Climbing Bios

When, during the Pyrenean stages of the 1998 Tour de France, a journalist asked Marco Pantani why he rode so fast in the mountains, the elfin Italian, unmistakeable in the bandanna and hooped ear-rings that played up to his 'Pirate' nickname, replied: 'To shorten my agony.' Drawing on the fervour for these men of the mountains, Climbers looks at what sets these athletes apart within the world of bike racing, about why we love and cherish them, how they make cycling beautiful and how they see themselves and the feats they achieve.

As the daughter of a ruthless crime lord, I knew the rules—never fall for the enemy. But that didn’t stop me from giving my heart to three dangerous, beautiful men from a rival family. We were young, reckless, and willing to risk everything for each other. Until my father found out. His punishment was brutal. His message clear. And when I lost the life growing inside me, I knew I had to disappear—for their sake as much as mine.

Unabridged selections from George Mallory's collected writings on his mountaineering - and his motivations. Famously impelled to climb Mount Everest simply because it was there, Mallory made three attempts to be the first to reach its summit, and perished on the third. His writing reveals the emotional life of the mountaineer. With eloquence, Mallory captures the struggles and the rewards involved, the climber's sense of triumph, and experiences of staggering beauty.

Deanna Drake has a past she longs to forget, but won't ever be able to. She's always been the tough one. No one but her best friend Zara has ever been able to penetrate her cold, hard shell. Until Griz - a.k.a. Grady Daniels, Hawks Motorcycle Club's second-in-command, who also has a past that he wishes he could undo...all except one part. It's her past that brings them together. Only will it be forever?

At the start of his second year at Harvard, Martin was hit by a car and thrown 150 feet. He landed on his head, suffering severe traumatic brain injury. He resolved to get back. Climbing Back: A Family's Journey Through Brain Injury follows Martin's sister, father, and mother (the author) as they accompany Martin through rehabilitation and recovery. They find that they too must work to get back, to heal their own minds and souls.