In a recent post, I asked for suggestions on sailing books. Thanks to Capn JP, Dan Bessmer, My2fish,, Pat, WD Arnold, Carol Anne and David Fuller for pitching in. Here is what you suggested both fiction and non-fiction:
A Steady Trade – A Boyhood At Sea by Tristan Jones. I read this a long long time ago. It may have been the first sailing book I read. It's the first of his trilogy about growing up at sea. I loved it. He is a lyrical writer. Not a nobel prize winner but a great yarn spinner.
The Storm Prophet by Hector McDonald. I know nothing about it and it seems to be out of print but this does not necessarily mean it's not worth a browse.
Over the Edge of World by Lauence Bergreen: Have not read this.Very highly rated on Amazon. Here is what one punter said: "The amazing story of Magellan's circumnavigation of the world
practically writes itself, especially with access to the journals of
Antonio Pigafetta, a Venetian "passenger"."
Anything by Dudley Pope, James L Neson (the American Patrick O'Brian) I had not heard of these guys. Looks like a prolific spinners of ripping yarns.
Celtic Ring by George Simpson. This one looks juicy. Here's a review – one review calls it…
brisk action, plenty of splendid nautical detail, and gripping scenes
of peril at sea make it high-interest fare for lovers of tales of the
salt. Sign me up!
The Great Circle by Sam Llewellyn– : This is a fictional account of the Golden Globe. I gave this a go but didn't love it.
Wildtrack by Bernard Cornwell: Now this HAS to be good. I loved the Sharpe series. There a bunch by Cornwell. I never realized that he wrote a bunch of sailing novels.
Roll on crap weather, I got me some reading to do!
Thanks for that list.
I hadn’t realised that Bernard Cornwell had written any sailing books either.
I must admit that I enjoyed all of Tristan Jones’ yarns but perhaps they would be better described as ‘creative non fiction’?
Mike.
What a great idea – I’ll have to check some of these out at my library.
I recently read “Dove”, about the 16-yr old Robin Lee Graham that sailed solo around the world. It was pretty good.
http://www.amazon.com/Dove-Robin-L-Graham/dp/0060920475/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1253198233&sr=8-1
Not sail, but two good reads are ‘Narrow Dog to Carcassonne’ and ‘Narrow Dog to Indian River’ by Terry Darlington. A retired English couple and their whippet take a English narrow boat across the English Channel and down through the French canals. In ‘Narrow Dog to Indian River’ they ship their narrow boat across to the US and sail her down the intercoastal waterway from Virginia to Florida.
For real sailing, Paul Heiney’s ‘The Last Man Across the Atlantic’ is worth a look.
One of my all time favourites is Paul Heiney and Libby Purves’ ‘One Summer’s Grace: A Family Voyage Round Britain’
A non-sailing book that sailors might appreciate is one of my favorites – Fate Is The Hunter, by Ernie Gann, who’s probably best known for The High And The Mighty because that was turned into a famous movie. Most of his fans, though, consider ‘Fate’ his best work.
Gann earned his living as an airline pilot back in the industry’s ‘golden’ days, but was also a sailor. Flying the big iron in the days before GPS and jet engines, especially on long runs crossing oceans, had a lot of parallels with sailing.
This is a series of quirky, sometimes harrowing stories from those days. The underlying theme – that no matter how well prepared we may be, our fate is often not in our hands – will probably give most sailors something to think about.
Riddle of the Sands by Erskine Childers
Might I add “The Motion of the Ocean: 1 Small Boat, 2 Average Lovers, & a Woman’s Search for the Meaning of Wife” (Simon & Schuster 2009), written by yours truly (not that I’m biased or anything). It’s for anyone who’s ever dreamed of world cruising, or tried yelling and screaming…er sailing with one’s spouse.
Fifty 5-star reviews on amazon:
http://www.amazon.com/Motion-Ocean-Average-Lovers-Meaning/dp/1416589082
Hey, and if you wanted a free review copy for your blog, then you could give it away to a reader when you’re done. (Am I starting to sound like I’m selling Ginsu knives here?)
Anyway, just thought I’d add my totally not-objective two cents.
Happy blogging and even better sailing,
Janna
http://www.byjanna.com