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| Rockhome Isle |
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 Registered Member #739 Joined: Wed Feb 17 2010, 11:28pmPosts: 26 | I have observed that people that have hobbies are also people that are avid readers. I, for one, have trouble sleeping at night until I have read for at least a 1/2 hour to an hour. Its also nice to take a little break and pull out a good book that is fun to read. Currently I'm about to finish a wonderful book that I started about a week ago. I have been a very good customer of Amazon here lately and I have collected a few nice books about the sea and ships and naval battles, etc. My current text is, "The War for all Oceans" by Roy & Lesley Adkins. The book presents very nice coverage of the major and not so major naval engagements from Nelson at the Nile to Napoleon at Waterloo. I have enjoyed this book very much and will probably finish it before the weekend is out. The writers of this book have produced a nicely detailed and well researched document. Several of our current colloquialisms are discussed within the document, such as "Turning a Blind Eye", for example. I would recommend this book very highly. It is well written, clear and in my opinion nicely done. So what are you reading right now? What do you think of the book that you are reading and do you recommend it to others...and Why or Why not? [ Edited Sat Feb 27 2010, 09:29pm ] | ||
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| Winston |
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winston   Registered Member #1 Joined: Sat Jun 13 2009, 02:08pmPosts: 2530 | I used to be an avid reader one time. It was not uncommon for me to read two or three books a week (I'm not a TV person). Today though, my time is limited so I seldom even touch a book unless it is some kind of reference book. That being said, I'm currently wrapped up in "Deanes Doctrine of Naval Architecture 1670" as well as any other treatise of the time. An excellent example of an early ship building treatise. | ||
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| twintrow |
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| Registered Member #121 Joined: Tue Jul 21 2009, 04:41amPosts: 429 | Having gone through the Hornblower and Bolitho series, I just finished book 5 of the Kydd series (Julian Stockwin). Have to say of the three it's easier to identify with Kydd and his background. Although Bolitho was entertaining as well. Anyone suggest the next series for me?? Tom | ||
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| Gene Bodnar |
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 Registered Member #126 Joined: Tue Jul 21 2009, 11:20amPosts: 1778 | This thread can't last long without somebody introducing the Patrick O'Brian's series of books. I've read most of the popular series that most people mention, but my favorite still remains to be the O'Brian books. He's not much on plot, but for characterization he's the best. For everyday life of the typical sailor, he's tops. He portrays the routine life aboard a warship like no other author, in my opinion. In my opinion, the 21 volumes that feature Jack Aubrey should be read as one very long book. It's not easy reading, mainly because of all the technical terminology, not only nautical but medical, botanical, and otherwise; therefore, you need to read the series along with the companion volume called "Sea of Words." I'm on my fourth time reading through the series, and I never seem to tire of it. Furthermore, every time I read it, I seem to learn something new. Fascinating reading! | ||
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| MalAdroit |
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| Registered Member #734 Joined: Mon Feb 15 2010, 03:12pmPosts: 14 | I was brought up on the Hornblower series, probably considered now to be romantic rubbish but it was great to me at the time. The first I read was Mr Midshipman Hornblower, about 1950 and worked through most of the rest but not in chronological order . Perhaps I should have taken a user name from one of his characters , perhaps Styles. wrote ... Hornblower: The Duchess and the Devil [Knowing that his ship has only four guns] Hornblower: How many guns does the "Oriental" have, Mr. Hunter. M'Man Hunter: Forty-eight, sir. Hornblower: Well, we'll certainly give them a run for their money, won't we Mr. Styles? Styles: Certainly will sir. Take them at least a minute to sink us [ Edited Sun Feb 28 2010, 05:28pm ] | ||
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| Rockhome Isle |
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| Registered Member #739 Joined: Wed Feb 17 2010, 11:28pmPosts: 26 | Gene Bodnar wrote ... This thread can't last long without somebody introducing the Patrick O'Brian's series of books. I've read most of the popular series that most people mention, but my favorite still remains to be the O'Brian books. He's not much on plot, but for characterization he's the best. For everyday life of the typical sailor, he's tops. He portrays the routine life aboard a warship like no other author, in my opinion. In my opinion, the 21 volumes that feature Jack Aubrey should be read as one very long book. It's not easy reading, mainly because of all the technical terminology, not only nautical but medical, botanical, and otherwise; therefore, you need to read the series along with the companion volume called "Sea of Words." I'm on my fourth time reading through the series, and I never seem to tire of it. Furthermore, every time I read it, I seem to learn something new. Fascinating reading! Okay...ya got me. I'm a sucker for a good series and this is one that just keeps popping up on my radar. I went to ABE Book Search and bought" The Sea of Words." Then I went to WIKIPEDIA and found the title listing of the entire series Now I just have to convince my wife that (as the books come in) I've always owned them and I'm just reading them again. She'll catch me, she always does. I'm just hoping tht I can through at least the 5th one before she does.... I have issues. [ Edited Mon Mar 01 2010, 03:11am ] | ||
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| MalAdroit |
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| Registered Member #734 Joined: Mon Feb 15 2010, 03:12pmPosts: 14 | wrote ... Okay...ya got me. I'm a sucker for a good series and this is one that just keeps popping up on my radar. I went to ABE Book Search and bought" The Sea of Words." Then I went to WIKIPEDIA and found the title listing of the entire series Now I just have to convince my wife that (as the books come in) I've always owned them and I'm just reading them again. She'll catch me, she always does. I'm just hoping tht I can through at least the 5th one before she does.... I have issues. If you have bought the Hardback copies you take just take the dust jacket off the first book and put it on the next book each time , the wife will assume you have just degenerated and become a very slow reader. Mal. [ Edited Mon Mar 01 2010, 08:13am ] | ||
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| Gene Bodnar |
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| Registered Member #126 Joined: Tue Jul 21 2009, 11:20amPosts: 1778 | MalAdroit, You mentioned Wikipedia. Wikipedia has a VAST amount of information on O'Brian's series. There are summaries of each volume, cross references of various repeating characters, events based on actual history that are found in the books, articles on real characters and how O'Brian used them, articles on many of the ships mentioned, etc., etc. The list is endless. Gene | ||
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| jcc125 |
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 Registered Member #715 Joined: Tue Feb 09 2010, 03:35pmPosts: 1 | Reading has lead me to try model ship building. If you like Hornblower, Bolitho and Kydd, then please try Dudley Pope and his hero Ramage, which is also the name of the first book in the series. Mr. Pope also has some very good non- fiction sea stories. If you like the Napoleonic era then please try “Sharpe” by Bernard Cornwell. This is the war on land told in great series of books by my favorite author. | ||
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| MSzwarc |
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  Registered Member #239 Joined: Thu Aug 20 2009, 02:19pmPosts: 175 | I'm not into the military aspect of maritime history, but I do enjoy reading about whaling, fishing, and survival at sea. I've just finished Ansel's The Whaleboat, and a re-read of Dana's Two years Before the Mast. I'm currently reading Joan Druett's Island of the Lost-- a true tale of two crews shipwrecked on opposite sides of the same island (Auckland Island) at the same time (1864), though unaware of each other. One crew survives and flourishes, eventually building a boat to escape the island, and the other crew dwindles from 19 men to 3. I just started the book, so I can't really comment on it yet. In the wings, I have Caroline Alexander's The Bounty, several books on Shackleton's Antarctic misadventure, a history of cod, a history of Gloucester, MA, and Sterling Hayden's Voyage: a Novel of 1896. Mike [ Edited Mon Mar 01 2010, 03:59pm ] | ||
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