Paddlers' Reading List

[thistlecap]

I started a list several years ago of authors and titles of books on canoeing, kayaking, expeditions, camping and survival how-to, etc. The list has been added to ever since, making a few hundred books available. They are in alphabetical order by author. The link takes you to page one, and the following pages are accessed by archieval links in the right margin. If you find a worthy book missing, please message me so I can add it to make a lasting resource available. Thanks, jim

 

[memaquay]

Wow, that's a pretty comprehensive list, there are quite a few in there i haven't read but will look into. Since you are open to suggestions, how about Selwyn Dewdney, Indian Rock Paintings of the Great Lakes, and Daylight in the Swamp. There are some other Petrograph/canoeing books too that are very interesting reading.

 

[thistlecap]

Thanks. I'll add both of those to the list. You might find our visit to Marine Mills, on the St. Croix River, of interest. It is one of those original logging towns Wells speaks about. We visited there while doing the Great River Rumble down the St. Croix in 2013. Here's the link. You may also want to check out the visit to BendingBranches. Very interesting---to me, anyhow. jim
http://logofibi.blogspot.com/2013_10_01_archive.html

 

[Murat V]

Great list you've compiled! Thanks for posting. Here are a few more canoe & tripping related books. They're dated, but might interest readers with a passion for history. Some are available for perusal online...

• Pauli, Frederick G Paul / A record of a trip through Canada's wilderness to Lake Chibogamoo and the great Lake Mistassini (1907)
Available for free on Archive.org here

• Dickson, James / Camping in the Muskoka Region (1886)
Dickson travelled and surveyed what is modern Algonquin Park in the 1880s. Here is a link to a new edition with notes discussing the locations of Dickson's various camps. Of course some areas are heavily developed today but it might be a fun read for folks travelling in the park. One of my plans is to retrace the the first part of his trip (outside Algonquin's modern borders) by poling upstream on the Oxtongue river to Canoe Lake.

• Pinkerton, Robert E. / The Canoe: Its Selection, Care, and Use (1914)
Available on Archive.org here

• Curran, William Tees / In Canada's wonderful northland; a story of eight months of travel by canoe, motorboat, and dog-team on the northern rivers and along the New Quebec coast of Hudson bay (1917)
Available on Archive.org here

 

[Guest]

I took a look through the paddling shelves in the library and found a couple. Apologies if any of these already included on your list.

The River Chasers, a history of American Whitewater Paddling (Susan Taft)
Never Turn Back, the life of Whitewater Pioneer Walt Blackadar (Ron Watters)
The Open Canoe (Bill Riviere)
River Rescue (Les Bechdel and Slim Ray)
The Last River, the tragic race for Shangri-la (Todd Balf)
Whitewater Home Companion (William Nealy) Or any of the other Nealy books.

 

[smallworks]

This is a great thread. You may add:

Dersu the Trapper: Arseniev, V. K.
The Eskimos of Bering Strait, 1650-1898: Ray, Dorothy Jean
Last American Man: Gilbert, Elizabeth (a hoot!)
The Worst Journey in the World, Antarctic 1910-1913: (Cherry-Garrard, Apsley)
The Long Walk: Rawicz, Slavomir

 

[thistlecap]

Thanks for the feedback. I've been off a couple days, so playing catch-up. I got Murat's contributions entered just now, and will add Mike's and smallworks shortly.

 

[riverstrider]

Great List! I will have to come back to this list for future reading suggestions. But I checked it for one of my favorite books, one that I often bring on canoe trips, and read aloud to companions, especially if they are new to canoe camping. It wasn't there! It is "A Canoeist's Sketchbook" by Robert Kimber.

-rs

 

[Thatsapaddlin]

This is really great. Thanks for compiling this list. Bookmarked it!

 

[forest runes]

might as well add some fuel to the fire , beyond the paddle/ garrett conover , canoeing wilderness waters/ heb evans , the forest/ stewart edward white .