I enjoy compiling reading lists for people to discover, such as these recommendations of good adventure books, sorted by categories. And every so often I share online this photo of great adventure books written by women.

It always generates fabulous responses in the comments. So I decided to collate the responses on Instagram and Facebook, stick them into ChatGPT to tidy them up, and share them here: my readers’ recommendations of fabulous adventure books by women.

My next step needs to be to add links and summaries, but one step at a time, eh?

And please do share in the comments section below your own suggestions of books that have inspired you!

1. **8000 Miles Across Alaska** by Jill Homer
2. **A Bike Ride** by Anne Mustoe
3. **A Long Trek Home: 4,000 Miles by Boot, Raft, and Ski** – Erin McKittrick
4. **A Pearl in the Storm: How I Found My Heart in the Middle of the Ocean** – Tori Murden McClure
5. **A Woman in the Polar Night** by Christine Ritter
6. **Adventure Revolution** by Belinda Kirk
7. **Annapurna: A Woman’s Place** – Arlene Blum
8. **Antarctica on a Plate** – Alexa Thomson
9. **Around the World in 80 Trains** by Monisha Rajesh
10. **At One with the Sea** by Naomi James
11. **Backseat Rider** by Laura Massey-Pugh
12. **Becoming Brutal** by Claire Smith
13. **Becoming Odyssa** by Jennifer Pharr Davis
14. **Bedtime Adventure Stories for Grown Ups** by @annamcnuff
15. **Beycing With Butterflies** by Sara Dykman
16. **Beyond Euphrates** by Freya Stark
17. **Beyond Impossible** by @marvellousmimi (Author not directly mentioned)
18. **Bitch** by Lucy Cooke
19. **Brave the Wild River: The Untold Story of Two Women Who Mapped the Botany of the Grand Canyon** by Melissa L. Sevigny
20. **Bump, Bike and Baby: Mummy’s Gone Adventure Racing** by Moira O’Sullivan
21. **Cave in the Snow** (Author not mentioned, attributed to a Buddhist monk)
22. **Castaway** by Lucy Irvine
23. **Chasing Rivers** by Tamar Glouberman
24. **Clouds from Both Sides** by Julie Tullis
25. **Coffee First Then the World** by Jenny Graham
26. **Coasting** by Elise Downing
27. **Come Hell or High Water** by Clare Francis
28. **Dare to Do: Taking on the Planet by Bike and Boat** – Sarah Outen
29. **Dare To Travel Solo** by Katherine Leamy
30. **Desert Snow and A Siberian Winter’s Tale: One Girl’s Take On Africa By Bike** by Helen Lloyd
31. **Educated** by Tara Westover
32. **Family Adventures: How to Adventure with Babies and Children** by @bex_band
33. **Fearless** by Chloe Phillips-Harris
34. **Find a Way** by Diana Nyad
35. **Flaneuse** by Lauren Elkin
36. **Following Nellie Bly: Her Record-Breaking Race Around the World** by Rosemary J. Brown
37. **Four Corners** by Kira Salak
38. **Four Mums in a Boat** (Author not mentioned)
39. **Frigid Women** by Sue and Victoria Riches
40. **Full Tilt: Ireland to India with a Bicycle** – Dervla Murphy
41. **Fulltime Adventurer** by Tamar Valkenier
42. **Gears for Queers** by Lilith Cooper and Abigail Melton
43. **Higher Love** by Kit Deslaurier
44. **Home is a Tent** by Myrtle Simpson
45. **Ignore the Fear** by Fiona Quinn
46. **In Her Nature** by Dr. Rachel Hewitt
47. **In the Shadow of the Mountain** by Silvia Vasquez-Lavado
48. **Into The Planet** by Jill Heinerth
49. **Into the Earth** by Jill Heinerth
50. **Joy Ride** by Kristen Jokinen
51. **Juicy Crones** by Jay Courtney
52. **Just a Little Run Around the World: 5 Years, 3 Packs of Wolves and 53 Pairs of Shoes** – Rosie Swale-Pope
53. **Journey** by Lizzi Hawker
54. **Kabloona in a Yellow Kayak** by Victoria Jason
55. **Letters from the Amazon** by Sal Bolton
56. **Life Lessons from the Amazon** by Pip Stewart
57. **Limitless** by Mimi Anderson
58. **Looking for Paradise** by Arita Baaijens
59. **Love with a Chance of Drowning** (Author not mentioned)
60. **Maiden** by Tracey Edwards [AL NOTE: I SAILED THE ATLANTIC ABOARD MAIDEN!]
61. **Mind of a Survivor** by Megan Hine
62. **Miles from Nowhere** by Barbara Savage
63. **Must Try Harder** by Paula McGuire
64. **My Journey to Lhasa** by Alexandra David-Néel
65. **My Year Without Matches** by Claire Dunn
66. **No Easy Day** by Claire Smith
67. **Paddle My Own Canoe** by Esther Keyser
68. **Paddling My Own Canoe: A Solo Adventure On the Coast of Molokai** – Audrey Sutherland
69. **Pants of Perspective** by Anna McNuff
70. **Peace Pilgrim: Her Life and Work in Her Own Words** by Peace Pilgrim
71. **Phenomenal** by Leigh Ann Henion
72. **Places I Remember** by Lea Lane
73. **Push On** by Niki Rellon
74. **Radio Shangri-La** by Lisa Napoli
75. **Return** by Lynx Vilden
76. **Revolutionary Ride: On the Road in Search of the Real Iran** by Lois Pryce
77. **Riding the Desert Trail** by Bettina Selby
78. **Rough Magic** by Lara Prior Palmer
79. **Running with the Wolves** by Clarissa Pinkola Estes
80. **Rusch to Glory** by Rebecca Rusch
81. **Shifting Gears** by Meaghan Hackinen
82. **Solo** by Jenny Tough
83. **Solo** by Tania Aebi
84. **Southbound** by Lucy and Susan Letcher
85. **Spirited Waters** by Jennifer Hahn
86. **Stand-Up Paddleboarding in Great Britain** by Jo Moseley
87. **Swimming to Antarctica** by Lynne Cox
88. **Swell** by @captainlizclark
89. **Terra Incognita** by Sara Wheeler
90. **The Blessings of a Good Thick Skirt: Women Travellers and Their World** – Mary Russell
91. **The Carbon Cycle: Crossing the Great Divide** by Kate Rawles
92. **The Crossing** by Sophie Matterson
93. **The Cruelest Journey: Six Hundred Miles to Timbuktu** by Kira Salak
94. **The Curve of Time** by Muriel Wylie Blanchet
95. **The Expedition** by Chris Fagan
96. **The Hidden Fires** by Merryn Glover
97. **The Hungry Ocean** by Linda Greenlaw
98. **The Kindness of Strangers** by Kate Adie
99. **The Living Mountain** by Nan Shepherd
100. **The Lost Pianos of Siberia** by Sophy Roberts
101. **The Power** by Naomi Alderman
102. **The Ribbons are for Fearlessness** by Catrina Davis
103. **The Salt Path** by Raynor Winn
104. **The Slow Road to Tehran** by Reo Lowe
105. **The Sun is a Compass** by Caroline van Hemert
106. **The Whole Story: A Walk Around the World** – Ffyona Campbell
107. **The Wind in My Wheels** by Josie Dew
108. **This Cold Heaven** by Gretel Ehrlich
109. **This Road I Ride** by @2wheelsdoubletrouble
110. **Three Stripes South** by @bex_band
111. **Thru-hiking Will Break Your Heart** by @carrotquinn
112. **Time on Rock** by Anna Fleming
113. **To the Greatest Heights** by Vanessa O’Brien
114. **To the River** by Olivia Laing
115. **Tough** by Jenny Tough
116. **Touching Tibet** by Niema Ash
117. **Tracks: A Woman’s Solo Trek Across 1700 Miles of Australian Outback** – Robyn Davidson
118. **Unlost** by Gail Muller
119. **WILD: From Lost to Found on the Pacific Crest Trail** – Cheryl Strayed
120. **WOODSWOMAN** by Anne LaBastille
121. **Walking Home** by Kelly Winters
122. **Wanderers: A History of Women Walking** by Kerri Andrews
123. **Wanderlust** by Rebecca Solnit
123. **Waymaking – An anthology of women’s adventure writing, poetry and art** by Melissa Harrison Helen Mort Claire Carter
124. **Waymakers: An Anthology of Women’s Writing About Walking** by Kerrie Andrews
126. **West with the Night** by Beryl Markham
127. **Where There’s a Hill** by Sabrina Verjee
128. **Where the Mountain Casts Its Shadow** by Maria Coffey
129. **Will to Wild: Adventures Great and Small to Change Your Life** by Shelby Stanger
129. **Wild by Nature** by Sarah Marquis
130. **Wind from a Distant Summit** by Pat Deavoll
131. **Windswept** by Annabelle Abbs
132. **With a Little Dash of Crazy** by Nikki Love

