I am SO excited to be back with another installment of Pages As Planes! THANK YOU for your enthusiastic response last week. If you missed the first in the series, click here to find some fantastic books set in New York City.

It’s no secret that I love Alaska. Two of my very favorite books have taken place there and they have inspired a life long wish to visit the gorgeous state. If you know Carly, her Alaska trip has been one I’ve envied for YEARS and I hope that when the world is safe and healthy again, Nick and I will be able to go on a trip similar to this one.

Where is your bucket list destination?

Pages As Planes: Alaska

The Great Alone by Kristin Hannah—This is one of my all time FAVORITE books. Seriously, I love it so much. It follows the story of Leni and her family as they move to Alaska in the 1970s. It deals with some heavy topics such as alcoholism and domestic abuse amidst the homesteading movement of the ‘70s. But it is beautiful and atmospheric and just so so so good.

The Simple Wild by KA Tucker—Is it even a list by me if I don’t include The Simple Wild? This contemporary romance follows the story of Calla, who is returning to Alaska for the first time since she was two years old to reconcile her estranged relationship with her father. Along the way, she finds the gruff and hairy neighbor not so gruff and hairy. An enemies to lovers Romance with a lot of heart. It’s sequel, Wild At Heart is out now and the third book, Forever Wild, is out December 1, 2020.

The Tourist Attraction by Sarah Morganthaler—I am going to be upfront with you: I didn’t love this book. BUT it is another contemporary romance set in Alaska. If you like Hallmark movies, I think you’ll like this one a lot! It’s about the owner of a dive bar in a touristy part of Alaska and a girl visiting Alaska for the first time. It’s sweet and there’s an awesome, fun resort and silly side characters. It just didn’t have enough depth for my personal taste!

The Snow Child by Eowyn Ivey—I mentioned this book in my Fall/Winter Reading Guide! I can’t wait to read it this holiday season.

“Alaska, 1920: a brutal place to homestead, and especially tough for recent arrivals Jack and Mabel. Childless, they are drifting apart -- he breaking under the weight of the work of the farm; she crumbling from loneliness and despair. In a moment of levity during the season's first snowfall, they build a child out of snow. The next morning the snow child is gone -- but they glimpse a young, blonde-haired girl running through the trees.

This little girl, who calls herself Faina, seems to be a child of the woods. She hunts with a red fox at her side, skims lightly across the snow, and somehow survives alone in the Alaskan wilderness. As Jack and Mabel struggle to understand this child who could have stepped from the pages of a fairy tale, they come to love her as their own daughter. But in this beautiful, violent place things are rarely as they appear, and what they eventually learn about Faina will transform all of them.” —From the publisher

Into the Wild by Jon Krakauer—A classic story of the draw of the wilderness. A young man from a well to do family abandons his future in favor of a mapless journey into the unknown. We know how the story of how Christopher McCandless’ story ends, but Krakauer’s writing attempts to provide some answers.

Julie of the Wolves by Jean Craighead George—A classic middle grade series for those who loves wilderness adventures.

“To her small Eskimo village, she is known as Miyax; to her friend in San Francisco, she is Julie. When her life in the village becomes dangerous, Miyax runs away, only to find herself lost in the Alaskan wilderness.

Miyax tries to survive by copying the ways of a pack of wolves and soon grows to love her new wolf family. Life in the wilderness is a struggle, but when she finds her way back to civilization, Miyax is torn between her old and new lives. Is she Miyax of the Eskimos—or Julie of the wolves?” —From the publisher

Treasures of the North by Tracie Peterson—The Yukon Quest trilogy following a desperate young woman named Grace and an opportunistic young man named Peter hoping to make a new life of hope and success in the untamed Alaskan wilderness.

Two Old Women by Velma Wallis—”Based on an Athabascan Indian legend passed along for many generations from mothers to daughters of the upper Yukon River Valley in Alaska, this is the suspenseful, shocking, ultimately inspirational tale of two old women abandoned by their tribe during a brutal winter famine.

