10 Outdoors and Fitness Books to Buy as Gifts

Published December 9, 2025 03:41AM

The latest holiday gift sensation is a handy little device that can literally rewire your brain while you use it. It’s portable, reusable and re-giftable, and comes in literally millions of different versions. In fact, the biggest challenge you’ll face with these “books” is choosing which particular ones you want to read or give to your loved ones. That’s why I’ve created this handy guide, aimed at people who love endurance, adventure, and the outdoors: nine books I’ve loved this year, plus a few more to look forward to in the new year.

The Endurance Artist, by Jared Beasley

Back in 2013, I read a New York Times feature about an obscure and ridiculously crazy race called the Barkley Marathons. It blew my mind. The following year, a documentary (The Race That Eats Its Young) came out, and over time Barkley has become better known, as has its enigmatic creator, Gary Cantrell, and Cantrell’s other ultramarathoning creations like Backyard Ultras. So I wasn’t sure, to be honest, what more there was to learn about Cantrell and his races. But it turns out that Beasley does eventually manage to penetrate Cantrell’s prickly exterior, though it takes a few chapters to get there. The backstory is as fascinating as the races themselves, and this is the definitive telling.

Dirtbag Billionaire, by David Gelles

I was familiar with Patagonia’s quirky reputation (“Don’t Buy This Jacket”) and with the unusual trajectory of its founder, Yvon Chouinard. But Chouinard’s decision in 2022 to essentially give away the company for environmental reasons still caught me by surprise. Gelles’s biography is a fun read about an extremely remarkable life, but what gives it added heft is the attempt to grapple with Chouinard and Patagonia’s fundamental tension (a version of which everyone alive today faces in one form or another): the conflict between growing a business and living responsibly in a time of environmental degradation and climate change.

The Running Ground, by Nicholas Thompson

Maybe the simplest way of describing Thompson’s book is Barbarian Days—William Finnegan’s surfing autobiography—but for running. It’s a memoir with a few different threads: Thompson’s lifelong link with running, his unanticipated resurgence in his 40s, his relationship with his extremely complicated father (from whom he caught the running bug). But like Barbarian Days, what it’s really about is how devotion to a difficult craft can bring meaning and expand the horizons of your life. What stood out to me are the introspective passages capturing what certain rarefied moments—hitting your limits, discovering a new gear—feel like.

Stronger, by Michael Joseph Gross

One of my New Year’s resolutions this year, as it is every year, will be “get stronger.” To that end, I have Bonnie Tsui’s recent book On Muscle on my to-read list, and I’m just finishing Gross’s book. The latter isn’t quite what I expected: it’s not so much about muscle fibers and repetitions to failure as it is about what muscle signifies in our lives and how those ideas have changed from ancient times up to the present. That broader, philosophical perspective is what I need, because there’s no great mystery about how to build muscle—it’s the why that’s challenging.

Advanced Marathoning, by Pete Pfitzinger and Scott Douglas

Back in 2019’s holiday book list, I plugged the third edition of Advanced Marathoning, which by that time had already been the default guide to serious marathon training for 18 years. Now the fourth edition is out, and it once again justifies its reputation: solid, time-tested training guidance along with fresh discussions of current hot topics in sports science like super shoes, high-carb fueling, and monitoring recovery. For a one-stop shop on how to train to race a marathon, this is the book.

Heart of the Jaguar, by James Campbell

I first encountered Campbell’s writing when I was planning a trek in Papua New Guinea more than a decade ago: he’d written a book called The Ghost Mountain Boys about a World War II battle there, and followed up with an absolutely epic account of a trek through the mountains for Outside. His latest book follows efforts to save the jaguar and recounts the legacy of the late Alan Rabinowitz, “the Indiana Jones of wildlife protection.” It’s a clear-eyed account of the many serious challenges facing jaguars, but ultimately manages to feel hopeful.

Beyond Fast, by Sean Brosnan, Chris Lear, and Andrew Greif

As soon as I saw Chris Lear’s name on the cover, I was on board. His previous books, Running with the Buffaloes and Sub 4:00, are in the all-time canon of essential reads for serious runners. This time, he and journalist Andrew Greif are helping Sean Brosnan tell his story. Brosnan was, until a few years ago, the ambitious and opinionated coach of what is inarguably the greatest high-school cross-country team of all time at Newbury Park in California. He famously told an interviewer that 4:20 is “not fast for a high school mile”—and then had stickers made with the slogan. I found that a little off-putting (and not just because I was a 4:20 miler in high school!), but the story of what it took to build that Newbury Park dynasty turns out to be genuinely eye-opening.

The Last of the Giants, by Doug Mayer and William Windrestin

The Tor des Géants is such a ridiculous race—more than 200 miles through Italy’s Aosta Valley, crossing 25 mountain passes and climbing a total of 79,000 feet overall, with a time limit of 150 continuous hours—that it’s fair to say that words can’t do it justice. It makes sense, then, to tell its story in the form of a graphic novel. Doug Mayer is a journalist (and Outside contributor) who runs a trail running tour company called Run the Alps, and has competed at Tor des Géants three times; William Windrestin is the illustrator. The book is a (lightly, one presumes) fictionalized account of a runner’s third attempt at the Tor, exploring what it feels like and what drives us to take on such challenges. I can’t say I’m rushing to sign up myself, but I loved the glimpse inside that world.

The Game, by Ken Dryden

In September, former Montreal Canadiens goaltender Ken Dryden died of cancer. Dryden was among the greatest goalies of all time: a six-time Stanley Cup champion and five-time winner of the NHL’s trophy for best goalie despite a brief career that included sitting out a year at 26 to finish training as a lawyer, then retiring at just 31. He went on to serve as a cabinet minister in the Canadian government. And he wrote several books, none more famous than his first one, The Game, an account of his final season published in 1983. It’s universally acknowledged as the best book ever written about hockey, and often in the conversation for the best book about sports—and it still feels as fresh and insightful as ever.

The Explorer’s Gene, by Alex Hutchinson

I’d be remiss if I didn’t also suggest my own new book, The Explorer’s Gene, as an ideal Christmas gift to yourself or others. It’s a look at why we’re drawn to the unknown and what we get out it; Smithsonian Magazine just named it one of their ten best science books of the year.

And finally, a quick look ahead to three titles I’m excited about that will come out early in the new year. Robert Moor’s first book, On Trails, published back in 2016, was one of my favorite books of the decade. Now he’s back with In Trees, a journey through the philosophy, history, and science of trees. Brad Stulberg, whose writing on performance I recommend frequently, has The Way of Excellence coming out in January. And beloved Canadian radio personality Gill Deacon has a thoughtful look at our relationship with uncertainty called A Love Affair with the Unknown. All three of these titles are available for—and worthy of—a pre-order!

The 2025 Sweat Science Holiday Book List