I come back to ‘As Far as the Eye Can See’ year after year. It’s absolutely brilliant. Well written, honest, insightful. David Brill conveys his experiences on the AT better than any other through-hiker book I’ve ever read. Too many books make it seem if hiking the Appalachian Trail is man vs. trail but Mr. Brill brings the truth to the forefront, hiking the AT is hiker vs. him/herself. If you’ve ever thought of putting foot to the trail and walking from Georgia to Maine or simply enjoy day hiking in the beauty of the woods this book is for you.

6:00 AM on MARCH 29th and it’s 80 degrees outside with at least 90% humidity. It’s MARCH for crying out loud! MARCH!

I’m going to kick the A/C down a notch and take a nap.

First let me say “This is NOT a Discworld novel!” Let me repeat that “This is NOT a Discworld novel!” While I’ve been a fan of the Discworld for a long, long time it, like Piers Anthony’s Xanth series, is suffering from fandom. The authors are almost required to churn out novels in the same settings with the same characters AND make them new and interesting because, well, it makes them bucket loads of cash.

Nation is… amusing. Mau a south Pacific island boy about to become a man is caught up in a tsunami that devastates the area and washes Ermintrude, who just might the Heir to the Crown, up on his home island. It’s hard not to give too much away to those who haven’t yet read this and I don’t want to spoil the story…

Ermintrude… What is it with British authors giving/using the STUPIDEST names they can think of for people, things and places? Pratchett’s done it for years as did J. K. Rowling and many others who’s names escape me. In particular the island names in ‘Nation’ are sadly pathetic.

The aftermath of the tsunami, the state of the British crown, ghosts of ancestors, evil sailors, cannibals, cannons and a foul mouthed parrot (who barely needs a PG rating). Nation has the subtle humor of Pratchett’s early work like ‘Johnny and the Bomb’ or The Bromeliad trilogy and not the slap you in the face yelling “Wasn’t that FUNNY?!” style that the Discworld novels have sadly devolved into.

The story starts out a little slow but keeps picking up the pace while offering some interesting things to contemplate about who really ‘discovered’ what around the world. Sorry, it’s really hard NOT to give away too much by saying even a little about the story. It’s entertaining and quite worth reading even if you’re not a fan of Pratchett.

I said to mom “Ah, to be a bird. To enjoy the pure joy of flight!” After all, one of my favorite books of all times, since I stole it from my sister’s nightstand when I was twelve or so is ‘Jonathan Livingston Seagull’ (I also sto…borrowed, ‘The Amityville Horror’ and the week I didn’t sleep after that is a whole ‘nother story.) which deals with flying for the sheer sake of enjoying flight.

Then it occurred to me, maybe the crow’s not enjoying this. Maybe the quite windy conditions aren’t what he was looking forward today. Maybe he’s even thinking;

“OH SHIT! I’m going to DIE! Why the hell did I get out of the nest this morning? TREE!!!!!! Oh God that was close! What was I thi…TREEE!!!”

‘A Walk in the Woods’ by Bill Bryson:

I used to camp all the time growing up with my folks and later on involved in Scouting. I hiked, day hikes mostly and usually as often as the weather would allow with little concern for the season. I therefore tend to read books on AT (Appalachian Trail) and it’s hikers as it’s a dream I’ll never realize. ‘Walk’ is about a man discovering there’s a trail, unbroken (more or less) from Georgia to Maine. Some 2,100 up the Appalachian corridor. Bryson sets off, completely unprepared mentally or physically to walk the AT and soon discovers that it’s a daunting task. Bill’s got a good grasp of humor and never fails to convey the humor in the situations he and his hiking companion, Katz who’s even more ill prepared for the journey than the author. There’s a few moments, mostly littering by throwing gear away and not policing his cigarette butts by Katz that I find rather annoying. We also, as we sadly do in so many ‘Trail’ books, get preached at about just how crappy we’re doing as caretakers of this planet. Bryson’s not the worst by a long shot but I’d really love to read a story about hiking the AT without the need to break out into how we’re killing the amphibians off or how many species of trees have gone extinct due to our careless nature. I know it’s a problem but if I wanted to read about it I’d go looking for books on THAT topic and not hiking. Don’t get me wrong, this is well worth reading (thanks Lisa!). I found myself laughing out loud in many places. I could just do without the preaching from the soapbox.