hitman

I finished Mere Christianity and found it quite good though I am biased. I also read Cussler's The Tombs which is possibly the best of the Fargo series and a good page turner.

Just finished up Endurance; Shakleton's Incredible Voyage By Alfred Lansig as an audio book. A great read that is much more like modern non fiction in it's length and story telling ability than it's publication date of 1959 would suggest. Gripping is the only word for it really. It even led me to comment that as I was listening to it while driving around that I may be the only soul in history to regret being magically transferred from an antarctic ice flow to the port of Savannah, Ga. I'm now on to Mere Christianity by C.H. Lewis.

Just finished up Endurance; Shakleton's Incredible Voyage By Alfred Lansig as an audio book. A great read that is much more like modern non fiction in it's length and story telling ability than it's publication date of 1959 would suggest. Gripping is the only word for it really. It even led me to comment that as I was listening to it while driving around that I may be the only soul in history to regret being magically transferred from an antarctic ice flow to the port of Savannah, Ga. I'm now on to Mere Christianity by C.H. Lewis.

God Bless them http://m.usatoday.com/article/news/1665339

Just finished up When March Went Mad by Seth Davis. Excellent basketball book. Jas glad to see your enjoying that series.

Between hacking up phlem and pacing around the house I read Conrad's The Heart of Darkness today. I'd say I recommend it but it's a legend so you already know that.

Making some use of the enforced idleness of this blasted head cold I finally finished Waterton's Wanderings in South America. This book and its author are the antithesis of those found in Travelers and Travel Liars. The author does though leave out much of the adventure in his travels in order to encourage future travelers and to provide more for the natural history that was his chief aim. He also details a visit to the United States leaving a much better impression than Kipling did in his American Notes though both were smitten by the fairer sex here abouts. A good read but not one many would take up for pleasure alone.

Just finished H.G. Wells's The Island of Doctor Moreau, fun little read that leaves one staring at articles on genetic research and or gorillas doing sign language with a wary eye.

Jas not to be too spoiler-y but Lambdin also introduces an Austrian air rifle into the mix later in the series. To be frank Lambdin is fond of the weapons in his books so I'm sure the series will have even more odd balls later.

I asked a similar question many years ago about why guns brought up from wrecks like the Whydah all had black stocks and was told this was (if I remember correctly) due to the iron in sea water. Obviously these refrences are all together different but fun to know none the less. As an aside I originally asked cause I was going to write up a short story character who's armament consisted of a brass barreled blunderbuss with a Japaned stock. Personally I still think that would look cool though even now I'd doubt it's historic accuracy.

Crash Dive: True Stories of Submarine Combat edited by Larry Bond, A real good collection of stories from various memoirs and non-fiction books mostly WWII but some cold war and Faulklins stories as well. I burnt through it loving every page.

TY Commodore, Mission I freely admit that collectivism is not in my wheel house LOL. Though Sir Hitman does have a ring to it.

