Diving books recomendation

[Sam Miller III]

@Marie13--grab that book for your library -- All to soon it will be out of print and difficult to find
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

About 25 years ago I hoisted the first US Diving Bibliophile meeting at my CenCal home. This two day affair was attended by Serious Dive Bibliophiles from the western US and connected by occasional telephone conversations from other bibliophiles for the hinterlands.

We concentrated on discussing and reviewing, and on occasion attempting to establish value of the classic dive books and magazines ,that represented the fountainhead of recreational diving, most now unknown to the average diver and if located expensive to acquire.

I began acquiring books and bound magazines my library over 60 years ago which has grown to over 2000 dive books and 13 now defunct magazines in library bindings. The California wild fires gave us a wakeup call so we had my library valued and insured to $50,000, (Yes Books have ever increasing values)

I commend all of you who are fledging bibliophiles who are acquiring books to establish your library . If paper handle with care -- if electronic don't delete !

Upon my DOC (Day of Croaking) the entire library will become the property of my son Dr. Sam IV who is a NAUI (Life) and PADI Instructor , SSI Pro 5000 and the Director of ER & Hyperbaric at the local hospital .

SDM 111
s

 

[Trailboss123]

Hi, with the e-book + iPad and the various e-readers (Kindle, Bluefire, Kobo, iBooks, Bookshout, Play books, etc) available, reading books has never been so easy and accesible everywhere.
I became an avid reader.
I've read a lot of diving related books, here is my list :

Deep Into Deco - Asser Salama
Deco for Divers - Mark Powell
A WALK ON THE DEEP SIDE - John Kean
Mystery of The Last Olympian: Titanic's Tragic Sister Britannic - Richie Kohler, Charlie Hudson
Fatally Flawed - The Quest to be Deepest - Verna van Schaik
Diving Medicine for SCUBA Divers - Dr Carl Edmonds
Diving into de past - Robert F. Burgess
Deep Descent - Kevin F. McMurray
Wakulla Bones - Jeff Bauer
Where Divers Dare: The Hunt for the Last U-Boat - Randall Peffer
The Cavern Kings - Jeff Bauer
The Cave Divers - Robert F. Burgess
El Hombre Subacuático - Manual de fisiologia y riesgos del buceo - Francisco Verjano Diaz
The Wall: Chronicle of a Scuba Trial - Martin Lawrence
The Great Buoyancy Scam - And how to avoid it - John Kean
El secreto sumergido: Aventura y misterio en la Patagonia - Cristian Perfumo
Scuba Professional: Insights into Sport Diver Training & Operations - Simon Pridmore
Lost Wife, Saw Barracuda - True Stories from a Sharm El Sheikh Scuba Diving Instructor - John Kean
Under Dark Waters: The Life and Distressed Times of a Commercial Diver - Scott A. Kilgore
Setting the Hook: A Diver's Return to the Andrea Doria - Peter M. Hunt
Dark Descent - Kevin F. McMurray
The Last Dive: A Father and Son's Fatal Descent into the Ocean's Depths - Bernie Chowdhury
Shadow Divers - Robert Kurson
Into the Lion's Mouth - Michael Smart
Sealab - Ben Hellwarth

Some of them are in spanish, my native language.
Some are historic books, some novels, some technical.
Some are great, some not so.

Also some e-books have a free sample chapter. If the reading is interesting, you can buy the book.
I've tried some like :

Papa topside
Ocean Gladiator
Raising the death
Trapped Under the sea
Blind Descent
Descent into darkness
Bottom time
Sunken treasure
Almost tranquilo
What your scuba diving course does not tell you
Seeking transformation
Darkness below
The first 130 feet

They didn't capture me in the first chapter like the previous.

I have access to some more, but those have no e-book format. Reading a traditional paper book is something I cannot do now (weight, bulk, things to carry, cross-references, dictionary, etc).

I'm subscribed to amazon books recommendations, but they send me over and over again the same books, though I have already bought them.

I'm interested in books related to diving history and progress.

I would love to read your recommendations.

