Alaska Books

This book is definitely going to hold a place of honor on my bookshelf! I have always been interested in holistic/naturopathic remedies and this reference is excellent in identifying and describing native natural remedies in Alaska. While I have several North American medicinal plant and herb references, the climate in AK really does have an impact on the appearance and uses of many plants. Additionally, there are some plants growing there that, to the best of my knowledge, either don't grow anywhere else or aren't used medicinally anywhere else. Having native information about the plants and their uses is invaluable!

A fantastic informational book about the madicinal plants that this state
has to offer. Learn a lot about the wild plants and their uses or ones that you should stay away from. Would recommend this book and the seller
from whom I purchased it from, booksurf11.
Paula

Divided by plant - includes a line drawing (full page), plant description, distribution, constituents, medicinal, culinary and other uses. Many of the medicinal uses are taken from the traditions of the Alaskan Natives and work very well... I have personally used my copy of this book for many years with great results

Everyone in the part of AK that I live in part of the year harvests their necessities. This is one of them.

In the late 70's was when Mr. Annabel reached his prime in story telling in writing for Petersen's Hunting when it was still the haunt of the old legends like O'Connor, Keith and Annabel. This book is his early stories for magazines and while good is not his later perfection. It is though an interesting and moving tale. His World War II stories about life in Alaska are fantastic. Reading this book makes me miss him even more and remember the time when we were still young in another America. My only complaint is the price on his books even if they are worth it.

The venerable father of hunting and fishing literature, none other than Ernest Hemingway himself, said that Russell Annabel was the finest outdoor writer he had ever read. After reading this book I have to agree. Mr. Annabel is clearly one of the best, if not the very best, outdoor adventure author of the 20th century.

Most stories are set in Alaska and all are based on Mr. Annabel's real-life experiences or are based on historical fact. In particular, a few stories about the Japanese invasion of the Aleutian islands during World War II will bring tears to the eyes of the most jaded and hardened military historian.

But most stories are happier and deal with the sporting life in its most natural and enjoyable way. The essence of Mr. Annabel's writing is the essence of outdoors Alaska itself and comes from a time when fishing and hunting provided the basis of daily life for most resident Alaskans and many visitors.

Not to worry though, this book is not a dry historical treatise or boring account of sporting economics. It is a series of "up close and personal" accounts of the process of horsepacking, backpacking, hiking and exploring with rod and gun throughout Alaska. The stories also occur during a time when circumstances and attitudes were just a bit different than they are today.

This book is terrific, easy, entertaining, fact-based reading. If you are an outdoorsman (or woman) Annabel's stories will make you long for life in a different era.

This is an outstanding collection of stories from the Alaska of 50 years ago. Annabel lived an outsized life in Alaska's most interesting time, and told each story with an eye for both the beauty and adventure all outdoorsmen love. His dispatches from the WWII Aleutian campaign are riveting and heartbreaking, and his face-to-face encounters with bears, wolves and wild-eyed moose are enough to make you want to give up your job, sell the house and find your own place in among the northern lights. Nobody pens a better description of an Alaskan sunrise, and nobody gives a better taste of true Alaskan sourdough life. This book is a bargain at twice the price.

This book and the other four in the Annabel collection are a must read for any outdoor enthusiast.I have searched literally for years trying to find anything written by this author because of his unbelievable ability to make readers live his stories. I have remained captivated by Mr. Annabels writings in Outdoor Life since the late 50's and all of the 60's (all of my childhood years).You feel as though you are walking with him in all his adventures. When I read his articles in the early years I was mistaken to think that he was an Indian or part Indian because of the magic words he uses. This book will explain the reason for this misunderstanding. I wish there were many more books by Mr Annabel because since finding these five books, I read them all, then reread them and now wish there were more.

Found an old hard copy at the library. It was so old that I figured if they still had it after all these years, it must be good! Took it home and the kids and us all loved it. They have changed the way they look at the moon, a new found respect for it's power! We have a number of Native American story books, I especially like the way they tend to incorporate elders as the members with the greatest power. Too many contemporary stories make grandparents out as less valuable. Truly a classic - now off to hunt down my own copy to own.

This was one of my favorite books as a child. I wish they would put it back in print in hardcover so I could get copies for my friends' children.

A young Tlingit boy goes in search of his friend whom the Angry Moon had kidnapped. He meets friends along the way who help him. It's a Native American "Jack in the Beanstalk" story. The art work is lovely, very worth it if you can find a copy. Great for teaching values about having good manners and finding friends in unlikely places.

