Reading the North

By Richard C. Folta (Friesen Press)

The blurb: A novel about the resurgence of an Alaska village and its indigenous people who strive to find a balance between their traditional values and Alaska's dominant culture.

Excerpt: "Although he had been away from Kaheen Village and Valley for many years the village had not changed much, still impoverished and third world looking. Since the devastating influenza epidemic of 1971, most of the sickness survivors had moved to other places. Yet he remembered where to find the button blankets, ceremonial masks, head dresses, drums, bracelets, house posts and most important, the mountain goat wool blankets used in potlatches and other rituals by the Kaheens over hundreds if not thousands of years. They, along with those of Kaheen's two sister village artifacts, were among the last of the original Native artifacts in North America, now worth millions of dollars."

I Think Again of Those Ancient Chinese Poets

By Tom Sexton (University of Alaska Press, $14.95)

The blurb: The collection of poems mixes ancient Chinese poetry with images from Alaska.

Excerpt: "After a night of restless sleep, Wang Wei

"prepares his brushes and waits for the day

"to begin. Not a sound. Not a breath of wind.

"The mist rising from his pond will thin

"and he will see the heavy snow that fell

"on the peaks and silenced the temple's bell,

"but for now he sits without a thought

"waiting for what will appear and what will not."

The Mountains Bow Down

By Sibella Giorello (Thomas Nelson, $14.99)

The blurb: FBI special agent and forensic geologist Raleigh Harmon boarded a cruise ship to go on vacation in Alaska, but when another passenger goes missing, Harmon suspects foul play.

Excerpt: "With the trajectory of launched missiles, the mountains soared from the ocean. Smothered with evergreens, the steeps pointed to a sky so blue it whispered of eternity. Though it was June, snow on the granite ridges refused to melt despite almost twenty-four hours daily of sunlight. And where a liquid silver sea lapped the rocky shore, a bald eagle surveyed the cold water for fish.

"First week of June: 5:00 AM in Ketchikan, Alaska.

"It felt like falling in love."

-- Compiled by Matt Sullivan, Anchorage Daily News