Nature Survival

Jay Gardiner has given himself a fool’s errand—to find the remains of his deceased father in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of Monastery Beach. He knows it’s a long shot, but Jay feels it’s the only way for him to lift the weight of guilt he has carried since his dad’s death by suicide the previous year.

Laboring under a shared loss, Doug and his young son, Tim, set out on a late season backpacking trip through the White Mountains of New Hampshire. They find beauty and solidarity in the outdoors, making friends along the trail and falling into the rhythms of an expedition. But when reports of warfare and social collapse reach the ranger station, Doug—seeking to protect the only family he has left—withdraws even further into the backcountry.

"I never set out to hike 10,000 miles. It just sort of happened over the course of a decade." And so goes Lawton Grinter's compelling collection of short stories that have been over ten years and 10,000 trail miles in the making. I Hike brings the reader trailside with blissful moments on the highest mountain ridges to the mental lows of mosquito hell and into some peculiar situations that even seasoned hikers may find unbelievable.

In the tradition of Educated and The Glass Castle, this shattering and poetic memoir from a brave new voice tells the story of the author’s experience in an apocalyptic cult, and how understanding the natural world was her key to escape—and survival.

The bestselling author of No Shortcuts to the Top and K2 chronicles his three attempts to climb the world's tenth-highest and statistically deadliest peak, Annapurna in the Himalaya, while exploring the dramatic and tragic history of others who have made -- or attempted – the ascent, and what these exploits teach us about facing life's greatest challenges.

"I'm a free and independent dog!" That's how K-10 likes to think of himself. But life on the road can get lonely, and as K-10's travels bring him into contact with a range of dogs, he begins to wonder if being a wanderer really is the best life for a dog. Filled with great canine characters, this novel is both laugh-out-loud funny and deeply touching.

Hunting is an essential natural skill for human survival, but at the same time, it's so much more than that. Besides teaching us about the natural world, the resilient wildlife species that inhabit it, and food awareness, hunting is an excellent hobby or even profession. We can acquire and improve a few virtues such as patience, respect, ethics, confidence, responsibility, etc., and emotional control.

Last week, 12-year-old Sky found a cryptic message from her dad, who mysteriously fled the safety of their underground compound five years ago. The note said the fate of the world depended on her going topside, to a lost world that's ruled by dinosaurs. Today, after a treacherous journey through the wilderness, Sky and her friends have made it to their destination: Lake Michigan.

Discover how to survive and thrive in the wild. Do you find yourself drowning in a seemingly endless to-do list, an overflowing email inbox, and the overwhelming demands of your daily grind? It sounds like you're in dire need of downtime and spending time with nature is just the perfect escape plan. Just imagine being able to switch off and unwind, while you enjoy fresh air, lush greenery, and breathtaking views.

Frightened by a wild bear while on a camping trip, Palister runs away from the place his child, Sarah-Jane, put him. Lost in the wilderness, Palister faces a hungry lynx, a bossy eagle, and other animals who think they know what should be done to get him unlost. When efforts fail, the news is grim: Palister’s only hope of seeing Sarah-Jane again rests on his surviving the coming winter, and it will take a bear to show him how. Just when it seems things can’t get worse, the bear chosen for the task turns out to be the last bear Palister ever wanted to see again.

On the afternoon of July 13, 1977, having become the first climbers to reach the summit of the Ogre, Doug Scott and Chris Bonington began their long descent. In the minutes that followed, any feeling of success from their achievement would be overwhelmed by the start of a desperate fight for survival. And things would only get worse.

Out in the mountains, Zack and his friend, Uta, discover what they think is a large fossilized dinosaur egg. This could make their fortune! Zack takes it home to keep it safe. Only the egg isn't fossilized - it's hatching! And there's an angry mother dinosaur out there, who wants her baby back. Includes a full lenght fascinating interview with the author, Paul Zindel.

Erik Carlson's life is going great. He's just passed his Hunter Safety Course and is scheduled to make his first hunting trip with his best friend, Patrick, that very weekend. His plans are shattered by the news that his parents, who are Army Reservists, have been unexpectedly called for duty in Iraq. With almost no warning, Erik is shipped off to North Dakota to stay with grandparents he barely knows. Though his grandmother is warm and welcoming, his grandfather, Big Darrell, is cold, gruff, and distant.

There are no polar bears left on Bear Island. At least, that’s what April’s father tells her when his scientific research takes them to a faraway Arctic outpost. But one night, April catches a glimpse of something distinctly bear-shaped loping across the horizon. A polar bear who shouldn’t be there - who is hungry, lonely, and a long way from home.

Sue Tidwell lived in awe of Africa’s extraordinary wildlife. After years spent appreciating the animals in her imagination, the tenderhearted American hated the idea of joining her husband on a big game hunting safari. And getting attacked by blood-sucking tsetse flies the moment she stepped off the plane gave no hint of the mind-blowing change of perspective in her future. With her initial animosity turning into curiosity as they breathlessly tracked dangerous beasts, Sue formed a surprising bond with their young female government-assigned game scout.

Stephen Alter was raised by American missionary parents in the hill station of Mussoorie, in the foothills of the Himalayas, where he and his wife Ameeta, now live. Their idyllic existence was brutally interrupted when four armed intruders invaded their house and viciously attacked them, leaving them for dead. The violent assault and the trauma of almost dying left him questioning assumptions he had lived by since childhood. For the first time, he encountered the face of evil and the terror of the unknown.

Cog looks like a normal 12-year-old boy. But his name is short for “cognitive development”, and he was built to learn. After an accident leaves him damaged, Cog wakes up in an unknown lab - and Gina, the scientist who created and cared for him, is nowhere to be found. Surrounded by scientists who want to study him and remove his brain, Cog recruits four robot accomplices for a mission to find her. Cog, ADA, Proto, Trashbot, and Car’s journey will likely involve much cognitive development in the form of mistakes, but Cog is willing to risk everything to find his way back to Gina.

Raised in the island world of southeast Alaska, 16-year-old Robbie Daniels jumps at the chance to work as a deckhand on a salmon troller captained by legendary fisherman Tor Torsen. Catching king salmon from dawn till dusk, Robbie is living his dream - until he discovers his mysterious captain's dark secret. Tor is illegally searching the coastline for historic metal plaques buried by early Russian explorers. When Robbie learns the value of these hidden treasures, he fears he may know too much to survive.

For the past four years, Rick Walker has been shuffled between foster care and group homes. At 14, he’s a kid nobody wants or cares about. Now he’s headed for Blue Canyon Detention Center. For Rick, life is a maze full of dead ends. But when he is threatened at Blue Canyon and runs away, Rick finds himself in a real maze - the enormous rocky expanse of Canyonlands National Park in Utah. There, Rick meets a biologist who has devoted his life to reintroducing the condor to its natural habitat. As Rick joins him to protect the giant birds, the teenager will begin to see choices instead of dead ends.

When you think of Aesop's Fables, you probably think of "The Tortoise and the Hare" or "Country Mouse and City Mouse". In this collection, Rob Cleveland brings you three of Aesop's lesser-known but equally powerful fables. You will learn why bats fly at night, why you should pick your friends carefully, and why even a tiny ant could be your guardian angel.