An amazing picture book by William Sleator (known for HOUSE OF STAIRS and other dark pieces of science fiction) and illustrated by Blair Lent (Caledecott winner for A FUNNY LITTLE WOMAN). It follows a young indian boy through an incredible journey to the moon to rescue his beloved. The artwork is resonant and meaningful and the story compelling. Lots of transformations and magical switcheroos make it satisfying for children of all ages. It is a shame this book is out of print. It needs to be brought back!!

this book was very informitive and was very easy to read and understand and covered all bases in the u.s. and alaska

This book gives a great overview of the suprisingly many ways there are to see bears in Alaska. Stringham gives loads of specific, practical advice. He also backs it up with the science he's learned and contributed to over the years so that you understand what you're seeing. And, he gives tips on how to be safe while you're seeing bears.

This is a very well written book, but I had high expectations when I heard it was coming out. I envisioned a glossy but informative, "Frommer's" or "Eyewitness" type guide that had good maps and beautiful images for each viewing location, with very specific transportation, lodging, timing, tips, and suggestions.

This book seems to be a high level guide mixing the current Bear Viewing industry and a how to act in bear country guide. The facts are presented in a general manner. For example, rather than saying "Use guides A or B" or plan to travel the second or third weeks of July, they have a list of questions to ask of your guide and suggest mid-summer visits during salmon runs. This is understandable, specific information would go out of date quickly and bears' habits are variable. So, the more vague information has a longer shelf life and is weather-proof. The information in the book is valuable, but the book does not contain all the answers you'll need to plan a trip.

Location descriptions take up a third of the book, but they are short and again somewhat vague. Brooks River, which deserves pages, is given a paragraph of a hundred or so words. I was hoping for at least a map, description of camping availability, maybe a timing chart showing average peaks in bear presence and at least the iconic photo of a Brooks River bear catching the salmon mid-air. They spent 28 words describing the picture. I would have preferred a thousand words worth of photo.

Where the book soars is when it discusses bear etiquette and ethics. The author is knowlegeble and prudent in his advice. His descriptions of bear behavior and ideal viewer behavior is what should be taken away from this book. Techniques is a strong word to use in the title, they're more like guidelines, but I think this is the meat of this book.

Also, the book is filled with great photos, but again, I was hoping glossy national geographic type photos rather than black and white textbook images. I'm sure it was a cost saving compromise but they lost some of their power in the printing process.

Sounds like I am slamming the book. I really can't, it's a good book. I was just hoping for something different. I guess my advice is to expect a fantastic general overview of the subject. What is there is great, what is missing are the specific details you need to start your trip planning.

Dr. Stephen Stringham's BEAR VIEWING in ALASKA is an up-to-date reference guide for anyone interested in observing the magnificence and splendor of Alaska's wild bears. As a professional wildlife photographer I can say firsthand that Dr. Stringham's vast array of knowledge will surely enhance ones bear viewing adventure. The book is an indispensable manual for both the amateur viewer as well as the professional biologist, journalist or photographer. The exquisite images by Kent Fredriksson beautifully portray the bears in their natural habitat.

Amy Shapira is the co-author and photographer of GROWING UP GRIZZLY the TRUE STORY of BAYLEE & HER CUBS...Growing Up Grizzly: The True Story of Baylee and Her Cubs (Falcon Guide)

Few of us will ever have the opportunities that Dr. Stringham has had, to live intimately with wild animals on a daily baisis and observe them close at hand. Dr. Stringham has written an enchanting and engaging accout of raising three wild bear cubs in the Alaskan wilderness. Bears have been revealed as intelligent and adaptive creatures who occupy a unique niche in the American wilderness, comparable to the niche primates occupy in Africa. This book is exciting, highly readable and hard to put down. Dr. Stringham is not only a gifted wildlife biologist, but a gifted writer; his descriptions are beautiful. I love this book, as has every other person I know who has had the fortune to read it. Christine Nicolayeff

Reading this book was a privilege. The author writes with a sensitive and wonderfully descriptive style. I found myself fascinated from the moment I picked it up until I put it down. It is at once an adventure, and a love story of an unusual kind. In reading this book, I felt his reverence for wild animals, particularly for bears, and I learned to look at them as something far more than I had before. I was not overwhelmed by the science in the book, because it was so skillfully interwoven with his description of raising three black bear cubs. Dr. Stringham has created a treasure, and I highly recommend it.

Beauty, personality, kin, children, learning beings--what a picture of these brown bears we are given, by Dr. Stringham. The previous reviewer (blessed282) has describe the beautiful attributes of this book well. I can only add: It is wonderful. I can't wait for his next one!

