Favorite Books

ski3pin said:

Salmon: A Fish, the Earth, and the History of Their Common Fate

The author writes, "If we can save the planet, the salmon will be alright." I believe the inverse is worth considering, if we can save the salmon, the planet will be alright. I hold no hope for either outcome but wonderful books like this one allow me to still dream.

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I finished up the audio book a couple weeks back. Fascinating book, but honestly sort of depressing. The narrator had some interesting pronunciations to say the least (can you say ko-CAN-eee and figure out which fish he is talking about? It took me a chapter or so for that one.), but still a solid book. Thanks for the recommendation.

Lots of those coKanEezs in Odell Lake on your side of the hills.

Paul

Indeed there are! Odell is our favorite spot. In fact I just packed some koks for lunch.

This is a bit different. I just finished reading -

The Stranger in the Woods, The Extraordinary Story of the Last True Hermit

Chris Knight disappeared from society and lived alone in the woods for 27 years.

Forget it, Monte. The Lady will never relinquish your presence for 27 years.

Paul

What we see is not all that's there. Using instruments to see full spectrum of light, the full range of sound beyond our range, a dog's sense of smell, ...all the world that is there we aren't aware of but other creatures are. Gives one a new appreciation for the idea of a 'different point of view". I have found this book fascinating.

Preparing for a trip to Nevada and Utah -- these books are all helpful:

Ancient Peoples of the Great Basin & Colorado Plateau - by Steven R. Simms


The Broken Land: Adventures in Great Basin Geology - by Frank DeCourten (recommended by Taku)


How to do Nothing: Resisting the Attention Economy - by Jenny Odell


Hiking & Exploring Utah's Henry Mountains and Robbers Roost - by Michael R. Kelsey


The Great Basin Seafloor: Exploring the Ancient Oceans of the Desert West - by Frank DeCourten

Craig Childs has a new book out, Tracing Time: seasons of Rock Art on the Colorado Plateau; published by Torrey House Press. It is written similar to several of his previous books, descriptions of time in the wilderness and time spent with experts in the field.
It always amazes me how wide and varied his associations with scholars is. If you have in interest in rock art art just remote places, he's a good person to follow.

After enjoying more than 30+ murder mysteries from the "golden age" (1920-1960) of detective fiction, "How the Mountains Grew, A New Geologic History" by John Dvorak caught my interest. "How..." is very readable with good continuity across the eons and connects geology and biology in a very interesting story. A lot of new science research is included. I would give "How..." five stars for a good story but only four stars overall since the book contained more factual errors than any other natural history book previously read. The errors do not detract from the story of our planet but are rather obvious for a five star rating.

This is a neato thread that I hadn't noticed before! I'm going to go through this in more detail.

At the risk of self-family promotion, here's a book (actually a graphic novel) that my wife wrote about Death Valley's 1849er hero, William Lewis Manly. This link has information on Manly's trip, including a map from Wisconsin to California that you can compare to the typical emigrant trails, and a font she created from his handwriting. Also there's a bibliography about the 49er rescue story, but her book is mentioned at the bottom.

If this isn't appropriate here, let me know.

https://debfoxdesign.com/manlys-pioneer-route-west.shtml

I'm thrilled to share some of my favorite books with you all! As an English Literature major and passionate writer, books have always been my greatest source of inspiration. From timeless classics like "To Kill a Mockingbird" by Harper Lee to contemporary masterpieces like "The Kite Runner" by Khaled Hosseini, each story has left an indelible mark on my heart and mind.If you're looking for a platform to explore new books or enhance your writing skills, I highly recommend checking out https://essaypro.com/apa-paper-writing-service. They offer top-notch academic assistance for all your writing needs, ensuring your papers are impeccably crafted and formatted to perfection. Trust me, you won't be disappointed!

I am reading now " Radical forgivness". A cool book for those who have problems with forgiving other people and forgetting the bad situation

There are several books out called "radical forgiveness". Which one are you reading? Sounds like a book I could use.

I just finished The Big Burn by Timothy Egan. I saw it mentioned earlier. Highly recommend. I also read Salmon. While not truly in the wander the west theme I am now reading Cod by the same author (Mark Kurlansky) and his book Salt was an astounding framework for a lesson in world history.

In addition to the vicious heat I am laid up for a while. I just downloaded Stranger In The Woods. Travel books are just going to make me sad right now so any other suggestions?

We enjoyed 'My Brilliant Friend' by Elena Ferrante. Very different but completely charming.

In June, on the three day drive from Missouri to Oregon with our new-to-us Hawk camper we started listening to "Lonesome Dove" by Larry McMurtry. I can't believe I never read this American classic. And it was fun because so much of the action takes place in Nebraska and Wyoming, which we were driving across at the time we were listening.

The audio book we listened to (are listening to, since we have yet to finish this monumentally long book) is read by Lee Horsley. At first I thought I wasn't going to be able to listen to the exaggerated way he portrayed some of the characters, but I have gotten used to it and it's not bothering me any more. Also, I'm so sucked into the plot and the characters that I would listen to almost any rendition of the book. What is amazing about this writing is that a huge and detailed world, and masterful character development, is given to you with only two things: dialog, and internal monologues that various characters have. There is almost no pure narration. It's so well done.

It's something like 38 hours long. We had only finished about 55% by the time we got home from Missouri. We continue to listen, but only when driving the truck/camper. I think we're at 85% finished. It's a remarkable book about the settling of the West, a long cattle drive to Montana, and relations between white settlers and Native Americans. It's fiction with a lot of accurate history thrown in.

Maybe this book was already mentioned upthread somewhere. It's hard to imagine it wasn't. But I thought I would chime in with my recent wonderful experience of it. With 15% left to go!