This deeply personal story is the most emotionally nerve-racking book I've read so far this year. Cheryl Strayed's journey across the Pacific Crest Trail was unbelievable, humorous, tense, terrifying, gorgeous, and humbling all at the same time.

Before this book, I hadn't read many biographies, autobiographies, and memoirs. However, in recent years I've become interested in practicing yoga and running. From this, the athletic and spiritual parts of Strayed's hike felt familiar to me.

While I've only hiked up a mountain and some trails, I could relate to the feeling of independence she describes herself experiencing while surrounded by nature. I too long for the times during the day when I can retreat inside myself and just be alone. The passages where she talks about walking for hours and days without speaking to anyone and sometimes finding that liberating, is something I can picture. By reading this book, I identified most with her introspective chapters and her beautiful descriptions of nature. "Wild" was an anguished and touching read that introduced to me a new perspective on grief.