Summer Reading List: 10 Suspenseful Books for the Cabin

Everyone loves a little teen drama every once in awhile. But teen drama in the California wilderness is even better.

Although Starry Eyes is a Young Adult book, it’s full of nature and wilderness descriptions that are paired with a heartwarming story.

When exes, Zorrie and Lennon, find themselves stranded in the woods, the teens are forced to work together to survive. A novel about tension, secrets and hidden feelings is revealed as they make their way back to the real world. The novel is an easy read and perfect for a cabin night in front of the fireplace.

$10; amazon.com

Similar to the theme that made Wild so popular, the protagonist in Happiness for Beginners turns to the wilderness to find herself after a divorce.

This fictional novel shares the ups and downs of a three-week survival course in Wyoming as protagionist Helen Carpenter navigates her new post-divorce life. Carpenter finds that opening up to nature and "getting lost" is the best way to truly find yourself.

$10; amazon.com

Have you ever dreamed of an Alaskan adventure? If so, Jimmy Bluefeather is a must-read. This heartwarmer of a novel weaves you through the journey of the ninety-five-year-old, Keb Wisting, and his attempt to gain back his sense of life in the wilderness of Southest Alaska. 

Wisting, his grandson, a dog named Steve and a few friends decide to undertake a lengthy canoe expedition through Alaska. Both Keb and his grandson feel out of sorts from what life has thrown them, and their joint expedition allows for healing and resolutions in ways they didn’t expect.

$12; amazon.com

Stu Stark is a recently fired attorney, who is sent into the Alaskan wilderness alone on what appears to be a vacation...until he realizes it isn’t.

After a week, it seems no one is coming back for him. As the Alaskan winter sets in, survival seems grim. He then meets a hunter who offers to show him the ropes. If he wants to survive, he can’t be the man he once was.

The Alaskan wilderness shines in the Impasse and shows how nature is a transformative tool in Stark's life.

$10; amazon.com

A group of modern-day academics decide to explore "Everland", a desolate Antarctic island that has only been seen on a trek completed in 1913—and ended with a mad-man turned dead-man.

The legacy of the explorers has been twisted over time, and it seems that no one knows the real truth. The group feels prepared to attempt the same journey, but it begins to mirror the horrors of the famous trip in done 100-years prior. As the group is barely hanging on to survival, they are forced to make decisions that will change the trajectory of their lives forever.

$11; amazon.com

If your guilty pleasure is survival stories, you’ve come to the right place.

Four strangers all climb up a mountain, but their stories intertwine as they all get lost. Four start on the mountain—and only three survive.
The story is told through letters written from Wolf, one member of the group, to his son. A twist on the typical survival story, The Mountain Story combines nature and human nature in an unexpected way.

$12; amazon.com

Secrets and suspense reign in The Home Place, all up against a rual Montana.

Protagonist Alma must return home when she hears the news of her sister’s death. However, upon seeing her sister’s body, she suspects foul play. She must navigate through memories from her childhood in order to figure it out for killed her sister.

The Home Place is the perfect story to read around the campfire.

$12; amazon.com

Reality TV and wilderness combined? The Last One has done just that.

In a Survivor, reality television sort of way, 12 contestants are placed in the wilderness and left to fight for their survival. The twist? They are not voted out, but have to give up and ask to be taken out of the competition. The novel is fast-paced and reveals the strain that survival places on the human psyche.

$14; amazon.com

The cold, quiet Alaska wilderness seems to be the perfect place for any survival story.

However, The Great Alone is a different type of survival story. A couple forces their young daughter, Cara, to move to Alaska because the father craves solitude. Once there, they come to the realization they weren’t prepared for what Alaska offers.

Alaska is described vividly throughout the novel, and reveals the hardships the family must go through to survive.

$10; amazon.com