Yes, I really read this much

The weather here has been shitty pretty much all week. Lots of wind and rain, with the swells constantly changing direction in the anchorage, have been moving the boat around quite a bit. Aside from my "hard time" (see previous post) I have been taking it pretty easy and getting a lot of reading done this week. I have done a few little basic projects on the boat but nothing out of the ordinary. I am currently taking a break from reading The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring and it got me to thinking about how many books I have read since living on boats. There were so many books that I always intended on reading but never got around to. Now that I have the chance I have read many of them and continue to do so. So I figured I would start posting now and then a list of books I am reading/or have read. I want to do this partly as a record for myself to remember and also because I have received a few e-mails asking me what I do read. Anyway, I'll start small and list what I have read in the last couple of weeks.

smile when you're lying (confessions of a rogue travel writer) by Chuck Thompson

-this was a great book, especially if you have travelled a bit and can relate to some of his misadventures, and written honestly by omitting the bullshit you read in travel brochures and telling you what life on the road is really like, good stuff.

The Valkyries by Paulo Coelho

-I can't help it. Coelho is bad ass and I dig his writing. I have read some other opinions about how contrived and regurgitated his quotes are but I relate a lot on a personal level to his characters. This book tries to answer the question, why do we destroy the things we love the most? (taken from the back cover but it is the most accurate description). I couldn't help it, read it in one night. If you have a tendency to sabotage yourself (as I often do) you will like this one.

Adventures of a Continental Drifter by Elliot Hester

-cool travel stories from an ex-flight attendant that sold everything and went on an "around the world excursion into weirdness, danger, lust, and the perils of street food". Good fast read.

Choke by Chuck Palahniuk

-sick, twisted, I loved it. One of my favorite books is Fight Club (still the name of my little fishing boat back home) by the same author. It was hard for me to put this book down. I just dig the way this guy writes, in your face, real, harsh, he even makes me cringe sometimes and that ain't easy.

Why We Hate Us by Dick Meyer

-good commentary on the "American discontent in the New Millenium" the author attacks rude people on cell phones, kids being taught to market themselves on myspace/facebook, cheating in sports/business, reality TV and many other topics that many of us bitch about but seem to keep rolling right along taking all this shit every day.

The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien

-probably don't have to say anything here, I've never read it so I finally did. I found a bookstore here in Grenada that had this one as well as the three books in the Lord of the Rings trilogy so I bought all four of them.

Currently reading The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring by J.R.R. Tolken

-same thing as above, unfortunately I had never read any of these but like everyone else I have seen the movies. I am really enjoying this one (The Hobbit kicked ass as well).

I think that's about it from the last two weeks or so. This weather sucks so bad I think I will be running some errands in the morning, checking out of the country and sailing North to either Union Island or possibly St Lucia, haven't really made up my mind I just want to get the hell away from the rain.