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Sports TwitterBooks have tales, tips on outdoor life, cooking
Sunday, December 09, 2007
Here are a few suggestions about outdoors books that might make good holiday gifts. And remember, books are easy to wrap.
One type of reading I have always enjoyed, especially during the winter when I can curl up under a blanket in a corner of the living room, is a book about someone slugging it out with nature. "Conquering the Impossible" is most definitely that kind of book.
Extras
I know it's a worn-out reviewer's cliché, but I found I couldn't put it down, often reading into the wee hours. And that's pretty unusual for a nonfiction book.
Written by South African/now Swiss adventurer Mike Horn, "Conquering the Impossible" is a journal of his 2002 trip – on foot and small boat/kayak — around the Arctic Circle. You can imagine what he endured covering 12,000 miles, mostly over ice.
Can you fathom pitching your one-person tent on a frozen lake when the temperature in the middle of a blizzard is 75 degrees below zero? There are bears and wolves and all sorts of creatures to contend with, but the worst were the government bureaucrats and cops and their strict travel rules in most of the countries he passed through. But the people he met along the way made up for all of the hardships.
The 358-page hardback, selling for $27.95, published by St. Martin's Press, can be ordered in bookstores with ISBN 13: 978-0-312-36262-1.
Camping
A few years ago, camping enthusiast Lynn Haney was shocked to discover her husband and two children were fed up with camping and began lobbying to go to a hotel on their next vacation. So instead of giving in, she decided the best way to save their annual trips to the great outdoors was to update their equipment to make camping more enjoyable for all. So they did.
"Much of the new gear is user-friendly, compact, durable and downright stylish," Haney writes in her new book: "Camping in Comfort." The book covers all kinds of camping from tents to RVs and gives tips on buying the best equipment.
Since it is so new, bookstores probably will have to order it with ISBN 0-07-145421-6. It is published by McGraw-Hill
(raggedmountainpress.com) and sells for $16.95.
Noteworthy novel
Although it is a novel and not a how-to book, "Flying Hawk" should be very interesting to anyone involved with the outdoors.
Written by expert outdoorsman and Ohio outdoor writer Dick Martin, "Flying Hawk" is about the life and times of the small Sandusky Indian tribe of northern Ohio. Martin is a historian and had a great-grandfather who was a full-blooded Cherokee. So perhaps it is not unusual that Martin, who lives in Shelby, would write this novel.
While it is fictional, Martin's expertise of the outdoors comes through on every page. He writes about outdoor survival in a way any outdoors person can relate to. It's obviously well-researched and Martin uses his writing skills to make it exciting.
The 115-page novel can be ordered in paperback for $15.99 or hardback for $22.99 at Dick-Martin.com, Amazon.com or through book stores with ISBN 978-1-4257-4374-1.
Cookbooks
Here are a couple of new cookbooks. One is "Nina's Favorite Recipes," written by Ranger Boats co-founder Nina Wood. You are going to get some down-home cooking ideas, considering she has been collecting family recipes during a lifetime in Arkansas' Ozark Mountains. She includes plenty of cooking tips. It sells for $9.95 plus $2.50 shipping by calling (870) 453-3210.
The National Rifle Association has a new edition of its NRA Members' "Wild Game Cookbook" on sale. It contains hundreds of original ideas for preparing wild meat and fish — all submitted by NRA members nationwide. It's geared toward holiday meals.
The cookbook is available for $14.95, plus shipping and tax by calling (800) 336-7402 (item number HS 05840).
Contact this reporter at 9937) 225-2409 or jmorris@DaytonDailyNews.com.
