Speaking of Books

I keep meaning to list some of my other favorite books. These are culled from a list of 181 books that I have read in the past 5 years - kept in a spreadsheet on my computer of course. Within each section they are listed in the order I read them.
Fiction:
Hosseini, Khaled - The Kite Runner
Hosseini, Khaled - A Thousand Spendid Suns
Cross, Donna Woolfolk - Pope Joan
Gimenez, Mark - The Color of Law
Adiga, Aravind - The White Tiger
Grisham, John - The Appeal
Haddam, Jane - Hardscrabble Road
Adamson, Gil - The Outlander
Schwartz, John Burnham - The Commoner
Larsson, Stieg - all 3 Millenium books
Gruen, Sara - Water for Elephants
Morton, Kate - The Forgotten Garden
Quindlen, Anna - Every Last One
Stockett, Kathryn - The Help
De Rosnay, Tatiana - Sarah's Key
Ford, Jamie - Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet

Non-Fiction:
Kingsolver, Barbara - Animal, Vegetable, Miracle
Mortenson, Greg & Relin, David Oliver - Three Cups of Tea
Schneider, Paul - Brutal Journey
Johnson, Steven - The Ghost Map
Ulrich, Laurel Thatcher - The Life of Martha Ballard
Roberts, Cokie - Founding Mothers
Winchester, Simon - Krakatoa
Royte, Elizabeth - The Tapir's Morning Bath
Goodwin, Doris Kearns - Team of Rivals
Chang, Leslie T - Factory Girls
Forsyth, Adrian; Miyata, Ken - Tropical Nature
Boorstin, Daniel - The Americans: The Colonial Experience
Hackett Fischer, David - Albion's Seed
Pepperberg, Irene - Alex & Me
Horwitz, Tony - A Voyage Long and Strange
Meacham, Jon - American Lion
Conant, Jennet - Tuxedo Park
Conant, Jennet - 109 East Palace
Hessler, Peter - Country Driving: A Journey Through China from Farm to Factory
Johnson, Steven - The Invention of Air
Standage, Tom - A History of the World in Six Glasses
Phillips. Jonathan - Holy Warriors: A Modern History of the Crusades
Bryson, Bill - At Home: A Short History of Private Life
Kimball, Kristin - Dirty Life
Campbell, David G - A Land of Ghosts: The Braided Lives of People and the Forest in Far Western Amazonia
Mukherjee, Siddhartha - The Emperor of All Maladies - A Biography of Cancer

Wonderful, Amazing Book

I just finished reading "The Emperor of all Maladies: A Biography of Cancer" by Siddhartha Mukherjee, by far one of the very best books I have ever read. He is an amazing writer. I've always enjoyed reading about medical history and have a background in biology but I think anyone would enjoy it, especially if they have any personal experience with cancer which I imagine everyone does these days.

Paddling Round Lake

Yet another beautiful, still day. And another group paddle, this time on Round Lake.

Paddling Indian Lake

Another beautiful day. The usual group paddled an 11 mile loop on Indian Lake. The water was beautifully still. We even paddled by a waterfall that comes in on the west side.

Foxglove

My foxgloves are beautiful again this year. The weather has been perfect and all the plants are showing their appreciation. After all that rain the sun has been shining for days.

Paddling South Creek to Second Pond

We had a nice one-way paddle today from South Creek to Second Pond. We lunched on Bluff Island as usual.

Biking to Hitchins Pond

Today we and Jim and Cindy drove to Horseshoe Lake, turned left at the end of the road and continued to the gate. Then we unloaded the bikes, amid swarms of mosquitoes and deer flies, and rode the ~3 miles to Low's Upper Dam (shown in red on the map).The bog along the way was full of pitcher plants in bloom. We walked down to Hitchins Pond,which we had to ourselves, then rode back the way we came. The ride was nice (if you ignored the deer flies) but a little difficult with our hybrid bikes. I got bogged down in the sand a couple of times and it was quite bumpy in places. But still a nice excursion.

Flightseeing

We had a wonderful flight today in Jim's plane. We got a very different perspective on lots of the places we've paddled and had great views of the high peaks.

Paddling the North Branch of the Moose River

We had a great paddle today. Twelve of us put in the North Branch of the Moose River at the upper right corner of this map, which only shows a portion of the river,and paddled down the meandering river to Mountainman Outfitters in Old Forge for a total of about 12 miles. We encountered one downed tree we had to carry around and there is a 1/4 mile carry around some rapids towards the end of the trip. We had lunch at the North Street bridge over the river, conveniently placed about half way down. The water was high and the current brisk, which made for an easy paddle. If we want to paddle the Middle Branch of the river sometime (needed for the Paddle Pursuit) we would put in at Mountainman and continue downstream for about 4 miles to a dam, then turn around and paddle back. We'd want to do that after the water recedes a bit more. Right now I wouldn't want to paddle against that current.

After our paddle some of us joined Marilyn for dinner at the Old Mill restaurant to help celebrate her birthday.

Floodwood/Rollins Paddle

Eight of us paddled the Floodwood-Rollins loop today. The weather was perfect - about 70 degrees and light winds. The bugs weren't too bad. Not too many black flies, but plenty of mosquitos on the Copperas to Whey portage. But they didn't bother us when we were out on the water.

When we got home, we tackled the downed tree by the road. We cut some up but have lots more to do.