Leffingwell’s contributions rescued from obscurity in ‘On the Arctic Frontier’
Book review: Enigmatic Ernest Leffingwell may not be a household name, but his accomplishments in the Arctic are vast and compelling.
Books
Investigator Cecil Younger is back in Straley’s new Sitka-set crime novel
While readers will find sympathetic characters and laugh-out-loud humor in "Baby’s First Felony," there is also a disturbing darkness to this violence-fueled story.
‘Rowing the Northwest Passage’ recounts attempt to cross famed Arctic route in man-powered vessel
Book review: We have plenty of stories about the region from the golden age of exploration, but modern tales are fewer. “Rowing the Northwest Passage” will provide the curious with a place to start.
‘Disappointment River’ traces misdirected journey by canoe, 227 years later
Book review: Brian Castner tells the story of 18th century Scottish explorer Alexander Mackenzie and his own adventure following Mackenzie's path up river.
‘I am Inuit’ brings readers face-to-face with traditional culture in a changing Arctic
Book review: Inupiaq photographer Brian Adams' book “I am Inuit” shows how Alaska Natives maintain their identity even as outside pressures and the impacts of climate change challenge them on a daily basis.
In “It Happened Like This,” a young woman finds adulthood by way of Alaska’s wild places
Book review: Adrienne Lindholm's memoir describes her discoveries and epiphanies as she grew from a newly hired backcountry ranger in Denali National Park into an Alaska adulthood.
New book explores how sea otters bounced back (cuteness is part of it)
Book review: Few animals have enjoyed the sort of resurgence that sea otters have. Veteran science writer Todd McLeish sets about explaining why in his new book, “Return of the Sea Otter."
He makes mysteries of the real grit of Arctic crime
Author Stan Jones uncovered corruption that led to a governor's impeachment hearings. Now his investigative skills help inform his novels.
In new memoir, a Jamaican-American girl comes of age in Anchorage
Book review: Patrice Gopo grew up in Anchorage as the daughter of Jamaican immigrants. In her memoir, she takes readers on a journey into the social and racial issues of our time.
Book review: From Anchorage to Fairbanks, infidelity and its aftermath
Book review: The opening story of "In the Quiet Season," by Anchorage author Martha Amore, finds a couple whose marriage has taken a deep self-inflicted wound.
In new book, stories of an Alaskan who learned to ride horses in order to explore Patagonia – solo
Book review: "Riding Into the Heart of Patagonia" is Nancy Pfeiffer's story of adventure, discovery and deep caring for the people of Patagonia she met along the way.
New book remembers black soldiers who endured racism, harsh environment to build a highway to Alaska
Book review: The husband and wife team of Christine and Dennis McClure have co-authored “We Fought the Road,” a recent, multifaceted history of the highway’s construction.
A veteran chronicles 12 years spent exploring Gates of the Arctic National Park – and passes along some pointers
“Gates of the Arctic National Park: Twelve Years of Wilderness Exploration” is part guidebook, part memoir, part introduction to the park and part thank you to those who have helped make author Joe Wilkins’ Arctic dream come true.
In 3 photography books, visions of an ice-covered north, fast disappearing
Book review: "The Arctic Melt," "Ilulissat" and "Ice is Black" are works that strive to save for posterity images of a world disappearing in real time.
In ‘To the Ends of the Earth,’ an ambitious attempt to encompass era of polar exploration
Book review: Independent historian John V.H. Dippel has attempted to write an all-encompassing work that explores the psychological and sociological settings under which expeditions set out from Europe, and later America, to map the final extremes of the planet and reach its two poles
In ‘Kings of the Yukon,’ paddling 2,000 miles to witness what’s left behind when salmon runs falter
Book review: Adam Weymouth paddled 2,000 miles of the Yukon River for the purpose of learning about the river’s king salmon and the people and communities that depend upon them.
What made the hollowed out ‘fire trees’ of the Tongass? An artist turns investigator to find an answer
Book review: Sprinkled throughout the Tongass are giant cedar trees with hollowed out cores at their bases - big enough to walk into. Artist Mary Ida Henrikson set out to learn what made them and why they are there.
Anchorage novelist tells a gothic tale set among dog mushers in Interior Alaska
Book review: When, in the first pages, a strange man, “tall as a tree and blotting out the rest of the woods,” barrels into 17-year-old Tracy and knocks her unconscious, the questions begin.
Anchorage Museum takes a broad look at northern life in ‘North: Finding Place in Alaska’
Book review: "North" employs words and accompanying images to offer perceptions on what it is to be an Alaskan, how life here differs from elsewhere, and to ponder what the future holds.
A New Yorker blends deep historical research into his personal, peculiar journey in ‘Tip of the Iceberg’
Book review: Alaskans are rightfully skeptical when writers from Outside arrive in our state to tell the story of “the last frontier.” It's a real pleasure to discover a book that defies that expectation.