Good Reads ...

[Vermilye]

I just finished The Travels of Jamie McPheeters, by Robert Lewis Taylor. A Pulitzer prize winning novel about a young boy & his father heading west during the gold rush. It does make you appreciate having an RV rather than a Prairie Schooner!

[cpaharley2008]

I resemble that remark.......

[Iowa Dave]

Hi Jim
When the computer game Oregon Trail was popular years ago, our family vacation traced the route(s) west. Took vacations of two separate years and morphed into some Lewis and Clark route work too. The national historic Oregon Trail interpretive center at Baker City Oregon was one of the high points of this endeavor. They had several prairie schooners on display and a lot of other significant historic display material. If you haven't been there it would be a great stop sometime. A couple of good photographs for interior decoration in your schooner and you're good to go. Check out the still visible ruts in the rocks from the steel michelins. Them babies really wear. Needed some Monroe Matics though Rita suggests.
Iowa Dave

[cpaharley2008]

Great info Dave, Thanks. Interesting enough we stopped in Baker City, Or on our 1st trip to Osoyoos in 2014. We had our gas pumped for us by a lovely lass and then picked up some chinese takeout nearby and ate in the trailer parked next to the park. I do recall seeing a sign about the original Oregon Trail someplace alone the route showing a narrow ridge on a rock outcropping, not sure exactly where. Beautiful country in that valley between the 2 mountain ranges, I could make that my final resting place.

[Iowa Dave]

Jim
I got it!
What you ask?
For the man who has everything, a moulded fiberglass casket shell with Escape graphics in favorite custom colors. A few glassed in pieces of repurposed wood for support, 6 moulded in handles, someone to read Tennyson Sunset and evening star, and one clear call for me.....
What a Christmas idea. Be a lot easier than renting a Track type Excavator for you and the 19.
Dave

[cpaharley2008]

a man after my heart, throw in some scrapple and spam with a touch of poutine and beer for my journey.....

[Vermilye]

I just updated my Booklist - An Excel spreadsheet. I've added some audio books. I never liked them until I had no choice - after my glaucoma surgery I was not allowed to read for 6 weeks. Now I'm hooked on them. Most come from a couple of on line libraries (my local, and the New York City Public Library, open to all who live in NY). They are expensive to purchase, and I am not a collector of them or readable books - I now read most on a Kindle. I don't mind buying a Kindle book, but $30 - $40 for an audio book is a bit too much. I have found that many excellent readable books just don't make it as audio, and some of the audio books are better than the written version. I wish there was some way to tell in advance.

Anyhow, here is the list - 2547 so far since I started the list, 170 so far this year. The list is necessary so I don't buy or pick up a book I read a couple of years ago. Of course, at my age if it is more than 5 years ago, who cares, I won't remember it. (You can tell I don't have a TV!)

[Bobbie54]

Jon, amazing you have read all those and so few that I've read on your list!

RV'ing- well, not quite, but I just read a book by the author of "The Boys in the Boat" about the Donner Party, "The Indifferent Stars Above". More of DV=desperational vehicles. But very interesting and well-written and well-researched. Another recent read was "The Widow Wave" by jay Jacobs, a court case about a boat sinking. Audio I'm re-listening to Ken Follett's "World without End" (second in the Kingsbridge series) to prepare for book IV coming up soon. (That's 30 some hours so will take me a very long time!)

[Centex]

Originally Posted by Vermilye

I just updated my Booklist ....

Thanks for sharing.

Two absent authors you might enjoy tasting: Herman Wouk and Nevil Shute

[Vermilye]

Originally Posted by Centex

Thanks for sharing.

Two absent authors you might enjoy tasting: Herman Wouk and Nevil Shute

I've read both, but before I started the database of reads. Wouk's Winds of War was a favorite, as was Shute's On The Beach.

[Mike Lewis]

Originally Posted by Vermilye

I've added some audio books. I never liked them until I had no choice - after my glaucoma surgery I was not allowed to read for 6 weeks. Now I'm hooked on them.

I've never attempted to listen to an audio book because I assume I wouldn't be able to pay attention enough for it to be worthwhile. This despite the fact that Grover Gardner, a prominent narrator of audio books, is a former roommate of mine from long ago.

[Bobbie54]

Originally Posted by Mike Lewis

I've never attempted to listen to an audio book because I assume I wouldn't be able to pay attention enough for it to be worthwhile. This despite the fact that Grover Gardner, a prominent narrator of audio books, is a former roommate of mine from long ago.

I listen while driving and have the opposite problem- I forget to pay attention to where I'm going! But now with both Audible and Google maps on my phone the directions interrupt the story so at least if I put the destination in I'm good and don't miss exits.

