Books on Alaska

[gf]

Received the Anne Vipond book revised 2005, from Amazon. Includes great map, detachable, general area including Denali on one side, city maps on other. Easily portable. Haven't really read but looks very inclusive. Also includes HAL $25. shipboard credit coupon, to be sent at time of deposit, good until 2007.

[Deb in Cali]

Any other suggestions for those going to Alaska?

[Cruizer_J]

Are there likely to be copies of Alaska Cruise Companion available in the Sun Princess' gift shops? We would like to buy it for our cruise, but I don't think that we'll have time to order and have it delivered before we go. Thanks.

[Deb in Cali]

Yes, there are copies available on the ship. :p

[pwillmo]

I am sooo glad someone brought this back up.. Finished reading Looking for Alaska, I Herd the Owl Call My Name and now I am trudging through Alaska.

It was sloooow at first, but now it is pretty good...

Of the above, I Herd the Owl Call My Name is REALLY good.

paula

[Dustypup]

I'm a 30-year Alaskan resident and the book I recommend to everyone is John McPhee's 'Coming into the Country'.

[Cruisehiker]

I am a Brit who has just finished a new book - Four Quarters of Light: An Alaskan Journey - by Brian Keenan. Keenan is Irish and is well known, at least in Europe, as one of the Lebanese hostages of the 1980s - in his case for 4 years of mainly solitary confinement (described in another of his books). Four Quarters tells the story of his travels, partly alone, partly with his young family, in the Arctic, Denali, Kennecott and Kenai (not much on S-East Alaska). Keenan is a semi-mystical poet so his writing will be a bit too florid for some but it has generally had very good reviews in England and I certainly enjoyed it. The chapters on his experience living in an Inuit settlement are especially interesting. Also lots of Alaskan 'characters'. The book won't be published in America until Nov - when I'm sure everyone will be mentioning it on this board - but can be ordered from www.amazon.ca (Canada) or European sites before then.

[pwillmo]

Sorry about the enthusiasm but I just finished "Alaska"....

It was a trying time for me beacuse of the length of the book.

Seriously, if you ar going to Alaska this summer you really must read it...

If you can get through the first 300 pages then you have got it made!!

paula

[Yukon]

Sorry about the enthusiasm but I just finished "Alaska"....

It was a trying time for me beacuse of the length of the book.

Seriously, if you ar going to Alaska this summer you really must read it...

If you can get through the first 300 pages then you have got it made!!

paula

 

Different strokes, I guess. I think Michener took exciting history and turned it into a cheap boring soap-opera.

 

Murray

[pwillmo]

sorry you feel that way.. i just really liked the story...

but my fav if Looking for Alaska...

paula

[alaskaobsessed]

I read this thread a couple months ago and took many of the suggestions, thanks! I wanted to add a few of my own.

1) I have been systematically working my way through the novels by Sue Henry on books on tape. She has some beautiful descriptions of the country, people, and events including the Iditarod and the Alaska State fair.

2) Land of the Midnight sun: a cheechako's first year in Alaska by Sean Michael Flynn. This guy is funny, his stories about Alaska and it's people are blunt, humorous, and entertaining.

 

If you are going on a whale watching excursion I found this nifty little spiral bound book called "Guide to Marine Mammals of Alaska" by Kate Wynne on Amazon. Beautiful pictures and illustrations of whales, dophins, and others, with hints on how to identify them by tail and fin.

 

I'd love to hear more suggestions - I've still got 2 months to do more research!