Dear Auntie Em,

      Sometimes my life seems really boring. Could you recommend some good adventure books to get me interested in life again.

Signed,

Stuck in Fruita

Dear Stuck,

      Auntie Em finds the escapades of her dear ones to be all the adventure that she presently needs. But having done the mountain climbing and back packing thing for many years, Auntie Em believes in the adventurous spirit. Auntie Em recently reread the Jon Krakauer book Into Thin Air and, though controversial in his portrayal of some members of the doomed 1996 expeditions to Everest, the book still gives an excellent over-view of what a massive logistical project as well as physically challenging experience it is to climb Everest.

      After reading Into Thin Air Auntie Em was struck by the fact that women like her - of a certain age - would be perfect for expeditions to cold places like Everest and Antarctica. With a bevy of peri-menopausal women one could always count on at least one hot flash at any given moment. Others could gather round her to keep warm and brew tea on her head. The only problem would be if all members of the expedition experienced hot flashes at once and threw off their clothes thus scaring penguins and other wildlife, furthering the Antarctic melt down and adding to global warming. Now that would be an adventure.

      In thinking about your request for a book that makes you “interested in life again” Auntie Em considers that these books may make you quite pleased with the “boring” life you presently have.

     The Long Walk - The True Story of a Trek to Freedom by Slavomir Rawicz is one of Auntie Em’s favorite books. It is simply astonishing that this fellow and his companions managed to escape a Siberian labor camp in 1941 and walk to India! It makes one marvel at the spirit of humans to survive.

If you want to go to extremes the book Survive - Stories of Castaways and Cannibals edited by Nate Hardcastle might suit you. This is a collection of true stories of folks who encounter horrifying situations quite involuntarily and manage to survive.

      Laurance Gonzales wrote Deep Survival - Who lives, Who Dies, and Why. And, just as the title suggests, Gonazales makes a stab at figuring out what kind of folks make it out of danger and what kind don’t. The lessons of this book are applicable beyond the mountains and deserts to the classroom and the office.

Auntie Em gently suggests that reading a book about adventure is not so good as adventuring oneself. Adventuring most often includes doing something you haven’t done before. What about a simple adventure in attending a meeting you’ve never gone to or trying a club or group that sounds interesting?

Yours in Couch Potatohood

Auntie Em