NDR: What are you reading?

K

Kris Schaumburg

Well-known member
Anyone read any interesting books lately? Or have anything from past experience that they'd recommend? My general areas of interest are usually non fiction, but I figured others may enjoy this thread.
 
Lately I've been reading some of the collected Nash Buckingham stories, they are a great window into a bygone era. I also recently finished one of the best non-fiction books I've read in a long time, "Devil in the White City" by Erik Larson. It's about the Chicago World's Fair in the 1890's, which sounds boring as hell but it's a great story about Chicago scrambling to prove themselves as a "real" city tied up with a story about one of America's first serial killers, who operated during the fair and killed an unknown number of people. Really engrossing stuff. Also I've been reading "Ivan's War", about the Red Army during World War 2, which is a great read if you're a WW2 history geek like me.
 
on a whim I picked up O'Reilly's "killing the rising sun" -- as a history nut, I thought it was well thought out and presented - finished it and picked up "Killing Patton" just to see if it is as good

also reading an old anthology "Waterfowl Gunners' Book" collected by F. P. Williamson - published by Amwell press
 
Kris & Cody~

I, too, enjoyed Larson's "The Devil in the White City" - as well as his "Thunderstruck" - about Marconi and early radio.

I just today picked up "The Last Days of Night" (Graham Moore 2016 ) - about the beginnings of electrification. Earlier this summer I read "Drive!" (Lawrence Goldstone 2016) - which recounted the early history of automobiles. Which reminds me of David McCullough's "The Wright Brothers" from 2015.

I am in the hunt for "The Sellout" - Paul Beattty's 2015 novel that just won the Man-Booker Prize. My Barnes & Noble could not get me a copy. I may have to get an e-copy for my Nook (my 63-year-old eyes really appreciate the adjustable font size function!).

And, because I am a middle-aged guy, I read lots of crime fiction when I have too little energy for serious reading - with John Sandford (no relation), Ian Rankin, Dennis Lehane, Michael Connelly, Lawrence Block, among my favorites.

Finally - to keep this duck-related - I just picked up another copy of Zack Taylor's "Successful Waterfowling" - in my Top Ten gunning books for sure.

All the best,

SJS
 
I spend a lot of time flying or driving so they are mainly audiobook.

But I have really enjoyed lately Personal memoirs of Ulysses S. Grant, Team of Rivals by Doris Kearns Goodwin, The Admirals by Walter R. Borneman, Theodore Roosevelt, An Autobiography. I am also reading Cat Wars, by a friend, Peter Marra and Adaptive Leadership by Heifetz. I guess my waterfowl reading wasWildfowl Decoys of California by my friend Mike Miller.

Next up is Shoe Dog, by Phil Knight.
 
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Upland Bird Hunting by Joel M. Vance, and old issues of North American Decoys magazine this week. It changes every week...

Blue Highways A Journey Into America by William Least Heat-Moon is a good read, and of course Ernest Hemingway The Short Stories.

Around the World with General Grant by John Russell Young is on the deep winter read list.
 
The Book of Romans, New Testament reading. It challenges me and my thinking every day. Amazing author and applications toward life. I've been camped out in it for months and love it...
Good thread and thanks for asking Kris! Pat
 
I just finished Ted Kerasote's "Heart of Home". Great essays that will make you think about your hunting and fishing. For a deeper dive into the ethics of hunting, his "Bloodties" is also excellent.

I re-read Aldo Leopold's "Sand County Almanac" at least once a year. Another favorite is Steven Ambrose's "Undaunted Courage", about the Lewis and Clark expedition. That was my plane and evening reading on our Yellowstone trip this year.

New England/Long Island folks and anyone who has ever built a boat or fished lobster, crabs, or swordfish might enjoy a novel, "Spartina", by John Casey. It's almost enough to make me want to visit Rhode Island!
 
Keeping on the lighter side of reading and mostly short stories, Retired Maine Game Warden has a couple books of his encounters. "Suddenly the Cider Didn't Taste So Good" and "That Cider Still Taste Funny".
Getting ready to read "A Moose and Lobster Walk into a Bar" John Macdonald.
Only in Maine!


Have a great season all!
 
Another favorite is Steven Ambrose's "Undaunted Courage", about the Lewis and Clark expedition.
Click to expand...

Jeff, come out a little further west and you can duck hunt some of those same locations and experience the weather that lead them to name places like Dismal Nitch and Cape Disappointment. But they were dressed in hides and not gore Tex and neoprene.
 
Bruce Springsteen's Born To Run autobiography. Not something I would normally read but he was "The Boss" during my formative Rock and Roll years.


Mark W
 
Every other year, as waterfowl season wanes, I make a point to re-read "Chesapeake" by Michener while sitting in my deer stand. This year I switched to a pair of Ken Kesey's works: "One Flew over the Cuckoos Nest" and "Sometimes a Great Notion". In hindsight, quite an appropriate for this immediate interval in the United States.
 
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