Reading List 2023

2023 was another great year of reading for me. I started the year with the first book in the Jack Reacher series by Lee Child. I was instantly hooked and read the entire series back to back. It’s become one of my favorite series of all time. I was able to gain a new appreciation of the two Reacher movies with Tom Cruise and the new series on Amazon Prime. Amazon screwed up a lot of mini-series in the past few years but they a fantastic job with season one and two (so far) of Reacher.

I got back into the Hornblower series by C.S. Forester. The Hornblower series was one of my grandfather’s favorites so I had read them, and even owned a few paperbacks, when I was young. I read my old favorites plus I read the other books in the series that I had missed when I was young. I think I enjoyed the series even more this time. I liked it so much that I was inspired to buy the Horatio Hornblower mini series starring Ioan Gruffudd from back in 1998.

I found another book in the Richard Sharpe series named Sharpe’s Assassin: Richard Sharpe and the Occupation of Paris, 1815. This story took place just after in the battle of Waterloo. I think this is one of Cornwell’s best Richard Sharpe novels.

Although we all learned that Napoleon was defeated at Waterloo, the war was not over. Britannica.com tells us,

“Abandoning his broken army, Napoleon returned to Paris on the morning of the June 21 and abdicated the following day. On July 5 and 6 the French army began a reluctant march south of the Loire River, where it was later disbanded. The allies entered Paris on July 7, and Louis XVIII was restored the next day.”

https://www.britannica.com/event/Battle-of-Waterloo/Crisis-and-the-French-collapse

The author Bernard Cornwell does a great job showing how the allies march to Paris was still dangerous even though the allies had won the battle of Waterloo. Sharpe’s mission is to rescue a British spy and prevent the Duke of Wellington from being assassinated while in Paris.

Another fantastic discovery were a couple books written by Michael Crichton writing under the name John Lange. The books are Grave Decent and Drug of Choice. These were some of his early novels from back in the 70’s when he was still practicing his writing skills. Goodreads summary of Grave Decent tells us,

“James McGregor is a 39-year-old professional diver who, after suffering through numerous unsavory salvage jobs in New York and Miami, has relocated to sunny Jamaica. When a relatively straightforward and highly lucrative assignment — to explore a luxury yacht that has inexplicably sank off the coast of Jamaica — practically falls in his lap, McGregor readily accepts. But as he learns more about the mysterious sinking — and about the yacht’s enigmatic owner — he begins to realize that he’s being set up in an elaborate con that involves the Sicilian Mafia, exotic femme fatales, and hungry hammerhead sharks.”

