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Those who have taken a long-distance Amtrak vaction this summer, or who are about to take a long Amtrak trip, what sort of reading material have you taken along or will be taking along? One suggestion: I just got through reading a book called "Unbroken", about a fellow named Louis Zamperini, an Olympic runner and survivor of an unbelievable ordeal during WWII. Highly recommended.
What book(s) can you recommend for a long Amtrak vacation trip?
Richard
Henry Kisor Member # 4776
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This year Henning Mankell's Swedish crime novels featuring Inspector Kurt Wallander have been a staple of my Kindle. "The Troubled Man" is his most recent in English. Highly recommended.
"Unbroken" is first-rate, and so is author Laura Hillenbrand's earlier book, "Seabiscuit."
Gilbert B Norman Member # 1541
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I really think "Too Big to Fail" by New York Times financial columnist Andrew Ross Sorkin is good reading anywhere. That you did not get "snookered in" by the antics of the should be jailbirds reported upon (and I'll be very self-interest here; the one that cost me the most should be first to see the clink - then work down the list from there), is why you are able to take long Amtrak trips rather than a staycation.
It is a long book made for a long trip.
HopefulRailUser Member # 4513
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Zamperini is local here. The Torrance Airport is Zamperini Field.
I find I don't read much on a long train ride. Too busy watching scenery, figuring out where I am on my GPS. Being an Anglophile I stick with my British police procedurals. But I have found that Ed McBain's fifty years of 87th Precinct books are very entertaining too.
Konstantin Member # 18
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I am an avid reader, almost always non-fiction, usually history. I have been on several long-distance train rides, and take books with me. Normally, I end up by not reading at all on the train. However, my wife, not being a true train fan, reads quite a bit.
smitty195 Member # 5102
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Or try an audiobook so that you can pop in your ear buds, and listen to the book as you stare out the window at the passing scenery. I don't like to put my head in a book because I'll miss what's happening outside the window. Here are my suggestions (I like political books):
-The Secret Knowledge: On the Dismantling of American Culture by David Mamet
-The Roots of Obama's Rage by Dinesh D'Souza
-Crimes Against Liberty by David Limbaugh
-Culture of Corruption by Michelle Malkin
notelvis Member # 3071
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As I have now ridden most of the Amtrak long-distance routes several times over, I generally read more on train trips than I ever thought I would. (exception - the California Zephyr west of Denver.... NO READING time on that route at all.)
In fact, I find that hours spent on a train now are about the only time in my life where I can 'gear down' enough to really get into reading mode.
Last week flying to/from the west coast and riding the Coast Starlight, I read 'The Year of Living Bibically' by AJ Jacobs, one agnostic New Yorker's attempt to follow the teachings of the Bible as literally as possible for one year and a much shorter memoir 'The Best School I Ever Attended' by Michael Gillespie; A remembrance of growing up hanging out at the Southern Railway depot in Georgetown, KY during the 1960's.
I enjoyed both but must add that the memoir spoke to me on a number of levels since my family lived in Georgetown briefly in the 1960's while my father attended graduate school at the nearby University of Kentucky and I too experienced a few evening visits to the depot to watch #4, a remnant of the Royal Palm, call at 7:14pm.
Gilbert B Norman Member # 1541
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I'd like to add Gretchen Morgerstern's, another Times financial reporter and columnist, "Reckless Endangerment". I have only completed one chapter (picked it up at Borders yesterday - I want to help them any reasonable way I can), but it looks like she has a few different "personnae' than her colleague Sorkin, for which their mug shots ought to be at a Post Office near you.
yukon11 Member # 2997
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Two years ago, I took the Rocky Mountaineer train from Vancouver to Jasper, along with my sister and brother-in-law. As we were travelling by Mount Robson, I noticed my sister was completely engrossed in a book. I asked her why she was reading while we are going through one of the most spectacular regions of the Canadian Rockies. She replied, "Oh, I look up every now and then".
I forgot to mention one of my all-time favorite books, "The Pillars of the Earth", by Ken Follett. However, at over 1,000 pages, it might be better to reserve it for a USA Rail Pass.
Richard
Gilbert B Norman Member # 1541
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Richard, may I add my recollection of a '50's vintage TRAINS "Photo Section" that showed a photo of a passenger sitting in a "prime time viewing" seat aboard the D&RGW CZ while ascending the Rockies (something I have never seen during the Amtrak era, BTW; but several times before), The caption asked, "Is he a millionaire (back when millionaire meant net worth of $1M rather than todays definition of income of $1M) or is he a railroad employee to blase to even care about the sights?
Henry Kisor Member # 4776
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Then there were the elderly riders in the domes of the Park cars on The Canadian with their noses deep in their books, never looking up as the train wound its way through the Rockies. A dismaying number of them would leave coats and grips on the seats to save them while they went to the dining car or back to their compartments for naps. Sigh.
GBN, many's the Amtrak crew member I've asked on No. 5 and 6 why he or she didn't gaze in wonder out at the scenery. "After eleventeen gazillion trips?" they'd say in wonder, as if my cluelessness was a sight to behold.
I did ride in the cab Over the Hill with a couple of veteran enginemen who never stopped marveling at the number of eagles they saw on the Truckee River. They said the sight ahead never got boring on that run. I believed it.
City of Miami Member # 2922
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I used to take along books on my long LD rides.....and I never even cracked them. I don't even listen to much music. Mostly I just look out the window; when it gets dark I go to sleep. When I want companionship I go to the diner or the sightseer car. I don't even take a magazine anymore.
Ocala Mike Member # 4657
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Exactly what City of Miami said. I "read" out the window or "read" other people on the train. I once fell asleep in the very front seat in coach on the N/B CONO while "reading" out the window that way. When I woke up, I discovered that someone (female LSA?) had placed a pillow and blanket appropriately for me. Yes, I thanked her before Chicago.
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