Gift Beta - Mountain Books

Today's Christmas gift suggestion isn't exactly original and it's not that specific either, we're talking mountain literature and any one of dozens of inspirational mountain books.

From this year's crop, there are a couple of climbing books that have grabbed our imagination, one is Revelations by Jerry Moffatt, winner of the Grand Prize at this year's Banff Festival and a firsthand account of the life of one of Britain's most iconic climbers of the 1980s Sheffield scene. It's immensely readable and utterly unpretentious, good gift for any rock jock.

The other stand-out is Beyond The Mountain by to Steve House, which landed this year's Boardman Tasker Award, which is by all accounts, a serious and sincere book by one of the best mountaineers in the world and sounds to be well worth a read.

Beyond that, mountain literature is blessed with some inspirational writing. Good stuff we'd suggest includes Andy Cave's 'Learning to Breathe' - the mining sections may be nothing to do with climbing but are a real eye opener - and Andy Kirkpatrick's excellent and entertaining 'Psychovertical'.

For the darker, more obsessive climbing types out there, 'Kiss Or Kill' by Mark Twight is an exercise in climbing psychology, a collection of his best writing, it's a proper dip in and marvel book. And then, for an outsider's view of a climbing trip, Andrew Greig's 'Summit Fever' is well worth a read. Poet is hijacked by gnarly Scottish mountaineering legend, taught how to climb and dragged out to the Himalayas on expedition. Beautifully written and highly readable.

For more ideas see our top mountain books Part One and Part Two and our Top Climbing Books For A Dark Night overview.