Until March 9, 2013, I’ll be at sea. I love that phrase. At sea. For this expedition, we’re leaving from Jamaica, returning to Antigua, and spending several days on a research program separate from ours. I have a lot of travel and a little downtime to look forward to. When I started going to sea almost a decade ago, this meant that I carried a couple books and dozens of research papers, and traded them around with the rest of the science team, the crew, and the ship’s library.
Now, thanks to kindles and other e-readers, I can carry entire libraries with me, loading them up with all the books I want to read and stockpiling thousands of research papers. This. Is. Awesome.
So, if you find yourself with a kindle and a long stretch of travel time, consider checking out some of my favorite ebooks. I’ve read all of these over the last year and they all look great on an e-reader. This reading list should keep you occupied during the quieter moments of your travels.
Singles
- John McAfee’s Last Stand
- Here Be Monsters… 50 Days Adrift At Sea
- Jellyfish Dreams
- Three Cups of Deceit: How Greg Mortenson, Humanitarian Hero, Lost His Way
- Genie
Science and Conservation
- Visit Sunny Chernobyl: And Other Adventures in the World’s Most Polluted Places
- Stiff: The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers
- Rat Island: Predators in Paradise and the World’s Greatest Wildlife Rescue
- Four Fish: The Future of the Last Wild Food
- An Unnatural History of the Sea
Science Fiction
- Old Man’s War Trilogy – Old Man’s War, The Ghost Brigades, The Last Colony
- Year Zero: A Novel
- The Sigil Trilogy – Siege of the Stars, Scourge of the Stars, Rage of the Stars
- The Oblivion Society
- Makers
Ocean Adventures
Social and Political
- Cognitive Surplus: Creativity and Generosity in a Connected Age
- From Modern Production to Imagined Primitive: The Social World of Coffee from Papua New Guinea
Poetry
Feel free to recommend your favorite ebooks in the comments below.
Thanks for the tips! I’m always looking for good books. Of the ones on your list, I’ve only read two: Visit Sunny Chernobyl was wonderful. Depressing, but intriguing, and I loved the author’s premise. Looking for a Ship was also a good read, (it’s hard to think of anything by John McPhee that isn’t).
Hi Andrew–
This is a great list of books. You’ve got some of my favorites up there, including Roberts’ “Unnatural History of the Sea.” On your next voyage, perhaps you’d like to try “In Pursuit of Giants: One Man’s Global Search for the Last of the Great Fish.” It was published by Viking/Penguin last June 2012 and recounts the story of my five-year, 75,000-mile journey to encounter the great fish of the sea–marlin, bluefin tuna, and swordfish–and to tell the story of their decline. If you have a moment, take a look at the website. It features reviews, a short two-minute video trailer, and links to my Facebook page and various means to get the book.
link: http://www.inpursuitofgiants.com
Best wishes~
Matt Rigney
Hi Matt,
Thanks! I just put In Pursuit of Giants on my kindle. Looking forward to reading it while floating around the Caribbean.
I recommend The China Voyage! Awesome sea adventure on a traditionally built raft.
I would add Darwin’s, ‘Journal of Researches into the Geology and Natural History of the various countries visited by H.M.S. Beagle’. Very interesting, if not action packed, but tremendous in scope. It is a very gratifying look into the head of someone who most biologists regard in a demi-god like status. Reading his travel narrative humanizes him to a huge degree and you can’t help relating to his enthusiasm and wonderment for the natural world.