What are you reading?

[Black_Fly]

I just finished Into the Ice. Great book if you know any sailors or have an interest in the early NW passage expeditions. It’s really two stories, one about the author’s journey and also the lost Franklin expedition. Very well written.

My son wants to sail the NW passage when his cancer treatments conclude. Not sure I want him to do it after reading the book.

 

[Tsuga8]

I recently finished Vanished Beyond the Map: The Mystery of Lost Explorer Hubert Darrell by Adam Shoalts. It was a fantastic read (I listened on Libro.fm, actually) about an explorer of the Canadian Arctic, highly respected by the famous explorers of the day but someone who never sought fame for himself and never achieved it. He bucked the explorer-trends of the day (large, well-supplied parties) and chose to learn from the local indigenous peoples to live off the land, as well as learning multiple First Nations languages. He disappeared before ever attaining financial security or marrying his fiancee. Shoalts weaves in some of his modern day canoeing trips looking for evidence of what really happened to Darrell.

If not available from your local library or bookstore, you can support independent bookstores by ordering a copy from Bookshop.org: https://bookshop.org/p/books/vanish...lts/ad6ea01acb511402?ean=9780735236868&next=t

 

[Boatman53]

I’m a bit more than half way through The Gales Of November, about the sinking of the Edmond Fitzgerald and what it was like to be in the shipping business on the Great Lakes.
Jim

 

[BillyT]

Currently working through East of Eden and The Brothers Karamasov at the moment... Don't know why I decided to have those two going at the same time

 

[Pseudonym]

@BillyT East of Eden is so good. You can smell the prose.

I'm reading:

• "The Grid: The Fraying Wires Between Americans and Our Energy Future." It's a little dated. Published 2016, it lacks context relative to data centers and EV adoption, but it is still fascinating. Reading it ten years later makes the perspective of the author's expectations more apparent.
• The Craft of Sail, by Jan Adkins. Adkins is AMAZING. Lifting Heavy Things is another quick delight. Reminds me a bit of Eric Sloan (The Weather Book, etc.)
• Next up is Iran (Polity Histories).

 

[Boatman53]

I second Jan Atkins books and articles.
Jim

 

[Jim_H]

I recently finished Vanished Beyond the Map: The Mystery of Lost Explorer Hubert Darrell by Adam Shoalts. It was a fantastic read (I listened on Libro.fm, actually) about an explorer of the Canadian Arctic, highly respected by the famous explorers of the day but someone who never sought fame for himself and never achieved it. He bucked the explorer-trends of the day (large, well-supplied parties) and chose to learn from the local indigenous peoples to live off the land, as well as learning multiple First Nations languages. He disappeared before ever attaining financial security or marrying his fiancee. Shoalts weaves in some of his modern day canoeing trips looking for evidence of what really happened to Darrell.

If not available from your local library or bookstore, you can support independent bookstores by ordering a copy from Bookshop.org: https://bookshop.org/p/books/vanish...lts/ad6ea01acb511402?ean=9780735236868&next=t

This was another great read by Adam. If you have not had a chance to read the rest of his books you are missing out. I really enjoyed Alone Against the North and A History of Canada in Ten Maps.

 

[Tsuga8]

This was another great read by Adam. If you have not had a chance to read the rest of his books you are missing out. I really enjoyed Alone Against the North and A History of Canada in Ten Maps.

I didn't know about him til I happened upon this book, but I'm definitely planning to read more of his work now.

 

[Jim_H]

I am currently reading Coming Into the Country by John Mcphee and slowly working my way through Canoes A Natural History in North America by Norman Simms & Mark Neuzil. The latter is 100% in my top ten books. An absolute must for anyone who loves the history of canoes.

 

[Farback]

Reading the fourth in a John Sanford series for fun, ‘Bad Blood’ and various tech training for my new volunteer job with CASARA, civilian air search and rescue.

 

[Alan Gage]

I just discovered and finished Survival of the Bark Canoe by John Mcphee.

How have I not heard of this book before? Just a wonderful read about a mid-1970's canoe trip in the Maine wilderness in birch bark canoes with a young canoe builder who is trying to keep the craft alive. Lots of excellent information about birch canoes and their construction and great descriptions of tripping highs and lows with insights into group dynamics and individual quirks and mentalities. It's a quick read at just over 100 pages.

