Reality is Broken: Why Games Make us Better and How They Can Change the World, by Jane McGonigal

http://amzn.com/0143120611

Alone - The Classic Polar Adventure, by Admiral Richard E. Byrd

http://amzn.com/1559634634

Ever since I read Into Thin Air: a Personal Account of the Mount Everest Disaster by Jon Krakauer, http://amzn.com/0679457526 I can't get enough of these adventure stories. I've just started on the one by Byrd. Part of what draws me to these stories is trying to figure out what motivates them to face such hardships, once they come eye to eye with the enormity -- and the sheer odds of failing --  that the project presents. I get the desire, the planning, the packing, the juggling of funds to start the adventure. I even get the day to day of it. I keep saying that writing a novel is like climbing a mountain. I think we share the same kind of heart, but mine demands constant coffee and temperature control!