What Are You Reading?

[Tom Lathrop]

People and books spread themselves over a very wide spectrum. Some prefer writers like Faulkner and some like romance novels. I tend to prefer non-fiction but do also read "literary fiction". Writers like John Gresham are also held in high esteem because they are able to create a story that holds my attention while also educating me about things that missed my attention. Some books like Sapiens make me study and read others and some technical writing holds my attention as well as any literary fiction.

Chip-skiff's put down of Osborne Russel is completely out of place in a discussion of reading.

[UCanoe_2]

The Still-Hunter by Theodore S. VanDyke (1883). In this classic, one of Theodore Roosevelt's favorites, the author instructs both novice and experienced hunters in the arts of identifying deer habitat, observing keenly, and moving stealthily. Written with style and grace not often seen today. Worth reading over and over; there is always something new to learn.

Here's a free download: https://archive.org/details/stillhunter00vandrich

[David G]

The Still-Hunter by Theodore S. VanDyke (1883). In this classic, one of Theodore Roosevelt's favorites, the author instructs both novice and experienced hunters in the arts of identifying deer habitat, observing keenly, and moving stealthily. Written with style and grace not often seen today. Worth reading over and over; there is always something new to learn.

Here's a free download: https://archive.org/details/stillhunter00vandrich

I'm gonna try and find that one. Thanks!

[noddyone]

Just finished 'Kings of the Yukon' by Adam Weymouth.

[David G]

Oh, man. His Socrates Fortlow books have to be some of the best American novels of the last hundred years.

I just finished #1 - 'Always Outnumbered, Always Outgunned'. Thanks for the recommendation... I really ENJOY a thundering kick in the gut.

Seriously... most excellent. Should probably be required reading for anyone who pontificates about racism.

[Flying Orca]

I just finished #1 - 'Always Outnumbered, Always Outgunned'. Thanks for the recommendation... I really ENJOY a thundering kick in the gut.

Seriously... most excellent. Should probably be required reading for anyone who pontificates about racism.

Yup.

[Reynard38]

Tidewater Rip, by M.Z. Thwaite

[mmd]

The Forgotten Legion

Romulus and Fabiola are twins, born into slavery after their mother is raped by a drunken nobleman. At thirteen years old they are sold - Romulus to gladiator school, Fabiola into prostitution, where she will catch the eye of one of the most powerful men in Rome. Tarquinius is an Etruscan, a warrior and soothsayer, born enemy of Rome, but doomed to fight for the Republic in the Forgotten Legion. Brennus is a Gaul, his entire family killed by the Romans, and he rises to become one of the most famous and feared gladiators of his day.

The lives of these characters are bound and interwoven in an odyssey which begins in a Rome riven by political corruption and violence, but ends far away, at the very border of the known world, where the tattered remnants of a once-huge Roman army - the Forgotten Legion - will fight against overwhelming odds, and the three men will meet their destiny.

Ben Kane was born in Kenya and raised there and in Ireland. He studied veterinary medicine at University College Dublin but after that he travelled the world extensively, indulging his passion for ancient history. Now he lives in North Somerset, where he researches, writes and practices as a small animal vet. The Forgotten Legion, born of a lifelong fascination with military history in general, and Roman history in particular, is his first novel.

[ron ll]

Tidewater Rip, by M.Z. Thwaite

Worth reading as weekend fluff on the boat? Looks interesting and cheap.

[epoxyboy]

I just finished #1 - 'Always Outnumbered, Always Outgunned'. Thanks for the recommendation... I really ENJOY a thundering kick in the gut.

Seriously... most excellent. Should probably be required reading for anyone who pontificates about racism.

Walter Mosley is awesome! Hoovered up everything our local library had, a few years ago.
Just finished Perdido St Station and The Scar by China Mieville. Sort of SF meets steampunk, quite good, if you're into that sort of thing.

Pete

[Flying Orca]

Just finished Perdido St Station and The Scar by China Mieville. Sort of SF meets steampunk, quite good, if you're into that sort of thing.

Yeah, both of those were quite good, I thought. Definitely a new twist.

[David G]

The Still-Hunter by Theodore S. VanDyke (1883). In this classic, one of Theodore Roosevelt's favorites, the author instructs both novice and experienced hunters in the arts of identifying deer habitat, observing keenly, and moving stealthily. Written with style and grace not often seen today. Worth reading over and over; there is always something new to learn.

Here's a free download: https://archive.org/details/stillhunter00vandrich

Just got word that the local library ordered a few copies, and I'm first on the list when they arrive.

[Rum_Pirate]

Currently rereading:

'BUILDING THE PENOBSCOT 17'

by Arch Davis.

[WX]

The Path of Infinite Sorrow ,The Japanese on the Kokoda Track by Craig Collie and Hajime Marutani.

