Summer reading gets all the hype, but the truth is, the best time to read a book may be right now. During fall and winter, the weather is often bleak, leaving you stuck inside and looking for things to do. The holiday season brings time off from work, so you have some spare hours to fill. Plus, spending an afternoon lost in a book can be a nice alternative to hanging out with difficult relatives. The only question is, what to read? Here are five strong options: all new for 2024 and featuring the outdoors.

The Great River
In The Great River: The Making and Unmaking of the Mississippi ($30, W.W. Norton), Boyce Upholt delivers a sprawling history of the Mississippi River, from its adoration by Indigenous tribes to its attempts at taming by European settlers. But Upholt also digs into the current state of the river and its ecosystems (spoiler alert: things are a bit dire) and explores what can be done to repair the damage.

Higher Ground
Luis Benitez is a St. Louis native and former mountain guide who once led blind climber Erik Weihenmayer to the top of Mount Everest. In Higher Ground: How the Outdoor Recreation Industry Can Save the World ($30, Erudition), Benitez tries to scale a different summit: convincing readers that the $1.1 trillion-per-year outdoor recreation sector is about more than cool gear and fun times — it’s the key to solving our looming environmental crisis.

Meet the Neighbors
Ever wonder what’s going through the head of a grizzly bear? Or, for that matter, a squirrel? In Meet the Neighbors: Animal Minds and Life in a More-than-Human World ($30, W.W. Norton), science journalist Brandon Keim takes readers into the wilderness to explore the inner lives of animals. Don’t be surprised if you come away with an expanded sense of community — and a newfound respect for snakes.

A Light Through the Cracks
Beth Rodden is one of the best rock climbers in the world, but A Light Through the Cracks: A Climber’s Story ($20, Little A) is no ordinary athlete memoir. In it, Rodden recounts the harrowing tale of how militant rebels kidnapped her, her boyfriend, and two others during a climbing trip in Central Asia. Even more compelling, she details how the trauma followed her home and the radical steps she took to move past it.

A Walk in the Park
Sometimes, friends bring trouble. Like when author Kevin Fedarko’s bestie, photographer Pete McBride, suggested they do an end-to-end trek of the Grand Canyon, what some experts call the world’s toughest hike. A Walk in the Park: The True Story of a Spectacular Misadventure in the Grand Canyon ($32.50, Scribner) chronicles the ensuing 750-mile journey, which took more than a year and nearly killed them.

Author: Shawn Donnelly is the managing editor of Terrain.

Top image: By Natalie Rolwes.