I then stuck all your recommendations back into ChatGPT and asked for more suggestions:

• Nanda Devi: A Journey to the Last Sanctuary by Alison McLean
• Breaking Trail: A Climbing Life by Arlene Blum
• The Valley of Flowers by Joan Margaret Legge
• Ice Bound: A Doctor’s Incredible Battle for Survival at the South Pole by Jerri Nielsen
• No Horizon is So Far: Two Women and Their Extraordinary Journey Across Antarctica by Liv Arnesen and Ann Bancroft
• Desert Queen: The Extraordinary Life of Gertrude Bell by Janet Wallach
• Wild by Nature: From Siberia to Australia, Three Years Alone in the Wilderness on Foot by Sarah Marquis
• Savage Summit: The Life and Death of the First Women of K2 by Jennifer Jordan
• Sea Kayak Around Vancouver Island by Mary Ann Snowden
• Four Mums in a Boat by Janette Benaddi, Helen Butters, Niki Doeg, and Frances Davies – The remarkable true story of four middle-aged women who rowed across the Atlantic.
• Love with a Chance of Drowning by Torre DeRoche – A city girl’s account of overcoming her fears to sail across the Pacific with her new boyfriend.
• The Spice Necklace: My Adventures in Caribbean Cooking, Eating, and Island Life by Ann Vanderhoof – A culinary adventure that sails through the Caribbean.
• Tracks of the City by Diana Kapp – Stories of women who have navigated urban landscapes and challenges on their bicycles.
• This Road I Ride: My incredible journey from novice to fastest woman to cycle the globe by Juliana Buhring – A tale of resilience and determination as the author cycles around the world.
• Running Home by Katie Arnold – A personal narrative about healing and transformation through the lens of ultra-running.
• Alone in Antarctica: The First Woman To Ski Solo Across The Southern Ice by Felicity Aston – The story of the first woman to ski alone across Antarctica.
• Riding the Dragon’s Spine by Bettina Selby – The author’s journey on a bicycle along the spine of the Dragon Mountains in South Africa.
• Desert Children by Waris Dirie – Focuses on the author’s journey back to Somalia to confront the practice of female genital mutilation.
• Thru-Hiking Will Break Your Heart: An Adventure on the Pacific Crest Trail by Carrot Quinn – An honest and emotional account of long-distance hiking and the personal transformation that comes with it.

This is getting silly now!! No more book suggestions until you have read all these! 😂