Endurance: Shackleton's Incredible Voyage

One of the "hard things" I've come across was turn of the century explorations. The stories of polar explorers like Ernest Shackleton (chronicled in Lansing's Endurance) or tropical ones like "River of Doubt" detailing Roosevelt's exploration of the Amazon tributary are fascinating stories of how people's grit accomplished hard things.

Definitely adding this to my list. I was stationed in Antarctica for three months earlier this year and it really gave me a newfound respect for these early explorers. I can’t imagine navigating such an environment with only relatively basic equipment and the stars.

> I am waiting for time to forget enough of it so that I can read it again. Incredible book and story, I read it this year too and your statement resonates.

Endurance: Shackleton's Incredible Voyage lots of great recommendations already, but this is a relatively quick read and a great story. How To Build A Car If you're into F1 -- or precision engineering -- it's a cool book that gives you insight into a fantastic designer and his approach to producing machines I could go on but those are two books I thought about while going about my day today

My two favourite books I read this year were both non-fiction: * Endurance: Shackleton's Incredible Voyage - If you enjoy books about persistence in the face of adversity, this has it in spades. When I was in my 20's I saw the movie "Touching the Void" and remember being in total awe at a human's ability to persevere in seemingly impossible situations. Shackleton and his crew bring this power of determination to another level. * On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft - Reading this gave me another level of respect for Stephen King. He also pointed me towards another excellent book "Bird by Bird: Some Instructions on Writing and Life".

Endurance: Shackleton's Incredible Voyage to the Antarctic - Name says it all. Shows what people can endure when pushed to the limits. If the story wasn't true you wouldn't believe it happened. After reading it you'll never moan about being cold or hungry again

I just want to add that for a cross country drive, there is no better audio book than "Endurance: Shackleton's Incredible Voyage". The audio version is absolutely gripping; the suspense is incredible, more so because of the strict linearity of the story as audio (no peeking ahead). I also liked "Into Thin Air" on audio.

Best books I have read this year: - Shareholder letters of Warren Buffett: http://amzn.to/1OgZVh9 - Endurance: Shackleton's Incredible Voyage: http://amzn.to/1Oh09oz

Besides the already good technical book suggestions, I am going a bit off the path here, but these books have made me a better developer. "Endurance" about Sir Ernest Shackleton's incredible failed expedition to the South Pole has a lot of parallels to any software project. Teaches you about setting a high goal, finding the right team, overcoming failure, being scrappy, and keeping your team together inspite of the odds. Another non-standard book is "Finding Flow" by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi which is about psychology of happiness at work or life.

I was inspired most by Ernest Shackleton's biography "Endurance" by Alfred Lansing. Finished it one night and remember moment of it. Now whenever I face a difficult circumstance in my life, I just try to remember some situations from that book and my problems look so insignificant.

Just finished Alfred Lansing's incredible classic Endurance. Highly recommended.