My crazy mother has come a cropper in Portugal whilst touring on her motorbikeand is now residing in porto hospital – after initial panic we have now down graded the panic slightly but she still looks like she will be there a little while longer.

I want to send her something to keep her occupied and thought books would be the best option – she loves tales of adventures both historic and recent, any suggestions would be gratefully received

she loves tales of adventures both historic and recent,

Stunning, truly stunning. Reminds me that I haven’t read it for a couple of years. Must revisit.

What an awesome mum!

Life of Pi?

Yes she is, if I grow up to be like her I’ll be very happy!

Life of pi is a good call but shes read that already.

Cfh that looks just the ticket will be on the list!

Mark Urban’s ‘The man who broke Napoleon’s codes’, the story of an army officer who did just that during the fighting in Spain and Portugal.

South: the story of Shackleton’s Last Expedition by Earnest Shackleton
“In 1914, Shackleton made his third trip to the Antarctic with the ship ‘Endurance’, planning to cross Antarctica via the South Pole. Early in 1915, ‘Endurance’ became trapped in the ice, and ten months later sank. Shackleton’s crew had already abandoned the ship to live on the floating ice. In April 1916, they set off in three small boats, eventually reaching Elephant Island. Taking five crew members, Shackleton went to find help. In a small boat, the six men spent 16 days crossing 1,300 km of ocean to reach South Georgia and then trekked across the island to a whaling station. The remaining men from the ‘Endurance’ were rescued in August 1916. Not one member of the expedition died. ‘South’, Shackleton’s account of the ‘Endurance’ expedition, was published in 1919.”

It’s a free e-book now, although I read it in paperback sometime ago and found it extraordinary. Apparently penguins will keep you alive but taste pretty awful (http://www.gutenberg.org/files/5199/5199-h/5199-h.htm)

Hope your mum stays crazy!

Ha ha slowoldman – I think she’d think I was trying to be funny if I sent her that!

Will take a look at that thanks slowoldgit (whats with all the slow old people today? :lol:)

She has read quite a lot of books on Shackleton and the endurance, so I wouldnt probably not risk getting one shes read already. . . But that is definitely her kind of adventure

she does also love india and the himalayas – as shes ridden over there a couple of times – luckily the only medical attention she needed then was for altitude sickness

whats with all the slow old people today?

It seems to me that I’ve always been slow.

Part of the action in that Urban book takes place about where she is. The main character was not a typical wealthy army officer, normally they came from the landed gentry, instead he had to climb the ranks by using skills and intelligence (of both sorts).

There’s a book about surveying in India, in Victorian times, ‘The Great Arc’…

… which might appeal.

Then, have her put it to use fixing your taco’d wheel! 😉

Jupiters Travels Ted Simon

A kindle with 3G would let her choose her own books and should work in Portugal.

I have taken my Kindle to France, Spain and Crete and the 3G worked fine without and fuss or additional cost

+1 for something about Shackleton. ‘South’ is excellent.

Not adventure but “all families are psychotic” by Douglas Coupland my mum loved that when I lent it to her .

Some of the Robert MacFarlane books might be worth a try – The Old Ways was one of my mother’s favourites.

Or Wade Davis – Into the Silence.

+1 for the Kindle, though – lighter and easier to handle than most of the books, especially if they’re keeping her in bed. Then you could also get her some of the Anne Mustoe books, which are easier to find on Kindle…

Harry Thompson – This Thing of Darkness (naval adventure – Robert Fitzroy who sailed with Darwin)
Bruce Chatwin – In Patagonia (travel writing)

She has grumbled quite a lot about not liking e readers as she as great believer in passing books on and sharing them, and to be honest i think i’m happier with sending a parcel of books to a big hospital than i am about sending something that would be a bigger loss if it went astray.

she loved into the silence – she has read so much about both Mallory and shackleton i wouldn’t know where to start to find one she hadn’t read so i think i’ll steer clear – unless there is something very new out there. Great chioces though!

We have both done all of the Mustoe books too – again brilliant!

Will have a look at those thanks mrnice

Will go and see what i can find from the growing list i have in waterstones at lunch – having looked at the hospital website it says visitors shouldnt bring food. . . I was also hoping to send her some chocolate in the parcel to cheer her up a bit, hopefully that will make it to her too!

