Books like On Trails

A thoughtful, wandering journey that changes the way you look at the ground beneath your feet and the choices that guide your life. These 12 books are the closest matches in mood, pace and themes, with what each one shares with On Trails.

contemplative
earthy
expansive
awe-struck

01
The Old Ways
Robert Macfarlane
A lyrical, slow-paced meditation on how the landscapes we walk through shape the landscapes of our minds.
Shares:
- contemplative
- lyrical
02
A Field Guide to Getting Lost
Rebecca Solnit
A lyrical, associative journey that invites you to surrender to the beauty of not knowing exactly where you are.
Shares:
- contemplative
- expansive
- lyrical
03
Upstream
Mary Oliver
A quiet, luminous invitation to step into the woods, slow down, and pay fierce attention to the beauty of the world.
Shares:
- contemplative
- awe-struck
04
A Walk in the Woods
Bill Bryson
A hilarious, blister-inducing stumble through the American wilderness that balances laugh-out-loud buddy comedy with genuine reverence for the natural world.
Shares:
- awe-struck
05
What doesn't kill us
Scott Carney
An invigorating exploration of how pushing our physical limits can unlock the hidden resilience of our evolutionary past.
Shares:
- inquisitive
06
Entangled Life
Merlin Sheldrake
A mind-expanding, earthy exploration that completely rewires how you perceive the natural world and your place within it.
Shares:
- earthy
- awe-struck
- lyrical
07
Wanderlust
Rebecca Solnit · 2000
A lyrical, intellectual stroll through the history, philosophy, and politics of putting one foot in front of the other.
Shares:
- contemplative
- expansive
- inquisitive
- observant
08
Wild
Cheryl Strayed
A blistered, blisteringly honest trek through the wilderness of grief toward a hard-won sense of peace.
Shares:
- expansive
09
Pilgrim at Tinker Creek
Annie Dillard
A luminous, deeply observant meditation on the terrifying beauty and spiritual mystery of the natural world.
Shares:
- contemplative
- awe-struck
- inquisitive
- philosophical
10
Into the Wild
Jon Krakauer · 1996
A haunting, investigative journey into the heart of American wanderlust and the fatal price of absolute freedom.
Shares:
- expansive
11
Uncommon Carriers
John McPhee
An immersive, journalistic journey alongside the people who steer the massive, hidden machinery of global freight.
Shares:
- contemplative
- expansive
- observant
12
Eating animals
Jonathan Safran Foer
An urgent, deeply personal reckoning with the stories we tell ourselves about the food on our plates.
Shares:
- philosophical

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