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/652837.Grave_Descend

1. Killing Floor (Jack Reacher 1) – Lee Child
2. Die Trying (Jack Reacher 2) – Lee Child
3. Tripwire (Jack Reacher 3) – Lee Child
4. Running Blind (Jack Reacher 4) – Lee Child
5. Echo Burning (Jack Reacher 5) – Lee Child
6. Without Fail (Jack Reacher 6) – Lee Child
7. Persuader (Jack Reacher 7) – Lee Child
8. The Enemy (Jack Reacher 8) – Lee Child
9. Jack Reacher: One Shot (Jack Reacher 9) – Lee Child
10. The Hard Way (Jack Reacher 10) – Lee Child
11. Bad Luck and Trouble (Jack Reacher 11) – Lee Child
12. Nothing to Lose (Jack Reacher 12) – Lee Child
13. Burner (Gray Man 12) – Mark Greaney
14. Gone Tomorrow (Jack Reacher 13) – Lee Child
15. 61 Hours (Jack Reacher 14) – Lee Child
16. Worth Dying For (Jack Reacher 15) – Lee Child
17. The Affair (Jack Reacher 16) – Lee Child
18. A Wanted Man (Jack Reacher 17) – Lee Child
19. Jack Reacher: Never Go Back (Jack Reacher 18) – Lee Child
20. Personal (Jack Reacher 19) – Lee Child
21. Make Me (Jack Reacher 20) – Lee Child
22. Night School (Jack Reacher 21) – Lee Child
23. The Midnight Line (Jack Reacher 22) – Lee Child
24. Past Tense (Jack Reacher 23) – Lee Child
25. Blue Moon (Jack Reacher 24) – Lee Child
26. The Sentinel (Jack Reacher 25) – Lee Child
27. Better off Dead (Jack Reacher 26) – Lee Child
28. No Plan B (Jack Reacher 27) – Lee Child
29. Long Shadows (Memory Man 7) – David Baldacci
30. Armored (Joshua Duffy 1) – Mark Greaney
31. Night Passage (Jesse Stone 1) – Robert B. Parker
32. Mr. Midshipman Hornblower – C.S. Forester
33. Lieutenant Hornblower – C.S. Forester
34. Hornblower and the Hotspur – C.S. Forester
35. Hornblower During the Crisis – C. S. Forester
36. Hornblower and the Atropos – C. S. Forester
37. Flying Colours – C.S. Forester
38. Commodore Hornblower – C. S. Forester
39. The Happy Return / Beat to Quarters – C.S. Forester
40. Lord Hornblower – C.S. Forester
41. Admiral Hornblower in the West Indies – C.S. Forester
42. The Good, the Bad and the History – (Chronicles of St. Mary’s) – Jodi Taylor
43. Clive Cussler Fire Strike (The Oregon Files Book 17) – Mike Maden
44. Don’t Know Jack: Hunting Lee Child’s Jack Reacher (The Hunt for Jack Reacher Series Book 1) – Diane Capri
45. Pietr the Latvian (Inspector Maigret Book 1) – Georges Simenon
46. Greyhound (Movie Tie-In): A Novel – C.S Forester
47. Fletches Fortune (re-read) – Gregory McDonald
48. A Symphony of Echoes (The Chronicles of St Mary’s) – Jodi Taylor
49. A Second Chance (The Chronicles of St Mary’s) – Jodi Taylor
50. A Trail Through Time (The Chronicles of St Mary’s) – Jodi Taylor
51. No Time Like the Past (The Chronicles of St Mary’s) – Jodi Taylor
52. What Could Possibly Go Wrong?  (The Chronicles of St Mary’s) – Jodi Taylor
53. And the Rest Is History: The Chronicles of St. Mary’s Book Eight – Jodi Taylor
54. An Argumentation of Historians: The Chronicles of St. Mary’s Book Nine – Jodi Taylor
55. Hope for the Best: The Chronicles of St. Mary’s Book Ten – Jodi Taylor
56. Plan for the Worst: The Chronicles of St. Mary’s Book Ten – Jodi Taylor
57. Clive Cussler Condor’s Fury (The NUMA Files Book 20) – Graham Brown
58. Grave Descend – Michael Crichton writing as John Lange
59. The Lost Island: A Gideon Crew Novel (Gideon Crew series Book 3) – Preston & Child
60. The Secret: A Jack Reacher Novel – Lee Child and Andrew Child
61. Gideon’s Sword (Gideon Crew series Book 1) – Preston & Child
62. Gideon’s Corpse (Gideon Crew series Book 2) – Preston & Child
63. The Corsican Shadow (Dirk Pitt 27) – Dirk Cussler
64. Drug of Choice – Michael Crichton writing as John Lange
65. Sharpe’s Assassin: Richard Sharpe and the Occupation of Paris, 1815 – Bernard Cornwell
66. Beyond the Ice Limit: A Gideon Crew Novel (Gideon Crew Series Book 4) – Preston & Child
67. The Midnight Lock (Lincoln Rhyme Book 15) – Jeffery Deaver
68. The Watchmaker’s Hand (Lincoln Rhyme Novel Book 16) – Jeffery Deaver
69. Fever Coast – Colin Falconer
70. Yestertime: A Novel of Time Travel (Re-read)- Andrew Cunningham
71. The Yestertime Effect: (Yestertime Series Book 2) – Andrew Cunningham

Cancun, Mexico January 2024

I decided to go to Cancun again for my winter vacation. I also decided to stay at RIU Cancun again since it has a nice beach, awesome pool bar and is within walking distance to area restaurants and stores.

The first part of the week was cloudy and windy. Although it was not the best beach and pool weather, it was still relaxing to walk on the beach at the edge of the waves. As always, I had lots of books to read so it was not difficult to find a place to sit, drink and read.

I had scheduled two fishing trips in Nichupté Lagoon with Cancun Light Tackle and Fly Fishing. Although rain was in the forecast, it was not raining at one when we were schedule to start, so out we went. Thankfully the wind and waves were not as bad on the lagoon as on the ocean side.

After enduring rain, waves and wind I finally caught a Crevalle jack. It bent my spin casting rod right over. It was a battle to keep it from swimming into the mangrove roots, where it would have broke the line and got away.

I made an effort this year to spend more quality time enjoying the beach and swimming in the ocean. The sun finally came out on Tuesday. The weather got better as the week progressed. Naturally, I got a sunburn.

The hotel staff members do a great job keeping the beach clean and cared for. Waiters and waitresses would even come down the beach and take drink orders. How great is that!

