Customer reviews

5 star 81% (81%)		81%
4 star 15% (15%)		15%
3 star 2% (2%)		2%
2 star 1% (1%)		1%
1 star 1% (1%)		1%

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Keith Foskett

As far as trail memoirs go, it’s right up there with the best of them.

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 17 September 2017

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Any adventurer will tell you that although the physical challenge is demanding, it is the psychological minefield that can make and break an expedition. The body is capable or extraordinary accomplishments, if you can persuade the mind to tackle them.
Case in point is Gary Sizer’s thru-hike of the Appalachian Trail. His first (but hopefully not last) long distance adventure resulted in serious foot problems, mind games and culminated in a bout of giardia and Lyme disease. Enough to pick off even the most seasoned adventurers, but not Gary.
Accompanied by the expected array of individual characters one would expect to find on a long-distance hike, Gary relays his unique adventure with wisdom, clarity, and occasional humour.
As far as trail memoirs go, it’s right up there with the best of them.

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k

Great funny read

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 29 May 2018

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This is a great read. Its pages is filled with great introspective and comical anecdotes of his experience on the AT. Its a page turner from start to finish. Loved this book and excited to give the AT a go myself now!

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Victoria

but I wouldn't call it the best. I prefer

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 17 October 2017

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It's alright, but I wouldn't call it the best. I prefer: Lost on the Appalachian Trail. Better read and a big plus for me was that Kyle hiked with a dog.

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neil

Five Stars

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 19 October 2017

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Very very good read, entertaining all the way through the book

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lolamac

Witty and engaging,

Reviewed in Canada on 16 December 2019

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An easy read that is inspiring and captivating. I love the characters, their personalities shine in simple and humorous anecdotes. This is the most descriptive book of the actual AT trail that I've read so far (I've read many) , and yet the detail isn't boring or repetitive. The truth of the hardship is plain, yet the magic and allure outweighs it all. Truly inspiring.

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Satchmo

Great read!

Reviewed in Japan on 11 March 2018

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I honestly wasn’t expecting much out of this since it isn’t my normal genre, but I got hooked almost immediately and have learned a ton. It’s a great journey and I’m thankful I got to experience a taste of it with the book.

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John McConnell

I'd say that I usually like every book on some level

Reviewed in the United States on 2 January 2016

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Somehow, I found myself on a mission to read every thru hike story available for Kindle. I've one-clicked my way across a couple of months reading a book or two per week. Overall, I'd say that I usually like every book on some level, and I think I've only not finished one purchase. I owe lots of people reviews and I intend to get to them all! Except the one that sucked. I'll just let it suck.

This book, however, out of like the twenty or so I've read, is easily top three. If Bryson is the standard for AT books, Gary Sizer is breathing down his neck. For me, a trail story has to be more than a trail journal. The list of what the hikers did that day is great, but I'm always looking for the human side of the story. Characters. Strengths. Weaknesses. Introspect. Sizer does a good job with all of these things. His descriptions are nice, too.

IMO, this book should have many more reviews. Sizer is in a group with Bryson, Fozzie, and Carrot Quinn, my reigning trail favorites.

44 people found this helpful

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Jean C.

Not the same old book about a Thru-Hike

Reviewed in the United States on 3 February 2016

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Because I love the Appalachian Trail, I read lots of books by the thru-hikers. Most are about the same with a day by day rehash of their adventure. Where's The Next Shelter starts off very similar, but soon there is a group of people who stick together - although not all the time - they were strangers at first, but became a family. Gary doesn't list everyone he meets, doesn't do a day to day recap, skips unimportant days and shelters. He is honest when describing his injuries, joys and the low points. It is an easy read and was very enjoyable.

17 people found this helpful

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D. Blankenship

I was actually sad and upset when this book ended - wish it had been many, many pages longer!

Reviewed in the United States on 15 March 2017

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I read a lot of books; first hand accounts of epic hikes primarily dealing with the Big 3. At my age and with my health issues my long hiking days are far behind me but I must say that I enjoy my armchair adventures with the men and women still active in this wonderful pastime.

Of the books I have read, i.e. those dealing with the Appalachian Trail, this one, ‘Where’s the Next Shelter’ has to rank right up there with the top three or five. Gary Sizer got it right! And not only did he get it right, he has the ability to articulate his journey via the written word; folks, for a non-professional writer, this guy is good and has a wonderful grasp of the English language and the written word.

Unlike many such tales I have read there is no beating of the chest, putting down every other hiker he runs across, an over abundance of whining or (As I recently read in one account) the record of a middle age guy goggling twenty year old girls. How refreshing. Sizer tells us like it is – the good, the bad and the ugly and does it with dignity and an acute sense of humor. He is comfortable with himself and comfortable with those around him no matter how diverse these companions and such may be. To be frank, he is the sort of person I would love to hike with – or would have back in my days.

Throughout the boo the author is quite good at conveying the pain involved in this 2,000 plus mile journey and he is also quite good at describing the many wonderful experiences he had and how he was able to endure and keep enduring when many would simply throw their hands up and head for home.

