With two weeks of my cruise this summer likely to be "solo," I expect to need more than one or two books with which to while away any lazy days aboard. And so, I present my book list for the 2006 cruise.

Carefully. . . Carefully!

With a serious shortage of book shelves aboard, I am selecting my booklist with perhaps more care than I might normally. Of course I could stash books in lockers or other hidden storage areas, but that tends to limit the spontenaiety of book selection, and I know myself well enough to know that any books I packed away out of sight would never get pulled out.

I am, of course, open to any suggestions of must-brings from my loyal readers!

And So. . .

Here's this summer's list, in no particular order:

• The Fountainhead, Ayn Rand—An old favorite of mine.
• The Sword of Shannara, Terry Brooks—Another one I've read before, but it's a fun read. Sort of candy-like.
• Shadow-Maze, Mark and Julia Smith—This is a fantasy novel that's been kicking around my houses since high-school. Why haven't I read it yet?
• Dune Messiah, Frank Herbert—On last year's cruise I reread the original Dune. This is book two in the series.
• In Our Time, Ernest Hemmingway—I hate Hemmingway. But until last year, I hated oysters, too. Let's give him another shot after about 10 years since the last attempt.
• Famous Mysteries of the Sea, Patricia Lauber—Of course I need at least a couple of boat-related books.
• Sailing the Seven Seas, Mary Ellen Chase—This author is a long-time friend of my wife's family. And it's sea-related.
• Call of the Wild (and others), Jack London—I used to really like London. I haven't read him in a long time.
• The Losers and High Hunt, David Eddings—Eddings is far-and-away my favorite fantasy author. I haven't read these two novels yet.
• Anthology of Japanese Literature, edited by Donald Keene—Seems like it might be interesting. It's good to have a little variety!
• Norton Introduction to Literature fourth ed.,—We have lots of anthologies. I grabbed this one.
• The Ghost Stories of Edith Wharton, Edith Wharton (duh!)—I love ghost stories.
• The Sparrow, Mary doria Russell—Heather's been trying to get me to read this (apparently sci-fi-literature) for years.
• Ten Little Indians, Agatha Christie—Why not?
• A Whale for the Killing, Farley Mowat—I need to get my wildlife conservation fix for the summer.
• An Instance of the Fingerpost, Iain Pears—I bought this, along with numerous other modern behemoths back when we were planning to drive from California to Maine over a month-long stretch. I didn't get to this one.
• Heart of Darkness, Joseph Conrad—I'm embarrased to admit that I haven't read this.
• Great Ghost Stories, various authors—Ghosts!
• The Moonlit Road and other Ghost and Horror Stories, Ambrose Bierce—I have a thick anthology of his works as well, but this is a thin selection of his classics.
• Snow Falling on Cedars, David Guterson—Another modern novel that I feel like I should have read by now.
• The Sky Watcher's Handbook | Whitney's Star Finder | A Complete Manual of Amateur Astronomy—I love the night sky.
• Letters and Images 1916-1984, Ansel Adams—This made an incredible impact on me when I was a sophomore in college.
• Velocities, Stephen Dobyns—Dobyns is my favorite poet. His collected works from 1966-1992

This list, of course, doesn't include my standard on-board library of boating reference materials. They are always aboard, and aren't much for enjoyable summer reading at any rate!