I know there are lots of readers out there in QJ-land.

Most of the book reviews on this board are related in some way to canoeing or wilderness travel, but the books I read when in the backcountry often have nothing to do with those topics. Am I alone in this? What kinds of stuff do you find makes the best tripping reading? (Check as many categories as you like).

Book recommendations are of course welcome! Here's one to start off - for me it seemed to be "perfect" reading material on a backpacking trip last spring:

"The Complete Cosmicomics" by Italo Calvino. This is a collection of short pieces, mostly reminiscences of the protagonist, Qfwfq. An immortal of unspecified origin, Qfwfq was present at just about every important event in the history of the universe, and the earth in particular: the coalescence of dust into galaxies, the formation of the Milky Way, the separation of the moon from the earth, the first life to move out of the ocean onto land, the extinction of the dinosaurs, and more. Have you ever wondered if there was sex in the singularity preceding the Big Bang? Or tagliatelle? Or what meiosis and mitosis feel like? It's all there. (Note: "Complete" is a compendium of three books, of which the first was just called "Cosmicomics". You probably want the trilogy version.)