I was reading the amazing blog of Howard Rice and the Voyage of Southern  Cross when I came across his list of books on board (I’ll be sure to include a link to his blog at the end of this post).

Reading is a vital part of my happiness—and sometimes part of my efforts to regain happiness when it is elusive. I have Kindle readers on my iPads but do not yet actually own any e-books; despite my love of the tactile relationship between man and book I’ll be more than happy to download some digital media if that is what is available. 

Meanwhile, I’ve compiled my own list of reading materials that are currently aboard Ave del Mar, starting with the books that I have read but continually turn to in moments of need. I thought it might be fun to share. 

THE GO-TO LIST

• “Fernando Pessoa & Co.,” Fernando Pessoa, the Richard Zenith translations. 
• “Why I Am Not a Christian,” Bertrand Russell. 
• “Complete Tales & Poems,” Edgar Allan Poe. 
• “Love Is a Dog From Hell,” Charles Bukowski. 
• “The Heart of Buddha’s Teaching,” Thich Nhat Hanh (I had the honor of seeing him in DC)
• “Tao Te Ching,” Lao Tzu
• “Living Dharma, Teachings and Meditation Instructions From Twelve Theravada Masters,” compiled by Jack Kornfield. 
• “What Makes You Not A Buddhist,” Dzongsar Jamyang Khyentse. 

CURRENTLY READING

• “Don Quixote,” Miguel Cervantes. 
• “The Singing Wilderness,” Sigurd Olson. (Note: I have never tried so hard to not finish a book. I am savoring Olson’s sweet, gentle words one slow chapter at a time. I don’t want it to end.)
• “A Land So Strange, The Epic Tale of Cabeza de Vaca,” Andrés Reséndez. 
• “Yarns,” Tristan Jones. 

OLD FRIENDS THAT I HAVE READ BUT WON’T LET GO

• “The Funnies,” J. Robert Lennon
• “The Tiger,” John Vaillant. 
• “Shantaram,” Gregory David Roberts. 
• “The Immoralist, André Gide. 
• “The Counterfeiters,” André Gide. 
• “The Importance of Being Earnest and Four Other Plays,” Oscar Wilde. 
• “The Brief and Frightening Reign of Phil,” George Saunders. 
• “The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes,” Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. 
• “Dove,” Robin Lee Graham. 
• “The Book Thief,” Markus Zusak. 
• “The Life and Times of Horatio Hornblower,” C. Northcote Parkinson. 

UNREAD or PARTIALLY READ

• “The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay,” Michael Chabon. 
• “Guns, Germs, and Steel, the Fates of Human Societies,” Jared Diamond. 
• “Atlantic High,” William F. Buckley, Jr. 
• “Around America, a Tour of Our Magnificent Coastline,” Walter Cronkite (signed). 
• “The Caine Mutany,” Herman  Wouk. 
• “Neruda, Selected Poems,” Pablo Neruda. 
• “Garlic and Sapphires,” Ruth Reichl. 
• “Hard Times,” Charles Dickens. 
• “Public Opinion,” Walter Lippmann. 
• “Kafka, a Collection of Critical Essays,” edited by Ronald Gray. 
• “The Man Within My Head,” Pico Iyer. 
• “The Brief and Wonderous Life of Oscar Wao,” Junot Díaz. 
• “Glare,” A. R. Ammons. 
• “The Dude and the Zen Master,” Jeff Bridges and Bernie Glassman. 
• “After the Crash,” Michel Bussi. 
• “The Inferno of Dante,” Dante, translation by Robert Pinsky. 
• “The Royal Nonesuch,” Glasgow Phillips. 
• “At The Same Time, Essays and Speeches,” Susan Sontag. 
• “Fear,” Thich Nhat Hanh. 
• “Heidegger and Modernity,” Luc Ferry and Alain Renaut. 
• “Benito Cereno,” Herman Melville. 
• “The Teachings of Don Juan: a Yaqui Way of Knowledge,” Carlos Castaneda. 
• “Xenocide,” Orson Scott Card. 
• “Speaker for the Dead,” Orson Scott Card. 
• “Children of the Mind,”  Orson Scott Card. 

I elected to skip reference books, cruising guides, and the like.

Here is that link to Howard Rice’s blog about his epic Cape Horn adventure, The Voyage of Southern Cross, and you can click HERE to hear Mike McDowall’s amazing recent interview with Howard on Boat Radio. 

Your comments and suggestions are always welcome. Much love to you all from Ft. Lauderdale, Florida, where I sit poised and ready to cross to the Bahamas as soon as weather allows. ♡ 

~John