[UCanoe_2]

Die Mauer: ein Bildband
The Wall: a pictorial
Le Mur: un album de photos
El Muro: un album de fotos
Il Muro: Un libro fotografico

Berlin: Schikkus (ca. 1990)

A pictorial history of the Berlin wall, 1961-1989, in 5 languages.

wall 02.jpg

East German soldier escapes to freedom, one of 2000 soldiers who fled the DDR during the wall's first 5 years, May 1961.

wall 01.jpg

August 1962. DDR border guards carry mortally wounded fugitive Peter Fechter from the "death strip." Fechter lay bleeding for 50 minutes before being taken to a hospital.

[David G]

Just started 'Boy Swallows Universe'. Appears to be a literary approach to some very gritty subject matter. Coming of age in a high-crime Queensland suburb. The writing is both interesting and challenging. A little heavy on the 'talk' and light on the 'plot development' early on. I'll hang in there hoping for a payoff later.

[ron ll]

Just started 'Boy Swallows Universe'. Appears to be a literary approach to some very gritty subject matter. Coming of age in a high-crime Queensland suburb. The writing is both interesting and challenging. A little heavy on the 'talk' and light on the 'plot development' early on. I'll hang in there hoping for a payoff later.

Just finished it, my favorite novel of the year.

[David G]

Just finished it, my favorite novel of the year.

That's encouraging...

[ron ll]

That's encouraging...

That’s a lotta faith in my taste.

[David G]

That’s a lotta faith in my taste.

Well... I wasn't gonna mention that part... <G>

[David G]

Just finished the most recent Steven Brust 'Vlad Taltos' book - 'Vallista'. Least favorite of all. Just a nearly unbroken string of 'creativity' with little plot movement. Big disappointment.

[skuthorp]

Local history. In relation to present day erosion and geographic changes in the last 150 years.

[WX]

The path of Infinite Sorrow.
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/...nfinite-sorrow

The Australian story of Kokoda has been told often from the perspective of the Australians. Now, for the first time ever, the full Japanese story of Kokoda is told, a poignant tale of comradeship and heartwrending suffering. This is a very human story of the other side, told through the eyes of Japanese soldiers who were there. It draws from a range of firsthand sources—interviews with survivors, diaries that soldiers left behind, memoirs written after the war, and what's survived of the records of the Japanese military. Full of painful recollections and startling wartime revelations, this is the lesser-known story of a tragic battle that continues to haunt survivors from both sides.

[David G]

The top 20 books of 2019... according to Amazon. Starts with Margaret Atwood --

https://www.amazon.com/b/ref=as_li_s...language=en_US

[Chip-skiff]

The Tenth Muse by Catherine Chung.



Well-written novel about a woman mathematician who unravels her complex family history.

Always good, sometimes gripping.

[David G]

Just finished 'Boy Swallows Universe' by Aussie journalist Trent Dalton. Coming of age story in a dodgy Queensland suburb. Understated, and 'literary' in a gritty sort of way. Lot of grim, and a bit too much unrelenting, monochromatic sadness - without a ton of action or contrast - mid-book. And the ending is so understated as to be anti-climactic. But despite all of that... worth a read. I think this is his first novel. I can see why the critics like it, and it earned 4.5 stars over at Goodreads.

[sandtown]

Am into C. Thompson's "Sea People" - about the Polynesians

a good read; Der Skip sez check it out

[Chip-skiff]

This:

[Chip-skiff]

Am into C. Thompson's "Sea People" - about the Polynesians.

Our old yachting mate in New Zealand sent us this book:



Very good and rich in detail.

[SKIP KILPATRICK]

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[goodbasil]

Just finished, "Into the Wild," by Jon Krakauer
Really enjoyed it.

[Bernadette]

Endless Novelties Of Extraordinary Interest
The voyage of H.M.S. Challenger and the Birth of Modern Oceanography.
Doug Macdougall 2019
Yale University Press
257 pages


not yet finished....
BUT, so far>>>>
very well written with sketches from the voyage.
I rate it 10/10
opens up a whole new world of sea voyaging and exploration that I was otherwise unaware of.
also has the occasional pertinent and heartfelt introspective comment made by the author on the state of our planet that will resonate with mostly all of us to some degree.

[Flying Orca]

51Sinl9BkEL._SY300_.jpg

I really enjoyed that one, which I read quite recently, because I believe my African-American ancestors are connected with Fripp Island and the Geechee/Gullah culture. I've been a Conroy fan for many years.

[Flying Orca]

Endless Novelties Of Extraordinary Interest
The voyage of H.M.S. Challenger and the Birth of Modern Oceanography.

That sounds really​ cool! I think I'll get my dad a copy for Chrimbo.

[amish rob]

Just finished, "Into the Wild," by Jon Krakauer
Really enjoyed it.

I liked all his stuff I read, so far. Under The Banner if Heaven is a good’un.

Peace,
Robert