Amy Fletcher

Here's a list of 2012 book titles that have an Alaska connection, either through their authors or their subjects.

After 38 years, the Alaska Folk Festival is still going strong -- so strong, in fact, organizers might soon have to come up with new ways to accommodate all the musicians who sign up for their 15 minutes in the spotlight. This year's stand-by list for performers holds more than 50 names, a substantial increase over the usual dozen.

Beginning this fall, the artistic energy at the Manning house will be channeled in an additional direction. Marianne Manning, mother of five and grandmother of four, will offer oil painting classes for children, a venture she's operating out of the first floor of her Hemlock Street home, in tandem with a portrait painting business.