Which books are you taking to Alaska?

[winddncer]

I will do all my trip research before hand and then see what happens. Books, or as I call them, crack, are my addiction. I have a separate Amazon wish list dedicated just to books to read onboard. My darling BF laughs that I bring a veritable library with me. You'd be amazed how much reading can be done while multi-tasking the iPod, an umbrellaed beverage, and a book.

 

There's certainly something to be said for an E1 cabin on an Alaska cruise. I can just imagine hanging over the balcony watching the glacier go by as the captain pulls "donuts" in the water.

 

The same said balcony is a great place to hunker down over a good book before a good nap before another night of fun and frolic.

 

How many more days? 58, I think. Big sigh.

 

Hi, my name is Nina and I am a book addict. It's been 24 hours since my last hit, I mean book. I'm not planning what books to bring until at least 30 days prior to my trip which is in 78 days!!!!

[Driftwoodgal]

Serenade has a pretty good library, just head there as soon as you get on the ship. They also have some really good trivia sheets there too!!

[nothriver]

Speaking of the library, I'm planning on donating anything I finish reading to Millennium's reading room. We are cruising early in the season, Millie will be in Alaska through Sept, so I'm assuming others will enjoy my Alaska books while she is up there. For this reason, I don't mind packing so many books, since I won't be dragging them all home. :)

[Been There, Planning That]

Nothriver, I appreciated your link to children's books.

 

We doing a family cruise with grandchildren from 2 to 12.

 

From the tone of your note I gather you're an expert on children's literature.

 

As Canadians I'd like the wondergrands to learn a bit about Alaska -- geography, history and wild life.

 

• Do you have any suggestions for the 12 year old -- in particular novels?
  
• Do you have any other suggestions?
  

Thanks in advance to anyone out there who might reply.

 

They'll miss over a week of school so I want to ensure this is a real learning experience too.

[winddncer]

Nothriver, I appreciated your link to children's books.

 

We doing a family cruise with grandchildren from 2 to 12.

 

From the tone of your note I gather you're an expert on children's literature.

 

As Canadians I'd like the wondergrands to learn a bit about Alaska -- geography, history and wild life.

 

• Do you have any suggestions for the 12 year old -- in particular novels?
  
• Do you have any other suggestions?
  

Thanks in advance to anyone out there who might reply.

 

They'll miss over a week of school so I want to ensure this is a real learning experience too.

 

 

::Putting on my teacher hat::

Here in California - (not sure how it works in Canada) if you will be missing more than 5 days of school, you can apply for independent study - where the teacher will send along some work to be completed on the trip and then the absences count as excused instead of unexcused. Might be something to look into.

 

:: okay, hat off now:: - on with Summer.

[Napi's Mom]

I'm a single mom, so I'll be sitting on my balcony reading after my kids go to sleep. I normally spend a couple hours before bed online. Reading will be a nice change of pace. Not sure what anyone else's excuse is, though.:cool:

My only excuse is....addiction!! No kids anymore , no job...read a lot of books (sometimes 2-3 a day. Yeah I know supposedly junk books.) If I run out of new, and no library books at hand...I re-read. As I said addiction !!!:D My Dh says I could open my own library from the "keepers" I have:cool:

[nothriver]

Nothriver, I appreciated your link to children's books.

 

We doing a family cruise with grandchildren from 2 to 12.

 

From the tone of your note I gather you're an expert on children's literature.

 

As Canadians I'd like the wondergrands to learn a bit about Alaska -- geography, history and wild life.

 

• Do you have any suggestions for the 12 year old -- in particular novels?
  
• Do you have any other suggestions?
  

Thanks in advance to anyone out there who might reply.

 

They'll miss over a week of school so I want to ensure this is a real learning experience too.

 

Not an expert, I'm just a mom who loves books and my kids are 11 yrs apart in age so I have read many kids books over the years! I also homeschooled my oldest son for a few years, so I do have some experience pulling together books for "unit" studies, and I enjoyed finding Alaska themed books for my kids.

 

For my 15yr old, I bought Into the Wild by Jon Krakauer. Neither of us have read it yet, but my guess is that it is too intense for a 12 yr old.

 

I'm also thinking of buying him Winterdance by Gary Paulson, but again, I haven't read this yet, so I don't know if it would be appropriate for a 12yr old.

 

Call of the Wild by Jack London would be a really good one for a 12 yr old.

If I think of any others, I'll post back.

[tetleytea]

I brought a few copies of a one-page spreadsheet I did with all the phone numbers, street addresses, confirmation numbers, dates, etc. of all the flights, excursions, shuttles, rental car, etc. I needed. That sure was nice having everything in one place. Plus by having multiple copies, if I lost one, no big deal.

[NanciRDH]

I bought a Kindle...UPS tracker said it's out for delivery, so I'll have it today! One of my co-workers talked about it, and I decided it will be great for my cruise...usually we just drive to port, but this time I'll need to be careful with luggage weight. Thanks for the warning about spending too much, that's my biggest fear. :eek: I've been looking at the freebies, and will probably start there for now. I'm thinking in the long run this will eventually save me $$ and space...I always buy too many books, and then have to squish them into my already overloaded bookcase. :p

[bethaniesmom]

i took James Michner's Alaska on our first trip....read about 50 pages on the way to seattle.....never touched it again. But it made great reading after I got home when I could identify with having been to some of the places and seeing some of the locations that were in the book. This time I am taking the Alaska Mile by Mile book for reference as we cruise but no plan yet for any other reading material....I would rather be viewing scenery.

