Person
Alex Honnold's book recommendations
Key facts
- Alex Honnold has recommended or discussed 8 books on podcasts, as of January 7, 2026.
- Alex Honnold has talked about books on 3 podcasts, as of January 7, 2026.
- Those books came up in 4 episodes, as of January 7, 2026.
- The 3 books Alex Honnold has mentioned in the most episodes, as of January 7, 2026: Free solo, Accidents in North American Mountaineering and Energy.
- The latest episode with a book mention from Alex Honnold aired on January 7, 2026.
Updated
Across 3 podcasts. Every show Alex Honnold appears on, in one place — not just one.
Alex Honnold’s most recommended books
- Free solo by Roberto Vaiana
- Accidents in North American Mountaineering by Jed Williamson
- Energy by Vaclav Smil
- Energy and Civilization by Vaclav Smil
- Seven Summits by Dick Bass
- The Better World Shopping Guide by Ellis Jones
- The China Study by T. Colin Campbell
- Thrive Fitness by Brendan Brazier
Alexander J Honnold is an American rock climber best known for his free solo ascents of big wall climbing routes. Honnold rose to worldwide fame in June 2017 when he became the first person to free solo a full climbing route on El Capitan in Yosemite National Park via the 880-metre big-wall route known as Freerider at the technical grade of 5.13a, which was the first-ever big-wall free-solo ascent at that grade, a climb described in The New York Times as one of the great athletic feats of any kind, ever. During podcast appearances on On Purpose with Jay Shetty and The Rich Roll Podcast, Honnold discussed his achievements and mentioned several formative books. He recalled receiving Ellis Jones's The Better World Shopping Guide from his sister, which opened his eyes to consumer ethics. He also discussed Dick Bass and Pat Morrow's Seven Summits when considering climbing the Earth's tallest peaks, read Vaclav Smil's Energy and Civilization to understand the history of energy systems during a trip to Guyana, and mentioned The China Study in the context of transitioning to a vegetarian diet, alongside references to the documentary film Free Solo.
Books recommended by Alex Honnold
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Free solo
Free Solo is a gripping documentary film directed by Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi and Jimmy Chin that chronicles professional rock climber Alex Honnold's historic, unroped ascent of El Capitan in Yosemite National Park.
Discussed“It's a shame cuz there's a scene in Free Solo, you know, they show a little clip from that where and basically everyone watching the movie comes out of it like, 'Well, there's something wrong with his brain.'”
Where to get it
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Accidents in North American Mountaineering
Discussed“accidents in North American mountaineering and it's just a list of every accident that happened over the year and they have analysis and causes and you know I mean some accidents you read”
Where to get it
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Energy
Energy by Vaclav Smil is a sweeping, highly detailed examination of how energy systems have evolved alongside human civilization, charting power sources from ancient biomass to modern industrial grids.
Discussed“I just finished this book "Energy and Civilization," this like Vaclav Smil's, like this super dense tome about sort of the progression of different energy systems in human civilization.”
Where to get it
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Energy and Civilization
Discussed“I just finished this book "Energy and Civilization," this like Vaclav Smil's, like this super dense tome about sort of the progression of different energy systems in human civilization.”
Where to get it
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Seven Summits
Discussed“I don't know if you've ever read the book, "The Seven Summits" by Dick Bass. He was the first person-”
Where to get it
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The Better World Shopping Guide
Discussed“my sister actually many years ago before I started my foundation, before I started any of this stuff, she gave me this book called "The Better World Shopping Guide," which I think is out of print now but at the time was this incredible resource where for any consumer product, including banking and things like that, you could flip through”
Where to get it
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The China Study
The China Study by T.
Discussed“I mean kind of all the classic like China study type things I don't know like yeah thrive the Brendan Fraser”
Where to get it
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Thrive Fitness
Thrive Fitness by Brendan Brazier is a resource focused on plant-based nutrition, fitness, and lifestyle optimization designed to support athletic performance and overall health.
Discussed“thrive the Brendan Fraser oh yeah actually I don't think I've actually read your book it's funny I was reading through all the different diet books I've read and I was like I don't think I'll give you a copy yeah yeah brant Brendan lives right up the street”
Where to get it
Books by Alex Honnold
Appearances
Other mentions (3: passing, ad reads, own books)
“because you're like oh he's pretty scary you and and I always consider myself the white wizard you know I mean it's kind of kind of Lord of the Rings references”
“this older guy Hans Florine who actually wrote the book how to speed climb that I learned how to speed from from many years ago”
“so like I published a book a few years ago and so there's an advance from that”