My Wednesday fishing trip was in the morning. I was able to witness a beautiful sunrise from the boat on the lagoon. I did not catch any big fish that day, but we caught several small snook and barracuda.

It was Friday morning before I was able to get a good sunrise photo.

Kayaking on the Connecticut River near Hanover, NH

Over the Labor Day weekend 2023 I was able to do some kayaking on the Connecticut River near Hanover, NH. Since we have had so much rain this summer, this was my first trip on the Connecticut this season. On Sunday morning I put in at Wilson’s Landing in Hanover and headed upriver towards the mouth of the Ompompanoosuc River on the Vermont side.

As usual, I was able to see lots of ducks as I paddled north.

The highlight of the trip is when I got in to the Ompompanoosuc River. I spotted a Great Blue Heron standing on a log and was able to slowly drift to within a few dozen yards.

On Monday morning I put in at Wilder Boat Landing above Wilder Dam. The plan was to paddle north to Mink Brook in Hanover, NH.

As usual, there were lots of ducks on the Connecticut River and Mink Brook.

While in Mink Brook I paddled by a maple tree that was leaning over the brook that had it’s leaves change color earlier than normal. The tree will probably be in the brook my next summer.

Kayaking at Grafton Pond July 2023

On July 23, 2023 I took an early morning kayak trip to Grafton Pond in Grafton, NH. The pond was socked in with fog when I launched the kayak. It was king of spooky padding across the foggy pond with around 5 feet of visibility.

I discovered a large spider web that was covered in dew and lit up by the sun behind it.

The fog slowly burned off as the morning progressed. I made a panorama photo capturing part of the pond in the morning sun and half still in the fog.

I wasn’t until later in the trip when I started seeing Loons swimming around.

I was on my way back to the boat landing when I spotted a large group of Loons several hundred yards away. They were slowly swimming towards me, when suddenly they dove. I was looking all around to see where they would come up. Of course, they came up very close but behind me. I had to take the photo below by twisting around and taking the shot over my shoulder.

Bonaire: Captain Don’s Reef and Sharon’s Serenity dive sites

On Thursday July 13th, 2023 I was on a dive trip to Captain Don’s Reef off of Klein Bonaire. Captain Don’s Reef is named for Captain Don Stewart, who founded the Bonaire dive resort Captain Don’s Habitat in 1976. The Website says,

At a very early stage, Captain Don realized the importance of conservation of Bonaire’s beautiful underwater resources. His endeavors led to the creation of the permanent mooring system and eventually to the Bonaire National Marine Park. For his efforts in marine environment conservation, Captain Don has received many awards and recognition all over the world.

https://www.habitatbonaire.com/sustainability

Near the mooring ball is a plaque in Captain Don’s honor, “which thanks him for his dedication to the preservation of Bonaire’s reefs.” ( info Bonaire ) I tried to get some video and photos but the current was sloshing me around too much to get a steady shot. I was happy to have the opportunity to visit the plaque in honor of a man that contributed to the marine park I was now diving at.

One of the high points in the dive was a Green Sea Turtle encounter in the shallow part of the reef.

The next stop was a dive site named Sharon’s Serenity, which was just down the shore and around the corner from Captain Don’s Reef. Sharon had worked for Captain Don at one time and this was her favorite dive site. I can appreciate why, now that I have been there. We swam along a steep slope of both hard and soft coral. Others in the group had an encounter with a large Hawksbill Sea Turtle. Unfortunately, I was too far away to get good video footage. However, I did have a close encounter with a French Angel fish.

Bonaire: 18 Palms Dive Site & Green Sea Turtles

On July 12, 2023 I had the opportunity to do a shore dive at the Boanire dive site named Eighteen Palms.

It’s the “house reef” for Plaza Beach & Dive Resort. The reef slope starts pretty close to the shore. Like many reefs in Bonaire, navigating was easy since you just follow the top of the coral slope along the coast until you hit 1500psi then turn around and swim back. What made this dive amazing is that we saw four Green Sea Turtles. During most dives I’m happy to see one.

Bonaire: Salt Pier Dive Site & a Seahorse

One of my favorite dive sites in Bonaire is Salt Pier. On July 12, 2023 I was able to dive there again. Swimming among and around the pier pilings feels like going through an underwater forest. The pilings are covered with interesting coral and sponges. Schools of fish also congregate around the pilings.

It turns out that Bonaire has a thriving salt industry, which is operated by Cargil Boanire. They make salt by putting sea water through a series of condenser and crystallizer ponds.

