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As a brief interlude to the discouraging news about King Richard and the Bottom Liners, does anyone have a suggestion for reading material for my upcoming Coast Starlight trip?
I will be taking a round trip, on the Builder, this July from Martinez, CA to Eugene, OR.
Any good books, out there, on trains and railroads? How about a novel, on any subject, that would make for good reading material while on the train.
I recently read a book (not railroad related) called "Paths of Glory", by Jeffrey Archer, one of my favorite authors. It's a true account of the life of George Mallory, who attempted to climb Mt. Everest in 1924. Recommended even for those not especially interested in mountain climbing.
Richard
MargaretSPfan Member # 3632
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Hi, Richard!
I am a real bibliophile, so I do have some suggestions for books to read on your upcoming trip.
FINAL EDIT OF MY LIST:
1. About trains:
1.1. "All Aboard With E.M. Frimbo: World's Greatest Railroad Buff" This is a collection of a few of his great essays from the New Yorker magazine. Great reads!
1.2. "A Treasury of Railroad Folklore" edited by B.A. Botkin and Alvin Harlow. A fat hardbound book: 9-1/4" tall x 6-1/2" wide x 2-1/2" thick. LOTS of very short stories of railroading -- and fun to read. A friend gave me a copy -- I had never heard of it.
I am big science-fiction and fantasy fan, so I have a number of novels I can recommend to anyone who likes that genre.
2. Sci-fi and fantasy:
2.1. "The Wounded Sky," by Diane Duane, 1983. A Star Trek -- The Original Series novel, and a great read, and one of my favorite books. Diane Duane is an excellent wordsmith.
2.2. "So You Want to Be a Wizard," by Diane Duane, 1982. Written ostensibly for young adults, but a great and fun read for anyone, and not "heavy" at all. I just love the characters she invents!
2.3. "Podkayne of Mars," by Robert Heinlein, 1962. Ostensibly for young adults, but a great and fun read for anyone. I love Heinlein's breezy, informal style.
2.4. "Mary Poppins," by P. L. Travers, 1934. ("P stands or "Pamela".) The book the movie was based on, but very different in tone and flavor than the movie. In this book, Mary Poppins is a no-nonsense governess, and she and the Banks children have a number of interesting adventures.
2.5. "Stranger in a Strange Land," by Robert Heinlein, 1961. This is a wonderful story, and a lot of fun to read, with a lot of interesting thoughts. A real classic by one of the deans of American science-fiction.
2.6. "Household Gods," by Harry Turtledove and Judith Tarr, 1999. Rather long. A combination of historical fiction and time-travel. The authors really did their homework about daily life experienced by ordinary people in a 4th-century Italian city.
3. Autobiography and personal stories 3.1 "The Sky Is Not the Limit: Adventures of an Urban Astrophysicist," by Neil deGrasse Tyson, 2000. Dr. Tyson's fascinating and fun-to-read autobiography.
3.2. "Arnie, the Darling Starling," by Margarete Sigl Corbo and Diane Marie Barras, 1983. A fun and very interesting and well-written true story about a starling a woman rescued when he fell out of his nest in her attic into her garden, and her life with this very interesting bird.
3.3. "A Sand County Almanac: And Sketches Here and There," by Aldo Leopold, 1949. Very well-written essays, with creative use of images by an early conservationist -- short essays that are all very readable.
4. Mysteries 4.1 Any "Nancy Drew" book, 1930 to the 1950s. (I have not read any of the later stories, so I do ot kow if they keep the original flavor I like so much.) They are very enjoyable to read and are well-written. (Even though the author's name on these famous books was "Carolyn Keene," the real author of the earliest Nancy Crew novels was actually Mildred Benson (1905-2002), who developed the character of Nancy Drew, "girl sleuth." "Carolyn Keen" was one of the many pen names of Edward L. Stratemeyer (1862-1930).
(So many books -- so little time! < G > )
sojourner Member # 3134
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If you've never read Agatha Christie, she has three about trains, Murder on the Orient Express, The Mystery of the Blue Train, and my favorite of the three, 4.50 from Paddington.
Also, two very good thrillers about a PLANE: Night Over Water by Ken Follett, about the last flight of the Pan Am Clipper at the dawn of WWII, and Night Fall by Nelson De Mille, best thriller I ever read, but you should read DeMille's Plum Island first.
