Cath Posted December 7, 2019 Share Posted December 7, 2019 I figure it is about time to start passing around winter reading ideas and recommendations. So - here is mine: The Last Man on the Mountain by Jennifer Jordan https://www.amazon.com/Last-Man-Mountain-American-Adventurer-dp-0393339971/dp/0393339971/ref=mt_paperback?_encoding=UTF8&me=&qid= And while on the topic of cold exploration - here is some information that I think is interesting, especially since Eagle Island in Casco Bay is a popular stop. https://www.pressherald.com/2019/09/18/bowdoin-college-exhibit-honors-african-american-among-first-to-reach-north-pole/ https://www.bowdoin.edu/arctic-museum/exhibits/2019/matthew-henson-first-african-american-at-the-north-pole.html https://www.bowdoin.edu/arctic-museum/educational-resources/arctic-biographies/henson.html Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alcoons Posted December 7, 2019 Share Posted December 7, 2019 Chat, What timing. Downloaded it last night and dove in. Certainly not that far into it to make a complete comment but I am very much enjoying the start. Well and tightly written allowing my mind to wonder in the scenes and history. I usually am not that hot on reading the extended life histories of the characters in a book of this type. However Jordan's choice of the development of Wolfe is just as interesting as climbing K2 will be. Again, I am not very far in so sprinkle some magnesium chloride on what I said. Thanks so much for the reference. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EEL Posted December 9, 2019 Share Posted December 9, 2019 If you have an interest in Greenland paddling and/or Greenland in general, it is well worth a visit to the Peary museum at Bowdoin in Brunswick. https://www.bowdoin.edu/arctic-museum/ The Bowdoin schooner is a very lovely sight on the water and if lucky you might see her sailing on the Maine coast. As for Peary, the story of the Inuit he brought back to NYC is very tragic and perhaps best exemplified by the story of Minik Wallace. Not a pretty picture. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Minik_Wallace The story of the children fathered by both Hensen and Peary and their descendants is also interesting. Hensen was a quite remarkable person. Ed Lawson Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kate Posted December 12, 2019 Share Posted December 12, 2019 In the Greenland vein, I found this to be a compelling read about the life of the Danish-Inuit anthropologist and explorer Knud Rasmussen, "White Eskimo". Truly a remarkable, unique person. https://www.amazon.com/White-Eskimo-Rasmussens-Fearless-Lawrence/dp/0306822822/ref=asc_df_0306822822/?tag=hyprod-20&linkCode=df0&hvadid=312695266310&hvpos=1o1&hvnetw=g&hvrand=16375206925777450572&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=c&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=9002023&hvtargid=pla-564037224883&psc=1 Although I've mentioned this in past years, I have to include it again as one of the very best Arctic adventure books I've read: "Northern Lights" by Desmond Holdridge. These guys by rights should not have survived their own mistakes and ineptitude, but the story of how they do survive is astonishing. Well-written and highly recommended. https://www.amazon.com/Northern-Lights-Desmond-Holdridge/dp/1258787903/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=northern+lights+holdridge&qid=1576185107&s=books&sr=1-1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
prudenceb Posted December 13, 2019 Share Posted December 13, 2019 Kate, Northern Lights book is $39 paperback on Amazon! Hopemthey have it at library... or do you have copy I could borrow? Prudence Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wayne S. Posted December 13, 2019 Share Posted December 13, 2019 Here’s one: “the last gentleman adventurer”by Edward Beauclerk Maurice. He gets yanked out out of an English boarding school when his father dies and signs up for two years with the Hudson Bay Company at an outpost in the arctic. Apparently he was finally persuaded to get his story down on paper before he died about 10 years ago in his 90s. A fascinating last picture of when the Inuit still lived as we imagine them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kate Posted December 16, 2019 Share Posted December 16, 2019 On 12/13/2019 at 11:41 AM, prudenceb said: Kate, Northern Lights book is $39 paperback on Amazon! Hopemthey have it at library... or do you have copy I could borrow? Prudence You can buy it used for a few bucks. I am happy to lend out my copy, too (bought used). Totally worth $39 though! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mhabich Posted October 30, 2020 Share Posted October 30, 2020 On 12/16/2019 at 1:21 PM, kate said: You can buy it used for a few bucks. I am happy to lend out my copy, too (bought used). Totally worth $39 though! Or as an ebook for $5. What a great book. Thanks, Kate. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gyork Posted October 30, 2020 Share Posted October 30, 2020 (edited) More suggestions here, an older thread: Edited October 30, 2020 by gyork Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kate Posted November 2, 2020 Share Posted November 2, 2020 Currently reading "Tent Life in Siberia" by George Kennan, which was a $3 kindle download. Exceedingly well-written with wry sense of humor and self-deprecation. Apparently was a best-seller in its day. He goes out looking for adventure by signing on to an expedition to map out a telegraph line from the US over the Bering Strait to Siberia, in the mid-1800's. I also really enjoyed "Kabloona in the Yellow Kayak", about a grandmother with very little prior kayaking experience who decided to solo kayak the Northwest Passage in the 1990's. Utterly inspiring. Yes she does meet up with polar bears.... I bought the book used. Kate Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alcoons Posted November 2, 2020 Share Posted November 2, 2020 Thanks Kate, Just downloaded Tent Life in Siberia to my iPhone Kindle app on Amazon Prime for free. Al Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kate Posted November 4, 2020 Share Posted November 4, 2020 On 11/2/2020 at 2:03 PM, alcoons said: Thanks Kate, Just downloaded Tent Life in Siberia to my iPhone Kindle app on Amazon Prime for free. Al The $3 version contains photos as well, which I thought worth the extra cost. