just finished reading

So, we allllll know I'm no hiker. I avoid the outdoors. I avoid exercise. I'm just being honest here. What am I doing reading a memoir about hiking the Pacific Crest Trail? Well, it was recommended to me by quite a few people. Since I've recommended Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn to them, I figured I could at least return the favor by reading their recommendations.

I couldn't put it down. Seriously. Me and a hiking book. But it wasn't a vicarious hiking trip. It was compelling to read about Cheryl's journey through grief, loss, and discovery. Discovery of who she is as a motherless daughter, wife, sister, friend, ex-wife, and woman. It read like fiction but it was too real to be fiction.

It's not going to make me a hiker. Or a citizen of the great outdoors. But I was cold with her, I was blazing hot with her, I was smelly with her, hungry with her, exhausted with her. It was compelling and well-written.