Fireside Reading

              This year I have been badly bitten by the sporting literature bug.  I enjoy reading these books so much that I have plans of collecting enough books of the genre to have my own sporting library.  I can already hear the protests of my wife, asking me if I really need another hobby.  But I figure there are far worse hobbies for a husband to have.

                It started innocently enough with a book recommendation from a friend, who felt that this book would be just the ticket to cure the boredom from sitting alone in the evenings here in Afghanistan.  A quick visit to Amazon and I had paid my money and waited eagerly for my prize to arrive.   A few weeks later Burton Spillers collection of short stories entitled “Firelight” arrived in the Brigade mail room.  I devoured that book in a little less than two days, and I have been addicted to the genre ever since.

                I read several different books and authors after that.  I continued to order books off of Amazon, and if friends asked if they could send me a care package, I pointed them in the direction of the next book I was thinking of reading.  I would work all day and by the time 1700 rolled around I was ready to call it a day and finish where I left off of titles like “A Tattered Autumn Sky”, “Mostly Tailfeathers”, “The Upland Shooting Life”, “That’s Ruff”, and they barely lasted more than three days at a time.

                My time here is wrapping up and before long I will be home with my wife and kids and the dogs.  Yet I still look forward to my evenings with Spiller, Hill, and Mr. Evans.  I mailed all my books back home the other day and my evenings aren’t nearly as enjoyable as they used to be.  But I have used the time to compile a list of the next 10 books that I would like to read when I get home.  Here they are in no particular order.

1.       “Grouse Feathers”   Burton Spiller

2.       “Tales of quails n such”  Havilah Babcock

3.       “My Health is better in November”  Havilah Babcock

4.       “The XVth Day”  Gene Hill

5.       “De Shootinest Gent’man”  Nash Buckingham

6.       “A Hunters Road”  Jim Fergus

7.       “The Happy End”  Ben Ames Williams

8.       “Life of a Shooting Gentleman”  Catherine Harper

9.       “The Best of Nash Buckingham”  George Bird Evans

10.   “A Dog, A Gun, and Time Enough”  George Bird Evans

       If you like sporting literature as much as I do, I would love for you to list your top ten next books in the comments section.