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alcoons Posted November 4, 2020 Share Posted November 4, 2020 You are right. Noticed that as I began reading. Guess I will spend $3 after all! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gyork Posted November 26, 2020 Share Posted November 26, 2020 (edited) “......taking an ax, he chopped the hoofs and bones up together, and placed some of the mess in the kettle to boil. A really greasy, though very rancid, broth resulted. Some of the bones and particularly the hoofs were maggoty, but as Hubbard said, the maggots seemed to make the broth the richer, and we drank it all. It tasted good. For some time we sat gnawing the gristle and scraps of decayed flesh that clung to the bones, and we were honestly thankful for our meal.”Such were the travails of three young men facing starvation and the approach of winter. Their journey started late-July 15, 1903, and would last Until late October, in the desolate Labrador wilderness, where they would face numerous obstacles in this uncharted territory, including 80 miles of canoe portages, scant game, and dwindling provisions.“When a fellow starts on a long trail, he’s never willing to quit. It’ll be the same with you if you go with me to Labrador. You’ll say yes, each trip will be the last, but when you come home you’ll hear the voice of the wilderness calling you to return, and it will lure you away again and again.“The Lure of the Labrador Wild by Dillon Wallace AFTER reading this, read the follow-up journey two years later, by Wallace and others: Great Heart: The history of a Labrador Adventure by James West Davidson Edited November 27, 2020 by gyork Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kate Posted November 30, 2020 Share Posted November 30, 2020 Gary, I've read them both and heartily second your recommendations. Not the least because the second journey was led by a woman. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nancy Hill Posted December 1, 2020 Share Posted December 1, 2020 (edited) There are so many good books to choose from. Here are five: Sailing Alone Around the World by Joshua Slocum The Riddle of the Sands by Erskine Childers Farthest North by Fridtjof Nansen N by E by Rockwell Kent In the Heart of the Sea by Nathaniel Philbrick Edited December 1, 2020 by Nancy Hill Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gyork Posted December 1, 2020 Share Posted December 1, 2020 2 hours ago, kate said: ..... the second journey was led by a woman. A supreme BONUS feature! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gyork Posted October 30, 2021 Share Posted October 30, 2021 The Boys in the Boat by Daniel James Brown captures the Washington (?State ?University) men's crew team from their humble beginnings to their quest for a medal @ the "36 Olympics in Berlin. Rower Joe Rantz, motherless @ 4, and abandoned as a teenager, becomes the hero of this true story. Spoiler alert below: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul Sylvester Posted October 31, 2021 Share Posted October 31, 2021 The Boys in the Boat: At first I was taken back by the denser text and wondered how rowing would be that interesting. From depression era logging life and broken families to a world stage in front of a sick despot this book has it all. Highly recommended. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gyork Posted December 8, 2021 Share Posted December 8, 2021 The Last Traverse by Ty Gagne. The Newbie and the Pro plan the ever-popular Franconia Ridge traverse, mid winter, unaware what awaits them as they start their traverse. Ty is a Master at telling the whole tale, including the important back-story. For those who were lucky to attend his presentation last May, he gives an excellent talk, incorporating the heuristics that kayakers, mountaineers, and all adventurers share. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gyork Posted December 18, 2023 Share Posted December 18, 2023 On 10/30/2021 at 2:33 PM, gyork said: The Boys in the Boat by Daniel James Brown captures the Washington (?State ?University) men's crew team from their humble beginnings to their quest for a medal @ the "36 Olympics in Berlin. Rower Joe Rantz, motherless @ 4, and abandoned as a teenager, becomes the hero of this true story. Spoiler alert below: I think the hour-long documentary is now available to view by ALL, but if not I will delete this comment: https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/films/boys36/?utm_source=Iterable&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=campaign_8549798#part01 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
prudenceb Posted December 19, 2023 Share Posted December 19, 2023 (edited) Another winter reading suggestion. I got cold just reading it! The title is pretty self-explanatory as to content. “Death on the Ice: The Great Newfoundland Sealing Disaster of 1914” by Cassie Brown and Harold Horwood. Edited December 19, 2023 by prudenceb Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frederick Goodman Posted December 19, 2023 Share Posted December 19, 2023 Hmmm. Death on the Ice is all well and good, but by February, I might favor a book about fish tacos and beer on a Mexican beach. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul Sylvester Posted December 19, 2023 Share Posted December 19, 2023 The First Frontier: The Forgotten History of Struggle, Savagery and Endurance in Early American by Scott Weidensaul. I am only halfway through this but find it fascinating. It is an in-depth look and telling of the history of early New England and beyond. I always knew about some of the battles and struggles and this lays out the details. From Penobscot Bay to the Carribean he ties the economic, social, Euro Centric and Native elements together. I met Scott when I did some work at his home in NH. He is a highly sought after lecturer, teacher and researcher on Ornithology. He has published many books and travels extensively sharing his passion and knowledge. He does a lot of work with the Audubon Society so if anyone here knows his work, please let me know. I plan to read one of his bird books in time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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