I found John McPhee after becoming interested in geology and picking up his series Annals of the Former World. I expected to learn a lot about geology but what I did not expect was to find great writing by an excellent author. I began exploring his other works and found many. He also has a book on the NJ Pine Barrens which some on here might find interesting. I have not read it. @Glenn MacGrady @Marc Ornstein

The Survival of the Bark Canoe

In Greenville, New Hampshire, a small town in the south…

goodreads.com

The Pine Barrens

First published in 1968, 'The Pine Barrens' delves into…

www.goodreads.com

Annals of the Former World

The Pulitzer Prize-winning view of the continent, acros…

www.goodreads.com

 

[Marc Ornstein]

I just discovered and finished Survival of the Bark Canoe by John Mcphee.

How have I not heard of this book before? Just a wonderful read about a mid-1970's canoe trip in the Maine wilderness in birch bark canoes with a young canoe builder who is trying to keep the craft alive. Lots of excellent information about birch canoes and their construction and great descriptions of tripping highs and lows with insights into group dynamics and individual quirks and mentalities. It's a quick read at just over 100 pages.

I found John McPhee after becoming interested in geology and picking up his series Annals of the Former World. I expected to learn a lot about geology but what I did not expect was to find great writing by an excellent author. I began exploring his other works and found many. He also has a book on the NJ Pine Barrens which some on here might find interesting. I have not read it. @Glenn MacGrady @Marc Ornstein

The Survival of the Bark Canoe

In Greenville, New Hampshire, a small town in the south…

goodreads.com

The Pine Barrens

First published in 1968, 'The Pine Barrens' delves into…

www.goodreads.com

Annals of the Former World

The Pulitzer Prize-winning view of the continent, acros…

www.goodreads.com

What a strange coincidence. Last week I reread The New Jersey Pine Barrens, having read it the 1st time 30 or so years ago. Currently, I'm 2/3 of the way through a reread of Survival of the Bark Canoe. Again, having read it the 1st time, 30 odd years ago. John McPhee is inteed a great writer. Sitting on my night stand is Encounters With the Archdruid, also by McPhee. It's next on my list. Let me know what you think of Annals of the Former World. I have to order that one.

 

[Will Derness]

I just discovered and finished Survival of the Bark Canoe by John Mcphee.

How have I not heard of this book before? Just a wonderful read about a mid-1970's canoe trip in the Maine wilderness in birch bark canoes with a young canoe builder who is trying to keep the craft alive. Lots of excellent information about birch canoes and their construction and great descriptions of tripping highs and lows with insights into group dynamics and individual quirks and mentalities. It's a quick read at just over 100 pages.

I found John McPhee after becoming interested in geology and picking up his series Annals of the Former World. I expected to learn a lot about geology but what I did not expect was to find great writing by an excellent author. I began exploring his other works and found many. He also has a book on the NJ Pine Barrens which some on here might find interesting. I have not read it. @Glenn MacGrady @Marc Ornstein

The Survival of the Bark Canoe

In Greenville, New Hampshire, a small town in the south…

goodreads.com

The Pine Barrens

First published in 1968, 'The Pine Barrens' delves into…

www.goodreads.com

Annals of the Former World

The Pulitzer Prize-winning view of the continent, acros…

www.goodreads.com

John McPhee has been a long favorite of mine. He writes biographies of interesting people and in the process of reading you will learn about the craft this person has seemingly mastered. 2 interesting titles by him are The Deltoid Pumpkinseed (aeronautical engineering) and The Curve of Binding Energy (nuclear physics).

You’ll learn something when you read one of his titles

 

[ppine]

Guide to Knife Collecting.

 

[clemency]

John McPhee has been a long favorite of mine. He writes biographies of interesting people and in the process of reading you will learn about the craft this person has seemingly mastered. 2 interesting titles by him are The Deltoid Pumpkinseed (aeronautical engineering) and The Curve of Binding Energy (nuclear physics).

You’ll learn something when you read one of his titles

The John McPhee Reader is a good intro to McPhee. Excerpts from his previous books, all engaging.

 

[UCanoe_2]

Daphne Palmer Geanocopoulos, The Pirate's Wife: The Remarkable True Story of Sarah Kidd. Hanover Square Press, 2024.

Before reading this book, it never occurred to me that pirates were married. Sarah was the daughter of a sea captain, and William Kidd was her third husband. She was one of the richest women in New York City. The book describes in detail the legal status of women; in a marriage the husband was deemed owner of all property. Sarah was illiterate, as 17th Century women seldom received formal education. However, toward the end of her life she learned to sign her name. The book details how Kidd was charged with piracy and murder, and how Sarah attempted to free him. Although Kidd had performed numerous acts of piracy in the past, the charges of which he was convicted were not well-substantiated, and he was deprived of documents that could have supported his claim of innocence. Kidd was hanged in 1701. His body was preserved in tar, and was displayed on the banks of the Thames as a warning to those contemplating wrongdoing.

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