Book Suggestions - Revisited

[Admin]

We have had some great book suggestion threads here in the past and it might be a good time to get another one going with spring/summer leisure time just around the corner.  

I just finished, The Sea by John Banville.  Not new (2005), not high action or plot based, but 250 pages of beautiful writing.  

PS:  I should mention that this is not an ocean-centric book as the title (and my posting it here) might suggest.  More about life and loss, if you are in the mood.

[adios pantalones]

Shantaram by Gregory. One of the most engaging stories I've ever read.

In the nautical vein, Patrick O,Brian. Some of the best historical fiction you'll ever read. Set in the British Navy during the Napoleonic wars.

[SlatchJim]

I'm probably repeating someone's suggestion but I enjoyed Daniel Duane's: Caught Inside.

For fiction:
Steve Martin's: The Pleasure of My Company for a contemporary (2003) humorous tale
George R Stewart's Earth Abides for a very contemporary post apocalyptic tale written in 1948.
Mid Life Crisis Busting novel: Replay by Ken Grimwood (1984)

I read a bit, listen to audio books by the gross, and the three fiction books above stand out for me.

[SoCalSupper]

With all the Israeli/Iran tension lately check out Gideons Spies -the secret history of the Mossad-by Gordon THomas-
Real Jason Bourne/Treadstone stuff-totally fascinating and the author just tells the story minus any political rantings-i could not put it down.
Dont be on the wrong side of the Mossad.....

[PonoBill]

Shantaram by Gregory. One of the most engaging stories I've ever read.

In the nautical vein, Patrick O,Brian. Some of the best historical fiction you'll ever read. Set in the British Navy during the Napoleonic wars.

I'm re-reading Patrick O'Brian's Aubrey/Maturin series for probably the 8th or 9th time. Pure gold. Currently up to "The Far Side of the World" and reading them all straight through on my iPad.

[headmount]

For me it's 1491.  Incredible insight into the Western Hemisphere before and immediately after Columbus.  For instance... in 1519 Cortez found Central America reeling from smallpox and a previous pop of  25 million people.  In 1620 after a hundred years of smallpox ... 700,000 and a ruined culture. 

Also on the coast of present day Peru, there were cities four thousand years ago.  The only other place with a city on the planet was Sumer.  But unlike Sumer these ancient cities on the South American coast weren't based on growing grain, they lived off the sea.  Both of these 'governments' were set up without a map from anyone else.  All other governments are set up from these templates ... totally unknown from each other.

Each page continues to astonish me. 

I gotta also recommend  King Leopold's Ghost that Strand Leper turned me on to.  Very heavy and still current over a hundred years later.

[Admin]

... and reading them all straight through on my iPad.

iPad for me as well.  I just can't bring myself to reading glasses yet, so the variable font size is keeping me young for a few more years...with the added sense of accomplishment of reading 700 pages an hour.

[adios pantalones]

Shantaram by Gregory. One of the most engaging stories I've ever read.

In the nautical vein, Patrick O,Brian. Some of the best historical fiction you'll ever read. Set in the British Navy during the Napoleonic wars.

I'm re-reading Patrick O'Brian's Aubrey/Maturin series for probably the 8th or 9th time. Pure gold. Currently up to "The Far Side of the World" and reading them all straight through on my iPad.

I've read the entire series multiple times as well. I run out of superlatives when I try to describe these books. O'Brian was a Jane Austin fan, his love of the language of the period is evident. Of course the adventures and gun battles are incredible, but the insight into the social mores and politics of the day are fascinating. In one of the rare interviews that O'Brian ever gave, the writer got to see P O'Bs personal reference library, the newest book in the collection was published in 1850. Due to his fan base within the British Navy he was allowed unprecedented access to Admiralty archives for his research. Amazing.

The bottle stands by you Sir!

[AGK]

I highly recommend Kem Nunn's books -- novels set in the California surf scene as if they were written by Robert Stone or a contemporary Herman Melville.  The guy can flat-out write.  Start with "The Dogs of Winter" or "Tapping the Source".

[Ichabod Spoonbill]

I too stand by Patrick O'Brian. I've gone through the series three times and love them all. I would also second C.S. Forester's Horatio Hornblower series. They're a more plot-focused Napoleanic War series, but it's also very fine. I grew up with Hornblower, but as an adult, I can clearly see that compared to O'Brian he is the lesser of two weevils.

A couple of fun ocean-themed science fiction novels are "Brightness Reef" by David Brin and "Dolphin Island" by Arthur C. Clarke.

A great and rather depressing non-fiction book is "The Unnatural History of the Sea" by Callum Roberts. It's about how we have altered the ocean ecosystems dramatically over time and how what we have now may seem "natural" but is really profoundly altered.

Then there's always "Kon Tiki". That's the story about how the author, Thor Heyerdahl, tried to prove that South Americans actually settled Polynesia. DNA tracking has proven him wrong, but he still has a rollicking story about crossing the Pacific on a balsa raft.

Sea-themed titles for kids: "True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle", "The Cay", and the Jackie Faber series.

[Tom]

the two best books I've read this past year are:

The Lost City of Z: A Tale of Deadly Obsession in the Amazon



Unbroken: A World War II Story of Survival, Resilience, and Redemption by Laura Hillenbrand

[headmount]

Good one Tom.  Unbroken is fantastic.

[pdxmike]

... and reading them all straight through on my iPad.

iPad for me as well.  I just can't bring myself to reading glasses yet, so the variable font size is keeping me young for a few more years...with the added sense of accomplishment of reading 700 pages an hour.

Keep holding off on the glasses, and you'll be up to 800 or 900 pages per hour in another year or two.

[Strand Leper]

Just finished Catherine the Great by Robert Massie.  Took him nine years to research and write... Took me almost as long to read. Breathtaking in scope.  If you want to understand the movement of enlightenment ideas eastward, and the imperial houses in the 18th century, itis a must read...

Working on Storm of War, a reassessment of WW2 as fought and directed by hitler (primarily)... Mind lowing... Deep.

Out

[Tom]

I highly recommend Kem Nunn's books -- novels set in the California surf scene as if they were written by Robert Stone or a contemporary Herman Melville.  The guy can flat-out write.  Start with "The Dogs of Winter" or "Tapping the Source".

If you like Nunn, you might also like The Gentlemen's Hour by Don Winslow. Old surfer PI set in Pacific/Mission Beach