Wild: From Lost to Found on the Pacific Crest Trail
Cheryl Strayed

Lee Child aside, my reading tastes almost never intersect with the New York Times bestseller list, but when the best seller in question is about a completely unprepared hiker taking on the notoriously difficult Pacific Coast Trail, you know I’m going to check it out.

Cheryl Strayed’s Wild is a memoir of her hike of most of the Pacific Coast Trail. But more than that it’s the story of a young woman’s grappling with the loss of her mother and her own precarious position in the world. Its heartfelt, well structured, and basically well-written. While some of it is a bit trite, much of it feels real, and at times, it can be downright moving. Depending on your tolerance for the plights of troubled youth trying to find themselves, you might love this one, or find it all to be a bit much. I think I came out somewhere in the middle. Satisfied with having read it, but wouldn’t have been disappointed to have missed it.

Recommended for the enthusiast.