Patrick Leigh Fermoy is one of the great travel writers – also try John Gimlette

Does she like Archaeological rip roaring adventure ?

Heres my choice, a massive fan for many years, sadly the Author passed away but his books live on.. There are 5 in the series, this is the first..

Paul Sussmann:
The Lost Army of Cambyses (2002)
“2153 BC. As Egypt descends into chaos at the end of the ninety-year reign of pharaoh Pep ill, eighty priests set out under cover of darkness into the western desert, dragging with them a mysterious object swathed in cloth. Four weeks later, having reached their destination, the surviving priests calmly slit each other’s throats.

1986. A plane takes off from a remote airfield in Albania, carrying a cargo that could decisively change the balance of power in the Middle East. Somewhere over Egypt’s western desert, the plane mysteriously disappears.

The present. A group of Bedouin travelling across the Sahara discover a mummified corpse half-buried in the sand dunes. Clutched in its hand are a roll of camera film and a miniature clay obelisk inscribed with a curious hieroglyphic sign.

Three unconnected events. Or so it seems until rock-climber Freya Hannen arrives in Egypt for the funeral of her sister Alex, a desert explorer who has inexplicably taken her own life.

For Freya it is the start of a terrifying, life-or-death adventure, one that will propel her and Egyptologist Flin Brodie from the balmy springs of Dakhla Oasis to the foetid slums of Cairo, from the murky world of arms dealing and international power politics to a long-lost chamber in the great temple of Seti l at Abydos.

Finally, it will take them both deep into the searing, barren emptiness of the Sahara. Their goal: a legendary desert paradise and the astonishing secret that lies at its heart
”

Don’t mums read those books with the pale covers you see in Asda – “No Daddy”; “I Won’t Talk”; “Behind Closed Doors”; “Stolen Childhood” and crap like that?

She does read the odd bit of fiction but tends to read about real characters.

she’s also a big fan of T E lawrence – but I think a lot of that is the mutual appreciation of brough superior motorcycles

That STW classic that’s not ben mentioned in a while – Skunk Works

DezB – Member
Don’t mums read those books with the pale covers you see in Asda – “No Daddy”; “I Won’t Talk”; “Behind Closed Doors”; “Stolen Childhood” and crap like that?

Not the kind of Mum’s who ride broughs around Europe, Enfields over the himalayas and accidently splat themselves in Portugal on the BMW rockster 1150

She seems to be on the mend . . . . i haven’t been brave enough to ask how the bike is!

Birds Without Wings – Louis de Bernierres

Half fiction, half factual tale following the inhabitants of a small village in Anatolia during the events leading up to the Turkish War of Independence.

It’s an absolutely stunning novel.

These are the days that must happen to you, by Dan Walsh.
He has an ‘unusual’ style, so you might want to read it first. As far from Shackleton as you could get. Easy to read in short bursts as it was originally serialised in a magazine.

Failing that, classic mountaineering literature such as Annapurna, or The Ascent of Rum Doodle (fiction) are always enthralling, but she may have read them already.

These are the days that must happen to you, by Dan Walsh

i was bought that by one of my kids for mothers day one year – can you see a pattern developing 😉

I’m stunned… All these sensible responses and not one suggestion of Fifty Shades of Grey. I woudl have thought at least Hora would have gone for that.

Personally, I’d like to suggest some Eric Newby. The Last Grain Race was good and A Short Walk in the Hindu Kush is superb. They are quite short though.

Not the kind of Mum’s who ride broughs around Europe, Enfields over the himalayas …

Bloody glad to hear it (about the books, not the splat) 😀

Awesome! Remember you telling me about her after the Pootle – sounds like a brilliant mum.

+1 for The Great Game – breathtaking hardly does it credit, ties back into current affairs too!

+1 Paddy Leigh Fermor – especially the one about capturing the German general on Crete, just reading a biog about him now – inspirational stuff.

Something by Dervla Murphy?

Seconding Robert MacFarlane, probably Mountains of the Mind.
This might be a bit short for a hospital stay, but I recently really enjoyed ‘Nightwalk’ by Chris Yates.