I did a trip to Antarctica a while back and read the book about Shackleton's voyage. Amazing story.Originally Posted by Patty Hann
Mike
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I did a trip to Antarctica a while back and read the book about Shackleton's voyage. Amazing story.
Mike
Go into the world and do well. But more importantly, go into the world and do good.
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Truly it was .
That 800 mile "Rescue voyage" by Shackleton and five of his men made to fetch help for the rest of his party stranded on Elephant Island was unbelievable.
The James Caird was a 22 ft long whaleboat (the heaviest and strongest of the three boats they had).
It's an open boat and they crossed the Drake Passage, one of the most violent and storm lashed bodies of water in the world.
Voyage of the James Caird
Picture is the real thing... a photographer was part of the crew and they managed to save a good portion of his pictures.
Last edited by Patty Hann; 01-03-2024 at 3:12 PM.
"What you see and what you hear depends a great deal on where you are standing.
It also depends on what sort of person you are.”
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Not really lately, but...
Non Fiction:
- I gave my dad a copy of "Masters of the Air" for Christmas and he really likes it. It's about heavy bomber units in WWII. Steven Spielberg produced a limited series based on the book and it will be on Apple TV this month.
- Years ago I read "Isaac's Storm" by Erik Larson and found it both macabre and fascinating. It's about a super-powerful hurricane that hit Galveston, TX in 1900. It's told from the perspective of a meteorologist who's name is in the title.
- I also read "Longitude" by Dava Sobel which about the British Navy's quest to determine longitude while underway. They had a genius clockmaker who managed to invent clocks which kept accurate time while at sea in the 1700s. They were the first Navy with this capability and it's a large part of why the British Navy had such success back in the day. No kidding, this was also quite fascinating and the reason Greenwhich Mean Time became the standard for time worldwide.
Fiction:
- One of the best novels I ever read was "Lost Horizon" by James Hilton. It's a great story which moves at a pretty fast pace. The Frank Capra film based on the book is also outstanding. (Just don't confuse it with a 1970s version with George Kennedy. That version sucks.)
- I used to read all of Stephen King's novels. Most were just OK. Strangely, I really liked one book he wrote under the Richard Bachman pseudonym called "Thinner". The characters are colorful. The plot moves along without all the bloat typical of other King novels. There are multiple movie versions, but I didn't they were any good.
Most of the other novels I read were more "highbrow" and I don't think most people would like them simply because they are very slow and wordy.
Last edited by Pat Germain; 01-03-2024 at 2:05 PM.
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Finished Connelly, now reading Jesse Stone series by Robert Parker (good if you skip all the romantic BS), for a great SCIFY series read Old Man's War by John Scalzi.
Assumption is the mother of all screw ups
Anonyms
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I dont get free time for books but I drive a lot so I book on tape. once a year I do Hobbit/ Lord of the rings. Last summer I repurchased read by Andy Serkis. They are amazing.
I just finished the Ender series the first one was great, the subsequent 6-7 books were slower but interesting.
The Passage series by Justin Cronin
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When I was working and getting a lot of windshield time (and being paid for it) Audible became an awesome friend. Used a Bluetooth/FM transmitter to broadcast on the trucks audio system. Generic work trucks were slow to add such features as standard. It was the best and legal way to have volume enough to drown out road and engine noise.
In hardback I have some Stuart Woods and John Sandford waiting to be read.
In the car I am listening to a Catherine Coulter, FBI series.
Howard Garner
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Endurance was a great book. Another phenomenal book was The Endurance by Caroline Alexander because it was filled with a slew of unpublished photographs by Frank Hurley. To think about Mr Hurley carrying all that heavy equipment... what an impressive save. Fahrenheit is on my ToDo list!
I have mentioned this before. I recently re-read it again. It has me gripping my book each time and I can't read fast enough as I fly along with Antoine de Saint-Exupery in his Wind, Sand and Stars. It's right up there with Shackleton in adventures.
I read recipes the same way I read science fiction. I get to the end and I think, "Well, that’s not going to happen."
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I know some folks who have listened to the Serkis audio books.
They absolutely agree with you that Serkis' reading of LOTR was exceptionally well done.
"What you see and what you hear depends a great deal on where you are standing.
It also depends on what sort of person you are.”
Contributor
If you haven't read it "Ender's Shadow" is almost as good as the original (IMHO).
Assumption is the mother of all screw ups
Anonyms
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F-451 is a re-read for me... I can't count the number of times I've read it...maybe 2 dozen (I first read it in High School).
I re-read LOTR maybe every other year.
"What you see and what you hear depends a great deal on where you are standing.
It also depends on what sort of person you are.”
Contributor
One that would likely appeal to a lot in this forum: The Dawn of Innovation by Charles R. Morris. Follows the development of mass manufacturing techniques first in England, and then throughout the United States in the nineteenth century.
For a smaller audience (anyone who knows enough physics to grasp the idea of a Hamiltonian, and is interested in the interpretation of Quantum Mechanics): A guess at the Riddle, by David Albert. Very thin book of three chapters, but loaded with ideas. Spoiler: Albert is a quantum realist at heart, and is basically asking whether maybe reality is the wave function, and what we observe is an emergent phenomenon derived from that base reality.
My current history read: Rome and Persia by Adrian Goldsworthy. 700 years of the Eastern border of the Roman Empire, well researched and written in an easy to read narrative style.
The Kingdom, The Power and the Glory, by Tim Alberta. Can't say much about it without violating the forum rules about political commentary, but if you're interested in the development of the relationship between former President Trump and evangelical Christianity, this book is worth your time.
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Ken Follett is very good.
Both the Kingsbridge Trilogy & the Century Trilogy are great series. Hard to put them down !
I also just read these Follett books:
Eye of the Needle and
The Key to Rebecca
These books are about spies during WWII and were also very good !
Last edited by Doug Colombo; 01-03-2024 at 4:05 PM. Reason: Typo
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"Jesus and John Wayne" is another very good book which chronologically lists how we got where we are. The author only occasionally states her opinion. One can agree or disagree, but the history she writes is in fact what really happened.
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Well, Pilgrum, She mite -rite real good. But anything NEW in there is fiction. I read the papers, watch the news,
Read for info. Opinions are FREE, so I don’t buy any, and I debate with docs until they agree with what I want to hear.
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