Both the De Mille books are about Long Island: Another good one set there is Amagansett by Mark Mills.
But as you will be in California, I also recommend crime thrillers by Michael Connelly and Robert Crais, both of which have a lot of LA etc setting detail. You can read either in order, but I esp liked Crais's last books, which featured POV of a canine dog. If you just want to try one Connelly book, try The Lincoln Lawyer, which introduces a new character/legal thriller line (that ties in with other books eventually).
As you like Jeffrey Archer, maybe you would like Nevil Shute? A Town Like Alice is very good. Also Dick Francis, who generally wrote mystery thrillers set in the horse-racing world, has one featuring a train, the Trans-Canada Canadian, called The Edge, though he has better books, e.g., Bolt, Proof.
Years ago, Hammond Innis also wrote a book featuring a Canadian train, the one that goes from Sept-Iles into Labrador, last major train line ever built or something .... it's kinda dated but I like it. It's called The Land God Gave to Cain, and it was someone on this forum who recommended it to me!
yukon11 Member # 2997
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Margaret:
Thanks, very much, for the nice long list of book suggestions. I think I can get "All Aboard", by EM Frimbo, as a used book. I read "Stranger in a Strange Land" a good many years ago. Speaking of Nancy Drew, the Turner Classic Movies channel recent aired the screen versions (late 1930's) of some of the Nancy Drew books. I watched one of them but got the impression the books would be better (same with Harry Potter).
Sojourner:
I also thank you for your list of books. We must have similar tastes in reading material!
I did read, and enjoyed, "Night Over Water", by Ken Follett, who is also a favorite author. His "Pillars of the Earth" and "Dangerous Fortune" are excellent.
I read Nelson De Mille's "Plum Island" a few months ago. I also have enjoyed Agatha Christy books. I read "Murder on the Orient Express" and enjoyed the 1974 film version with Albert Finny as well a the more recent TV version with David Suchet.
If you want to read a great series of books (6 books in all), I suggest the "Clifton Chronicles" by Jeffrey Archer. I gave the 6 book set to both my sisters, here in SR, as Christmas presents. They said they could not put them down and tore through them, as did I. Highly recommended!!
Richard
sojourner Member # 3134
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Thanks for the rec. I too like Pillars of the Earth and Dangerous Fortune; other Follett favorites are Eye of the Needle, Triple, and The Key to Rebecca, as well as the aforementioned Night Over Water. The Man from St Petersburg and A Place Called Freedom also pretty good, I thought.
I have read a book or two by Archer but not in the Clifton Chroniclaes series; will give it a try.
yukon11 Member # 2997
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Sojourner:
If you get the Clifton Chronicles series, note that the books should be read in the following order:
1st: Only Time will Tell 2nd: The Sins of the Father 3rd: Best Kept Secret 4th: Be Careful what you Wish For 5th: Mightier than the Sword 6th: Cometh the Hour
There is a 7th book, "There Was a Man", but I didn't think it as good as the first six. You can read each book individually, but Archer always leaves something hanging so that you will need to read the next book in series to find out what happened.
Richard
palmland Member # 4344
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Richard, an addictive book is CJ Box’s Joe Pickett series. It’s about the mis-adventures of a somewhat anti establishment Wyoming game warden. Read in order to follow Pickett and his family. Excellent books for a plane or train ride. But no trains.
A classic book of train stories is ‘Confessions of a Train Watcher’, edited by George Drury with stories by David P Morgan. Easy to see why he earned his reputation as a great writer while editor of Trains magazine. It’s available usd in Amazon.
My problem is that on a train I have something to read but between socializing with my wife and passengers, following the train operations, and taking in the scenery I find very little gets read.
I briefly met E.M. Frimbo in the 70’s on a PRR ‘owl eyes’ commuter train from Baltimore to Washington. The postscript in his book says “For God’s sake, go and do it, instead of joining the Catalpa Avenue Ace-Deucey Ladies Whist Club. Get on a train!” Good advice, regardless of the dining selections!
sojourner Member # 3134
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I have to agree, Palmland, I would rather meet people and view the scenery than read. I did try audio books but I don't like them and even if I did, I would still find them too intrusive while viewing scenery, I think. What I like to do is listen to music.
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