The Emerald Mile

A wild ride -- the book, that is, not just the boat trip. Fedarko is a master storyteller: he zigs and zags through history, prehistory, geology, climate, politics, personality, and of course boating, and he makes every one of those enjoyable reading. Good levels of tension all throughout, making it hard to stop reading. Exquisite prose, often poetic. Long, descriptive sentences: I would not want to be the audiobook narrator for this one! I read it aloud and often had to gasp for breath midway through a sentence. But I never felt annoyed by that; only delighted.

Best book I've read in a long time. At first it just seems like it's about some dudes trying to break a speed record for running a river, but it turns out to be a history of the Colorado River, the Grand Canyon, the Glen Canyon dam, conservation ... and then the adventure aspect of running the Colorado in flood stage. Impressively well-researched and very well-written. Any of my peeps that are into the outdoors or history – read this.