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GENERAL TOPICS => Books & Movies => Topic started by: Coal Creek Griff on March 28, 2020, 06:32:31 PM

Title: Quarantine Reading
Post by: Coal Creek Griff on March 28, 2020, 06:32:31 PM
I was looking for a little light reading to mix in with my regular history books. This one was right on target.  What do you read when you're stuck at home?

CC Griff
Title: Re: Quarantine Reading
Post by: Gus Walker on March 29, 2020, 05:42:05 AM
 ;D  Very fine choice my man. Anything by Louis is on my list, Love all the Sackett stories and the Kilkenny series.   
Title: Re: Quarantine Reading
Post by: LongWalker on March 29, 2020, 06:28:37 PM
I've always got a list of books I want to find time to read.  This time around, I blew $20 on 20 of Amazon's 99 cent copies of bios, "just in case".  Should  be enough reading there to keep me busy for a while. 

BTW, some of those books are an outright steal.  I paid $300 for my first copy of Chittenden's history of the fur trade back in high school.  When it was finally re-printed, I snagged the reprints for about $40 and sold the first editions for about what I paid for them 20 years earlier.  I just bought "back-up copies" for the Kindle: $.99 each. 

The Kindle offerings aren't perfect (I still prefer the feel of a book in my hands), but they do allow be to access references I couldn't otherwise locate or afford (or in the case of peripheral interests like the settlement of TX, justify).  Now if someone would just "Kindle-ize" Hafen's work. . . .

Title: Re: Quarantine Reading
Post by: Coal Creek Griff on March 29, 2020, 07:03:45 PM
I have a lot of books on my "to read" shelf too.  ;)

CC Griff
Title: Re: Quarantine Reading
Post by: Dirty Dick on March 30, 2020, 11:44:47 AM
Started re-reading my entire collection of W.E.B.Griffin novels, 'Hell' I Was There' by Elmer Keith, and watching Foyles War in the evening.
Title: Re: Quarantine Reading
Post by: Marshal Halloway on March 30, 2020, 09:57:14 PM

Just started on "Frontier Regulars".
Title: Re: Quarantine Reading
Post by: Coal Creek Griff on March 31, 2020, 06:28:17 PM
I should mention that Utley is one of my favorite authors; I'll read anything that he has written. I had a brief correspondence with him last year and he signed his name "Bob". I figure that now I'm entitled to call him Bob like we're pals. I felt that "Frontier Regulars" was insightful and balanced. I think that you'll appreciate it.

CC Griff
Title: Re: Quarantine Reading
Post by: Tuolumne Lawman on April 04, 2020, 05:34:51 PM
"Badge and Buckshot: Lawlessness in Old California" Lawmen and bandits in California 1850 to 1899ish.  Because of the Gold Rush, by 1860 California was VERY cosmopolitan.  Long before the gunfight at the OK Corral in 1881, California was not a frontier by any stretch of the imagination.

https://www.amazon.com/Badge-Buckshot-Lawlessness-Old-California/dp/0806125101
Title: Re: Quarantine Reading
Post by: Coal Creek Griff on April 04, 2020, 08:13:44 PM
I haven't read that one yet, but Boessenecker is rapidly becoming one of my favorite authors. I appreciate his attention to detail and documentation. I also like to read about law enforcement in the old west, which he covers.

CC Griff
Title: Re: Quarantine Reading
Post by: Johnny McCrae on April 08, 2020, 09:27:53 AM
Here are a couple of slide shows from my motorcycle trips to look at when you get a spare moment.

https://s278.photobucket.com/user/jvsaffran/slideshow/Little%20Big%20Horn%20Battlefield?sort=3   This is the Little Bighorn Battlefield in Montana. The site of Custer's Last Stand

https://s278.photobucket.com/user/jvsaffran/slideshow/Buffalo%20Bill%20Museum%20Cody%20WY?sort=2    This is the Buffalo Bill Museum in Cody, Wyoming.
Title: Re: Quarantine Reading
Post by: River City John on April 08, 2020, 09:53:09 AM
I am reading the entire "His Dark Materials" series of books.
Also, "Life on a Medieval Barony", and "Ships and Narrow Gauge Rails: The Story of The Pacific Coast Company".

I've done more reading in the last month than the previous 12 months combined.

Fortunately my brain still seems to be able to soak up information. Unfortunately, like a sodden sponge, it continually drip .. drip .. drips the unused excess.

