Wild: From Lost to Found on the Pacific Crest Trail. After her mother died, Cheryl Strayed left for the Pacific Crest Trail, a world “two feet wide and 2,663 miles long".
The Most Popular Non-Fiction Memoirs Bestsellers Books - Cheryl Strayed's Wild: Info, Plot Summary, Review and Cheryl Strayed Biography.
Author: Cheryl Strayed
Book: Wild: From Lost to Found (336 Pgs.)
Wild is Cheryl Strayed's first-person memoir of her 1,100-mile (1,800 km) hike along the Pacific Crest Trail during the summer of 1995. She began her journey in the Mojave Desert, hiking through California and Oregon before ending her trek ninety-four days later by crossing the Bridge of the Gods into Washington. The book also contains flashbacks to prior life occurrences that led her to begin her mountain-climbing journey
Strayed had been devastated by the death of her mother, Bobbi Lambrecht, in 1991. Her stepfather disengaged from Strayed's family, and her brother and sister remained distant. Strayed became involved in heroin use, and eventually she and her husband divorced. Seeking self-discovery and resolution of her enduring grief and personal challenges, at age 26, Strayed set out alone, on her 1,100-mile journey, having no prior backpacking experience. Wild intertwines the stories of Strayed's life before and during the journey, describing her physical challenges and spiritual realizations while on the trail
Unbroken: A World War II Story of Survival, Resilience and Redemption. The story of World War II hero Louis Zamperini, a former Olympic track star who survived a plane crash in the Pacific theater, spent 47 days drifting on a raft and then survived more than two and a half years as a prisoner of war in three brutal Japanese prisoner-of-war camps.
The Most Popular Non-Fiction Biographic Bestsellers Books - Laura Hillenbrand's Unbroken: Info, Plot Summary, Review and Laura Hillenbrand Biography.
Author: Laura Hillenbrand
Book: Unbroken (473 Pgs.)
On a May afternoon in 1943, an Army Air Forces bomber crashed into the Pacific Ocean and disappeared, leaving only a spray of debris and a slick of oil, gasoline, and blood. Then, on the ocean surface, a face appeared. It was that of a young lieutenant, the plane's bombardier, who was struggling to a life raft and pulling himself aboard. So began one of the most extraordinary odysseys of the Second World War.
The lieutenant’s name was Louis Zamperini. In boyhood, he'd been a cunning and incorrigible delinquent, breaking into houses, brawling, and fleeing his home to ride the rails. As a teenager, he had channeled his defiance into running, discovering a prodigious talent that had carried him to the Berlin Olympics and within sight of the four-minute mile. But when war had come, the athlete had become an airman, embarking on a journey that led to his doomed flight, a tiny raft, and a drift into the unknown.
Ahead of Zamperini lay thousands of miles of open ocean, leaping sharks, a foundering raft, thirst and starvation, enemy aircraft, and, beyond, a trial even greater. Driven to the limits of endurance, Zamperini would answer desperation with ingenuity; suffering with hope, resolve, and humor; brutality with rebellion. His fate, whether triumph or tragedy, would be suspended on the fraying wire of his will.
In her long-awaited new book, Laura Hillenbrand writes with the same rich and vivid narrative voice she displayed in Seabiscuit. Telling an unforgettable story of a man's journey into extremity, Unbroken is a testament to the resilience of the human mind, body, and spirit.
The Boys in the Boat: Nine Americans and Their Epic Quest for Gold at the 1936 Berlin Olympics.
The Most Popular Non-Fiction Bestsellers Books - Daniel James Brown's The Boys in the Boat Info, Plot Summary, Review and Daniel James Brown Biography.
Author: Daniel James Brown
Book: The Boys in the Boat (416 Pgs.)
The non-fiction book is about the University of Washington 8-oared crew which represented the United States in the 1936 Olympics in Berlin, and narrowly beat out Italy and Germany to win the Gold Medal.
There are 2 backstories, firstly that all 9 members of the Washington team came from lower middle class families and had to struggle to earn their way through school during the depths of the Depression. Along with the chronicle of their victories and defeats in domestic competition the reader learns the importance of synchronization of the 8 rowers as they respond to the commands of the coxswain and his communications with the stroke, consistent pacing, and sprint to the finish so that all team members are left completely exhausted and in pain at the end of a competitive race.
The second backstory begins with a depiction of Hitler decreeing construction of the luxurious German venues at which the Games would take place. Along the way the book also explains how the Nazis successfully covered up the evidence of their harsh and inhumane treatment of the Jews so as to win worldwide applause for the 1936 Olympic Games, duping the United States Olympic Committee among others.
The townspeople of Holcomb and other friends of the Clutters are deeply affected by the murders. This includes Nancy's best friend, Sue, and Nancy's boyfriend, Bobby. The townspeople perceived the Clutters as the family "least likely" in the world to be murdered. Unable to conceive that the killers were strangers, many of them become suspicious of everyone and anxious about their own safety in the company of their neighbors. The man who heads the murder investigation, Al Dewey, becomes obsessed with both the murderers and the Clutter family. His need to find the killers becomes his driving force in life.
All comes together with a description of the final race. During the 1930s rowing was a popular sport with millions following the action on the radio. The victorious Olympians became national heroes. In accordance with the strictures of amateur athletics the boys sank into relative obscurity after their victory, but still better off than their parents, and for the rest of their lives proud of their accomplishment.
Wild is Cheryl Strayed's first-person memoir of her 1,100-mile (1,800 km) hike along the Pacific Crest Trail during the summer of 1995. She began her journey in the Mojave Desert, hiking through California and Oregon before ending her trek ninety-four days later by crossing the Bridge of the Gods into Washington. The book also contains flashbacks to prior life occurrences that led her to begin her mountain-climbing journey
On a May afternoon in 1943, an Army Air Forces bomber crashed into the Pacific Ocean and disappeared, leaving only a spray of debris and a slick of oil, gasoline, and blood. Then, on the ocean surface, a face appeared. It was that of a young lieutenant, the plane's bombardier, who was struggling to a life raft and pulling himself aboard. So began one of the most extraordinary odysseys of the Second World War.
The non-fiction book is about the University of Washington 8-oared crew which represented the United States in the 1936 Olympics in Berlin, and narrowly beat out Italy and Germany to win the Gold Medal.