Good Books....

[LuciandTim]

I'm always looking for a good book to read. I also am always looking for a good book to read that pertains to hunting or fishing, and the outdoors. Any readers out there have any suggestions??

[Polar Bear]

LuciandTim, I could mention many books I've enjoyed over a lifetime of reading but the one book that still plucks my heartstrings is actually the one most recently read.

The title is: "Waiting for White Horses" by Nathan Jorgenson of Fairmont MN. Its published by Bang Printing of Brainerd.

Its the story of two duck hunting/fishing buddies and their journey through some of life's toughest obsticals. I can't even explain how emotionally involved I became with the book. Lets just say Mr. Jorgenson looks deep into the souls of two lifelong friends and explores just how important their hunting trips are in their lives.

I could relate to the characters in so many ways but here are a few of the highlights. Their favorite singer is Gordon Lightfoot, so is mine. Their favorite Lightfoot song is "Christian Island" so is mine. Their favorite author is Sigurd Olson, mine too. The list goes on to include their small farm background, strong rural roots and conservative values. But I think what really gripped me was the friendship itself. If you're lucky enough to have the kind of friend that knows what you're thinking, even before you say anything, you can relate to the two main characters.

The book was featured in the Mpls. Tribune this summer and also won the Ben Franklin Award. I hope you will like it half as much as I did.

Polar Bear

[riverrat56]

i just read Poachers Caught over the summer, its about a CO that had recently retired and it is all his interesting stories. good book.

[huskiesplayer15]

Every conservationist has to read Sand County Alamanac. collections of short stories from the sand county in wisconsin.

If you just like looking at pictures instead of reading, chased by the light, by jim brandenburg, from ely where from solstace to solstace he allowed himself only one picture to be take a day, its a pretty sweet book, one picture for each day.

Best Fishes

Chris

[Ufatz]

Where Bright Waters Meet"-H.P.Greene. "Thy Rod and Thy Creel"-Odell Shephard. "A River Runs Through It"- N.McClean. "The Big Sky"-A.B.Guthrie

[Gissert]

Although though this is mostly gun and hunting writing, any thing by Jack O'Connor is gold.

He was the gun writer for Outdoor life for a looong time, ending in the 70's. In his college days, he was a journalism major in college, and a darn fine writer.

He is probably responsible for the popularity of the 270 Winchester as a result if his writing and experience. He also hunted extensivly with his wife Elanor, who was deadly with her little 7 x 57 mauser. Their stories of African hunting are fabulous.

Added on edit: I bought a great book in the NW angle a few years ago. I can't quite remember the author, but it is called "A Time to Fish, A time to Dry Nets." It is about the commercial fishing days on Lake of the Woods, from heyday to end. Excellent book.

Duane Lund has some very good books on LOW also.

[Redlantern]

For humor involving hunting and fishing, I really get a kick out of Patrick F. McManus. Sigurd Olson is good if your a bit of a tree hugger like myself, even if your not, he's worth reading. Kind of puts in words what many of us BWCA nuts feel about wilderness. Shawn Perich has a couple of good books out, mostly pertaining to the North Shore area, but has some good info in them.

[little buddy]

"Trout fishing in America" by the late Richard Brautigan

[BarryG]

"Shots at Whitetails" by Lawrence Koller

[Bobb-o]

Best fishing books i have ever read were any of those written by John Gierach, his titles include "Standing in a River Waving a Stick", and "another lousy day in paradise". another really good series of books i have read are "Pavlov's Trout" "Darwin's Bass" and "Fishing Lessons" the last three titles are written by one of the top psychologists in the US about why we fish.

[icehousebob]

I've always enjoyed the books by Patrick McManus. He writes a humor column for a sports mag and the books are a compilation of his columns. When he wtites about hunting and fishing with the strange caracters of his childhood, you can swear you've met someone like them in your own life.

[Xplorer]

If you enjoy some short stories about duck hunting/trout fishing there are a few books by Gordon MacQuarrie that are a good read.

I particularily enjoy them as many of the stories center around the the Brule river area in NW Wisconsin.

I was just sitting around the fireplace last night reading a few after taking my 2 year old trick or treating.

[Hibbing]

"Trout Madness by Robert Traver!

[RK]

Hiya,

I agree 100% on Sand County Almanac. A must read...

Another one I'd put in that category is "The Longest Silence" by Thomas McGuane. For my money it's the best book ever written on fishing.

Here are some others:

"The Hungry Ocean" by Linda Greenlaw. Greenlaw was the captain of the 'Hanna Boden' the sister ship of the Andrea Gail, which was the ship that The Perfect Storm was about. Hungry Ocean is about swordfishing on the Grand Banks, and it's fascinating.

"Arctic Dreams" by Barry Lopez - a natural history of the Arctic, history of arctic exploration, and really an amazing read. His "Of Wolves and Men" is also really good.

Almost any non-fiction (or fiction for that matter) by Rick Bass. "The Deer Pasture" "Winter" and "The Nine-mile Wolves" are particularly good.

"The River Why?" by David James Duncan. A novel about a guy who totally gives his life over to fishing, with some pretty hysterical consequences. His father is a purist fly fisherman, and his mom is a dedicated bait angler, which, for a trout fisherman, is a real problem. It's a very fun book for a crappy winter day.

"The Journals of Lewis and Clark" I have the version edited by Bernard DeVoto. A pretty amazing story...

Any collected essays by Loren Eiseley - The Immense Journey, The Invisible Pyramid, The Star Thrower.... Eiseley was a paleontologist and naturalist, and his essays are wonderful. Written in the 60s and 70s, so the science is a little dated, but the point isn't. They're some of my favorites.

