Review by rainydaysc64 -- The Altitude Journals

This forum is for volunteer reviews by members of our review team. These reviews are done voluntarily by the reviewers and are published in this forum, separate from the official professional reviews. These reviews are kept separate primarily because the same book may be reviewed by many different reviewers.
Forum rules
Authors and publishers are not able to post replies in the review topics.
Post Reply
User avatar
rainydaysc64
Posts: 78
Joined: 30 Aug 2018, 10:05
Currently Reading:
Bookshelf Size: 834
Reviewer Page: onlinebookclub.org/reviews/by-rainydaysc64.html
Latest Review: Isabella's Painting by Ellen Butler
Reading Device: B00OZTU156

Review by rainydaysc64 -- The Altitude Journals

Post by rainydaysc64 »

[Following is a volunteer review of "The Altitude Journals" by David J Mauro.]
Book Cover
3 out of 4 stars
Share This Review


The Altitude Journals chronicles seven years of David Mauro’s life as he faces challenges in his forties, from his divorce to Jenny to the rocky relationship with his father Don. In this autobiography, David faces a calling to climb the seven summits, which allows him to mend and move on from the parts of his life that are falling apart. As he chronicles his personal journey of redemption, David is able to find love again and fix his life while overcoming the dangerous challenges mountain climbing entails.

I really enjoyed the format of this book. I liked that David told his story through journal entries and shared some of his most personal moments with us. I also loved the subheadings found in the journal entries because they give the reader a hint of what topic is going to be talked about. I also loved seeing the photographs he included. It made his journal seem all the more personal and made me yearn to see more of them.

I also found this book to be a very informative read. As someone who doesn’t know a whole lot about mountain climbing, I found myself learning about it from this book. One example of something I learned that comes to mind for me is that you can get illnesses as you get up to higher altitudes that each present their own dangers. You as the reader saw several people in the book who dealt with some of these illnesses and how it affected them as they tried to summit. Learning this information made reading this book that much more enjoyable because I was learning something from it. It also allowed the reader if they were curious about mountain climbing to learn some of the risks before committing to doing a climb themselves.

One of my favorite aspects of this book is David’s narrating. There were times when the story was getting dark and he’d include moments that made me chuckle. These moments lightened the mood and made me root for him to overcome every obstacle he encountered.

While I didn’t find too many grammatical errors, my biggest problem with this book was being required to read it as a PDF format. I wasn’t too keen on it because whenever I’d turn my tablet off, it wouldn’t mark the page where I stopped reading. So I’d have to scroll through until I was back where I left off. I also noticed in this format that there were a lot of blank pages. I noticed them when I first started reading and as I finished reading about each mountain. It didn’t contribute to me liking the story any less, but it was noticeable enough for me to mention. As such, I give this book 3 out of 4 stars.

I also wish he’d included more photographs because I wanted to experience the mountains he saw. The pictures he did include were nice, but I wanted to see more of them.

Overall, The Altitude Journals is a great nonfiction read. I highly recommend it to mountain climbers and anyone with an interest in adventure and travel.

******
The Altitude Journals
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon

Like rainydaysc64's review? Post a comment saying so!
"I do believe something very magical can happen when you read a book."
- J.K. Rowling
User avatar
EvaDar
Previous Member of the Month
Posts: 2295
Joined: 18 Nov 2017, 11:21
Currently Reading:
Bookshelf Size: 122
Reviewer Page: onlinebookclub.org/reviews/by-evadar.html
Latest Review: Do Not Wish For A Pet Ostrich! by Sarina Siebenaler

Post by EvaDar »

I enjoyed reading your review. An inspiring story about overcoming loss is always interesting to me. I also like it when photos are included. It adds another dimension. Thanks for a great introduction to this book.
sit in the ocean. it is one of the best medicines on the planet. – the water
-Nayyirah Waheed
User avatar
Samy Lax
Posts: 1101
Joined: 30 Jan 2018, 01:40
Currently Reading: 100 Ways to Motivate Yourself
Bookshelf Size: 156
Reviewer Page: onlinebookclub.org/reviews/by-samy-lax.html
Latest Review: Chats with God in Underwear by Eduardo Chapunoff

Post by Samy Lax »

I never knew that you could get illnesses as you get to higher altitudes. I have just always imagined it to be tough on respiration. This book seems to be quite informative.

