36. Black Woods Blue Sky by Eowyn Ivey

listened on Libby

306 pgs. (11:34)

Adult Magical Realism/ Dark Fairy Tale
Finished 77/23/25
Goodreads rating: 3.71
My rating: 4
Setting: Small Town Alaska - in the woodsy mountains

My comments: Oh my, what a story.  It was fairly slow-paced, which for once didn't really bother me, and I guess I'd consider it a realistic dark fairy tale.  Someone called it haunting.  Oh yes.  And tragic.  Sad.  Mesmerizing.  Long-winded in places....and touching. Told in three voices:  Birdie, the mother; Amaleen, her daughter; and Arthur's father.  Most of the story focuses around Arthur.  And although I wasn't too fond of listening to the endless ramblings of six-year-old Amaleen, I realized by the end how important her voice is to the story.

Goodreads synopsis:  An unforgettable dark fairy tale that asks, Can love save us from ourselves?

Birdie’s keeping it together; of course she is. So she’s a little hungover sometimes, and she has to bring her daughter, Emaleen, to her job waiting tables at an Alaskan roadside lodge, but she’s getting by as a single mother in a tough town. Still, Birdie can remember happier times from her youth, when she was free in the wilds of nature.

Arthur Neilsen, a soft-spoken and scarred recluse who appears in town only at the change of seasons, brings Emaleen back to safety when she gets lost in the woods. Most people avoid him, but to Birdie he represents everything she’s ever longed for. She finds herself falling for Arthur and the land he knows so well. Against the warnings of those who care about them, Birdie and Emaleen move to his isolated cabin in the mountains on the far side of the Wolverine River.

It’s just the three of them in the vast black woods, far from roads, telephones, electricity, and outside contact, but Birdie believes she has come prepared. At first, it’s idyllic, but soon Birdie discovers that Arthur is something much more mysterious and dangerous than she could have imagined, and that like the Alaska wilderness, a fairy tale can be as dark as it is beautiful.

57. City Under One Roof by Iris Yamashita

# 1 Cara Kennedy

listened on Libby
304 pgs.

2023
Adult mystery
Finished 6/19/2024
Goodreads rating: 3.54
My rating: 3
Setting: Contemporary Alaska, winter

My comments: There were some elements of this story that drove me crazy, but the general premise AND the three voices you hear work quite well.  There's something about an entire town living in one huge building in Alaska that strikes a cord.  One of my problems is that only a handful of people were mentioned, and the idea of hundreds of people living here all together doesn't come together at all in my brain.  Our protagonist is hugely claustrophobic, so of course there are lots of scenes where this comes into account for her.  Too many.  I loved the way the three voices all intertwined, one being that of a young woman with some sort of mental disorder (schizophrenia?) - I loved being in her head and hearing what she was thinking.  The story ends with unanswered questions about Cara's past, so I definitely get the feeling there will be another book about her on the way!

Goodreads synopsis:  A stranded detective tries to solve a murder in a tiny Alaskan town where everyone lives in a single high-rise building, in this gripping debut by an Academy Award–nominated screenwriter.

When a local teenager discovers a severed hand and foot washed up on the shore of the small town of Point Mettier, Alaska, Cara Kennedy is on the case. A detective from Anchorage, she has her own motives for investigating the possible murder in this isolated place, which can be accessed only by a tunnel.

After a blizzard causes the tunnel to close indefinitely, Cara is stuck among the odd and suspicious residents of the town—all 205 of whom live in the same high-rise building and are as icy as the weather. Cara teams up with Point Mettier police officer Joe Barkowski, but before long the investigation is upended by fearsome gang members from a nearby native village.

Haunted by her past, Cara soon discovers that everyone in this town has something to hide. Will she be able to unravel their secrets before she unravels?"

11. Northern Lights by Nora Roberts

listened on Libby

2004
637 pgs.
Adult Mystery/Romance
Finished 1/31/2023
Goodreads rating: 4.02
My rating: 3
Setting: Contemporary Lunacy, Alaska

My comments: Can't believe I read a Nora Roberts, swore I never would.  Read for a January Bookgirls Challenge.  Dragged on and on...much too long.  The setting, Lunacy, Alaska, was definitely cool.  Most was in the winter, then quickly moved through spring to summer.  Many characters, you either hated them or loved them.

Goodreads synopsis:  As a Baltimore cop, Nate Burke watched his partner die on the street—and the guilt still haunts him. With nowhere else to go, he accepted the job as Chief of Police in a tiny, remote Alaskan town with the hopes of starting over. Despite the name, Lunacy provides a balm for Nate's shattered soul—and an unexpected affair with pilot Meg Galloway warms his nights...

But other things in Lunacy are heating up. Nate suspects the killer in an unsolved murder still walks the snowy streets. His investigation will unearth the secrets and suspicions that lurk beneath the placid surface, as well as bring out the big-city survival instincts that made him a cop in the first place. And his discovery will threaten the new life—and the new love—that he has finally found for himself.

