Born to be Wild

The weather is starting to warm up, so why not get some inspiration from these rugged traveling stories, and go out on your own adventure!


Pico Iyer has no shortage of global travel books. In Sun After Dark: Flights into the Foreign, Iyer delves into some of the most remote and mysterious locales around the world. This collection of essays gives a spiritual and philosophical twist to your standard travel lit.

No stranger when it comes to travel writing, Bill Bryson's In a Sunburned Country recounts his witty adventurs in the scorched outback of Australia. Not content with a standard tour of the Outback, Bryson provides a rich and funny account of Australian history and politics as well.

Ewan McGregor may be a world-renowed actor, but did you also know he's a real life adventurer too! Long Way Round : Chasing Shadows Across the World is the travelogue of McGregor and fellow actor Charley Boorman on a 20,000 mile journey across Europe, Asia, and North America, and all done with two BMW motorcycles. Be sure to also check out the six-hour TV documentary Long Way Round on DVD for more on their journey.


No Horizon Is So Far: Two Women And Their Extraordinary Journey Across Antartica by Liv Arnesen and Ann Bancroft is the true story of the first women's team to trek across the frozen continent. Both women are former teachers chronicling their milestone journey in a very unforgiving landscape that will inspire young and old alike.

Born To Be Wild

Tis' the season to be active! Check out some of these books on winter sports.
There are many things to get you out of the house this winter. Read about some of the festivities you may enjoy to get your blood pumping like snowboarding, skiing, hockey, ice fishing or hunting.

Snowboarding Skills : The Back-To-Basics Essentials For All Levels by CindyKleh covers everything you need to know about this exiting sport. Whether you are a novice or an experienced snowboarder, there's lots here to help you enjoy boarding even more.

Anyone Can Be An Expert Skier 1 :The New Way To Ski by Harald Harb

All it takes to be an expert skier are the correct movements and the right equipment. Anyone Can Be An Expert Skier 1 helps you learn these movements, and to pick the equipment that's right for you.

The Hockey Handbook by Lloyd Percivval is the first book required by players or coaches at all levels of proficiency who are setting out to develop their own or their team's hockey skills. Newly redesigned and issued in an easy-to-use format, this book will serve as an inspiration and guide to future generations of players and coaches.

Fishing On Ice:A Complete Guide To Gear, Fish, And Fun by Noel Vick is like having your own personal ice fishing guide with a cover. Easy-to-understand tips from professional anglers will help all ice enthusiasts catch more fish. It's a must-read for anyone who desires to increase their ice fishing success.

The Complete Guide to Hunting by Don Oster will help you find tips and techniques for hunting big game, small game, upland birds, turkeys and waterfowl. With over 450 color illustrations, this book teaches you how to turn your time in the field into a memorable hunt.

Born to be Wild!

Our adventures will now take you to the extreme north and the extreme south. Available for your reading pleasure are a few Arctic and Antarctic exploration books from our collection that will let you feel the chill of winter a bit early. So set a fire in the fireplace, grab a blanket and one of our books, and enjoy!

A Fabulous Kingdom : The Exploration of the Arctic by Charles Officer and Jake Page. "Inconsistant and forbidding, the Arctic lured misguided voyagers into the cold for centuries--pushing them beyond the limits of their knowledge, technology, and stamina." This book charts these quests and the eventual race for the North Pole.

"The link to friends and family had been severed. Now there was no turning back. The only direction home was..." North to the Pole. North to the Pole by

Will Steger with Paul Schurke explains how in 1986 the Steger International Polar Expedition set out with no resupply of equipment or supplies to prove the heavily debated question of whether Robert Peary reached the Pole in 1909 in a similar manner.

Here we have another North Pole adventure: Across the Top of the World: To the North Pole by Sled, Balloon, Airplane and Nuclear Icebreaker. This one took place in 1991 aboard the Soviet nuclear-powered icebreaker Sovetskiy Soyuz. This adventure traces the routes of such explorers as Dr. Frederick Cook, Admiral Robert Peary, Admiral Byrd, Sir John Franklin, George Nares, and others who launched their own treacherous expeditions.

Sara Wheeler's book entitled Terra Incognita:Travels in Antarctica tells of how the author embarked on the same journey as the famous Ernest Shackleton. Eighty years after Shackleton, Wheeler weaves together her own experiences on the ice, linked with the grueling advetures of Antarctica's most mythic figures.

In Scott of the Antarctic: A Life of Courage and Tragedy by David Crane, Crane provides a portrait of the explorer that has not been seen in prior works. Also included are accounts of Scott's dramatic journeys that are the most compelling parts of his story. These are only slices of a larger narrative that includes remarkable scientific achievement and the challanges of a tumultuous private life.

