winter reading

Karl Konecny · Posted: Fri Feb 26, 2021 6:48 pm Post subject:

I just found this thread, love to read, and now have some great titles to look for. I will add two more:
"Where the Sea Breaks Its Back" by Corey Ford, the epic story of early naturalist Georg Steller and the Russian Exploration of Alaska.
"Fishing With John" by Edith Iglauer, living and fishing on a small salmon troller along the coast of BC in the '70s. Very well written.

Marco Flamingo · Posted: Fri Feb 26, 2021 8:07 pm Post subject:

Thanks, Karl. I just ordered both books.

I finished my last Patrick O'brien Master and Commander book today. I have the first 10 volumes in paperback if anybody is interested. Media mail is cheap. I should say that these might appeal most to those who have a sailing background. Also, I used my 12 volume encyclopedic dictionary set called the "New Century Dictionary" copyright 1888. All of the archaic sailing terminology (including illustration) was in it.

I'm sure that I can find the additional volumes of Patrick O'brien at my favorite used book store. I thought that the first 10 volumes were kind of a set. Nope. In volume 10, Captain Aubrey, a British officer, is shipwrecked on a South Pacific island with American Navy castaways (with whom he is at war). It isn't clear which are the prisoners, if anybody. I doubt that's where the story ends.

Mark

RobLL · Posted: Sun Feb 28, 2021 4:04 pm Post subject:

I just finished River-Horse, the C-Dory book up the Hudson, west on the Erie canal and lake, down a tributary and the Ohio, up the Mississippi and Missouri, down the Salmon, Snake, and Columbia. Plus a few other passages and portages. A good and fun read. Send me about $3.50 in stamps and I will mail it to you, and you can keep it. Or even better pass it on to some other C-Brat.

Karl Konecny · Posted: Mon Mar 01, 2021 4:38 pm Post subject:

If no one else has taken you up on that offer, I certainly will. Please PM me your mailing address and I will have the stamps on the way. A trip like that was done in reverse in 1939 by Buzz Holmstrom when a lady hired him to row her across North America! Buzz Holmstrom from Coquille Oregon was the first person to row a boat solo down the Colorado. The story of his life is told in the book, "The Doing of the Thing" by Welch, Conley, and Dimock. An interesting story and a good read.

daninPA · Posted: Mon Mar 01, 2021 10:10 pm Post subject:

I'm glad I found this thread and the honest reviews of Riverhorse. I read it twice -- the second time to be sure it was him and not me. WLH Moon writes well and like any good travelogue, you wonder what's going to happen next and keep reading. But the end is anti-climatic and the overall sense of ennui is burdensome. It was less an exploration of the continent and more his recounting of a month's-long prison break that ended with recapture.

I will second the high praise for the entire Aubrey Maturin series, which I have read through at least 4 times. Book 21 was in process when Patrick O'Brien passed and the book ends suddenly, but not before the reader is drawn in and wants to know what happens next. Cruel, unfair, and capricious -- just like life in the Royal Navy. And for everyone, for that matter.

RobLL · Posted: Tue Mar 02, 2021 5:07 pm Post subject:

River-Horse is sent off to another reader.

By the way, guessing at the economics of it all, paying for postage both ways is close to ordering a used book on Amazon. Sending a book off to the next reader may cost that reader about half as much. Lesson, book sharing and paying for postage one way is a great way to get and pass on books.

ps - and besides recycling and sharing books with others is fun

ssobol · Posted: Tue Mar 02, 2021 7:17 pm Post subject:

RobLL · Posted: Tue Mar 02, 2021 7:59 pm Post subject:

About $2.75 for first pound and .28 per for the next pounds.

As a comparison, I mailed off all of my theology books to a 'pass along' site connected to our denomination and it was upwards of $25 for a 30 pound box. We mailed some of my MIL's papers and writings off to a brother and it was upwards of $70 for the same weight. This was 6-8 years ago.

Marco Flamingo · Posted: Tue Mar 02, 2021 9:25 pm Post subject:

Media mail is the way to go. I keep my favorites to send to my brother and he does the same. I can't believe the cost differential between sending him good books and sending him fresh salmon. My Master and Commander books are already gone.

Mark

curioustraveler · Posted: Tue Mar 02, 2021 9:34 pm Post subject:

I didn't see any of John Kretchmer's books listed here. I highly recommend his books. Offshore sailor, delivery captain, and excellent writer.

https://johnkretschmersailing.com/books/