As many in this world know, very few will experience the Bear. Dr. Stringham skillfully shares his experience with the Ursus kind in a manner which allows the laymen to touch this creature in the comfort of the armchair.

I have much respect for what Steve has done, both in this book and his career, and hope that my words may spread the message that is contained in this book. I truly know that this will become a classic; in the true spirit of Michio Hoshino...Please write more Steve!

I found Broken Wings very informative with detailed information on major aviation disasters. A must read which I highly recommend. Very impressive with well researched facts and background information on each accident. The book will scare the pants off anyone having a phobia for flying.

This book is filled with incredible details and facts involving the struggles of aviators, past and present, trying to open the vast, unforgiving expanses of our northernmost state, Alaska. This book is well researched and written, with details and maps that make it seem as if you are along for the ride. Once you start reading the book, it's hard to put down. A great salute to those pioneer heroes.

An excellent account of aircraft disasters in the "Last Frontier". The author tells the complete story of each accident in layman's terms, from the beginning through the post accident investigation, drawing the reader into the horror of each tragedy. There are many interesting facts on the background of the aircraft and crews, as well as the factual data from government transcripts and search and rescue information. I highly recommend this book. It should be read by every pilot as a source of what can and will often go wrong in aviation.

I found this book well researched and written. An insightful history of aviation told through a chronological sequence of aviation accidents in Alaska over seven decades. The book was interesting, educational and entertaining. The photographs were excellent and maps acurate.

A very good read. And while I've never flown in the Arctic, personal experiences of similar nature in various other parts of the world made me feel right at home in learning about those little problems (being just a "little" too heavy for take off, needing that one part so desperately for your airplane, even polar bear attacks) that seem to plague professional aviators everywhere. Written in an easy-to-read, engaging, style. Well done.
This is Your Captain Speaking: A Common Sense Manual for Keeping Your Wings Level

. . . should you read the Chronicles?

You betcha, is my vote.

As you can see from the other reviews, pilots love these yarns. But anybody with the slightest interest in Bush Alaska and its larger-than-life characters, climate, and country will love the Chronicles, too.

Besides being a professional pilot with many thousands of hours in his logbook, Clouddancer is a soulful raconteur and a born storyteller. The best of these stories are people stories, and Clouddancer understands people, which is the most important thing in a writer.

That said, you have to make some allowances.

For one thing, as a writer, Clouddancer makes a great Bush pilot. By which I mean, he brings much enthusiasm and passion to his writing, but not-so-much polish (although we're working on that -- I'm his unofficial coach/consultant/cheerleader). So don't expect the kind of finely honed prose you'd find in an Ernest Hemingway novel (although there are comparable quantities of liquor and sex).

Also, about half of these stories are extremely technical accounts of various situations that come up in flying, both Bush and air-carrier. They'll be nearly incomprehensible to non-pilots, and perhaps not particularly interesting for those not into flying, per se.

But these are quibbles. I give the Chronicles 5 stars because they are, in total, really great Alaska flying books, of which there are far too few.

Stan Jones
One-time amateur Kotzebue Bush pilot, as well as author of the Nathan Active mystery series, which is set in a fictional Alaskan Eskimo village modeled on Kotzebue, where Clouddancer cut his Bush-flying teeth

Absolutely captures the spirit of bush flying in our great state- Seems absurd, but all too true, and part of why lots of us wouldn't want to fly anywhere else. CloudDancer has almost as big and well-deserved a following for his writing as Gwennie's does for their reindeer sausage. Want to know more... Buy It!

As one who started his professional flying career in the Alaskan Arctic, and finished out as a Sled Driver in Kotzebue, I can't begin to tell you the memories that these stories bring back. And the thing is, they're all true. Same characters, same airplanes, same stuff still happening up there every day. Kotzebue is a Third World Country with a zip code, and for those of us who figured out how to survive it, it's one of the most amazing and fun places to fly on the planet.

From the new pilot thinking of taking the commercial path in Alaska bush flying, to us grizzled old farts who somehow survived all the years and all the thousands of hours of bad weather and shoddy equipment, this book is a must read. Hidden in the humor is a treasure chest of how-to-do weather flying and techniques for the novice Alaska flyer to draw from, and an intimate look at the native people of Alaska and what their world is really like.

This book is great for identifying underwater creatures. There are full color photos and it is organized well for easy use. I would suggest this book for any diver or snorkeler as a great resource.

I wish we had bought this book before our recent dive trip to California. The little fish id cards just don't have as much info and the quality of pictures in this book. As a fan of the Humann id book series, I can say that all of his books are the best on the market and any snorkeler or diver should own them all.

