Just got through saying, “Holy (censored)” about 20 times

[Eric's Ericson]

This is the first time I've had anything interesting enough to post here, hopefully can contribute more in the future.

Just finished a book last night. First saw an article in The Log newspaper a couple weeks ago for the book, Avalon. Author is Jeffrey West. Found it online.

If you have ever been to Catalina Island, and\or you are a sailor and\or you are an American, you have to see this. It’s fiction, but it’s also real.

I won’t post any link because they might delete it. Just do a search. I think it’s home-grown, found some typos. But what a ride, better than mainstream usual. I’ve worked in the printing industry for decades, and read a lot of books. Hopefully can recommend a book here? Or if not, sorry for trouble.

Is there anywhere on here where I can find other book recommendations? Hopefully sailing stories.

 

[Ross]

I guess I need to ask how many books you read in a year to be so impressed with this one.

 

[MoonSailer]

Read a book??? I have gotten out of the habit. I read a lot on the internet but my attention span has shrank to about 5 minutes max.

 

[Ross]

Sad!

 

[Pocahontas]

I personally find that sailing and reading go amazingly well together and I wouldn't dare leaving on a cruise without more books then I could possible read, and yet I usually run out of reading material.
I also read a lot on the internet but imho nothing can replace a good book paired with a glass of wine...
not sure why a book would be more suited for Americans then us non Americans but oh well
but a few more specifics on the book itself would be nice (yeah yeah I know tehgooogle)

pocahontas

 

[Ross]

The google doesn't give us as much the the inside flap of the dust jacket. barnes and Noble list it as 49000 and change on the sales list so it is going to be a while before it hits the NY Times best seller list.

 

[Phil Herring]

Please, post the link! Recommending good stuff is encouraged. Especially books.

 

[Deadhead]

FWIT

I found this little tease . . .

http://www.avalonthebook.com/avalonpreview.php

 

[Joe]

Dear Mr. Guest.... if you have an interesting link, post it. No one's going to bust you. Nautical books are a genre, so you can find a lot by just googling or doing a search on any bookstore site. There are also nautical book clubs that allow you to build your library quickly.

If you're interested in sailing related books...... I can recommend anything by Alexander Kent, Patrick O'Brian, Dudley Pope, Julian Stockwin, Dewey Lambdin, C.S. Forrester, Capt. Frederick Marryat, C.N.Parkinson, David Donachie.... these authors wrote about historical fiction in the age of sail.

Mandatory reading for anyone who loves sailing is Josh Slocom's "Sailing Alone Around the World". I can also recommend anything by Tristan Jones, who died a few years back, but wrote wonderful sea stories based on his cruising lifestyle.

There is a fabulous nautical bookstore in Pt Loma (San Diego) called Seabreeze, Ltd. They have a website, I'll take a chance and post the link: www.seabreezebooks.com.
This store has a used book library also, where I found the entire 28 book set of Alexander Kent's Richard Bolitho series in trade paperback for just $7.00 per copy. Yippee!

If you're interested in adventure stories there is no one greater than Wilbur Smith. Some books he's written with a sailing flavor are "Birds of Prey" and "Monsoon". Also, wrote a non sailing nautical book, "Hungry as the Sea", that is a fascinating adventure about long distance salvage tugs.

Sorry to run on guys, but you can see I love to read... especially historical nautical fiction.

 

[Ross]

Don't forget Joseph Conrad and Jack London. The tales by Somerset Maugham while not always nautical are always great. Hemmingway's "Old man and the sea" should be required reading.

 

[Joe]

Don't forget Joseph Conrad and Jack London. The tales by Somerset Maugham while not always nautical are always great. Hemmingway's "Old man and the sea" should be required reading.

Jack London, he's the best........ but I don't think I've ever finished a Joe Conrad novel... DENSE.. or maybe because it was required reading in college. I'll try again sometime.

Oh, add Richard Henry Dana to the list "Two Years Before the Mast". And of course, Heman Melville.

 

[Eric's Ericson]

link

Ross - I like action suspense like Lee Child. I usually chat on Booktalk. This story had sailing in it and I sail. So I shared here and thought you might like my sharing. And I didn't get it from barnes and noble, too expensive. the authorsite option is cheaper.

Someone said post a link. I found it here: Avalonthebook.com this is where the newspaper article sends you and there are links to buy the book. Again, the authorsite option is cheaper.

I'm thinking now that it flattenned me because it hit so close to home here in California and I forgot you guys are all over the world.

Thanks for the Seabreeze link. I've read alot of Patrick O'Brian and C.S. Forrester, but like more modern fiction too like Dead Calm, where sailing is an integral part of the story but not the story itself.

 

[cptdave]

wtf

What's with all the negative comments over some poor guy posting a book he enjoyed. I personally thank you and will ride the book on my next delivery. All you negative people must be old and have nothing else better to do than whine and complain. You'd prolly find something to whine about cruising around the south pacific. Lighten up and try listening to a Jimmy Buffet CD or perhaps the some antideppresants if that doesn't help...lol.

 

[Hermit Scott]

I personally find that sailing and reading go amazingly well together and I wouldn't dare leaving on a cruise without more books then I could possible read, and yet I usually run out of reading material.
I also read a lot on the internet but imho nothing can replace a good book paired with a glass of wine...
not sure why a book would be more suited for Americans then us non Americans but oh well
but a few more specifics on the book itself would be nice (yeah yeah I know tehgooogle)

pocahontas

Jon mentioned you weren't particularly fond of being called American,he said you were born somewhere else, where is that again?

My first thought of owning a sailboat came from a book called the 'Fallon blood' by Robert Jordan. He sails out of Charleston South Carolina. That is my favorite single book by the way. favorite series is wheel of time, by Robert Jordan. He died a couple of years ago before finishing the final book of the series. But his wife/editor and Brandon Sanderson, will finish the series, as Robert told them how the story ends and gave a bunch of death bed notes. What a story in it's self.

 

[Devian]

Read? You want me to read?

 

[Ross]

Those who will not read are no better off than those who cannot read.

 

[fifedog]

I've been keeping my eyes open for an old copy of Last Voyage of the Albatross (of White Squal fame). Not willing to pay the 100 tag the internet houses are asking.
Thanks for the some of the recommendations...

 

[Pocahontas]

Jon mentioned you weren't particularly fond of being called American,he said you were born somewhere else, where is that again?

It's not that i'm not fond of it, a lot of other immigrants seem to think I'm American (for native speakers my accent is to obvious) I live in this country and love it here
but i happen to be German, and I simply wondered how a book would be more appealing to certain nationality, with cultures as intertwined as they are I find that to be a broad statement,
thats all

 

[MoonSailer]

I've read the bible cover to cover but never even opened the Quran(sp) that might be cultural.

Reading "Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance" is recommended if you work on your own boat engine. "Voyage of the Beagle" , "On Origin of Species" , "Fatal Impact" BUT, when you are reading your mind is not sailing. I got a little pissed at my wife reading while we were sailing in the keys a few years ago. She was so engrossed in "The Firm" that she could have been at home on the couch instead of dodging coral heads west of Key West. Reading can be as big of a waste of time as watching soap operas. I'd rather sail.

http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m2465/is_3_31/ai_73040742/

 

[JoelHoover]

NUMA anyone?

Clive Cussler. Greatest adventure novelist ever. Boats, ships, planes, conspiracy plots, Dirk Pitt, Al Giordino, Admiral Sandecker, and Rudi Gunn.

There's 20 or so of these books and I have been hooked for 3 years.