Hi Reader’s Den!  It’s taking me longer to read Bill Bryson’s A Walk in the Woods than to hike the AT.  That’s the Appalachian Trail to the uninitiated... something I learned while reading this month’s selection.  To be honest I still have about 80 pages to go.  But it is the end of the month and time waits for nobody, so here I am posting some discussion topics.

Bill Bryson humorously recounts his own hike along large sections of the Appalachian Trail, describing its flora, fauna, and history. Which aspect of the book appealed to you more, the the humor or the history?

The longest hike I’ve done was about four hours and I thought that was long! What reasons does Bill Bryson give for wanting to hike over 2,000 miles on the AT? What do you think motivated Katz to join him?

“Every step was a struggle. The hardest part was coming to terms with the constant dispiriting discovery that there is always more hill.” And yet they keep going.  What motivates people to keep going when there is no end in sight?

 "Good old Katz. Good old anyone with a pulse and a willingness to go walking with me."  Who would be your ideal companion for walking the AT? How do you think a shared experience of this kind changes a friendship?

 Who was your favorite trail character?

 “In America, alas, beauty has become something you drive to, and nature an either/or proposition—either you ruthlessly subjugate it….or you deify it, treat it as something holy and remote, a thing apart…”  Is it possible for people and nature to coexist to their mutual benefit?

 Coincidentally, on September 3 author Edward Ricciuti will be at Mid-Manhattan Library discussing his book, Bears in the Backyard, which explores the increasing intersection between humans and wild animals.

Stay tuned for more reading suggestions.

In the meantime check out this post from a few years ago on local hiking resources.