did during that time as well. Book of Longing makes you feel exactly as it sounds, that something is missing, but it's done so beautifully you'll want to read it again and again.
