In My Boots

A Memoir of Five Million Steps Along the Appalachian Trail

De: Amanda K. Jaros

Narrado por: Ally Ibach

When Amanda K. Jaros learns about the 2,160-mile Appalachian Trail after college, she walks away from a sheltered life dominated by an angry and volatile father and does something unexpected: spends six months backpacking. Alone. She expects to pass the time in the solitary and peaceful wilderness, reflecting on her life's direction. Instead, she finds herself part of a community ripe with stinky socks, buckets of ice cream, and trail magic. What matters on the trail is not a hiker's past or parents, her fears or failures, but rather, what matters is the connections we make with each other.

In My Boots recounts a challenging physical journey following the trail over the windy balds of the South, through snowstorms in the Smoky Mountain National Park, and above the tree line to the alpine zones of the White Mountains of New Hampshire. The journey is also emotionally transformative as this twenty-three-year-old leaves behind the compliant and scared girl she once was. With each step away from her damaged childhood, each new friend, each stop in another rural trail town, she comes to understand that to succeed on the trail, and in life, it turns out, the path she walks must be her own.

©2024 Black Rose Writing (P)2025 Black Rose Writing

Reseñas de la Crítica

“Amanda K. Jaros's In My Boots does what some of the best works of nonfiction do: it takes the reader on a journey—in this case, a journey that is as much mental and emotion as it is physical.” –Amy Butcher, author of Visiting Hours: A Memoir of Friendship and Murder

An Insightful Appalachian Trail Adventure.

In 1999, Amanda Jaros began a journey on the Appalachian Trail. She tells that story in her new trail memoir, In My Boots. I chose the audiobook format, and I was fully immersed from the very beginning. Narrator Ally Ibach is strikingly expressive in bringing Jaros’ experience to life for the listener, taking me onto the path, through the forests, up the mountains, and amidst the transformative process of a long-distance hike.

Jaros is a wonderful storyteller, and she is honest about the emotional history that she carried onto the trail, as well as her triumphs and trials throughout her trek. I cheered for her when she took her trail name, coming into her own in her new environment. It was hard to turn off the audiobook each night as I listened, as I was so engaged while she hiked solo, made new trail friends, and discovered so much about the AT, nature, and herself.

Whether you are a thru-hiker, a more casual walker, or one who loves the escape of reading about a personal adventure in the beautiful outdoors, I highly recommend this book to you.