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Sat Jan 07, 2012 4:44 pm

I very much enjoyed Slocums book, abd chuckled at the Nook statement earlier. Last year I was debating between Nook, Nook Color, Kindle etc, so bought an iPad1 when the 2 came out, got the Nook app, the Kindle App and the PDF reader app.

Currently rereading 'Stranger in a Strange Land', Heinlein. Great Grokking book. You can always relate to something going on when you pick it up.

Most of my other downloads have been classics, or reference. When will Bentley go to a PDF copy? Then again, do you want greasy fingerprints on the screen?

Sun Jan 08, 2012 4:29 am

I managed to load a copy of the Bentley on my iPhone, so it's possible to get on the iPad. You're right though, that little bugger gets pretty grimy with me swiping my fingers all over the screen! :lol:

Mon Jan 09, 2012 11:18 am

John Sullivan wrote: RB, You like Hornblower. Try Alexander Kent's Bolitho series. More books and great adventures. Tales about the English Navy from the late 1700 to early 1800. Great stories.

I've heard about Alexander Kent and tried a Bolitho - I just couldn't connect. I dunno why - I just didn't. But then, it took two tries to connect with Tolkien; the second try was the charm, however.

Somewhat in the same line with Kent, Forester, et al. is Dewey Lambdin's Alan Lewrie series. Although he seems to be down to "churning them out" (albeit one per year). The stories just don't have the snap of the earlier books. And if I have to put up with "mine arse on a band box" one more time... GNGH!!!

Dudley Pope's Ramage series is good although it doesn't have quite the scope of Hornblower. Still, I gladly went through the whole series (thank goodness for used book stores!).

S. Russell Thomas' Under Enemy Colors received good reviews. I haven't read A Battle Won yet, but will take it along on the next big trip.

Bernard Cornwell's Sharpe series is also good reading. Some of these series may actually make buying a Kindle or whatever attractive, depending on the cost of the "books". It'd be easier than carting around two dozen odd books, anyway! :lol:

Mon Jan 09, 2012 4:00 pm

For some travel writing of a distinctly western bent I would recommend:
Roughing It - Mark Twain
Up and Down California in 1860-1864 - William Brewer
A Journal of Ramblings Through the High Sierras of California - Joseph LeConte
Walking Up and Down in the World - Smoke Blanchard
Letters From Alaska - John Muir, ed. Engberg and Merrell

Me, I don't read much when I'm traveling; too busy hiking, biking, taking photos, playing music, and generally goofing off. Leaving this week for a trip to the Mojave National Preserve. I'm taking;
The Sibley Guide to Birds
Shrubs and Trees of the Southern California Deserts
The Guitar Pickers Fakebook
The I Ching.

Brent

Tue Jun 26, 2012 12:24 pm

THE VAN for sure...interesting take on the life and times of a Type II Transporter...

http://www.amazon.com/The-Van-Lee-Irby/dp/06155911...by+the+van

Tue Jun 26, 2012 8:21 pm

I'll throw a couple in since the thread was resurrected:

I'm a fan of non-fiction accounts of living in the wild (or semi-wild):

Cache Lake Country: Good read about a guy who sets up shack somewhere north of the Minnesota/Canada border http://www.amazon.com/Cache-Lake-Country-North-Woods/dp/0881504211

Indian Creek Chronicles: College student gets the sweetest job ever http://www.amazon.com/Indian-Creek-Chronicles-Wint...chronicles

God's Middle Finger: This one left me pretty dumbfounded - amazing account of a journalists travels into the lawless region of the Sierra Madres in Mexico http://www.amazon.com/Gods-Middle-Finger-Lawless-S...dle+finger

Desert Solitaire: Mentioned several times already for good reason. Abbey's narrative describing his canoe trip down the Colorado River before the creation of Lake Mead sticks with you. He describes paddling a stretch of river and hidden canyons that no longer exist http://www.amazon.com/Desert-Solitaire-Edward-Abbey/dp/0671695886

Tue Mar 04, 2014 4:23 pm

I'll give this thread a bump...

I'm currently reading Hawke's Green Beret Survival Manual, by Mykel Hawke. It's a fun, easy read that covers how to survive in an emergency situation. The author covers subjects like sourcing water, finding/construction shelters, making snares, first aid, etc.

Next on deck is an old Euell Gibbons book.

-Kevin

Tue Mar 04, 2014 4:45 pm

The Bushwhacked Piano by Thomas McGuane. It's a great road book and a great source of inspiration for anybody who wants to hone the craft of being a smartass.

God's Middle Finger:Into the Lawless Heart of the Sierra Madre by Richard Grant. This is a travel journal about a guy who goes where he absolutely doesn't belong...

Undaunted Courage by Stephen Ambrose is a very detailed, very engaging book about the first big Western road trip, the one taken by Lewis and Clark.

Along those lines, Rising Tide: The Great Mississippi Flood of 1927 by John M. Barry is the most well-written historical nonfiction I've read.

Tue Mar 04, 2014 5:26 pm

Not a road trip book per se but a great read: The Boys in the Boat is the story of the Washington 8-man crew that went to the Berlin Olympics.

A must read for anyone in or from the SeaTac area.

Wed Mar 05, 2014 6:45 am

I'll second Sibley's Guide to Birds, and a regional guide to birding sites for the area(s) that you are traveling through. There are excellent regional guide books to birding hotspots for Southeast Arizona, South Texas, Florida, Oregon, Washington, and California.

Jim Harrison's The English Major is fun novel about a retired farmer/teacher/recently divorcee that heads west from northern Michigan in an old station wagon with 250,000 miles on the odometer and a childhood puzzle of the U.S. The protagonist tosses out the state's puzzle piece as he travels though. ...IMHO, any Jim Harrison book does the trick.

