Book Reading Alaska

[sanders]

I totally forgot about this book until I saw it in the window of a bookstore in Haines last week… it’s about Haines and I was thinking it would have made a good reread on my cruise… https://www.goodreads.com/en/book/show/107633

[Nolafan]

2 minutes ago, sanders said:

I totally forgot about this book until I saw it in the window of a bookstore in Haines last week… it’s about Haines and I was thinking it would have made a good reread on my cruise… https://www.goodreads.com/en/book/show/107633

Thanks for the recommendation! The book does look interesting! Good cruise book read.

[sanders]

Welcome … I’ll try and think of some others I may have read.

[Coral]

I like this one:

 

https://www.amazon.com/Race-Across-Alaska-First-Iditarod/dp/0811722538 

[naturelovergirl]

We listened to Michener’s Alaska on Audible

It is long, as you would expect, but we enjoyed it very much

The Gold Rush chapters were outstanding

We also liked the salmon section, but all of it was good

So glad we listened to it

[Nolafan]

1 hour ago, Coral said:

I like this one:

 

https://www.amazon.com/Race-Across-Alaska-First-Iditarod/dp/0811722538 

That is definitely a good read! She will be a speaker on out cruise so it will be a good read beforehand. 
 

 

[Coral]

3 minutes ago, Nolafan said:

That is definitely a good read! She will be a speaker on out cruise so it will be a good read beforehand. 
 

 

I have seen her multiple times over the past 20 years. Her presentation has changed and is different than previously. She used to read a passage from the book (and did a video). Now it is a better video presentation and she answers questions. I go every time she is on the ship 🙂 

[Nolafan]

6 hours ago, Coral said:

I have seen her multiple times over the past 20 years. Her presentation has changed and is different than previously. She used to read a passage from the book (and did a video). Now it is a better video presentation and she answers questions. I go every time she is on the ship 🙂 

We are looking forward to seeing her presentation. We just ordered her book on Amazon/ the one you recommended. 
 

Thanks for the recommendation! 

[Pluto_fan]

Thanks for the suggestions!  Anyone have more to add?

[Gardyloo]

Still relevant and a wonderful read after all these years, Coming into the Country by the legendary John McPhee, is available on Amazon and through most sources.  You won't regret it.  

[wolfie11]

Kate Shugak mystery series by Dana Stabenow

[linksgolf]

It's not about Alaska per se, but I'm going on an Alaska cruise in a few weeks and bringing The Kon-Tiki Expedition by Thor Heyerdahl.

[Glaciers]

Where The Sea Breaks Its Back

A wonderful read about the Vitus Bering, Georg Steller Alaska expedition.

 

https://www.goodreads.com/en/book/show/722003

[islandchick]

On 5/25/2023 at 10:42 AM, sanders said:

I totally forgot about this book until I saw it in the window of a bookstore in Haines last week… it’s about Haines and I was thinking it would have made a good reread on my cruise… https://www.goodreads.com/en/book/show/107633

I have read this and enjoyed it quite a bit. It would be a great read while in Alaska

[oaktreerb]

On 5/25/2023 at 8:42 AM, sanders said:

I totally forgot about this book until I saw it in the window of a bookstore in Haines last week… it’s about Haines and I was thinking it would have made a good reread on my cruise… https://www.goodreads.com/en/book/show/107633

If you Lived Here !’d Know your Name,  great book.  I found it onboard our 21 day Maasdam EXC cruise a few years ago. I wish all the Alaska itineraries offered books by local authors now that the libraries are back!  

[quack2]

Tip of the Iceberg, by Mark Adams.

[dave_k58]

My favorite is an  historical fiction novel " Alaska" by James Michener

[naturelovergirl]

2 hours ago, dave_k58 said:

My favorite is an  historical fiction novel " Alaska" by James Michener

We loved it too

[dave_k58]

On 5/25/2023 at 3:35 PM, Coral said:

I have seen her multiple times over the past 20 years. Her presentation has changed and is different than previously. She used to read a passage from the book (and did a video). Now it is a better video presentation and she answers questions. I go every time she is on the ship 🙂 

 I hope she is on the Crown for the August 25 cruise

[Coral]

6 minutes ago, dave_k58 said:

 I hope she is on the Crown for the August 25 cruise

I think she gets on every Princess cruise in Juneau (late in the day). The presentation was done in the last hour or two before the ship leaves. Our ship also had this year Iditarod's winner speak in Skagway I believe but I missed that entirely.

[edinburgher]

I would also like to recommend reading some of the poems  by Robert Service.

[Gardyloo]

7 hours ago, edinburgher said:

I would also like to recommend reading some of the poems  by Robert Service.

Indeed, although Service's works are about the Yukon and not Alaska.  

 

For lovers of fiction, especially the genre of "alternative history," one of the best books about Alaska is The Yiddish Policemen's Union by the great Michael Chabon.  

 

Without too many spoilers, this is basically a murder mystery set in an alternative Sitka, one that has a population of over a million residents, the result of Sitka being designated as a Jewish homeland in North America following the destruction of the fledgling State of Israel in an alternative version of the 1948 Arab-Israeli war.  Sitka is now an overwhelmingly Orthodox Jewish city, part of a federal territory within the boundaries of the State of Alaska, but about to be merged with Alaska following a 60+ year mandate as a Jewish territory.  Beyond Sitka, the rest of SE Alaska is predominantly non-Jewish, with a larger Tlingit population than actually exists.  In the middle of all the politics, the protagonist, an alcoholic local detective, embarks on a murder investigation with widespread ramifications... etc.

 

As a whodunnit it's a terrific read, and as commentaries on Jewish culture, Native American aspirations, and how tenuous our reality is - so dependent on a series of coincidences the absence of which would make for a very different world... a masterpiece.  Highly, highly recommended.

 

The Yiddish Policemen's Union - Wikipedia

[edinburgher]

Indeed, although Service's works are about the Yukon and not Alaska.  

 

Gardyloo, thank you for correcting my bad,  but for anyone taking the White Pass and Yukon route out of Skagway, his works are very descriptive of the harsh reality of life in this beautiful but unforgiving landscape, and I do think worth a few minutes of anyone's time.

Edited May 28, 2023 by edinburgher

[sanders]

I have jotted these down for next time.

[latebuyer]

I was going to read this book on my alaska trip Two Old Women: An Alaskan Legend Of Betrayal, Courage And Survival is a 1993 novel by Velma Wallis, set in northeastern Alaska

 

Velma Wallis’s award-winning, bestselling novel about two elderly Native American women who must fend for themselves during a harsh Alaskan winter.

 

I can report back.