Book recommendations please

Camp 4 by Steve Roper

Missing in the Minarets by William Alsup

snowcreek man wrote:

"In the throne room of the mountain gods" 

Its a must read if you can find a hard copy at a library 

$12 used on Amazon currently if you don't have any luck at the library. 

Ueli Steck: My Life In Climbing 

Published post mortem 

Buck Rogerswrote:

It's Andy Kirkpatrick's "Psychovertical".

I'm halfway through it now and it is amazing!  Really really great read.  

I have no idea how he's alive with all of the mistakes he made starting out!!!

Obviously he's a master now but man the Gods were with him when he was starting in the Alpine game.

Edit:  It also won the Boardman Tasker prize in 2008 so I'm not the only one that thought it is/was great.

Okay, I have to edit this and I'm sorry Andy (because he is such a cool guy and so friendly and even took the time to email with me and give me some advice) but after finishing this book I have trouble recommending it.  

It was great to the halfway point and then every other paragraph seemed to be "If I screw up this next move, I'm going to die FOR SURE"  for page after page after page.  And then he would fall and say "It's a miracle!  Only one in a million chance that I would survive and I did" and then he would fall again and say the same thing again and again and again.  (Dude needs to buy a lottery ticket).  So over the top hyperbole it was painful to read.  And then he is so full of self pity and woefulness about how he mistreats everyone, esp his wife and kid(s).  God, what an awful second half.  The final chapter redeemed itself a bit but not enough to make it worth reading as a whole.

If I had to do it again, I'd read the first half and then skip 120 pages and read the final chapter.

But "Higher Ed" and "Me. Myself, and I" are great and his youtube channel has a SUPER 9 minute vid of him doing Lurking Fear to Timber Timbre's "Magic Arrow".  A MUST see!

;)

Lots of great recommendations so far on this thread. Here are a few that I don't think have been mentioned yet:

• "Yankee Rock & Ice" by Laura & Guy Waterman (history of climbing in the Northeastern US)
• "Art of Freedom" by Bernadette McDonald (life and climbs of Voytek Kurtyka)
• "Tracking the Wild Coomba" by Robert Cocuzzo (life of skiier Doug Combs)
• "Minus 148" by Art Davidson (first winter ascent of Denali)

Dan Riti-- I agree that "Art of Freedom" was a great book, and considering that Voytek Kurtyka is in my opinion,  the greatest living Alpinist still with us, the book is well worth reading.  I'm a little biased since I experienced a close call climbing with Voytech, back in 1975 when we were caught in a violent storm on the Walker Spur, Chamonix. Voytech was hit by lightning on the summit.

On my shelfs: books by Bonnington, Robers, Simpson, Kraukauer, Childs, ... and then a few more less prolific writers

Alaverez feeding the rate

Harrer 7 years in tibet, white spider , eiger n face

On Edge Life and Climbs of Henry Barber, Chris Lee

History of climbing in north america; Chirs jones

Annapurna Herzog

Nanda Devi Rothskelly

In the throne of the mountain gods, Rowell

k2 triumph/tragedy Jim curran

the day the rope  broke, Rober Clark

Roskelly^^^^^

i would recommend 'no picnic on mt. kenya' by benuzzi - an italian POW in a british prison camp during WWII sets out to escape in order to climb mt. kenya - this is not about fantastic skill, hardcore FAs, or climbing for money, ego, or fame (all of which motivate many), it is purely about the human determination and spirit to climb...

The White Spider is a captivating book and an ultra classic. After reading that I was spurred to read Seven Years in Tibet, although not necessarily centered around climbing that is one of the best stories I’ve ever read. 

I’m reading “Hangdog Days” by Jeff Smoot and really enjoying it. It’s well-written and filled with stories that I’ve never heard before, focusing especially on the 80s and the rise of sport climbing. Alan Watts and Todd Skinner are both major characters. He also paints an outrageous picture of the traditional old gaurd and the bolt wars. 

American Rock by Don Mellor

dune

Just finished “Mountains of the Mind” by Robert Macfarlane and it was awesome. Super cool compilations of some history of some of the greatest ascents of all time and a look into the psychology of “why we climb” and why people are more than willing to go die in the mountains. Fascinating stuff. If anyone has any other recommendations for similar books about the “why” I’d love to read up on it 

Less the why and more the how - the rock warrior's way. Audio version read by A.I. is perfect for the drive to the crag. 

I loved Bonnington’s “Everest The Hard Way” (terrible title, seriously?).  Bonnington’s historic second expedition to the Southwest Face where Doug Scott and Dougal Haston bivvied on the summit ridge.  (Martin Zabaleta and Sherpa ? did the same years later with, unlike Scott and Haston, no stove or sleeping bag, by the way.)  And a young, up and coming Pete Boardman invited along as the ringer.   Heartbreaking, now looking back.