Great thread and thanks for starting it. Lots of interesting reads. @Sam Miller III - I still owe you a lunch or dinner and can't wait to see your library the next time I am up your way. Would love to meet Sam

@Marie13--grab that book for your library -- All to soon it will be out of print and difficult to find
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

About 25 years ago I hoisted the first US Diving Bibliophile meeting at my CenCal home. This two day affair was attended by Serious Dive Bibliophiles from the western US and connected by occasional telephone conversations from other bibliophiles for the hinterlands.

We concentrated on discussing and reviewing, and on occasion attempting to establish value of the classic dive books and magazines ,that represented the fountainhead of recreational diving, most now unknown to the average diver and if located expensive to acquire.

I began acquiring books and bound magazines my library over 60 years ago which has grown to over 2000 dive books and 13 now defunct magazines in library bindings. The California wild fires gave us a wakeup call so we had my library valued and insured to $50,000, (Yes Books have ever increasing values)

I commend all of you who are fledging bibliophiles who are acquiring books to establish your library . If paper handle with care -- if electronic don't delete !

Upon my DOC (Day of Croaking) the entire library will become the property of my son Dr. Sam IV who is a NAUI (Life) and PADI Instructor , SSI Pro 5000 and the Director of ER & Hyperbaric at the local hospital .

SDM 111
s

This has been a great thread and thanks for starting it. Lots of interesting books to add to my library. @Sam Miller III - I still owe you a lunch or dinner and can't wait to see your library the next time I am up your way in Pismo. We all owe you a great debt of gratitude for your legendary contributions to Scuba Diving! Would love to meet Sam IV also. I love his insightful posts here on Scubaboard and am grateful for his expertise.

 

[Random Dude]

If he does not, I probably have one. Let me know.

Can please send me a copy of the pdf as well?

 

[emoreira]

Can please send me a copy of the pdf as well?

Send me a PM with your e-mail addr, to send you the manual.

 

[maj2]

Did not see it mentioned yet, so I have to mention one of my favourites:
Neutral Buoyancy: Adventures in a Liquid World by Tim Ecott

Also a second or third for Chris Kohl's Great Lakes Diving Guide.

For Lake Erie specifically, Erie Wrecks East and Erie Wrecks West by Georgann and Michael Wachter are also very good. Erie Wreck's West contains a photo of the J Emory Owen, a ship that my great grandfather sailed on for the 1902 season. She later sank in western Lake Erie as the F A Meyer in 1909. Very cool to see the ship as it was when my great grandfather sailed on her!

 

[Compressor]

Did not see it mentioned yet, so I have to mention one of my favourites:
Neutral Buoyancy: Adventures in a Liquid World by Tim Ecott

Just curious what you found interesting? I listened to the audio book. The narration was poor IMO and the material lacked cohesion again IMO.

 

[maj2]

Just curious what you found interesting? I listened to the audio book. The narration was poor IMO and the material lacked cohesion again IMO.

I read the book instead of listening to the audiobook, so that difference may have accounted for at least some of our differing opinions. It has also been a few years since I have read it, but it still sticks out as one that I enjoyed at the time.
I enjoyed the historical aspects of the book. Relatively concise (versus other history books) and I found the stories entertaining (although those close to me often think I find entertainment in odd things).

 

[shurite7]

Good list in OP.

Diver Down by Michael Ange
The Complete Diver by Alex Brylske
are two good reads.

 

[Compressor]

I read the book instead of listening to the audiobook, so that difference may have accounted for at least some of our differing opinions. It has also been a few years since I have read it, but it still sticks out as one that I enjoyed at the time.
I enjoyed the historical aspects of the book. Relatively concise (versus other history books) and I found the stories entertaining (although those close to me often think I find entertainment in odd things).

Good to know.
Thanks.

 

[John Bantin]

If you like true stories, I've written a couple of books (in native English). Amazing Diving Stories is now available from an American distributor as a paperback, a Kindle or e-reader and as an audio book. Shark Bytes is available as both hard copy and Kindle/e-reader but not as an audio book. Amazon.