sea stories

[aostling]

If you like sea stories, and engine rooms, I recommend the novels of William McFee http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_McFee . He was educated as an ME and served for many years as a chief engineer on ships. His books are long out of print, but you may find them for sale with a bit of searching. I'm reading The Harbourmaster now. It's literature, more than a yarn.

I think McFee would have felt at home on this forum.

[dp]

Some of his work is apparently available as a free download from http://Books.Google.com/. Search on William McFee.

[aostling]

Some of his work is apparently available as a free download from http://Books.Google.com/.

This is a good find! I was planning on spending $100 for a non-student library card at Arizona State University (which has his books in the stacks). Now I can lay in a supply of paper and printer ink and save a bundle.

[dp]

Mmmm... I don't think he wrote any short stories. At least, none that short

[aostling]

Mmmm... I don't think he wrote any short stories. At least, none that short

Good point, Dennis.

But I don't want to sit and read these books on my desktop monitor. Perhaps the way to use Google Books is to upload the PDFs onto an ultralight PC, and use this as an electronic book.

[Peter S]

I searched on Abebooks using the authors name, there were 1750 books listed starting from $1, virtual books can't compare with the real thing

http://www.abebooks.com/

[dp]

I searched on Abebooks using the authors name, there were 1750 books listed starting from $1, virtual books can't compare with the real thing

http://www.abebooks.com/

The virtual books give you the opportunity to try before you buy. Not always necessary - I'd buy an Edgar Rice Burroughs book sight unseen without hesitation (except that I already have all his titles), but not all authors are so well established.

The other advantage is you don't wind up with a bunch of books that were sneezed into by a house full of people who died in the 1914 influenza pandemic