Though these women have been known to complain more than contribute, they now must either survive on their own or die trying. In simple but vivid detail, Velma Wallis depicts a landscape and way of life that are at once merciless and starkly beautiful. In her old women, she has created two heroines of steely determination whose story of betrayal, friendship, community, and forgiveness "speaks straight to the heart with clarity, sweetness, and wisdom" (Ursula K. Le Guin).” —From the publisher

Northern Lights by Nora Roberts—A thrillery romance set in snowy Alaska! What more could you ask for?

Flight of the Goose: A Story of the Far North by Lesley Thomas—”Flight of the Goose: A Story of the Far North is an award-winning novel about shamanism vs. science, corporate greed vs. deep ecology and star-crossed love. It takes place in a remote village and the wilds of the Alaskan Arctic.

Author Lesley Thomas grew up there in a multicultural family blending ancient and new traditions. Her study of the effects of oil spills on arctic salt marsh came into play in Flight of the Goose. She also wove in her substantial knowledge of mythology, Indigenous societies, subsistence skills and cross-cultural relations. The novel is endorsed by Native Alaskan elders, top anthropologists, scientists and literary critics as well as shamanic practitioners such as Sandra Ingerman. It is studied at schools and universities world-wide and won first place in several literary contests.” —From the publisher

An Alaskan Christmas by Jennifer Snow—You know I love a Romance and if it’s a holiday romance, even better!

“In Alaska, it’s always a white Christmas—but the sparks flying between two reunited friends could turn it red-hot…

If there’s one gift Erika Sheraton does not want for Christmas, it’s a vacation. Ordered to take time off, the workaholic surgeon reluctantly trades in her scrubs for a ski suit and heads to Wild River, Alaska. Her friend Cassie owns a tour company that offers adventures to fit every visitor. But nothing compares to the adrenaline rush Erika feels on being reunited with Cassie’s brother, Reed Reynolds.

Gone is the buttoned-up girl Reed remembers. His sister’s best friend has blossomed into a strong, skilled, confident woman. She’s exactly what his search-and-rescue team needs—and everything he didn’t know he craved. The gulf between his life in Wild River and her big-city career is wide. But it’s no match for a desire powerful enough to melt two stubborn hearts…” —From the publisher

Starry Night by Debbie MaComber—Big city author Carrie is sent on assignment to rural Alaska to score an interview with reclusive author Finn Dalton. A delightful novel about finding happiness when you least expect it, full of festive joy.

The Fugitive Wife by Peter C. Brown—”The year is 1900. Fleeing from a stormy marriage, Essie, a Midwestern farm girl, joins up with prospectors bound for Nome, where the golden sands teem with dreamers, schemers, and high rollers. Feisty and resourceful, Essie soon makes money caring for horses and delivering mail to the miners' beach diggings. Soon, too, Essie is drawn to Nate Deaton, the idealistic foreman of the Cape Nome Company. Nate's Eastern background is in direct contrast to Essie's down-to-earth Minnesota upbringing, but there is a deeper problem: Leonard, Essie's stubborn and volatile husband, is sure to come after her.” —From the publisher

Winterdance: The Fine Madness of Running the Iditarod by Gary Paulson—I love nonfiction and after a passage about the Iditarod in Wild at Heart, I knew I wanted to learn more about it!

“ Fueled by an all-consuming passion for running dogs, Paulsen entered the grueling 1,180-mile race across Alaska in dangerous ignorance and with fierce determination. For seventeen days, Paulsen and his team of fifteen dogs ran through breathtaking and treacherous Arctic terrain. They crossed the barren, moonlike landscape of the Alaskan interior and witnessed sunrises that cast a golden blaze over the vast waters of the Bering Sea. They endured blinding wind, snowstorms, frostbite, dogfights, moose attacks, sleeplessness, hallucinations - and the relentless push to go on. He crossed the finish line, but it wasn't enough: Paulsen was obsessed and wanted to race again. Though the dangers of the Iditarod were legion, more frightening still was the knowledge that he could not stop racing dogs of his own free will.” —From the publisher

Pages As Planes is going to get even more exciting next week! I’ll be joined by my friend Claire to take this series to the next level. I can’t wait! Until then, where should we let pages take us next?