What's Currently on Your Reading List?

[ol' smoke]

"The Ben Lilly Legend" - J. Frank Dobie Lilly probably the best bear and panther hunter of all time.

[FRJ]

Men, Fish and Tackle; The Story of J. A. Coxe, as told by Ralph Bandini (Coxe reels)
and
Sportfishing Around Miami, by Timothy P. O'Brien and Ed Pritchard

Looking forward to them.

[Old Hunter]

The Cactus Air Force by Thomas G. Miller, Jr. - the story of the cobbled together air force of Army, Marine, and Naval aviators that kept the Japanese from taking Guadalcanal in 1942 - good read. OH

[coffeecup]

I've been reading Toland's The Last 100 Days: The Tumultuous and Controversial Story of the Final Days of World War II in Europe. Not a bad book, but confusing at times: almost a minute-by-minute detailing of what was going on with the Allies and Germans, from military and civilian perspectives.

Honestly--post-head-injury--there are too many simultaneous perspectives for me to track, so I'm going to toss it the pile for my next book sale. There are too many other books I'd find more-enjoyable to read right now.

[carrmillus]

......"typhoon attack"-stackpole military history series-by norman franks-great book about one of britian's best ww2 aircraft!!!.....great photos!!!.......A++.......... ......................

[coffeecup]

Just thought I'd give everyone a heads-up. Over the next 6 weeks, I'm going to do some drastic pruning of my library (as in, "1,000 books must go"). If there are titles/authors/subjects you are looking for, drop me a note and I'll watch for them.

[jerryd6818]

I just finished Herb Payson's "Blown Away". It's the first sailing book he wrote about "cruising". It's well written, interesting and convincing. It convinced me that sailing the big water is not as romantic and attractive as it sounds.

[rangerbluedog]

Haven't read that one yet Jerry, but as an old sailor I have to ask:
What's not romantic about near death experiences and an empty wallet?

[jerryd6818]

What's not romantic about near death experiences and an empty wallet?

You just said, you haven't read the book.

[coffeecup]

Sailboats have always fascinated me, but I finally realized I don't want to sail, I just want to build one!

I was a bit under-the-weather last week, so had lots of time to read. I managed to make it through the Anasazi Mysteries series (The Visitant, The Summoning God, and Bone Walker) by Gear and Gear. Then I got a wild hair and started reading LeBlanc's Prehistoric Warfare in the American Southwest.

I may regret that--slow going, but a definite improvement since the last time I tried!

[Mumbleypeg]

My favorite author currently is C. J. Box. http://Www.cjbox.net He has written other books but has a series of murder mysteries in which the main character, Joe Picket, is a Wyoming game warden. The setting is always outdoors, in Wyoming, and Box (a Wyoming native) has a gift for describing both the countryside and the people. Picket is an Everyman, not an invincible superhero. He has a wife and family and a low-paying job which he loves and takes very seriously. Most importantly, although typically under-estimated by others Picket also has a knack for solving crimes. Interwoven into the plots is usually a current hot-button issue, such as environmentalists vs. real estate developers, EPA vs. ranchers, wind energy corporations vs. landowners, etc., typically inspired by some recent real-life event.

Ken

[jerryd6818]

Thanks Ken. I put C.J. Box on my list. I'm going to give his books a whirl.

[Unk]

Currently reading "Charles Goodnight: Cowman and Plainsman" by J Evetts Haley

A few of the fictional adventures of Woodrow McCall and Augustus McRae in Lonesome Dove are based on Charles Goodnight's real life adventures.

As one of the reviewers said, Charles Goodnight was a man "with the bark on".

[Mumbleypeg]

Currently reading "Charles Goodnight: Cowman and Plainsman" by J Evetts Haley

A few of the fictional adventures of Woodrow McCall and Augustus McRae in Lonesome Dove are based on Charles Goodnight's real life adventures.

As one of the reviewers said, Charles Goodnight was a man "with the bark on".