[Iowa Dave]

Originally Posted by Vermilye

I've read both, but before I started the database of reads. Wouk's Winds of War was a favorite, as was Shute's On The Beach.

Back in Jr High there were monthly paperback book offerings. You bought them and when they came to English class you showed off what you bought. On The Beach was popular then in 1959-60. We also had an activity period twice a week. One of the choices was a hunting and fishing class. Safety was taught. We learned about ricochets. And how a bullet could come off of water, frozen ground or sand. My friend who was brainy and could always be trusted to be serious was asked by the teacher what he’d learned that day. He replied with a straight face
“I’ll nevil Shute on the beach again.” The teacher did not get it and just thought my friend had a slight speech impediment. But being seventh grader boys, we got it, and thought it was pretty funny. It became one of those inside stupid jokes kids used to have. Strangely though for the next 60 years I always thought about the consequences of bullet travel whenever I hunted along creeks and rivers. Ahhh the twisted mind of a 13 year old. Wish I could go back.
Probably doesn’t seem so far fetched given today’s political climate.
Iowa Dave

[h2owmn]

I have a subscription to Audible and find it usable for driving as well as for household projects. It's easy to go back to where you were last paying attention and in this pandemic time, I've gotten a lot of chores done while "reading".

They offer a free 30 day trial with two free books and one bonus VIP (?) book in the trial. For things like this I just put on my calendar a couple days in advance in case I want to cancel. You can listen on phone, tablet, etc without losing your place. you can choose wifi only so you aren't using data in case that's restricted. Here's a chart that shows the levels of subscription available and about halfway down a breakdown of each level monthly cost. Lowest is 7.50/month for 6 books a year.Credits expire after a year.

Audible Subscription Plans & Prices: Which One Is Right For You? | Josephine Elia

I can recommend Jill Lepore's history of the US called These Truths at a whopping 29 hours. I was shocked at how much history i DIDN'T know. Have also listened to Michelle Obama's autobiography read by her and same with Susan Rice. Michael Lewis's The Fifth Risk.

[Bobbie54]

I usually do the 12 books in a year plan and if I haven't read them all cancel it- turns out they'll offer you a great deal if you try to cancel it!

But I've also taken a lot of advantage of the library when I can. The trouble with audiobooks that are long, though, is that unless you are traveling it is hard to finish them before they are due back. I used to put them on my ipod and just change the date back until I finished the book. (Ebooks you can turn on airport and then the book won't return.) On the phone it is inconvenient to change the date so I often buy the longer ones and check out what I can get of the shorter ones.

I got rid of most of my print library when I moved (many many boxes of books) as they were getting hard to transport, harder to read, and my eyes like ebooks much better.

[Mike Lewis]

Originally Posted by Bobbie54

I listen while driving and have the opposite problem- I forget to pay attention to where I'm going! But now with both Audible and Google maps on my phone the directions interrupt the story so at least if I put the destination in I'm good and don't miss exits.

My low expectation of success with audiobooks comes from my experience with listening to podcasts during my morning walk. I frequently "blank out" and miss what's being said, even if it's something I want to hear. I absorb information much better via reading than listening.

[gbaglo]

Originally Posted by Mike Lewis

I frequently "blank out" and miss what's being said, even if it's something I want to hear.

Can you repeat that?

[Vermilye]

Originally Posted by Mike Lewis

My low expectation of success with audiobooks comes from my experience with listening to podcasts during my morning walk. I frequently "blank out" and miss what's being said, even if it's something I want to hear. I absorb information much better via reading than listening.

I have to agree. I find that I do much better keeping track with the written word than the audio versions, but I do listen to audio books on my morning & afternoon walks. I am still not comfortable listening to them while driving, although maybe on the miles of open road out west I might change my mind.

I did listen to Column of Fire by Follett this year and enjoyed it. I read Pillars of the Earth as a real book when it first came out, but somehow I missed Book 2. I am looking forward to The Evening and the Morning (Book 4 in the series).

[gabeck]

Wow Jon Vermilye, that is an impressive list. My favourites books tend to be historical, I really enjoyed Michener's Alaska and Rutherford's Sarum ( actually a lot by those two). While I am not really a time travel fan I have read all the Gabaldon set and am looking forward to the next one.
Neither Wolf or I have ever had an audio book..... maybe in our nineties....

[Luckyf4]

The Caine mutiny by Herman Wouk
East of Eden and The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck
Joy in the Morning by P.G. Wodehouse
Shane by Jack Schaefer
The Godfather by Mario Puzo