Recommended Reading

An assignment photographer for the New York Times, Greta Rybus spent part of her childhood in rural Japan, where visiting thermal baths was part of her family’s weekly routine. Now, in her debut book, Hot Springs, she explores her reverence for hot bath culture by documenting natural thermal baths in more than two dozen locations. From Idaho to South Africa to Japan, Rybus transports readers to remote landscapes and delves into the history and culture of hot springs, offering a global lens on their healing powers and ability to connect communities.

Shortly after publication, Lauren Groff’s The Vaster Wilds swiftly secured its place as a critically acclaimed bestseller, which won’t surprise her devoted fans. The three-time National Book Award finalist presents a haunting and mesmerizing tale of a female indentured servant escaping a colonial village in early seventeenth century Virginia, revealing the complex connection between humans and nature in an unputdownable narrative. I could go on and on, but her journey into those wilds is best without spoiler alerts.

Climbing topos have evolved over the last two centuries from hand-scribbled pencil and paper sketches to contemporary works of digital rendering, serving both as a means of sharing beta and as a creative form. Art in Climbing Topos, a crowdfunded passion project written in English and Spanish, is a lavish celebration of three hundred historical and modern images that chart the evolution and stories of topo art, from a scan of the 1911 summit notebook of the German Palatinate Climbers Association to the contemporary works of artists like Rhiannon Klee, Jeremy Collins, and Craig Muderlak.

Renowned for her award-winning mountain literature, including Fragile Edge, which recounts her relationship with mountaineer Joe Tasker and his tragic death on Everest, Maria Coffey shares her most personal work yet. This memoir explores the deliberate pursuit of an adventure-filled life without kids, posing the question of whether one can be at home in the wide, wide world—a moving and highly relatable introspection about the unexpected rewards of travel.

Written by outdoor guide and lapidary artist Alison Jean Cole, who publishes a zine about the shifting culture of rockhounding, Beautiful Rocks and How to Find Them transcends the basics of field guides, offering a comprehensive ethos on environmental impact, land stewardship, how to read geologic maps, and developing personal tastes. Whether you’re rediscovering the joy of digging for dinosaurs in your backyard or venturing into the wild, Cole’s enthusiasm and expert guidance will rekindle your appreciation for the hidden wonders that surround us.

Called “the weird Thoreau” by the New Yorker, Jeff VanderMeer’s books have been turned into movies and translated into more than thirty-five languages, and his latest, Hummingbird Salamander, is yet another work of spellbinding speculative fiction, braiding timely themes both ecological and psychological, spun together in a thriller that unnerves you long after the last page: “Some things remain mysterious even if you think about them all the time.”