While there are many books about Everest, only a few rise to a level above the rest. For me, it involves excellent storytelling, a unique point of view, a highly personal angle, and perhaps a bit of history. Well, The Third Pole by Mark Synnott ticks all these boxes.  For those who may not know Mark, he is a Noth Face sponsored athlete, New York Times best-selling author, and has also worked extensively in the film and television industry, both in front of and behind the camera.  He is a world-class big wall climber who had zero interest in ever climbing Everest. In fact, he was part of the crowd that snubbed his nose at the peak and those who attempted it. But his interest was sparked at a presentation about Mallory and Irvine and their ill-fated 1924 Everest climb. In 2019 he found himself on an Everest expedition looking for the body of Sandy Irvine and, hopefully, the Kodak camera that might solve the mystery once and for all as to if they summited.  He chronicles the story in his new book The Third Pole that is on sale now. I was fortunate to review his book a few months ago and found it to be a fascinating story that weaves history and modern-day technology to investigate the greatest mountaineering mystery ever.  Mark likes to support local bookstores and made this comment about his local bookstore in North Conway, New Hampshire, White Birch Books, .. said ”  Laura still has a stack, and can ship them anywhere in the world. She can also arrange a personalized inscription. And if she runs out, which has already happened a few times, I simply stop in and sign a few more.”  The Third Pole is available at Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Powell’s, BAM , Hudson Booksellers, Bookshop.org, IndieBound, Target , Walmart and in Audio at Apple Books and Libro.fm.