Stay safe, stay healthy, and wash your hands.
RCJ
Title: Re: Quarantine Reading
Post by: Coal Creek Griff on April 09, 2020, 08:09:01 PM
I started a new one...

CC Griff
Title: Re: Quarantine Reading
Post by: Coal Creek Griff on April 20, 2020, 09:50:44 PM
I started a new book. I'm a little over half way through and I'm finding this book to be well written and interesting. I recommend it.

CC Griff
Title: Re: Quarantine Reading
Post by: Jeremiah Jones on April 21, 2020, 08:50:32 AM
I am on Volume 3 of The Collected Short Stories of Louis L'Amour.  Oldies but goodies.
Title: Re: Quarantine Reading
Post by: Coal Creek Griff on April 21, 2020, 09:35:12 AM
I am on Volume 3 of The Collected Short Stories of Louis L'Amour.  Oldies but goodies.

For some years, I have had one book in that series (but only the western stories) on the shelf next to the couch.
It took a while, but I found all of the books in that set. Whenever I'm feeling deprived, I can read one of his stories.
I'm on my second or third time through the series.  They are a lot of fun.

CC Griff
Title: Re: Quarantine Reading
Post by: ccarley on April 22, 2020, 05:33:17 PM
Excellent thread!  I need some more books.

My favorite so far has been Billy Dixon & Adobe Walls.  I've read it a few times but it's a great story.

I also have "Mountain Man" by Vardis Fisher.  It's a bit extra detailed for me and feels more like a romance novel at times.  My Amazon cart has "Champion Buffalo Hunter: The Frontier Memoirs of Yellowstone Vic Smith" which seems interesting, and "Crow Killer, the saga of Liver Eating Johnson" on the way.  I'll be checking out some Louis Lamour for sure; I recall my dad would read him when I was a kid. 

Clay
Title: Re: Quarantine Reading
Post by: ccarley on May 05, 2020, 09:29:10 AM
I Finished "Crow Killer" last night. 

It's not a long book, and the chapters are sometimes very short but it's a good read.  I'm glad that I got it.  I'm sure there's a lot of accurate descriptions of happenings in the book, as well as some embellishment on certain events but I won't complain about it at all.  Certain portions have references for accuracy. 

I don't want to give anything away, but if you are a fan of the movie "Jeremiah Johnson" you will enjoy this book, and it will give you added detail to many of the characters.  The movie does not follow the book exactly, but there were some "Ah Ha!" moments in the book for me that explain a bit more of what happens in the movie.

Next up is the book about Vic Smith.  Much longer book, however just starting it there was a mention in the text of a connection between Vic Smith and John Johnson. 

Clay
Title: Re: Quarantine Reading
Post by: Coal Creek Griff on May 05, 2020, 04:37:47 PM
I keep meaning to read Crow Killer.  Believe it or not, my elderly mother first recommend it to me. I'll push it higher on my too read list. Thanks!

CC Griff
Title: Re: Quarantine Reading
Post by: Mogorilla on May 13, 2020, 06:40:49 PM
Griff, is that you house?  Colour me green with envy if so.   My folks' house was that way.  When they passed, we donated more than 10,000 books to a youth center.   

I am reading The Kingdom of Nauvoo by Benjamin Park.  Grew up near there and we would camp at a park nearby.   Later when I was a freshman in highschool I got the chance to take some summer college courses one I took was Utopian Communities of the 19th Century.   We did a day trip to Nauvoo for it, I had to ride with the professor as I was the only one who could not drive, I was a weird kid.  At least I also took a BASIC programming course, it made the twitch in my dad's eye slow when he saw the Utopian Communities enrollment.   I stayed with programming all through highshool, first a sinclair from the back of Popular Mechanics, to a Commodore, then a TRS80.   Ah, the early days, had I stayed would have ended up in silcon valley with my other highschool nerd chums.   Glad to be a chemist in the midwest.
Title: Re: Quarantine Reading
Post by: Coal Creek Griff on May 13, 2020, 09:17:25 PM
Yes, that's our house. We were running out of room for our books and had a library added to the house about 15 years ago. We love it. In fact, on those occasions when we've considered moving, we've ended up rejecting the idea because of that library. Wherever we might move, we'd need to add another library!