 

Beverly

[bottom-dragger]

does your library support overdrive.com audio books? really quite a broad selection available.

 

not good if you need to see pictures, but my creative nano zen plus can carry about 6 full novels. your ipod or laptop can probably carry more.

[Been There, Planning That]

Nothriver, would you believe I have prepared 'assignments' for each age grouping with some history, geography, animal, math and family assignments, but I'm still on the lookout for books for the various age groups. I've been gathering stickers to 'tart' up their homework album pages. And since the oldest ones are in immersion, some entries will be in French. All this to say, they'd have no time for formal school work. I've been talking up the excitement of doing homework on a ship! I do believe I have them almost convinced that it will be great fun.

 

Thanks Winddancer, I've cut and pasted your suggestions. I'll check them out at the local library before ordering.

 

The kids will have plenty of reading time after diner and on the 5 hour flights to and from BC.

[Wormy53]

I'll be taking my new Kindle! Just got it for Mother's Day / birthday. Looking for books to download before heading out. Won't have to worry about the weight issue for flying. I'm so excited!!!

 

I am also traveling for the first time with my Kindle. I don't know why people talk about the price of books. There are LOTS of books free on Kindle plus all the $.99 - 1.99. You can read all those classics that you might have missed, plus anything new! This is the most wonderful electronic tool that I have ever purchased! PS - there is a new Clive Clusser - Medusa!!

[NanciRDH]

I am also traveling for the first time with my Kindle. I don't know why people talk about the price of books. There are LOTS of books free on Kindle plus all the $.99 - 1.99. You can read all those classics that you might have missed, plus anything new! This is the most wonderful electronic tool that I have ever purchased! PS - there is a new Clive Clusser - Medusa!!

 

 

I was surprised to see how many freebies there were...this is where I started looking because the purchase was a big enough hit on my visa on top of my final payment and shore ex purchases! I'm reading Hide in Plain Sight right now, and enjoying it very much.

[winddncer]

I was surprised to see how many freebies there were...this is where I started looking because the purchase was a big enough hit on my visa on top of my final payment and shore ex purchases! I'm reading Hide in Plain Sight right now, and enjoying it very much.

 

My sister and I have a few books that are repeat reads. Pride and Prejudice being one of them. I think her repeat read list is where she got hit. I was on the phone with her for the first hour of her Kindle experience and she did start in the free section and worked her way up. :D They make it too easy to go over budget on book shopping with that thing. One reason I'm glad I don't have one - for now. When I'm on a reading marathon, I could go nuts in a book store. Imagine that uncontrolled with a Kindle.

[FunForUs]

Taking my Kindle for the first time. Just loaded The Scarecrow, Michael Connelly's new book. Also have Classic British Fiction which has all of Jane Austen's books,and a couple of free ones (The Amateur Cracksman andPersuader) on it, so I think I'm covered for the 14 day cruise.

[songbert]

I found a really great Cruise Tour Guide on Amazon for the Inside Passage.

It has descriptions of each major port from Puget Sound to Glacier Bay,

a small map of each city and has a 6-foot fold-out map of the cruise routes which I plan to post in our cabin so we can see where we are along the way! With a highliter, I will be able to track our route.

 

The name of it is: "Alaska & Canada's Inside Passage Cruise Tour Guide"

 

I love maps, and it would be great for anyone traveling with kids.

 

Can't wait to see Alaska!

[Been There, Planning That]

Thanks Songbert, I've already bought that guide and agree it's going to be a great resource.

[NancyIL]

I have accumulated quite a few books about Alaska since I first started planning a cruise in 2005! I brought The Milepost along on my first two Alaska trips because we were doing a driving trip after the cruise. That is one heavy book! My 3rd Alaska cruise last week was a roundtrip, so I brought Frommer's Seattle Day By Day (we spent 3 days pre-cruise and 1 day post-cruise in Seattle), the map that goes along with Joe Upton's mile-by-mile guide, and Alaska By Cruise Ship. I also bought one of the books written by the Golden Princess's naturalist, as well as Sons of the Profits by Bill Speidel - about Seattle's early days. My roommate went overboard with the book buying and had a very heavy backpack on the trip home!

[cantw8togo]

A great book for 8 to 13 yr old kids, is Gold Rush Fever: a Story of the Klondike, 1898 written by Barbara Green wood. It is about two teenage brothers who follow their dream to find gold in the Klondike. Each chapter is followed by a nonfiction section which also has some activities. It makes one appreciate what prospectors went through to get over the Ckilkoot Pass.

 

One week until we go!

 

N.

[bensmom1]

Northriver--thanks for the book list for kids! I will definitely get some of those before our August cruise w/our 6yo.

 

A great Alaska autobiography which I read years ago (during a blizzard in Fargo, ND--very appropriate!) is "Two In the Far North" by Margaret Murie. Here's the Amazon link:

 

http://www.amazon.com/Two-Far-North-Margaret-Murie/dp/088240489X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1244038280&sr=8-1

 

It's a really fun, easy read for an autobiography, and I will probably find it again before the cruise!

[NancyIL]

I tried to slog my way through James Michener's Alaska in the past, but hadn't been able to get through the ice age. My cruise buddy bought the book on our trip and thought it was fascinating, so maybe I'll dig it out and try again.

 

I saw a number of Sue Henry's Alaska mystery books at Parnassus Books (on Creek Street) in Ketchikan, and made a note to see what's available at my library.