Books to read while sitting around your cabins fire (We will call this B2R from now on)

Cooler weather is slowly approaching here in Missouri. Today is the fall equinox, Sept 22nd.
So my thoughts start roaming towards cooler days and chilly nights when the fires soft glow warms the spaces in the cabin.

Or if you prefer, taking a break outside by the open fire and reading while the sun warms your back.
No matter what image you come up with, this is the time to start bringing out the books suitable for cabin reading. And when it comes right down to it, it probably doesn't really matter what you read, just take the time and do it.

I am going to try to post at least one book a week till spring time, maybe more, that makes me want to be outside as the weather cools. We will see how that goes.

Whether with a cup of tea or hot chocolate, or a glass of wine, lets get comfortable and enjoy.



For my first suggestion I am going to go down very familiar ground and start with one of my favorite outdoor writers, one I have talked about here a few times.

As I have mentioned here many times, in the late 70's I had the chance to work in some of the most beautiful wilderness in the country, the area called Baxter State Park in Maine.

We were given a list of suggested books to explore that dealt a lot with the area I was going to work in.
One of the authors suggested was Edmund Ware Smith. And he was one of the ones I chose to familiarize myself with the area. Mr. Smith over the years wrote for many of the popular outdoor magazines like Ford Times, Outdoor Life, Sports Afield, etc.

I don't remember which of these two was the first I read, but it doesn't matter, I was hooked.
Either will do to start with.
Both tell stories of the areas local fishing and hunting and characters. Many true and many not so true, but still lots of fun.

You can smell the wood smoke and hear the loons as you read along with Mr. Smith.

I wanted a tar paper roof on my first cabin after reading his description of the sound of rain on a tar paper roof.

The call of the loon is exactly like Mr. Smith describes it.
You can see your canoe paddle cutting through the still lake water as you read the stories.

One of my favorites is the tale of a young man taking his father for his last canoe ride.
The father had died while at the hunting camp and the tale is a paddle down memory lane as the son take him back to the boat landing for the last time.

His books were hard to come by for many years, with old copies starting around $75.00.
But now reprints of some of his books are easily available.


It also didn't hurt that I loved the artist who did the illustrations.

I was also lucky in that Mr. Smiths cabin was just a short hike down an old logging road from where I worked.
I was able to see many of the places he would write about, some just down by the lake in front of his cabin.
Some of the people he wrote about still lived nearby and I got to know them pretty well and kept in touch for many years. This really brought the stories to life.

Mr. Smith had been dead for several years before I came to Maine, but his family still owned the property and I was able to visit it a few times, and walked by it many times.

I go back to these stories quite often and enjoy the return to the Maine woods.

I hope you enjoy the visit also.