Has anyone else read the book Dragon Sea by Frank Pope? It's a great look at an attempt to do a profitable, well documented, archeologically sound recovery of an ancient shipwreck. To me it pretty much sums up the whole of the under water salvage / archaeology debate and much of the human condition as well. A legal and an illegal salvor go after two different wrecks neither makes a profit and the world at large knows next to squat about either wreck cause the archeologist in charge of the legal wreck won't print his report unless he can get a giant pile of cash to print it just the way he wants it in order to sooth his bruised ego. Now as an outsider who quite frankly does NOT have a college degree (bite me) but has, as a fan of history been hearing these arguments for a long time now I'd like to throw in my two cents. 1. Either do it or shut up about it! Archaeologists have been moaning about treasure hunters since the idea of archaeology was conceived and to an extent rightly so. This does not however prevent archaeologists from finding wrecks themselves. The primary obstacle is (as I have been led to believe and this thread would appear to confirm) funding. If archaeologists are so fired up then work for free. Supply your own boat and crew (couple buddies and a fishing boat will do in most cases) and go wreck hunting. Follow Clive Cussler's techniques (go after wrecks you can find, don't bring a floatilla to hunt down a row boat, etc.) Don't have access to highly trained divers or expensive kit? In a world where hobbiests build autonomous aircraft to film themselves doing extreme sports in HD don't tell me a simple unmanned submersible can't be made in a garage. In addition Clive Cussler mentions repeatedly in The Sea Hunters that he and his buddies use a home made MAD unit. 2. The idea that men will for any reason short of a gun to their head stop hunting treasure is patently insane. Pass all the laws you want no one cares if there is enough money to be made. If you want the history you will have to go get it! Further more the idea of tourisim paying off long term is only valid so long as people wish to visit which given the sad state of intellectual discourse in this moderen era is relatively difficult to believe. (in any volume that is) 3. The fact that other countries have signed a treaty you happen to endorse and the US hasn't doesnt make them right, the US wrong, or the rest of humanity any more likely to obey. 4. A couple of closing thoughts from two different men. (note these are paraphrased not direct quotes) Everyone I meet tells me how to fix this country but none of these plans involve them what made 'em doing anything other than what they are already doing!" Jerry Clower "Sometimes you have to work for free. I've done films for less than two dollars a day because I believed in them!" Don Cheadle Finally as a bit of advice from one southerner to another, I've never met an idealist who's ideals survived without physical action. Like muscles unused they atrophy and die.

The Storm, by Clive Cussler Ok ya'll know I'm a fan and this book was a Cussler book through and through so I loved it.

Travellers and Travel Liars 1660-1800, Good book I'm really glad Mission mentioned it.

I just finished up The Captain's Vengeance (book 12 in the Alan Lewrie series) its not the best book in the series but an improvement over Sea of Grey. I won't go any further than that since Jas is working his way through the series. I also finished up Going Dutch by Lisa Jardine. I really enjoyed it (well maybe not the gardening section) so thanks Grymm for mentioning it.

Just finished up Battles of the Medieval world, Pretty good little book much like Battle at sea in both style and coffee table form.

I finished the Librivox audio book of Kipling's American Notes at work today. It was extremely well read very near professional quality audio and of course the writing was excellent. After reading it though I am left with one comment, No no Rudyard don't be shy let us know how you REALLY feel!

I finished up A Year in a Yawl last night. Its the trie story of four teens who built a thirty foot yawl and then became the first to sail the great circle route of the eastern U.S.. I believe this book is more for juvenile/ young adult crowd but it was okay despite the fact my copy from archive.org didn't display well on my phone. Gig was awesome and in an effort to keep if not ahead then at least on par with Jas I picked up Captain's Vengeance and am somewhere between a third and half way done with it.

No Jas I can't say that I have read any from that series. I did however read two more of McManus's books yesterday, The Night the Bear Ate Gumbaw and Real Ponies Don't Go Oink. Great stuff as always and I'm half way through a really neat book called Gig. Real good so far its a collection of interviews with workers across pretty much all walks of life.

The Good Samaritan Strikes Again, by Patrick McManus. If you've never read McManus's easy going style of humor your missing out on a lot in life. Jas I'm serious no spoilers from The Captains Vengeance on.

Just finished Battle at Sea by R.G. Grant. Great book just like Jas said.

Just read The Thief by Clive Cussler, btw Jas Clive also has a book called The Spy and thanks for mentioning battle at sea as it has been awesome so far.

Just finished up In the Garden of Beasts by Eric Larsen. Great book well written and very informative. Best non-fiction I've read this year. I also listened to War Horse yesterday thanks to the library's online collection.

Think and Grow Rich didn't improve IMHO but I finished it and now know for a fact that I hate this genre of books. I also just finished reading The Enemy Below by Capt. D.A. Rayner. This book is the inspiration for the movie of the same name which is one of my all time favorites. It's good but more like 50's era boy's own adventure than a novel.