Recommended Reading

[bazzer]

I would welcome suggestions on books to read whilst aboard and maybe even at home. I enjoy books on sailing in the 19th century. I prefer to download and read on my iPad, this includes a Barnes and Noble Nook reader
Baz

[Benz]

The Incredible Voyage, Outward Leg, Saga of a Wayward Sailor by Tristan Jones. His later stuff got too sentimental for me. Anything by Joseph Conrad; Kon Tiki and The Ra Expeditions by Thor Heyerdahl; The Brendan Voyage and The Sindbad Voyage by Tim Severin. The entire "Hornblower" series by CS Forester, and finally (this is a short list, of course) the "Swallows and Amazons" series by Arthur Ransome. Lots of good practical seamanship tips hidden in these outstanding childrens books.

[thinwater]

Two Years Before the Mast. Dana. Nonfiction
Sailing Alone Around the World. Slocom. Nonfiction
Master and Commander Books. Patrick O'brian. Fiction

[hard aground]

The water in between - Kevin Patterson
Close to the Wind - Pete Goss

[Curmudgeon]

Some good suggestions here-- I'm a huge fan of O'Brian's Aubrey/Maturnin series and Forester's Hornblower books. But let me add a few:

Riddle of the Sands--Childers (set in 1900, close enough)
Six Frigates-- Toll (nonfiction, about Josiah Humphrey's famous ships)
The Captain from Connecticut-- Forester
The Age of Fighting Sail-- Forester (nonfiction, history of the War of 1812)
Sea of Glory-- Philbrick (nonfiction, about the American charting expedition 1838-42)
The Tragedy of the Whaleship Essex--Philbrick (nonfiction, whaleship sunk by a whale in 1820, used by Melville as a model for Moby Dick)

Moby Dick- Melville (of course)
Billy Budd-- Melville

On the Kindle, you can also get eleven of Alred Thayer Mahan's books for $0.89 (the copyrignts have expired) including The Influence of Sea Power on History and his biography of Admiral Farragut.

[cfarrar]

Anything by Joseph Conrad

Including Typhoon.

[Blue Stocking]

The Oxford Companion to Ships and the Sea ISBN 0-19-282084-2
A reference book about maritime history and everything nautical.
My copy sits in the rack, near my "throne"

[sneuman]

Sailing Alone Around the World - Joshua Slocum
The Saga of Cimba - Richard Maury

[tartansail]

If you've already read the Hornblower series, Julian Stockwin's Kidd series covers the same period. The early books are excellent. I found the later ones less compelling. (Fiction)

Cochrane, The Real Master and Commander, David Cordingly. One of several biographies of Thomas, Lord Cochrane, whose exploits were allegedly the basis for some of the fictional heroes. (Biography)

[RainDog]

Amazon.com: Seaworthy: Adrift with William Willis in the Golden Age of Rafting (9780307335944): T. R. Pearson: Books

Fantastic book. Kindle edition available.

[PaulSommers]

Dudley Pope's Lord Ramage series
Dewey Lambdin's Alan Lewrie novels
Some of these are available in e-book formats; I mainly haunt my local public library.

[PaulSommers]

OK, raindog, now we're going modern - try Three Years in a 12 Foot Boat by Alan Ladd - the most hilarious boating adventure story I have ever read, and the man was practically a neighbor here in W WA - heard him speak at a boating club and he had people falling off their chairs laughing at his deadpan delivery of the most amazing adventures going down the Mississippi, cruising off So. America, going down a river to the east coast of So. America, and then cruising along the N shore of Cuba as the "guest" of the Cuban Army.

Thanks for the suggestions everyone - I'm headed for the library!

[barnakiel]

Shelf A:
The Check Book,

Shelf B (optional, obligatory only if the book on Shelf A is not thick enough):
The Colregs,
The Engine Manuals,
The Tide Tables,

Shelf C (optional, obligatory only if Shelves A&B empty):
The Holy Bible,
The Q-ran,
The Talmud,
The Kamasutra,

;-)
barnie

[VirtualVagabond]

Originally Posted by barnakiel

Shelf A:
The Check Book,

Shelf B (optional, obligatory only if the book on Shelf A is not thick enough):
The Colregs,
The Engine Manuals,
The Tide Tables,

Shelf C (optional, obligatory only if Shelves A&B empty):
The Holy Bible,
The Q-ran,
The Talmud,
The Kamasutra,

;-)
barnie

Now that's funny.... if only it were fiction

[CGB GAREY]

Most will know 'Sailing Alone Around the World' by Joshua Slocum... but also highly recommended is his 'Voyage of the Liberdade', which rather sets his later work in context. Other writers have spoken of 'iceberg' writing (most of the tale being invisible below the surface) but Slocum truly succeeds in doing this.

Then there's nothing wrong with Ernest Hemingway's 'The Old Man and the Sea'.

For a bit of olde time (meaning 'raw ability and seamanship') it's hard to beat Raymond du Baty's '15,000 Miles in a Ketch'.

A personal fave is Eric Newby's 'The Last Grain Race', for both the subject of ships and the sea generally but also because of his easy, 'eyes open in wonderment' style.