True Adventure

True adventure stories make for very gripping reads. A recent addition to the Muskoka Lakes Public Library collection in this genre, in both book format and DVD format, is 127 Hours or as first published, Between a Rock and a Hard Place. Hiking into the remote Utah canyon lands, Aron Ralston felt perfectly at home in the beauty of the natural world. Then, on one fateful April day in 2003 at 2:41 P.M., eight miles from his truck, in a deep and narrow slot canyon, an eight-hundred-pound boulder tumbled loose, pinning Aron's right hand and wrist against the canyon wall. Through six days of hell, with scant water, food, or warm clothing, and the terrible knowledge that no one knew where he was, Aron eliminated his escape option one by one. Then a moment of stark clarity helped him to solve the riddle of the boulder--and commit one of the most extreme and desperate acts imaginable. Honest, inspiring, and undeniably astonishing, 127 Hours: Between a Rock and a Hard Place has taken its place in the annals of classic adventure stories.

On August 5, 2010, at the San Jos mine in northern Chile, 33 men were entombed 2,300 feet below the earth when a slab of rock the size of a skyscraper sheared off the mountain and sealed shut their only access to the surface. The miners were discovered alive 17 days later, and for the next seven weeks after that discovery, as rescuers sought to bring them to the surface, the eyes of the world shifted to this previously obscure corner of South America. Award-winning journalist Jonathan Franklin reported, recorded, and filmed from the front row of the operation as it unfolded and was afforded unprecedented and unique access to the miners and the rescuers. He tells their full story in 33 Men: Inside the Miraculous Survival and Dramatic Rescue of the Chilean Miners.

In October 2008, Melissa Fung, a long-time journalist for CBC's The National, was reporting on the effects of the war in Afghanistan on the local population. As she was leaving a refugee camp outside of Kabul, she was grabbed by armed men claiming to be Taliban, stabbed, stuffed into the back of a car and driven off into the desert. Under an Afghan Sky is the gripping tale of Fung's days in captivity.It is a powerful book about survival and the indomitable spirit of one woman in the most perilous of circumstances.

Yoga in a Muskoka Chair with Sue Brown August 16, 11am . Introduce yourself to the gentle ancient art of yoga. FREE but space is limited so please pre-register.

Have you checked out the fundraising Silent Auction yet? The bidding closes on August 18 during the 10th anniversary celebration day of the opening of the Norma and Miller Alloway Muskoka Lakes Library. There are more than 40 fantastic items to bid on! There is still plenty of time to pick up information on the Lego and Room-in-a-Box build-it-at-home competitions…fun for the whole family!