Into Thin Air and Into The Wild are both excellent books. Though by the same author, the style is markedly different for both, and each is really appropriate for the subject matter. Before reading Into Thin Air, as an avid climber and hiker, I had only a small glimmer of desire to ever climb Everest. After reading, well, that glimmer has been taken, crushed, stomped on, extinguished, and then pissed on. But, it is an amazing book.