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Good Reads: Books about OWS
malinaka
Seattle, WACharter Member
I'm about to place another Amazon order for water bottles and sacks of carbogain, and thought why not add Wind, Waves, and Sunburn to that list. Here's why not: $205 hardcover and $94 softcover, new!? That was my original question. Why!? Can I borrow one of your copies?
Then I realized there was no discussion here about OWS books. The Great Swim - Gavin Mortimer. It is an excellent book, but one I've already read. What else should I add to my Amazon cart? (Preferably something under $200.)
Then I realized there was no discussion here about OWS books. The Great Swim - Gavin Mortimer. It is an excellent book, but one I've already read. What else should I add to my Amazon cart? (Preferably something under $200.)
I don't wear a wetsuit; it gives the ocean a sporting chance.
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WW&S is the best book about marathon swimming, after you skip the first couple of chapters about bears swimming.
@Mike_H123, looking forward to your book coming out. Let us know when we can preorder from amazon.
We're all just carbon, water, starlight, oxygen and dreams
Alone: The Man Who Braved the Vast Pacific and Won
In the Heart of the Sea
To Reach the Clouds
...anything worth doing is worth overdoing.
We're all just carbon, water, starlight, oxygen and dreams
- Buy: Amazon.com | Amazon UK
This from Bill Wygant from the South End
Lynne's new book Open Water Swimming Manual came out today. It has already received a rave review from Sports Illustrated. She's just beginning her national book tour and will be at the South End on Friday August 16th to talk about her experiences and to sign some books. I posted a brief message on Facebook. You can help Lynne by "Liking" and "Sharing" that post, or creating one of your own. In any case I would appreciate your helping to promote her appearance at SERC so we have a great turnout for her in August.
- Buy: Amazon.com | Amazon UK
"I never met a shark I didn't like"
The Jim Doty Story: Accounts of Some of the Marathon Swims of a Great Boston Swimmer
- Buy: Amazon.com | Amazon UK
We're all just carbon, water, starlight, oxygen and dreams
To save Mike the trauma of self-promotion I'll quote his own words from the Channel group for him:
- Buy on Amazon.com | Amazon UK
loneswimmer.com
Sharko
"I never met a shark I didn't like"
This book is one of the main reasons I toil at learning the ukulele (photo caption on page 34: "Cape Girz-Nez, 1925. Gertrude Ederle plays the ukulele while Ishak Helmy dances with Jeanne Sion...").
I don't wear a wetsuit; it gives the ocean a sporting chance.
"The Great Swim" is what got me into this mess. It captured the frenzy surrounding the first women who were attempting to swim the EC in the mid '20s. Even if you're not into marathon swimming, it's an insightful and well written social history of that era in the U.S. I also have a hardback copy I'd be glad to loan out.
Molly Nance, Lincoln, Nebraska
I really enjoyed the Great Swim too, as well as the book about Gertrude Ederle's swim.
- hard copy
- Kindle e-book
http://www.amazon.com/In-Cold-Water-Mike-Humphreys/dp/1481757385
- Buy on Amazon
My first ever swim in the Hudson was a Pete Seger River Pool charity swim from Newburgh to Beacon. Half way across, I remember a kayaker paddled over and asked if I needed help because I was just treading water, goggles off, staring up at the NB Bridge and the mountains all around. This was probably a significant moment in my life, or something.
At the end of the swim, this book was on sale by the author:
It is not about marathon swimming, but it is a great light read for those who like swimming, or regularly dream about rivers and doing things other people think a bit odd.
I don't wear a wetsuit; it gives the ocean a sporting chance.
Nanaimo Ocean Swim - http://www.viendurance.net/nanaimo-ocean-swim/
We're all just carbon, water, starlight, oxygen and dreams
Book is always worth reading, because... it's a book.
https://www.dropbox.com/s/y0d670kga4aar81/Blue%20Mind.jpg
Not just great reads from an OW perspective but also help you compare your training to others, to assess the difficulty of you own mountain against theirs' and of course full of helpful tips.
I felt a lot more confident facing my own swim knowing in comparison, it was the tip of the iceberg compared to what these folks were doing.....
After a minute of searching, I found Benn Kramer of Hornby Island, BC. NYCSwim.com and other sources say Benn swam around Manhattan 18ish times. 18!
I've not read this book, and suspect it is largely about growing up with autism in the 1960s, but I bet there are some cool stories in there about a guy who we'd all probably have really liked.
Benn Kramer: Climbing Through Autism
I don't wear a wetsuit; it gives the ocean a sporting chance.
I'm just on with 21 yaks and a speedo now.
So I'm on the injured reserved list (foot surgery) for the next couple of months and have up'd my reading. A friend gave me this little gem of a book I'd like to recommend to my fellow water lovers - 'How to Read Water' - clues and patterns from puddles to the sea' - Tristan Gooley. Not specific to swimming but fascinating stuff on our favorite element, enjoy!
This is rather helpful - I've got some trips coming up and need some reading material to absorb to try to get me from armchair swimmer to wannabe. Steady steps, as it were.
A Boy In The Water
I became aware of Tom Gregory many years before I had any interest in marathon swimming. He was, and ever will be, the youngest person to swim the Channel (E-F ’88) – a little short of 12 in both age and hours!
Assumed, correctly, that life had led him in other directions, so it was with delight I caught a reading on BBC radio of a book authored by Tom:
https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B07C7NSH7N/ref=dp-kindle-redirect?_encoding=UTF8&btkr=1
What I hoped for was a blow by blow account of the swim and the training, and it certainly delivers that. The human interest angle though was a real revelation. Set to a backdrop of popular music from my own youth, and the swim haunts of my recent years, surely made it easier to relate to personally; the real crux of this tale though is the relationship between Tom and his mentor, John Bullet.
In answering the question of how an 11 year old achieved such goals, the narrative evolves into a commentary on his relationship with John, and effectively contrasts how much societal attitudes have changed over 30 years. The author is sympathetic to the perception that John’s methods would be considered inappropriate by modern standards, and doesn’t shy away from the darker moments.; yet he presents a child well supported by his family and network of swimming friends, his sister in particular, and robustly advocates that, much as he wanted to impress John, he ultimately made his own decisions. For my part I agree.
Tom gives an interview in the November issue of Outdoor Swimmer which discusses his surprise at some of the reactions to the book, and further defends his original position.
Really interesting read.
@Stephen ....just tried to order "Boy in the Water," but could not, as I'm in the US. Couldn't find on US Amazon on my Kindle app. Do you know if/when it's available in the States?
Only available in hardcover on Amazon.
I have Boy in the Water on Kindle so it is available in UK. It 's £9.99. There are so many others not on kindle, though, which is frustrating when I already have 17 bookcases.
Apologies, just read Stephen's post but can't delete mine.
Even though in you're in the US, you can have an amazon.co.uk account. I have one and when I can't find the Kindle book in the US amazon store, I buy it off the UK one. I have one of my kid's old Kindles and that's my "Brit Kindle"
We're all just carbon, water, starlight, oxygen and dreams
Seems odd they wouldn’t make an electronic copy generally available. I can share this though:
https://outdoorswimmer.com/blogs/anything-is-possible
Also apologies for typo - the swim was F-E
Thank you, Stephen! Also @IronMike ....didn't know I'd need a separate account for Amazon UK.
Hey all, with the holidays coming up im on the lookout for good gifts for the family to get me. Any suggestions for the best Open Water books out there? Looking along the lines of training advice/tips
Another cool interview with Tom Gregory:
https://www.swimming.org/masters/channel-boy-water/