Reading the Water: Fishing, Fatherhood, and Finding Strength in Nature

(Hardback)

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'A father shares the joys of fly-fishing with his daughters. In this eloquent memoir[Mark] Hume vividly conveys the sensory details of their adventures and the stunning surroundingsA heartfelt, beautifully written celebration of the wonders of nature and comfort of family.' Kirkus STARRED Review

Fishing was Mark Humes passion since he was a young boy, a lifeline through a childhood marked by his familys frequent moves. When he became a father, he knew he wanted to pass on his love of water, fishing, and the natural world to his daughters. Most of all, he wanted to give them hope for their future even as they were coming of age during uncertain times.

As soon as they were old enough, Mark taught his girls how to read the water and see the patterns in nature. He showed them how to cast, how to catch fish and release them, and only when needed how to kill them. He discovered that fly fishing and fatherhood require many of the same skills: patience, flexibility, and the knowledge of when to reel in and when to let go.

Illuminating and heartfelt, Reading the Water is a much-needed, positive story about a father raising daughters, and a meditation on finding faith in a deep connection with the natural world.

Reviews

An invigorating look at the power of the outdoors.
Publishers WeeklySTARRED Review

Hume captures the poignancy of having once grasped a natural world teeming with exquisite, if all too vulnerable and fleeting, abundance. A must read for anyone who loves nature and cares about the earth.
Tara Neilson, author ofRaised in Ruins

A father shares the joys of fly-fishing with his daughters. In this eloquent memoir [Mark] Hume vividly conveys the sensory details of their adventures and the stunning surroundings A heartfelt, beautifully written celebration of the wonders of nature and comfort of family.
KirkusSTARRED Review

In the tradition of Roderick Haig-Brown, and with a clear lyricism reminiscent of Wallace Stegner, Hume writes passionately about his intense connection to wild fish and the waters that sustain them. Gorgeously imagined, told with humility and grace, Reading the Water is a meditation on what it means to be a son, a father, a man wading the deep currents of his own mortality.
Kim Barnes, author ofIn the Wilderness: Coming of Age in Unknown Country, a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize

Lyrical, thoughtful...Reading the Waterurges readers to appreciate the wild places around them and to work to preserve the beauty and diversity of rivers and the animals that inhabit them.
Shelf Awareness

Rich and thought-provoking...there is much to enjoy in thiscelebration of family and the wonders of nature.
Hakai Magazine

An immensely profound look at how fly fishing has been a way of navigating lifea joyous celebration of how it has mingled with the seasons, the rivers, and the author's close family. I lovedReading the Water.
Nick Lyons, author ofSpring Creek

This is glorious truly brilliant.
Roy MacGregor,award-winning journalist and author ofA Life in the Bush

Reading this book I found myself feeling more hopeful ... Not just about the environment, but importantly, about men as fathers.
Sandy Shreve,author ofSuddenly So MuchandWaiting for the Albatross

I have never gone fishing and probably never will. That matters not one bit when it comes to this memoir; I was hooked. It is a lyrical contemplation of lifebeautifully written, smartly observed. It was like I was out there in nature with Mark and his family; I could almost feel the mountain air, the river water, as I drank in every word.
Marsha Lederman, Western arts correspondent for theGlobe and Mail

We need more books like Mark Hume'sReading the Water. Potent, direct, imbued with humility and hope, this lovely story takes the pulse of the river and a man, yes, but most importantly of his unforgettable relationship with his daughters, which keeps his heart beating true.
Chris Dombrowski, author ofBody of Water

[Hume] invites us to wade streams, listen to the birds, cast a wary eye for marauding bears, and learn how to tie lures and practise fly-fishing... I found him among the best of literary companions.
Literary Review of Canada

"You dont have to beadad who loves to fish to connect to this meditation on the natural world. Indeed,ariver does run through it.
The Vancouver Sun

Profoundly thoughtful and beautifully written...Reading the Wateris about fly-fishingbut it's also aboutlife.
The Daily Mail

"This is nature writing at its finest."
Ken McGoogan, The Globe & Mail

Author Bio

Mark Hume is an award-winning environmental journalist and author of four books, including the acclaimed River of the Angry Moon. He was formerly a national correspondent and columnist with the Globe and Mail, BC bureau chief for the National Post, and a senior correspondent with the Vancouver Sun. Based in Vancouver, he has fly fished in British Columbia for fifty years.