Born to be Wild

With the Bellmont Stakes quickly approaching, the spotlight's on horse racing. Enjoy the wild rides, the nail-biting finishes, and people who make it all happen...

Funny Cide : How a Trainer, a Jockey, and a Bunch of High School Buddies Took On the Sheiks and Bluebloods... and Won by The Funny Cide Team with Sally Jenkins
Crammed with colorful characters and blue-collar heroes, this is an gripping true account of the racing life with Funny Cide, the three-year-old gelding at the center of it. Owned by ten working-class men, the horse inspires a nation by knocking off the champions and their multimillionaire owners and sweeping to the brink of the Triple Crown.

The Horse God Built: The Untold Story of Secretariat, the World's Greatest Racehorse by Lawrence Scanlan
This facinating tribute takes a journey to a corner of the racing world rarely visited highlighting Eddie "Shorty" Sweat, groom, loyal friend, and protector to Secretariat, winner of the 1973 Triple Crown.

Seabiscuit: An American Legend by Laura Hittenbrand
In the sultry summer of 1936, Charles Howard, a former bicycle repairman, bought Seabiscuit at a bargain-basement price and entrusted him to a failed prizefighter and an enigmatic mustang breaker. Against all odds, these three men discovered a dormant talent in the little horse and produced an unlikely champion that captivated the world.

Born to Be Wild

Featuring books about adventure, exploration, and life on the edge...

This month we will be featuring real-life stories about the U.S. Air Force as well as a history chronicling nearly a century of U.S. Air Force life.

In Heart of the Storm: My Adventures as a Helicopter Rescue Pilot and Commander by Col. Edward Fleming, the author recounts events during his thirty year career in helicopter rescue. Included in this work are rescue operations from the Halloween Storm of 1991 (The Perfect Storm) and the successful rescue of Dr. Jerri Nielsen from Antarctica.

This biography about triple Air Force Cross winner Col. James Kasler provides a riveting account of his missions as a pilot in three wars--WWII, Korea, and Vietnam. Tempered Steel:The Three Wars of Triple Air Force Cross Winner by Perry D. Luckett and Charles L. Byler includes an afterword by Kasler's fellow prisoners of war, Senator John McCain and Vice Adm. James Stockdale, USN (Ret.).

Alpha Bravo Delta Guide to The U.S. Air Force by Barrett Tillman, an award-winning military historian, is a guide to the fascinating and timely history of this branch of the military, their great air engagements and the amazing aircraft used on those missions. A timeline provides a listing of U.S. Air Force milestones.

Born To Be Wild

Here you will find books and movies for your adventurous side-- exploration, sports, and travel. From mountain climbing to motorcycles to breathtaking travel narratives and biographies, you'll get a little of everything to inspire the risk-taker in you. Let us know if there is anything else you would like to see in this column. Below are two books about adventures on the high seas.

Hooked: Pirates, Poaching and the Perfect Fish by G. Bruce Knecht
Ever see Chilean Sea Bass on the menu? Well, this is the story of how it became a mainstay of American restaurants. This gripping sea adventure gives a true account of high seas piracy and a chase that would lead halfway around Antarctica with a fish as the ultimate treasure.

Shadow Divers: The True Adventures of Two Americans Who Risked Everthing to Solve One of the Last Mysteries of World War II by Robert Kurson
Amidst the rusting hulks of sunken ships, deep sea divers test themselves against treacherous currents and perilous wreckage. But in the fall of 1991, not even the divers were prepared for what they found in the chilly waters off of New Jersey-- an unidentified World War II German U-Boat. Over the next six years, they try to uncover the mystery surrounding this boat and its origins.

Born to be Wild

Here you will find books and movies for your adventurous side-- exploration, sports, and travel. From mountain climbing to motorcycles to breathtaking travel narratives and biographies, you'll get a little of everything to inspire the risk-taker in you. Let us know if there is anything else you would like to see in this column. Below are two books about unbelievable rescue missions.

That Others May Live: The True Story of a PJ, a Member of America's Most Daring Rescue Force by Jack Brehm

This gripping biography gives a first-hand account of pararescue jumpers (PJ) from the New York Air National Guard in Westhampton Beach, featured in The Perfect Storm by Sebastian Junger.

Mountain Rescue Doctor: Wilderness Medicine in the Extremes of Nature by Christopher Van Tilburg

Check out this true account of a wilderness phyisician whose work requires a unique combination of emergency medicine , survival skills, agility, and extreme sports to rescue mountain hikers, skiers, and airplane crash victims.