Love the way you write!
“...in principle and reality, libraries are life-enhancing palaces of wonder.”
― Gail Honeyman, Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine
jcoad
Posts: 514
Joined: 28 Jun 2018, 12:28
Currently Reading:
Bookshelf Size: 19
Reviewer Page: onlinebookclub.org/reviews/by-jcoad.html
Latest Review: True Blue Friend by Roy DeMauro

Post by jcoad »

I really liked this book. My favorite take away was how different the experience was for each peak. Basically a casual climb up Kilimanjaro to the craziness of Mt. Everest. The mountain climbing commentary was at a great level for beginners. A great read for anyone who wants to learn more about the world. Thank you for your review!
User avatar
rainydaysc64
Posts: 78
Joined: 30 Aug 2018, 10:05
Currently Reading:
Bookshelf Size: 834
Reviewer Page: onlinebookclub.org/reviews/by-rainydaysc64.html
Latest Review: Isabella's Painting by Ellen Butler
Reading Device: B00OZTU156

Post by rainydaysc64 »

Eva Darrington wrote: 11 Sep 2018, 10:17 I enjoyed reading your review. An inspiring story about overcoming loss is always interesting to me. I also like it when photos are included. It adds another dimension. Thanks for a great introduction to this book.
Thank you Eva for reading my review. :tiphat: I agree with everything you said and it's part of the reason why I read The Altitude Journals in the first place. I figured the author would grow as he climbed more mountains and was happy to see that be the case. I found it to be such an inspirational travel read and hope others read and enjoy it too.
"I do believe something very magical can happen when you read a book."
- J.K. Rowling
User avatar
rainydaysc64
Posts: 78
Joined: 30 Aug 2018, 10:05
Currently Reading:
Bookshelf Size: 834
Reviewer Page: onlinebookclub.org/reviews/by-rainydaysc64.html
Latest Review: Isabella's Painting by Ellen Butler
Reading Device: B00OZTU156

Post by rainydaysc64 »

Samy Lax wrote: 11 Sep 2018, 23:11 I never knew that you could get illnesses as you get to higher altitudes. I have just always imagined it to be tough on respiration. This book seems to be quite informative.

Love the way you write!
Thank you Samy for reading my review. :) I didn't know myself either until I started reading this book. I think that's one of the things that surprised me the most when reading this book even though now I don't know why. I feel like now it makes sense to me because its not just your lungs getting accustomed to the higher altitude but your whole body too. He actually mentions in the very beginning of the book that there are three conditions a person can get whenever they can't properly acclimate to a higher altitude. But he also says that most of it really is genetic and a person won't know until they go into a higher altitude whether they have that genetic disposition or not.
"I do believe something very magical can happen when you read a book."
- J.K. Rowling
User avatar
rainydaysc64
Posts: 78
Joined: 30 Aug 2018, 10:05
Currently Reading:
Bookshelf Size: 834
Reviewer Page: onlinebookclub.org/reviews/by-rainydaysc64.html
Latest Review: Isabella's Painting by Ellen Butler
Reading Device: B00OZTU156

Post by rainydaysc64 »

jcoad wrote: 12 Sep 2018, 07:38 I really liked this book. My favorite take away was how different the experience was for each peak. Basically a casual climb up Kilimanjaro to the craziness of Mt. Everest. The mountain climbing commentary was at a great level for beginners. A great read for anyone who wants to learn more about the world. Thank you for your review!
I agree. I think that's why I loved reading this book so much. I felt like as someone who doesn't know a whole lot about mountain climbing, I was learning a lot about it myself through the author who also didn't have a whole lot of experience with it until he climbed these mountains himself.

I'm glad you enjoyed this book too and thank you for reading my review on it.
"I do believe something very magical can happen when you read a book."
- J.K. Rowling
User avatar
kfwilson6
Previous Member of the Month
Posts: 2065
Joined: 14 Feb 2018, 15:30
Currently Reading: Lord of Chaos
Bookshelf Size: 298
Reviewer Page: onlinebookclub.org/reviews/by-kfwilson6.html
Latest Review: The Stone Wall Crossing by Alice Schellhorn Magrane
Reading Device: B00JG8GOWU

Post by kfwilson6 »

I love books that written in a diary format. I think this particular book does indeed lend itself to the inclusion of some gorgeous pictures. I haven't read this book yet, but it truly sounds inspiring, fun, and enlightening.
User avatar
rainydaysc64
Posts: 78
Joined: 30 Aug 2018, 10:05
Currently Reading:
Bookshelf Size: 834
Reviewer Page: onlinebookclub.org/reviews/by-rainydaysc64.html
Latest Review: Isabella's Painting by Ellen Butler
Reading Device: B00OZTU156

Post by rainydaysc64 »

kfwilson6 wrote: 13 Sep 2018, 15:41 I love books that written in a diary format. I think this particular book does indeed lend itself to the inclusion of some gorgeous pictures. I haven't read this book yet, but it truly sounds inspiring, fun, and enlightening.
The pictures included are nice. But to me, it didn't seem like there was enough of them to make the journey even more personal for the reader. Thank you for stopping by and reading my review! :D
"I do believe something very magical can happen when you read a book."
- J.K. Rowling
Post Reply

Return to “Volunteer Reviews”