Just finished the very useful “Learning Unix for Mac OS X, 2nd edition,” and am now onto this one. I’m really learning great stuff. Despite the fact that I’ve been a casual unix user for almost 10 years now, my knowledge was scatter-shot. These two books are helping me fill in some of the bigger holes.

Tim Cahill is one of my favorite adventure writers (along with Randy Wayne White). His previous collections are filled with great stories, and this one is pretty much the same. But, with the baby around, I ended up not finishing it. I got it from the Library, though, so it’ll still be there when I get the urge again.

Even though the Hill Country rivers are similar to our Ozark rivers, I want to go down there and fish them. This book is the bible for fishing those streams.

I’ve always been fascinated by dragonflies. They’re about the only insect (along with damselflies and mayflies) that doesn’t freak me out just a little. I see them all the time when I’m out fishing or hiking, and I want to learn more about them. Thus, this book.

Though it’s out of print, this book is readily found. I’ve learned TONS of great stuff that’s going to help my lake flyfishing for bass and sunfish.

I loved “Darwin’s Radio,” and I’ve been eagerly awaiting this sequel. It’s different, but it’s pretty good. It doesn’t have the same narrative drive that “Radio” had. I’d recommend it only to those who read “radio” and want to know what happens to Mitch, Kaye, and Stella Nova.

I just picked this up from the library. I really enjoyed the prequel (Darwin’s Radio), and I’ve been looking forward to this one ever since.

Randy Wayne White fills the same void in my fiction reading that Mack Bolan and Nick Carter filled when I was a teenager: the confident man’s man crimefighter/spy guy. But, Doc Ford is a thinking man’s man’s man. These books are all rolicking good fun, and this one is no exception.

Ted Leeson is a gifted writer, and I’ve really looked forward to finally getting to read this book. While a lot of flyfishing literature falls way short of that term “literature,” Leeson’s writing fits the bill perfectly. Not afraid to litter the ground with literary references (he IS an English professor, after all), his writing holds up under the weight of those many references.

I don’t care that I’m 34 years old, I LOVE the Harry Potter books. I would have loved them so much as a young(er) child, it might have been dangerous. This one is just as good as the others, though it has a feeling of tension running through it that the others didn’t.