- Joined
- May 16, 2016
- Messages
- 1,628
I just finished a couple books that I think a lot of people would like/find interesting.
I picked up Rough-Hewn Land (https://www.amazon.com/Rough-Hewn-Land-Geologic-California-Mountains/dp/0520275772) from the Eastern Sierra Visitor Center outside of Lone Pine CA a year ago and finally got around to reading it this summer. The subtitle describes it well "A Geologic Journey from California to the Rocky Mountains". My first thought is "this guy is ripping off John McPhee" but it is better to think of this a complement to "Annals of the Former World". The focus is on geology from a geologist's perspective with lots of illustrations of the science. If you are interested at all in geology or just sort of wonder about some mountain range in the western US, then you should probably check this out.
I liked his writing enough that I ordered his first book "Hard Road West" (https://www.amazon.com/Hard-Road-West-History-Geology/dp/0226519600) before I finished Rough-Hewn Land. This is interesting because he ties the geology of the west into the history of the trail to California during the gold rush days. He mixes geology lessons with excerpts from immigrants' journals and he does it very well. There is a little overlap from a geology point of view between the two books, but they both are worth reading.
I read this a couple years ago, but, if you haven't read it, you should find "Annals of the Former World" (https://www.amazon.com/Annals-Former-World-John-McPhee/dp/0374518734) mixes history, travel, and geology into a weird and awesome book. It won the Pulitzer prize for a reason. The only thing it is missing is illustrations to make some of the geology more clear. But that is what Rough-Hewn Land does really well for the western US.
Doesn't have to be history or geology or anything specific, just a good book. So, read any good books lately?
I picked up Rough-Hewn Land (https://www.amazon.com/Rough-Hewn-Land-Geologic-California-Mountains/dp/0520275772) from the Eastern Sierra Visitor Center outside of Lone Pine CA a year ago and finally got around to reading it this summer. The subtitle describes it well "A Geologic Journey from California to the Rocky Mountains". My first thought is "this guy is ripping off John McPhee" but it is better to think of this a complement to "Annals of the Former World". The focus is on geology from a geologist's perspective with lots of illustrations of the science. If you are interested at all in geology or just sort of wonder about some mountain range in the western US, then you should probably check this out.
I liked his writing enough that I ordered his first book "Hard Road West" (https://www.amazon.com/Hard-Road-West-History-Geology/dp/0226519600) before I finished Rough-Hewn Land. This is interesting because he ties the geology of the west into the history of the trail to California during the gold rush days. He mixes geology lessons with excerpts from immigrants' journals and he does it very well. There is a little overlap from a geology point of view between the two books, but they both are worth reading.
I read this a couple years ago, but, if you haven't read it, you should find "Annals of the Former World" (https://www.amazon.com/Annals-Former-World-John-McPhee/dp/0374518734) mixes history, travel, and geology into a weird and awesome book. It won the Pulitzer prize for a reason. The only thing it is missing is illustrations to make some of the geology more clear. But that is what Rough-Hewn Land does really well for the western US.
Doesn't have to be history or geology or anything specific, just a good book. So, read any good books lately?
