Attention All Shipping: 02/18/12

Attention All Shipping by Charlie Connelly came out, I got a job working as a web producer for a client based in Texas, while I was in California. The office I worked in was very small and very quiet. To bridge the gap between my scheduled assignments, I started listening to the internet stream of Radio Four.

With my location in California and the hours I worked, meant that my day began and ended with a broadcast of the Shipping Forecast. I think it was also on Radio Four that I heard a very positive book review of Connelly's memoir of a his journey around the shipping forecast map.

Connelly gave himself a year to visit one spot in every piece of the shipping forecast map that has an actual town. His book chronicles the ups and downs of that journey. Some places are tiny and remote. He struggled with bad weather, boredom and transportation issues.

It includes some points of history of the shipping forecast and how it has changed over the years. For me it was the perfect combination of history, travelogue, and social commentary.

Recommended by Radio 4?

Five stars

Comments (2)

Comment #1: Sunday, February 19, 2012 at 01:53:44

Heidi@heaven is a bookstore

this sounds like something right up my alley, but reading some of the other reviews it seems to be more for those familiar with the shipping news. Unfortunately I am not familiar at all. Hmm, not sure, but definitely looking it up. Nice review!

Comment #2: Monday, February 20, 2012 at 19:18:15

Pussreboots

I included a link at the bottom of the review to the digital archive of the shipping forcast if you want to listen to one. Frankly I don't think you have to be super familiar with it to enjoy the book but you should like unusual travel books. The book includes plenty of history about the forecast as well as map of the areas covered and where he traveled in those areas.