Their website says,

“Bonaire is famous for particular salt crystals, or “sun gems,” that are long, dense and heavy. Because the crystals are as big as a fist, they can be transformed into several grades to meet different customer needs. The salt produced on the island is used in multiple ways, including home water softeners, dyes for the textile industry and processing in the petroleum industry.

Manufacturers also use the salt to produce chlorine used to purify drinking water. A third of the salt is shipped to customers in the Caribbean, a third to North America and the rest to Europe and Africa. The plant also ships salt to Haiti, where the essential nutrient is medicated to help Haitians ward off disease.”

https://www.cargill.com/story/making-salt-in-paradise

The boat captain and dive guide decided we should dive this site as a drift dive. The captain dropped us off at the north end of the pier. The plan was to swim south among the pier pilings and have the boat pick us up at the south end of the pier.

Soon after starting the dive a Porcupine fish approached me. There seems to be a healthy population of these fish in Bonaire. There are times where they are not afraid of divers and allow you to get close to them.

Our dive guide found a few Seahorses for us! This was one of the easier ones to see and video.

As I mentioned earlier, schools of fish often hang out around the pilings.

Bonaire: Chez Hines Dive Site & Reef Squid

On Tuesday July 11th we went to a dive site named Chez Hines.

The best experience during this dive was the encounter with a school of Reef Squid. The marinebio.org website tells us,

“The habitat of reef squid changes according to the squid’s life stage and size. Hatchlings tend to reside close to the shore in areas from 0.2-1 m below the surface on or under vegetation. Young squid typically congregate in shallow turtle grasses near islands and stay several centimeters to two meters from the surface to avoid bird predators. Adult reef squid venture out into open water and can be found in depths of up to 100 m. When mating, adults are typically found near coral reefs at depths of 1.5-8 m.”

https://www.marinebio.org/species/reef-squid/sepioteuthis-sepioidea/

Since this school was in the shallower water near the shore, they could be younger reef squid.

Bonaire: Something Special Dive Site

During second week of July 2023 I took a trip to the island of Bonaire for some scuba diving.

On Monday July 10th we went to a dive site named Something Special. I had been there once back in 2007 for a night shore dive. But this was the first time as a boat dive. And this time I had a GoPro Hero 9 underwater video camera rather than the SeaLife 5 megapixel “point and shoot” camera that I used in 2007.

I was happy to see a small coral nursery at this dive site. I have been interested in coral restoration since I went on my first coral restoration dive in April of 2011. What makes this nursery interesting is that they are growing Brain coral rather than Stag horn and Elk horn coral. Brain coral grows a lot slower than Stag horn and Elk horn coral and is not as easy to grow in a nursery. It required a different technique than is used with Stag horn coral. I see they hung a few of the larger pieces but the small fragments were on small pieces of plastic.

Later on during the dive I spotted an eel swimming among the coral (photo below). I could not remember what species it was but knew I had to get some video footage, since it was right out in the open. Later that day I did some research and found out it was a Chain Moray Eel. The Wikipedia article tells us, “it feeds on such organisms as crabs, which are the mainstay of its diet, shrimps, worms, octopuses^[5] and small fish. Its blunt teeth are especially adapted for feeding on crustaceans.”

Towards the end of the dive we were lucky enough to encounter a small Green Sea turtle. I was amazed that it swam so close to me.

Bonaire Trip: Resort and Sunset Photos

In July of 2023 I took a scuba diving trip to the island of Bonaire in the Netherlands Antilles. The last time I was there was in July 2007. I had been looking forward to returning with modern video and camera equipment. During my first trip I had stayed at Divi Dive Resort. This time I decided to try someplace different. After looking at the map and doing some research I decided to stay at Plaza Beach and Dive Resort. It turned out to be a good choice. The pool, pool bar and beach was fantastic. The “house reef” off of the beach is a well known dive site named 18 Palms. The on-site dive operation is Toucan Diving Bonaire. I definitely give them five stars for excellent service.

I brought my Canon Rebel T-7 with me so I could get better photos than using my phone camera. I’m glad I did since there were a few good sunsets during the week. The pool bar and beach turned out to a great place for sunset photos!

The sunset on Saturday July 9th was one of the good ones.

I was able to get some great shots of ships at sunset using the 300mm lens. The photo below is a ship passing in front of Klein Bonaire.

This is the same ship a few minutes later. Way off in the distance you can see some mountains up at Washington-Slagbaai National Park at the north end of Bonaire.

The sunset on Wednesday July 12th was also spectacular!

Since the resort is right next to the airport I was able to snap a few photos of a jet coming in for a landing.

I stitched three or four photos together to make a panorama of the after sunset sky.

This one was using the 18-55 lens during the late post-sunset time.