What are you reading right now ?

[Capn Bob]

Mad Capn Bob sings: "Hunting tigers out in India...Out in, Out in...Out in India...YAH!"

I just finished African Game Trails by Theodore Roosevelt. A good read though not as "excited" as a modern writer would lay out. In addition the outright racism of the age was quite staggering. Even more so considering that for his time T.R. was something of a progressive on racial issues indeed his appointments of black men to government posts was a continuous source of political angst throughout his administration. All this being said however the descriptions of his and Kermit's hunts left me eyeing my gun cabinet and dreaming of African plains.

[hitman]

Just finished Crusade in Europe Eisenhower's memoir of World War II.

This was one of the most detailed views of strategic command in war that I personally have come across. The page count (478) doesn't do justice to the raw amount of information in this book. (Thanks in no small part to the small font and large pages as compared to more moderen books.) I also must admit that I really wanna "lose" this book onto my own shelves and pay the library the replacement cost. Don't get me wrong I'm not going to but its really tempting as it not only appears to be a first edition but it has a wierd plastic punch card that just screams early computer cataloging system. Did I mention it has that smell of old book about it. Ugh, back to the library it must go.

Capn. Bob,

¦]

[Capn Bob]

Speaking as someone who works in a library...didja take the book back yet?

Just finished Crusade in Europe Eisenhower's memoir of World War II.

This was one of the most detailed views of strategic command in war that I personally have come across. The page count (478) doesn't do justice to the raw amount of information in this book. (Thanks in no small part to the small font and large pages as compared to more moderen books.) I also must admit that I really wanna "lose" this book onto my own shelves and pay the library the replacement cost. Don't get me wrong I'm not going to but its really tempting as it not only appears to be a first edition but it has a wierd plastic punch card that just screams early computer cataloging system. Did I mention it has that smell of old book about it. Ugh, back to the library it must go.

Capn. Bob,

¦]

[hitman]

Yeah dropped it off Monday along with African Game Trails. I've got two more books coming and Arctic Drift by Clive Cussler in my bag.

[Jas. Hook]

As mentioned in a discussion in the Pub, I downloaded and started Stage-Coach and Tavern Days by Alice Morse Earle.

Jas. Hook

[Wicked Jim]

I'm reading a book called "Treasure Islands"...NOT to be confused of course. This one is by Cameron Platt and John Wright. I've barely scratched the surface but the content is interesting..." The fascinating world of pirates, buried treasure and fortune hunters".

[seabaroness]

I'm currently enjoying The Pirate Hunter, The True Story of Captian Kidd by Richard Zacks.

[hitman]

Just finished reading Arctic Drift by Clive & Dirk Cussler. Fun book and way better than the early Clive/Dirk combo stuff. I own an abriged audio version of this book but the full version is much better.

[CandyCotton]

Currently digging into ... The Only Life That Mattered: The Short and Merry Lives of Anne Bonny, Mary Read, and Calico Jack Rackam by James L. Nelson

I know a lot of it is speculation and historical fiction but it seems like he really did his research

[Jas. Hook]

CandyCotton -

If you enjoy Nelson -

There are a number of other Nelson books that I can recommend: The Revolutionary War series, 5 books

By Force of Arms, The Maddest Idea, The Continental Risque, Lords of the Ocean, and All the Brave Fellows

Also his Brethern of the Coast Trilogy

The Guardship, The Blackbirder, and The Pirate Round

Jas. Hook

[James Smythe]

Just started up the "Song of Ice and Fire" series. So right now its A Game of Thrones.

[CandyCotton]

CandyCotton -

If you enjoy Nelson -

There are a number of other Nelson books that I can recommend: The Revolutionary War series, 5 books

By Force of Arms, The Maddest Idea, The Continental Risque, Lords of the Ocean, and All the Brave Fellows

Also his Brethern of the Coast Trilogy

The Guardship, The Blackbirder, and The Pirate Round

Jas. Hook

well I'm certainly enjoying this one so I'll have to check those out

[Jas. Hook]

CandyCotton -

Try The Guardship first. I've already read it twice.

Also related to the POTC-5 thread try Heart of a Pirate, a Novel of Anne Bonnyby Pamela Johnson, 2009

Jas. Hook

[Jib]

I second The Guardship. Hope to pick up Nelson's book on Calico Jack soon!

[Jas. Hook]

I found a copy of The Arts of the Sailor by Hervey Garrett Smith in a used book shop and couldn't resist. I guess it's a companion book to his The Marlinspike Sailor.

Jas. Hook

[hitman]

Read Freedom TM a real good book but not quite as good as Daemon. Highly recommend both though.

[hitman]

Double Fail,

I checked out Havoc's Sword (book 11 in the Alan Lewrie series) only to realise I had already read it and that it was my least favorite in the series thus far. Then the libraries E-book reader updated and I wasn't able to read Grant's Final Victory despite having waited for a few weeks to get it. Ugh oh well.

[hitman]

Just finished Truman Capote's In Cold Blood. The obvious fact that this book is the inspiration for almost all subsequent non-fiction crime books is manifest from the outset, yet it is so well written that unlike most genre originators it has not in and of itself been diminished over time.

[Jib]

Currently reading Quicksilver by Neal Stephenson. It has a few chapters with pirates!

[hitman]

I read Red Clay Pink Cadillacs and White Gold a book about kaolin mining in Gerorgia. I had heard good things about this book and wanted to read it to get a better look into the industry I work for but was saddened to find it was little more than campaign propaganda from 1996 that was poorly written highly repeditive and frankly had been stretched to book length (barely) by use of every trick the printer could readily imagine. That being said it does shine a light (a highly dated light) on a miserable subject.

I also listened to The Edgar Allen Poe compilation Raven edition volume 1. The reading varies in quality but hey whatta ya want for nothin'. As to the stories.....there from Poe, nuff said.

[Jas. Hook]

Just received Lobcocks and Fartleberries, 18th Century Insults to Confound Your Foes. Francis Grose, Summerdale Press, 2010

Jas. Hook

'Hop the twig you poxy bung nipper before I have you and your fidgeting fambles hauled away in sheriff's braclets and shut in a cell with only the sound of your stinking ars musica and rancid remedy critch for company!'

[Jas. Hook]

Just picked up Battle At Sea, 3000 Years of Naval Warfare by R.G. Grant. Not much pirate stuff but an interesting read. B&N marked down to $15.

Jas. Hook

[hitman]

I've just finished up Undaunted Courage by Stephen Ambrose, really good book better than Nothing Like It In the World which is the only other Ambrose I've read and pretty good in its own right. I also read Ball Four by Jim Bouton, this was a good fast read that hasnt lost any of its fun even if its no longer a tell all shocker. Im now reading Think & Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill, honestly I'm not a huge fan at this point.

[hitman]

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.

[Tartan Jack]

What I WANT to be reading:

Jolly Rogers: The Pirate Banner by E. T. Fox (The extraterrestrial red rodent)