As I am immensely enjoying reading to prepare for my safari I am also reading some of the classics. It occurred to me that there may be others who also like to read and share insights they've learned from reading. For instance, I'm reading African Game Trails by T.R. and am amazed with his talent for writing and for detail. I have read Capstick and he is very informative and entertaining. I believe T.R. is even more so. AGT is encyclopedic source of African flora and fauna. It is factual, but so well written I've not been able to put it down.
Would anyone be interested in a reading club of sorts, where we read one book a month and share what we've learned or enjoyed, chapter by chapter? If so, send me a PM. See ya 'round the campfire! ScottW

Clearly not a great idea! Thanks anyway! ScottW

The problem would appear to be that the learning curve is flatlining with our group of middle age misenthrops (SP?). I say this because I make the mistake of looking in the mirror occasionaly, perhaps to often...

not a bad idea...

i just am reading a book right now...

start a reading schedule of one a month and start a thread on which books to read...a lot of people here have read most of them and can still share insights and might dust the book off a time or two. also post scans of the pages with links so it can be online with just a click or two...i vote for "horn of the hunter by ruark for the first.

http://www.booktrail.com/Hunting_Africa/HUNTAFR.asp

here is a good resource...

provide the service and just start and get the ball rolling...

as in field of dreams..."build it and they will come"

i will be happy to help and read along

do you have a scanner?

p.s. what chapter are you on? i was going to read that one soon, maybe i could catch up

It sounds as if we may have some interested in a reading club after all. The book for January will be African Game Trails by T.Rooselvelt. I am currently at about page 150. The book for February will be Horn of the Hunter by Ruark.
I have already had an old AR post question answered on p. 28. T.R. had a Holland and Holland double rifle. His son, Kermit, had a Rigby DR.
Questions to consider:
1.) How the book is relevant to our current safari methods and techniques.
2.) Guns/ammo in use at that time, it's effectiveness, lessons learned.
3.) Favorite quotes or jewels of info to remember.
4.) History that is of interest.
5.) Any other items you'd like to share.

My copy was a gift but I have seen it at Borders or Barnes and Nobles or perhaps, eBay.

Boom Stick: Thanks for the reading list. I think that should be a good start! I'll get a reading schedule together for the rest of 2006. One book per month should be about right. If we find that it's too little or too much we can adjust. I'm very interested in the classics but have read some of the more current ones too. This could be a very pleasurable pursuit in between safari's. ScottW

what do you think about the online scans?

http://www.ebookmall.com/ebook/67226-ebook.htm

for African Game Trails here is a downloadable e-book that you can read off your screen or print

I bring up books I have read or discovered recently on the Books and Videos thread. How would this be different?

ScottW,

Like you, I think that TR's writing is superb, not just in African Game Trails, but in all of his many literary works.

TR was also superb in life and its living. He was a man who leaped to face a challenge, who dared to do the difficult and dangerous, and who led by example, from the front, from the very foremost place of peril, time and time again.

I rank him with Winston Churchill as a man of both action and letters.

Both were well educated and widely experienced, both on the battlefields, and in the game fields, of their day. Afraid neither of death by enemy hands, nor by the claws, horns and fangs of dangerous beasts, but willing and eager to risk everything in war and the chase.

We are immeasurably poorer for lacking leaders of such character and caliber these days. I am sure that if men like these existed today, they would be deemed "unelectable" by their paid political consultants.

I dug out "African Game Trails" & began reading it last nite. Hope to get through a chapter or two everyday.

Just the title of chapter one "A Railroad Through The Pleistocene" is remarkable. I was amazed at the flora & fauna I saw during my first African safari. I can only imagine how TR must have felt, at a time before television & movies. Indeed he was a remarkable man!

What I was interested in is that he not only provides useful facts but the way he writes he could have made a career as an outdoors writer. Of course, being president of the U.S.A. is not a bad job either!
Did you notice how relevant much of his writing is for today's safari? ScottW

I put in a vote for Sutherlands Adventures of an Ele Hunter

Bulldog563: Thank you for the suggestion. I'll keep it in mind. There are many good books on the list already and hopefully, we'll work it in at some time. ScottW

Gents: After some thinking I don't think this is an idea that is going to work well. I should have thought it out a little more before posting. My apologies. Keep reading! ScottW

it will work if you post the scanned immages online i.m.o.

its a lead and follow thing in my book (no pun intended)

Hi guys

Could we just list books weve read or videos we have seen and rate them on a scale of 1-10 with a paragraph or so to explain why. Like a movie review.

Save a lot of time and money on selecting the gems from some of the garbage out there.