Depending on where you are (or planning to go) geographically, I recommend any books by Thomas McGuane (mentioned above) - Montana; Wallace Stegner - Utah, California, Vermont (Crossing to Safety); Peter Mathiessen - Florida, Africa, Central America, Nepal, South Dakota, Antarctica; Robert Michael Pyle - the Northwest, and, of course Ed Abbey - Southwest. Then, of course, Harper Lee, Faulkner - South; etc....

Wed Mar 05, 2014 7:36 am

Fear & Loathing in Las Vegas.

Wed Mar 05, 2014 9:14 am

I'm so glad this thread got resurrected!

When I go out on Westy adventures, it's usually with my wife and boys (currently 9 and 12). We REALLY enjoy reading books out loud and talking about them. Major hits recently have been:

* Dead End in Norvelt by Jack Gantos -- a really fun story of a kid living in a dying utopian New Deal project town in the 1960s with a wonderful collectivist mom and an awesome rugged individualist dad in a sea of crazy and quirky characters. This one was not only fun to read, but spawned a bunch of family discussions about collectivist vs. individualist world views.
* The Name of This Book Is Secret by Pseudonymous Bosch -- Fun and mysterious adventure story
* Chet and Bernie Mysteries series by Spencer Quinn -- some fun stories about a tough private I who drives around a beat up Porsche and solves crimes with his dog, told through the perspective of his dog. The first one is by far the best. Super fun if you're dog people.
* Hatchet by Gary Paulsen -- 'nuf said.

Does anyone else have good reading-out-loud-with-the-fam books?

Someone a long time ago in this thread wrote: every "book" you buy from Amazon is another nail in the coffin of your friendly neighborhood book store.

I was old-school and anti-Kindle for a long time...then I got one. I love having a ton of fun books to read out loud with the fam, good books for me to read to myself, reference manuals, technical training materials, newspapers, magazines, etc. all stored on something smaller than a paperback that doesn't need to be charged more than once every two weeks.

More importantly, every book (physical or electronic) that is printed on demand from producers like Amazon is another nail in the coffin of publishers' centralized control over what gets published and read. Before print on demand, how many writers' works were never published?

My mom wrote a book...When someone buys a copy, Amazon prints and sells it and gives her a cut of the sale. I think it has sold about 100 copies. A traditional publisher would be crazy to "publish" a book like this, print a zillion copies and ship them to retailers all over the world to gather dust on shelves... Amazon's print on demand means anyone can write and publish a book, and anyone can read it. I think quaint corner bookshops are cool, but not nearly as cool as tearing down publishers' centralized control of the books that are out there.[/endrant]

Wed Mar 05, 2014 9:17 am

1621 wrote: I managed to load a copy of the Bentley on my iPhone, so it's possible to get on the iPad. You're right though, that little bugger gets pretty grimy with me swiping my fingers all over the screen! :lol:

Bentley is available on DVD and easily is added to devices that can view PDFs

Wed Mar 05, 2014 9:59 am

If you are heading for Yellowstone NP this will give you a refreshing new respect for the park.

http://www.amazon.com/Death-Yellowstone-Accidents-Foolhardiness-National/dp/1570980217

Wed Mar 05, 2014 10:13 am

riceye wrote: If you are heading for Yellowstone NP this will give you a refreshing new respect for the park.

http://www.amazon.com/Death-Yellowstone-Accidents-Foolhardiness-National/dp/1570980217

A Yellowstone Park Ranger recommended this book to my daughter while we were there...She read it cover-to-cover and loved it.

Wed Mar 05, 2014 11:33 am

Desert Solitaire by Ed Abbey pretty much lives in my van as well as any poetry by W.S. Merwin, Robert Bly, Mary Oliver.

Recently read Deep Survival: Who Lives, Who Dies, and Why by Laurence Gonzales and really enjoyed it. Anything by Jon Krakauer.

Oh - if you're around Kings Canyon NP (or have spent any time there) this book is fascinating & haunting: http://www.powells.com/biblio/9780060583002
(support your local bookstore!!)

Wed Mar 05, 2014 11:39 am

61Scout wrote:
Next on deck is an old Euell Gibbons book.

-Kevin

Yes! I love Stalking the Wild Asparagus.

Wed Mar 05, 2014 12:12 pm

vermontgirl wrote: 61Scout wrote:
Next on deck is an old Euell Gibbons book.

-Kevin

Yes! I love Stalking the Wild Asparagus.

I've got a bunch of Euell Gibbons lined up, including Stalking the Wild Asparagus. Glad it's got your thumbs up approval, VG. A Beachcomber's Guide is what's on deck.

To each their own, but I'm not sure about getting an e-reader personally. Ignoring all the economics/space/convenience factors for a moment... there's just something nice about a real, tangible, book. And I'm the type of person to pass on books to friends after reading them. I suppose I could do that with a PDF file, but it wouldn't be the same. I see e-readers as book simulators. Sometimes, there's just nothing like the real thing.

On another note, if you're part of the "real book only" crowd, Ebay is an excellent source for used books. Goodwill regularly puts up books for 3-5 dollars online, shipping included.

Kevin

Sun Mar 09, 2014 9:15 am

riceye wrote: If you are heading for Yellowstone NP this will give you a refreshing new respect for the park.

http://www.amazon.com/Death-Yellowstone-Accidents-Foolhardiness-National/dp/1570980217

Possibly inspired by:

Grim reading in the schadenfreude vein. Hikers may take heart that (as far as I can recall) none of the many Canyon deaths was a prepared hiker who walked over the edge. Sadly, the long list includes a relative of mine (58 years ago).

Sun Mar 09, 2014 9:48 am

The Car That Brought You Here Still Runs - By Frances McCue ...