Cheers,

RK

[Hastings gal]

"The Last River Rat" by Ken Sawley

This book was very hard to put down. I started to read it to my daughter - but it was too good to stop when it was her bedtime. I am still reading it to her at night.

He was the guest speaker at Trout Days 2004 and was an exellent speaker as well.

My daughter yells at me every time I try to kill an Asian beatle reminding me that it is a part of nature and to leave it be.

Keep Smiling.

[Toad]

Lots of wonderful recommendations, everyone.

It's so tough to pick my favorites, as there's just so many great ones. One title that inevitably evokes pleasant memories is Roderick Haig-Brown's "A River Never Sleeps." Haig-Brown's work is that of a master craftsman, easily in the company of Maclean's "River . . ."

Among modern authors, I never miss anything by Russell Chatham, Bill Barich, Jim Harrison, or John Gierach. And Charles Waterman. Too, Thomas McGuane's vivid descriptions of fishing shouldn't be missed. Today, perhaps no fishing writer matches the grace of James Prosek.

Have to mention, also, Kevin Maddock's "Carp Fever," ingenious, delightful perspective from a legendary British angler. Even if you loathe carp, this book deserves a look for it's quirky style and fascinating ideas.

[Ole1855]

luciandtim,

One of my favorite books is Death in the Long Grass by Peter Hathaway Capstick. Capstick was a stockbroker in NY, that used to go on African Safari's, he got really tired of the rat race on the stock exchange and became a professional hunter/guide in Africa. The book is stories of his guiding experiences in Africa, they are unbelivable, I'd recommend it to everyone.

Ole

[B. Amish]

Old Man and the Sea

by Ernest Hemingway

Short and Easy to read which is always a plus for me

I had to read it for shool one time, but it turned out to be a pretty cool book

[Ice9]

Hey literary guys, and moderators...I'll post my poems and stories if you'll post yours. Or maybe make a place for it?

ice

[Gissert]

Some more books came to mind to me over the weekend. A few years ago, I got a big interest in reading books about high altitude climbing. In particular, the 14 world peaks that are over 8000 meters.

"Into Thin Air" by Jon Krakauer is an excellent read about the 1996 tradgedy on the south side of Everest. A compaion book to that is "The Climb" by Anatoli Boukereev which details his version of the events.

[rodbuilder]

I second the input about "into thin air". Very good read.

[Bobb-o]

hey ice9 i posted one of mine at: http://www.fishingminnesota.com/forum/showflat.php?Cat=&Number=425600&page=0&view=collapsed&sb=5&o=&fpart=1

[End of the Line]

"Endurance" based on the autobiography of the trans-Antarctic voyage team that went horribly wrong for Earnest Schakelton and his crew. Truly an almost unbelievable hardship of true heros and survivors.

[I'llTakeWhatiCanGet]

Wow, McManus, Gierach, already mentioned. Guess i'm not the only one who loves to read what those fellas put on paper. McManus really has a way with words, as well as some crazy stories

The story of Shackleton is amazing too. All that time in the friggin arctic, with little food and no shelter, all without losing a single man- what a STUD. What really got me was all the pics they took detailing their ordeal. It was almost like they new they were going to make it home, and wanted some pics as souveniers- amazing....

[huskiesplayer15]

I think I found my book for the deer stand, " "The Hungry Ocean" by Linda Greenlaw. Greenlaw was the captain of the 'Hanna Boden' the sister ship of the Andrea Gail, which was the ship that The Perfect Storm was about. Hungry Ocean is about swordfishing on the Grand Banks, and it's fascinating."

Thanks buddy for the book info!

Best Fishes

Chris

[SD Fisher]

Anything by Pat McManus. I've read almost all of his books, and some of them 2 or 3 times. You have to have a somewhat "unique" sense of humor to really appreciate them; but if you do, they are wonderful.

[buzbunni]

Along the lines of "The Hungry Ocean"...

Back when I was a commercial fisherman, one of my favorite reads(shouldn't have read it before my first job as a crewmember )was a book by Spike Walker. "Working on the Edge:Surviving in the world's most dangerous profession:King Crab Fishing on Alaska's High Seas" is a great adventure read. True accounts/descriptions of what it is like to work this dangerous profession. What's especially interesting is that Mr. Walker was a fisherman when the "big boom" was going on in the late 70's to mid 80's. "Back in the day", a deckhand fishing King Crab in the Bering Sea could make $100,000 in a few months if he/she had a good skipper. Of course, one could also die.

There's always a catch.

I love this book.

[Wave Runner]

"Hungry Ocean" is good. Also try "Into the Wild" by Jon Krakauer

[DrKen]

Love McManus-have all his books. For other authors, try some of Robert Ruark's books. He was a contemporary of Hemmingway but is a better read in my opinion. I would start with "The Old Man and the Boy". It's about a boy growing up around his grandfather and the entire focus is on the hunting and fishing experiences as he grew up. He was a major novelist and all of his novels involve hunting and fishing as a major part of the main charachters. His books on Africa, are in my opinion, the best ever written. Try Uhruru or Something of Value. You will not want to put them down.

[htgeren]

Any of the books by Krakauer are must reads as far as I am concerned. "Into the Wild" is definitely a great book. The man really does some good work, "Into Thin Air" and "Under the Banner of Heaven" are also excellent. Peter Jenkins is also one of my favorite authors. A particular favorite on mine that he wrote is "Looking for Alaska" along with "A Walk Across America" and " Along the Edge of America". Great books. Both authors have multiple publications and I have read them all and have yet to be dissapointed.