I might add that the pictures don't really capture it, but there is an upstairs with just as many bookcases, but they are only half filled. So far.

CC Griff
Title: Re: Quarantine Reading
Post by: Mogorilla on May 14, 2020, 06:48:06 AM
Well, I am definitely green.   Had to let most of the books my parents had go as neither me nor my sisters had that much space.   The youth center was new with a influx of Mexican families for the meat packing plant, so they had a need.   Miss some of those books though.   I bet that having the library feature is a big factor on staying.
Title: Re: Quarantine Reading
Post by: 1961MJS on December 15, 2020, 01:52:19 PM
Hi

I've started the Sacketts Series by Louie L'Amour and on Book #4.  Pioneer Public Library system he in Oklahoma has Kindle books to loan out.  One was a paperback and 2, 3, and 4 have been on the Kindle.  He's a good writer (duh).
Later
Title: Re: Quarantine Reading
Post by: River City John on December 15, 2020, 03:19:50 PM
Now reading "Armies of the Dark Ages: 600 AD to 1066" by Ian Heath


Title: Re: Quarantine Reading
Post by: 1961MJS on January 18, 2021, 09:29:48 AM
Hi
I read most of the Sackett Series, I have War Party and am reading the Saxon Series by Bernard Cornwell.  I got Bernard Cornwell's Sharpe series off UTub a few years ago.  That's a decent series also.  The Saxon series is being shown as "The Last Kingdom" on Netflix and the match.

Later
Title: Re: Quarantine Reading
Post by: River City John on January 18, 2021, 10:03:49 AM
Hi
I read most of the Sackett Series, I have War Party and am reading the Saxon Series by Bernard Cornwell.  I got Bernard Cornwell's Sharpe series off UTub a few years ago.  That's a decent series also.  The Saxon series is being shown as "The Last Kingdom" on Netflix and the match.

Later


One of my three most favorite BBC series, besides "Time Team" and "Detectorists"! I've watched it twice now, and will likely be in the mood again before too long.

Right now I'm re-watching the first season of "His Dark Materials" in preparation for diving into the second season. I had read the original trilogy and the first two volumes of the second trilogy.
(Still waiting for the second season of "Upload" to premier.)
RCJ
Title: Re: Quarantine Reading
Post by: Coal Creek Griff on January 18, 2021, 01:58:14 PM
I've been reading John Boessenecker's Ride the Devil's Herd. I appreciate his writing as a historian. Even though the build-up to the events in the Tombstone area in 1881 and 1882 are pretty familiar, he summarizes them well and includes some new discoveries which add to the understanding. I'm not finished yet, but I can recommend this book.

Griff
Title: Re: Quarantine Reading
Post by: 1961MJS on January 25, 2021, 09:29:30 AM
Hi
I have at most two more books in the Saxon Series.  I need to read Louis L'Amour's more famous stand alone novels like Hondo and Catlow etc.  I've read Terry Johnston's plainsman series a few years ago.  Those were great.  I haven't read much Zane Grey, maybe I'll start his way next.
Later
Title: Re: Quarantine Reading
Post by: Mogorilla on January 25, 2021, 09:49:54 AM
If you like the Saxon series (I tried to like the show, just too many hollyweird mistakes for my barbarian backside), read The Walking Drum by Louis L'Amour.   It is stand alone because I understand he died before writing the trilogy he had planned.   It is kind of Marco Polo meets the Sackets  (at least to my memory, read it in the 80s.)
Title: Re: Quarantine Reading
Post by: River City John on January 28, 2021, 11:17:02 AM
Just finished "The Captain and the Glory" by Dave Eggers.

It's an absurdist allegory of contemporary history.
Title: Re: Quarantine Reading
Post by: 1961MJS on March 06, 2021, 05:01:18 PM
Hi
I'm reading Comanche by Max Brand.  Can't be assuming things.  Comanche is a ginormous puppy dog that's mostly wolf who is very attached to what's effectively a serial killer.  Great book so far.
Later
Title: Re: Quarantine Reading
Post by: 1961MJS on March 23, 2021, 12:13:30 PM
Hi

I just finished a pair of Elmer Kenton books, Hot Iron and The Time It Never Rained.  both were very good, The Time is set in 1950 west Texas and everybody went broke, left town, and died.  A lot of pressure was put on the farmers to take Federal money, one old coot didn't and he was the one standing at the end.
Later