As a freediver along the coast north and south from San Francisco, I frequently refer to this book for reference of the fish I find in the kelp beds. I am able to find every fish I saw in the water in this book. The color photos are great for that purpose. Other books in my collection are sometime visually vague due to the lack of photographic images (paintings and/or black & white sketches). In ths book the text along with the pictures are also informational: distinctive features, description, abundance & distribution, habitat & behavior, reaction to divers.

As an avid diver in the Puget Sound, I have found this book to be very useful. It features great photos to help me identify the fishes that I encounter while underwater. The format is easy to use because it is geared toward the underwater naturalist. I recommend it to all my diver friends.

If you've never lived or worked on a llama ranch in Alaska, no problem. Because now you can spend some time on the Kinnaman Ranch with nine-year-old JT and his Grandad. JT has always wanted to raise his very own llama, and this spring he finally gets the chance to do so.

But as JT's Grandad says, "Things keep growing and changing on a llama ranch." And not always for the best. JT's baby llama, named Elmo, is born very small and needs special attention. JT learns why one cannot spend more than three minutes at a time caring for a new baby llama, and how to watch out for infection.

Just as Elmo is starting to grow, one of the most frightening and terrible things happens to the Kinnaman Ranch. A giant grizzly bear breaks through a fence, and the ranch loses almost half its llamas! As a result, the ranch's yearly income is seriously affected. And to make matters worse, little defenseless Elmo is missing.

They say that bad things happen all once, and this is unfortunately the case with JT and his family. Grandad gets very sick and has to be rushed to the clinic while everyone is trying to find whatever llamas are still alive. And JT, a member of his school's baseball team, may get to pitch in the season's most important game --- if the coach thinks he's good enough. But how can JT find time to practice when so many terrible things are happening?

While Grandad lies seriously ill in the clinic, JT miraculously finds Elmo, who has a broken leg. Llamas with broken legs have not survived on the Kinnaman Ranch. And although JT does get to pitch in the season's last game, Grandad is not there to cheer him on. It takes incredible hope and spirit for JT and Elmo to make it through this saddest yet most inspiring of springs.

COME, LLAMAS, Jennifer Morris's debut novel, is a most unusual and moving story.

--- Reviewed by Bob Oksner

Wonderful story of family. I enjoyed this book very much and highly recommend it.

We don't have any Llama farms in the high Arctic that I know of--closest might be a tradition of historic Reindeer herding.
But I think children around grades 4-6, and even adults interested in Alaska life will enjoy this debut book by a very promising author.

There are lots of details about Llamas, including the birth process (and a couple of surprises there), but it is all done with a caring touch for young people.

And the portrait of a nine-year-old boy, taking on the responsibility for a Llama is very revealing and inspirational. He still retains the joys of being a kid, including his love of baseball.

A plot, and a portrait of Lllama raising, that will keep the reading going. And I believe it will help young people appreciate animals of all types, and how to respect and understand them.

Enjoy!
Earl

Come,Llamas is a wonderful book about a young man learning some tough lessons in life and the value of family. This fresh new author will delight young and old alike, I loved it!

Outstanding photography

I sent this book as a gift to my brother, who is a printer. He thought that pains had been taken with the photography to produce such fine prints. He compared it to another book of Restoration painters that he had once bought at the Guggenheim, having been thrilled with the original exhibition, but said that the Restoration photography had been careless and therefore did not print well, whereas the Hermitage collection exhibited outstanding photography. I didn't buy books that were available in St. Petersburg at the Hermitage because they didn't look good, but these were both beautiful and plentiful. I can't comment on the accompanying text, as I didn't read it.

I had very high expectations from "Paintings" when I ordered it, and they were all met! The volume contains beautiful fine quality, mainly full-page reproductions from the famous collection. "Paintings" is a beautifully designed, very substantial size volume which also offers Colin Eisler's very informative yet not imposing style of writing with which she guides us through the many periods of western art and the history behind Catherine the Great's collection. I, a Russian, can only appreciate the thoroughness with which the Hermitage collection is compiled in the "Paintings." I bought it along with "Paintings in the Louvre," both volumes are of the same format as if in the same series and will always be our priceless source for admiring some of the world's most treasured canvases.

Context: I'm not an academic or a scholar; I'm a regular guy who likes visiting museums when I travel and I wanted to do a little researach before I left. This book worked well for my daughter and I to determine which parts of the museum deserved the most time (on a short trip) and to get a better understanding of the works. I'm not qualified to evaluate it from an academic perspective, but as a layman it was exactly what we needed.

I sent this book to my mother after we toured the Hermitage this summer. She loved it. Lots of narrative, which she may not take time to read, but the pictures are great.