Published Jan 21. 2018 - 6 years ago
Updated or edited Oct 8. 2020

That book thing, again...

Some books I just order, no hesitation. But when prices go above 200 US$ and postage follows close behind, my finger hesitates a bit over the buy button

As you may know I love books. I have posted about books many times on this blog. While I myself call it collecting, some might look at it more like an obsession.
Too many books? Whaddayatalkinabout? I like books!
And I mean those on paper. Large, hefty, weighty, colorful with texture, smell, sound.
Can't get enough.

Too many books? Whaddayatalkinabout?

So whenever new fly fishing and fly tying books appear on the horizon, like in press releases, on social media, in magazines, online or off, I raise my brows and focus my attention.
They are essentially all potential candidates for my shelves.
During the last few months three titles have caught my attention a little more than average, bu for different reasons they might not find their way to my house right away – if ever.
I'll go though them and tell you why they are interesting, and why I may not be able to get my hands on them.

Globe Troutter

Globe Troutter
Globe Troutter
Globe Troutter
Henri Pol (Henri-Paul Chabal) & Zarn (Patrick Martin)
Drawings: Marcello Pettineo
Preface: Nicolas Vanier

This book is a crowd funded project started in the autumn 2017 by a handful of French fly fishers/adventurers/photographers/artists. It was successfully funded with more than 400 books pre-ordered.
The book has the subtitle “New Zealand – Aotearoa” and that indicates that the content is about New Zealand fishing. But the book seems to be so much more than that, the artwork in particular.
The page samples I have seen are really marvelous looking, with great photo work, excellent drawn art and text in both English and French. It’s got the look of a beautiful coffee table book, and a volume that can have your non-fishing guests leafing through it in spite of its rather exotic subject.
The book isn’t expensive, priced at 45 Euros or 55 US$, and since it’s posted from Europe, the costs are manageable at only 7 Euros or about 8.50 US$, and this one I might just order if a review copy is out of the question.
The book has plenty coverage and samples available online, so if you want to stir you appetite, there’s enough material to help you.
On Facebook.
The original crowdfunding page.
Webshop with online ordering.

Top Saltwater Flies

The books
Top Saltwater Flies
Wild River Press
Drew Chicone

US fly tyer and author Drew Chicone has written some excellent books before, but this three volume series on saltwater flies seem to be something extraordinary. The three books deal with flies for bonbefish, permit and tarpon respectively, and if they are anywhere near Chicone’s previous books, the quality is good. And I honestly expect these three massive volumes to be top notch.
The books are instructional books with patterns and step-by-step tying instructions.
Volume, weight and page count alone indicates something extra, and the price supports this assumption. 250 US$ isn't extreme for close to 900 pages in 8*11” (20*28 cm), connected by a spiral back, wrapped in hard covers and made from durable, heavy stock paper. Still 250 US$ is quite a price for any book.
In my case the hefty price also means that a review copy is probably out of the question. I can fully understand if a publisher is reluctant to send out such expensive books for free. And then there's the shipping! Unless your company name happens to be Amazon, international shipping of 900 large format pages is probably another 250 dollars right there... if not more. Shipping books is simply crazy expensive, and one of the major reasons that the Global FlyFisher doesn't get a fraction of the review books that we used to get.
I have tried contacting both the publisher Wild River Press and Drew himself when the books were published, but I doubt that I’ll ever see these books unless I go to the US, buy them and bring them home myself.
The books have their own web site and can be bought online from the publisher.

America’s Favorite Flies

America's Favorite Flies
America's Favorite Flies
America's Favorite Flies
Editor: John Bryan
Design: Rob Carter
Contributor: David Watterworth
Photos: John Henley
Intro: Jason Borger

This is a mighty book! Mighty in many senses. Weight and size alone is impressing, as is the scope and idea behind it, bringing us on to the work of compiling it, which must have been immense.
It is, as the title says, flies from 224 US tyers. An impressing row of American fly tyers who have contributed, and have their flies and stories presented in really large format... like really... large! We're talking 9*12” (23*30.5 cm) and an astounding 656 pages.
The pictures and the artwork I have seen posted give the impression of a gigantic book with some breathtakingly large images and som beautiful illustrations.
The list of tyers seems to contain everybody relevant - and quite a few who might not be as well known as tyers, but certainly are very well known, like Jimmy and Rosalyn Carter and Huey Lewis.

The price is actually quite low considering the size. A mere 145 US$. Not a cheap book, admitted, but it could certainly be expected to be more expensive considering its size. The book only ships to Canada and the US from the web site, so I'd have to have a middle man send it on. Given the expected postal rates to get such a package to Europe, the price for getting it here will probably be crazy. UPS estimates a 200+ US$ cost for the slowest and least expensive shipment, rendering it too expensive for my economy. Even with a book this impressing, expenses in the 3-400 US$ range makes no sense for a single volume.
I seriously doubt that the publishers would be willing to part with a review copy anyway, but I may try contacting them. You never know.
This book also has its own web site.
And there’s a Facebook group with posts about the book.

You never know.

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Comments

Bart van der Schrieck's picture

Small book about natural things that happen along the beach....

Dear Martin,

I was looking around on your fantastic website and ran into the section where you ask for input of any usefull kind.
May be i have something that fits into your website.
It happens to be that i wrote a small book last year during Corona about some soil-, water- and wave mechanics that happens along the beach.
The book is called "Beach Science: about sand, water and waves" and it is available in English, German, Dutch and French.
I think the book will be an interesting piece of information for flyfishermen that are fishing from beaches as well along the see as along rivers and lakes. The content is also interesting for kids who can perform some simple tests with water and sand to investigate the behaviour of water and sand.
The book is low priced and can be ordered via my website at www.vanderschrieck.nl
Should you be willing to put it on your website, please feel free to reproduce some of the contents on your website.
If necessary i can send you the files of pictures etcetera.

Hope to hear from you soon,
Best wishes

Bart van der Schrieck

Martin Joergensen's picture

I'll see if I can find it...

Bart,

Thanks for the recommendation - and sorry for the late reply. Sound like an interesting book, and I'll see if I can track it down somewhere. That might not be easy. It's listed on Amazon - in Japan! And a search on the title leads to your comment here ...

Martin

Beach Science...

Dear Martin,
Thanks for your positive comments. The book learns you much about waves , tsunami and what to (not) do when you end up in quick sand. All very important knowledge for flyfishers.
Greetings
Bart

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