Hemingway wrote a few pages he called “A key west letter”.
Roland Pertwee wrote a few pages called “The River God”.

Henry David Thoreau “Walden”

I could make a list a mile long but considering this is a fishing forum, the above works for me and is recommended to all yall 

8 minutes ago, Smells like fish said:

Hemingway wrote a few pages he called “A key west letter”.
Roland Pertwee wrote a few pages called “The River God”.

Henry David Thoreau “Walden”

I could make a list a mile long but considering this is a fishing forum, the above works for me and is recommended to all yall 

I always knew you were a philosopher 

The NKJV of the Bible

 

Since retiring, I’ve read 300 plus books. Most all are military history. I’ve read all of Stephen Ambrose’s work. Two books that hold me are On Killing by Dave Grossman who I met.  The other is Baracoon.  Anything by John Makos is eye opening.  Most won’t take the time to read American Caesar but I’ve found no better record of Douglas MacArthur’s life and military career.

College textbooks really impacted my wallet.  And then when the semester was over, I traded them back in for 10% of the original cost because they introduced a "new version."

Crime and Punishment, Dostoevsky

 

A great literary dive into what the human mind may experience when facing extreme mental anguish, moral dillemmas and a guilty conscience.  Could apply to modern day just as much as it did, then.

I’m not smart enough for most of the recommendations so far but I’ll throw my 2 cents in anyway. I’ve found anything written by Stephen King or Neal Stephenson is a very enjoyable read.

The Walking Drum by Louis La'amour, The River Why is another favorite. Louis La'Amour's books were a staple for me growing up. Zane Grey is another. His book "Tales of chasing Sword fish and Tuna". Based off of the North Eastern coast and the early development of fishing techniques for Sword fish off the California coast. Good stuff!

Fishingmickey

Two must-reads, in my opinion:

 

Darwin's Ghost by Steve Jones is a layman's explanation of Charles Darwin's incredible landmark work with modern updates, showing how it holds up to modern research in genetics, microbiology, etc.  and is still completely relevant to nearly all aspects of life... even business and art.

 

Collapse: How Societies Choose to Fail or Succeed by Pulitzer winner Jared Diamond.  Really good reading.  I gave it to my 90-year-old mother when I finished it and wondered if she would like it.  Her opinion was that it should be required reading for every high school student in the country!

 

Alternate: Guns, Germs and Steel also by Jared Diamond.

Bible (only version I've read in its entirety is the Standard Revised version, but these days my go-to is the NIV) and The Making of the Atomic Bomb by Richard Rhodes.

The Making of the Atomic Bomb is a personal favorite- I’ve read it many times. I’m going to have to take a look at these Jared Diamond books.

2 hours ago, VolFan said:

The Making of the Atomic Bomb is a personal favorite- I’ve read it many times.

My grandpa was involved in that……. Not the book but the making haha

The Fountainhead and Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand. Long but worth the time. 
On the Road by Jack Kerouac. Not for everyone, but stories of truly living free in a much simpler time. 
For some silly laughs, anything by Tom Robbins

Lunkers love nightcrawlers. I’m a simple guy 

The Maine Woods by Thoreau. After reading this I did many canoe camping trips in Maine and the ADK's, which led to years of canoe building, learning to fish, and eventually here.

 

Common Sense on Mutual Funds by Bogle, read during the dot.com bust as I watched my 401k crumble.

One Up on Wall Street by Peter Lynch

I've read hundreds of books but it's actually a critical thinking forum I have been involved with for 18 years that has had the biggest impact on me, more than anything else I can think of really.

 

Ya that's a long time! I credit my Mother for having a great library of books for me to read too, though mostly fiction.

I finished two more books over the weekend.

And believe me, that's a lot of coloring.

A-Jay

Voyage of the Beagle and Origin of Species -C Darwin

On 11/20/2021 at 8:13 PM, Jig Man said:

I’ve probably read thousands of books. As a double major in history and sociology in college I had to read at least 1000 pages for every credit hour.  Today I read from 2 to 4 books every week.

 

The only book that has had any permanent impact on me is the King James version of the bible.

Reese's Chronological Bible has the Psalms placed in context of when they were written, and the Northern and Southern Kingdoms in opposite columns on the same page. 

 

When Hemingway's Islands in the Stream was completed by Mary and published, I was a teenager, and had already read every other word Hemingway published.  All the Nick stories "impacted" me.

 

Textbooks?  Wilhelm Fligge, Tensor Analysis and Mechanics of Continuous Media - covers matrix math, Relativity, Fluids, Materials deformation (seeing the forest instead of the trees). 

I forgot. Anything by Peter Capstick. Especially Death in the Long Grass; Death in the Silent Places; and Death in the Dark Continent. 
 

The Maneaters of Tsavo by John Henry Patterson. 

The Man-Eating Leopard of Rudraprayag by Col. Jim Corbett. 

 

The Log Of A Cowboy, by Andy Owens. Detailed account of a trail drive from Texas to Kansas.    I love books about the old west.

On 11/24/2021 at 2:24 AM, Columbia Craw said:

On Killing by Dave Grossman

A lot of great books above, but this one really stands out for me. So many implications for what we call civilization, how we interact with each other, and why we do the things we do around the edges of humanity and violence.

 

In the fiction realm, Blindsight by Peter Watts, explores some interesting ideas about the nature of consciousness. 

 

The sequential math book in my junior year of high school. Because I wound up getting into a fight with the boyz in da hood on the bus on my way to school to return the book (they were not from my school). It didn’t help that it was the honors math book making me look like a total nerd, because there were only like 18 kids in that class and it was a mix of 10, 11 & 12th graders. For some time after getting off of the bus, while avoiding many blows from several people for quite some time, I had tucked my chin, as I had learned training in martial arts for the past two and a half years and held that two and a half inch thick book against my chin. At one point, one of them, who was directly in front of me, was actually able to hit that book with an extremely hard uppercut. There is no way he didn’t break his hand. No way. Because he screamed and grabbed his hand and they all froze. I then dropped the book and hit him the same way, sending him back about 10 feet into a garage door. And that was the end of it. They picked him up and left. Lots of fun. I still never understood why at least 10-15 of the kids who also got off of the crowded mining bus, ran away, when they had nothing to do with it and were not in any danger? Too bad there were no cell phones back then.

On 11/20/2021 at 9:13 PM, Jig Man said:

The only book that has had any permanent impact on me is the King James version of the bible.

This ^^^

For fun I love westerns, esp. Louis La mour.

I also love historical novels and non- fiction books about the Civil war, esp. Sam Watkins diary “ Co. Aytch “ , WW 2 in the pacific,  and Florida history, Marjory Rawlings novels, esp. The yearling and South moon Under. If you ever curious about how Florida and it’s pioneer families used to be, these are the books… Also a little known book “ pioneer family” , which is based in SE Duval county, where i grew up…

On 12/22/2021 at 12:42 AM, schplurg said:

I've read hundreds of books but it's actually a critical thinking forum I have been involved with for 18 years that has had the biggest impact on me, more than anything else I can think of really.

 

Ya that's a long time! I credit my Mother for having a great library of books for me to read too, though mostly fiction.

Can you share more info about this critical thinking forum? Sounds interesting.