If you are contemplating giving this hike a shot; or one of the other major trails, I most certainly would recommend you read this one in preparation for that trip. This book gives insights that not many others give and is a valuable resource even though it is NOT a ‘how to do it book.’ When I say ‘insight’ I not only mean physical but also mental and social.

I was rather sad and upset when this book ended and beyond a doubt will give it yet another read on down the line a bit.

I highly recommend this one!

7 people found this helpful

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stoney

Well Written, Thoroughly Enjoyable Book

Reviewed in the United States on 13 August 2017

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I enjoyed reading this book. I used to be a voracious reader, sometimes reading 2-3 books a week. Ever since I've gotten a smart phone my book reading has fallen to maybe 2 books per year! It's like I no longer have the patience to read entire books for pleasure.
I came across this book by Gary Sizer while I was reading an AMA (ask me anything) on Reddit. His AMA was so interesting that I told myself I would read a chapter on Amazon to better understand his talk. Well, I loved the book from start to finish. Couldn't put it down. Which was surprising to me as I have zero interest in hiking or the AT or even the outdoors. He's funny, informative, thoroughly honest with the ickier parts of his hike and speaks so that everyone can understand a hiker's lifestyle.
This is an entertaining read and I'd like to thank Gary for writing it and for his talks on Reddit.

3 people found this helpful

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TX Griff

Very enjoyable even for non-hikers

Reviewed in the United States on 24 May 2019

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I'm not a hiker. Heck, I'm barely a halfway decent walker! But my sister & SIL are hikers. They've done the hike to Machu Picchu... the Annapurna circuit... numerous parts of the AT and PCT, etc.

So why did I choose to read 'Where's The Next Shelter'? Because it's a book about following ones own passion and spares little detail in documenting the (no pun intended) ups, the downs and the "Oh my gawd, what the hell was *that*?" side trips that occur naturally when you have a grand plan and the Universe decides to display its sense of --sometimes dark-- humor.

Very droll, sometimes sad events, wonderful descriptions of the landscapes encountered and the multitude of logistics involved in hiking a megaskajillion miles in the woods... as well as the great relationships found & cemented while finding yourself on the AT. Like the author, I was saddened when it came to an end.

One person found this helpful

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David L. Graham

One of the best AT stories.

Reviewed in the United States on 2 February 2016

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Out of 15 trail books I've read, this is in the top 3. It's the most realistic trail story I've read, for sure, and the author keeps your interest the whole time. I know because I did the AT too. Highly recommended.

14 people found this helpful

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M. Miller

A familiar storyline, but well-written and engaging.

Reviewed in the United States on 11 October 2017

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As far as trail books go, this one was pretty good. Entertaining and well-written. Also well-narrated by the author himself (I did the audiobook).

After reading a half-dozen AT memoirs they all start to sound the same, so it takes a fresh perspective and/or narration style to keep me engaged. Ultimately the story line is always familiar, though: the idea, the preparation, the excitement, the new friends, the trials and tribulations, the almost-quit moments, then the gritty climax to the triumphant finish on Mount Katadin.

Not to trivialize that endeavor at all, it's just become a saturated book genre.

Overall Sizer did a great job. I'd like to see more work from him.

3 people found this helpful

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Kira S.

Great book about hiking the AT trail - highly recommend

Reviewed in the United States on 25 October 2017

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I've read several books about hiking the Appalachian Trail and the Pacific Crest Trail, but this is by far the best. Gary Sizer, or "Green Giant" as he is known on the AT, tells the story of his thru-hike from Atlanta to Katahdin Mountain in Maine in this at times laugh-out-loud funny, other times suspenseful and poignant memoir. Reading it takes you into a world where the rising sun and birdsong wake you in the morning and sunset is the hiker's bedtime. Gary's descriptions are so vivid it is easy to imagine that you are hiking along with him. Every time I dipped into Where's the Next Shelter?, it felt like a mini-vacation from the world of cars and electronics and noise. And the people he meets along the way are absolutely fascinating. Do yourself a favor and pick up a copy (or download it to your ereader). You deserve a vacation but if you can't get away, Gary will take you for a mini-vacation - in your mind.

2 people found this helpful

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Music fan

This is easily one of the best books in the genre

Reviewed in the United States on 2 May 2016

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This is easily one of the best books in the genre. The author is an excellent writer; he should consider cultivating a new career in that field if he has not done so already. The book has a compelling narrative structure that goes beyond the obvious (i.e., hiking the whole trail in one shot), far better-than-typical character development, nuance, readability, and real depth. And it's funny and light on its feet, too.

While Bryson's book is only arguably part of the Appalachian hiking niche, what elevates it is its amazing writing and subtle presentation of the human condition, which the Trail has a way of eliciting (as anyone who has tried more than dayhiking it knows). This book is closer to Bryson than any other I've read in the Appalachian Trail genre--and it succeeds without relying on platitudes. This book was honest, clear, funny, and a great read. The author is a truly gifted writer. And unlike Bryson, he finished the trail.

6 people found this helpful

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