I’ve recently been buying books at a unsustainable clip. I’ll be honest, I’m just not an avid reader, but when I do finally crack open a cover I can have a voracious appetite.
Two books that have recently caught my fancy (and are now part of my library) actually come from two of my friends, so I thought it worthwhile mentioning here.
Demon’s Game:
The Oni School of Tenkara Fly Fishing
Robert Worthing recently released a book on advanced tenkara tactics and techniques. I get to hang out with Rob at least once or twice a year when we (and a few others) have our fishing getaways.
Rob also happens to be one of the most knowledgeable tenkara anglers in the United States, not only from his decade-plus of fishing in this style, but also being a student of Masami Sakakibara (Tenkara no Oni) for almost as long. Rob is actually one of the few anglers who is approved by Oni to teach his “Oni Tenkara” methods to others.
The byproduct of all that is this wonderfully information dense book, one that is really the only advanced skill tenkara book written by an American (that I am aware of). Most others are only introductory information for beginners.
In any event, it’s a phenomenal book, one that has a lot of great information that applies to anglers of any style, not just those who prefer tenkara. I highly recommend Demon’s Game for someone looking to take that next step in their fixed line angling.
The Natural Healing Guidebook
This book is written by Paul Gaskell, another one of my fishing friends who has branched out a bit in subject to write a very strong introductory manual to natural remedies.
As I age, everything seems to be breaking down on my body. My shoulder aches, my knees ache, I’m stressed, nothing serious, but you get what I’m saying. While I’m just diving deep into Paul’s book now, I’m finding a lot of great natural remedies that I’m seriously considering trying, rather than popping back more Tylenol or Advil.
The other thing I really like about Paul’s book is the way it is organized. It focuses on the individual plants and items you can find in your kitchen cabinet first, then the specific maladies they treat. Having a guide of single ingredient vs. multiple ingredient remedies (with difficulty to produce) is also quite helpful.
In all, I would highly recommend The Natural Healing Guidebook for any amateur apothecary looking to get a solid basic but broad knowledge base.
Anyway, that’s what I’m reading at the moment. What’s new to your bookshelf?