Unk, this is an excellent book as are all the others by Haley that I have read. Haley was a contemporary and friend of a couple of other great Texas history scholars and authors I enjoy, Walter Prescott Webb and J. Frank Dobie. One of the great stories about Goodnight that Haley tells is of a cattle rustler Goodnight and his crew caught while on a cattle drive. Several days ride from town when they caught the rustler, they found a tree and hanged him. Goodnight finally reached a town and informed the sheriff they had caught a rustler. Not seeing any prisoner, the lawman asked where the man was. "We left him tied to a tree." was Goodnight's reply.

Texas history is a hobby of mine so I read a lot of it, as well as historical fiction set in a Texas. If you like that kind of thing and haven't read Elmer Kelton, he is a must read IMHO. All his novels are set in Texas, thoroughly researched and based around actual historical events.

Ken

[Unk]

Thanks Ken. I haven't read any of Dobie's work, but have had him on my list for awhile. Guess I will have to pick up some of his books.

My Dad was from Borger, and my mom was from Tahoka. They both went to college at Canyon in the 1950s, so I spent a little time on the Llano Estacado, and have been to Palo Duro Canyon several times, as well as the Panhandle Plains Museum (they have some of Charles Goodnight's personal items there). My Dad was always interested in the history there, and I guess he passed that interest on to me.

A good book about the Comanches is "Empire of the Summer Moon" by S.C. Gwynne. Excellent read.

http://www.amazon.com/Empire-Summer-Moo ... 1416591060

[Mumbleypeg]

Unk, you're right again regarding "The Empire of the Summer Moon". By far the best non-fiction book on the Comanche and Quanah Parker that I have read. For a great historical fiction account of the Comanche and the U.S. Army's Buffalo Soldiers, I recommend "The Wolf and the Buffalo" by Elmer Kelton.

Since you enjoy Evetts Haley and are interested in the Texas Panhandle, you would probably enjoy Haley's "The XIT Ranch of Texas and the Early Days of the Llano Estacado".

Ken

[Unk]

Thanks for the suggestions, Ken. I will add those to my list.

...and speaking of West Texas....here's a cool video. Make sure you put it on full screen.

http://vimeo.com/22132017

[carrmillus]

.......just started on "the arsenal of democracy" by a.j. baime....when finished will read "sea of thunder" by evan Thomas......both ww2 books!!........................ ........................

[RobesonsRme.com]

The Trilogy of The Ring

CNoyes

[Mumbleypeg]

Unk, thanks for the link to the Wyman Meinzer video. I'm familiar with his work in Texas Highways magazine but had not seen this video before. West Texas scenic beauty is overlooked and under rated IMHO.

Ken

[carrmillus]

..............just finished "john wayne" by scott eyman-great book about the "duke"!!!.......also started reading "the outsider"-a memoir by jimmy Connors...........so far,great book!!!............. ...........

[rangerbluedog]

O.K., I gotta come clean…. My wife and I went on vacation in Savannah a couple of weeks ago.
We hit all the tourist stuff. Visited Bonaventure cemetery - toured the Mercer house.

sooooooooooo,

I just read MIDNIGHT IN THE GARDEN OF GOOD AND EVIL.



… and I kinda liked it.

[jerryd6818]

Just started "Field of Prey" by John Sandford. I love all his "Prey" series and the Virgil Flowers books too.

[Paladin]

I just finished the latest James Lee Burke book, Wayfaring Stranger. It was like most of his, a great read.
I have also been a fan of Stephen Hunter but the last 2 of his were not up to par. One was an alternate theory of the Kennedy assassination and once it got going, it was interesting. Problem was it took about 100+ pages to get started. About the same for Sniper's Honor.

[jerryd6818]

I've read most of the J.L. Burke Dave Robicheaux series but when I went looking to see if my local library had a copy of Wayfaring Stranger (not Robicheaux of course), I discovered there's one I didn't know about. I'm going to have to zip down and get a copy of Creole Belle.