80. 365 Days to Alaska by Cathy Carr

read the book, borrowed from the library

2021
272 pgs.
Mid Grade CRF
Finished  7/27/2021
Goodreads rating: 4.29 - 243 ratings
My rating: 5
Setting: Contemporary CT, with a small part at the beginning in the wilderness/boonies of AK

First line/s:  "Rigel put the tip of the hunting knife into the hare's belly and made a careful slit." 

My comments: After spending her entire life in the middle-of-nowhere "bush" in Alaska, 11 year-old Rigel - pronounced RYE/JILL, is forced to move to Connecticut with her mom and two sister, five and 14 years old, leaving her dad, Bear, in Alaska.  She doesn't want to go, she's never left her home in the middle of nowhere and really, really loves it there.  So this story is the story of the following year in Connecticut, all the changes she has to adapt to, bullies and no friends and not enough nature and coming to love a crow she names Blueberry.  And of course she ends up making wonderful friends, finding the nature she needs, and adapting.  We get to know the diverse personalities of her  wonderful family member, too.  This is a wonderful story with lots and lots to sink your teeth into.

Goodreads synopsis:  A thoughtful middle-grade debut about a girl from off-the-grid Alaska adjusting to suburban life
        Eleven-year-old Rigel Harman loves her life in off-the-grid Alaska. She hunts rabbits, takes correspondence classes through the mail, and plays dominoes with her family in their two-room cabin. She doesn’t mind not having electricity or running water—instead, she’s got tall trees, fresh streams, and endless sky.
        But then her parents divorce, and Rigel and her sisters have to move with their mom to the Connecticut suburbs to live with a grandmother they’ve never met. Rigel hates it in Connecticut. It’s noisy, and crowded, and there’s no real nature. Her only hope is a secret pact that she made with her father: If she can stick it out in Connecticut for one year, he’ll bring her back home.
        At first, surviving the year feels impossible. Middle school is nothing like the wilderness, and she doesn’t connect with anyone . . . until she befriends a crow living behind her school. And if this wild creature has made a life for itself in the suburbs, then, just maybe, Rigel can too.
365 Days to Alaska is a wise and funny debut novel about finding beauty, hope, and connection in the world no matter where you are—even Connecticut.

58. Alone in the Wild by Kelley Armstrong

#5 Rockton
borrowed from Bosler, listened on Libby
narrated by Therese Plummer
Unabridged audio (10:32)
2020 Minotaur Books
368 pgs.
Adult mystery
Finished 3/28/2020
Goodreads rating:  4.26 - 2732 ratings
My rating: 5
Setting:  Yukon wilderness, contemporary

First line/s:  "I wake under one hundred and forty pounds of dog."

My comments:  Another excellent episode in the Rockton series.  This one was spent mostly in the woods, with very little participation of the Rockton residents.  However, we get lots more insight into both settler villages and the hostiles.  This one involves finding the parents of a baby found hidden under the snow in the arms of a dead hostile.  So Casey and Eric troupe from settlement-to-settlement and back-and-forth through the woods many times to figure out what is going on.  It was a really mesmerizing story.

Goodreads synopsis:  In #1 New York Times bestseller Kelley Armstrong's latest thriller, the hidden town of Rockton is about to face a challenge none of them saw coming: a baby.   
         Every season in Rockton seems to bring a new challenge. At least that's what Detective Casey Duncan has felt since she decided to call this place home. Between all the secretive residents, the sometimes-hostile settlers outside, and the surrounding wilderness, there's always something to worry about.
          While on a much needed camping vacation with her boyfriend, Sheriff Eric Dalton, Casey hears a baby crying in the woods. The sound leads them to a tragic scene: a woman buried under the snow, murdered, a baby still alive in her arms.
          A town that doesn’t let anyone in under the age of eighteen, Rockton must take care of its youngest resident yet while solving another murder and finding out where the baby came from - and whether she's better off where she is.

88. Lessons from a One Night Stand by Piper Rayne

listened to Audio / Chirp
read by Tanya Eby and Tim Paige
Unabridged audio (7:43)
2019 Audible
340 pgs.
Adult Romance
Finished9/15/2019
Goodreads rating:  4.17 - 1227 ratings
My rating: 3.5  Steam:  1.75/4
Setting:  Contemporary biggish small-town Alaska

First line/s: "The handsome guy on stage with his jaw hanging wide open, shock and awe in his eyes?  That'd be me.  Austin Bailey."

My comments:  Okay, this is the perfect romance for people who are into light romances that includes a little bit of the naughty stuff.  Too good-to-be-true hot teacher who's the patriarch of a tribe of siblings is also the much-loved coach and biology teacher in a medium-sized town in Alaska.  The "she" part of the story is the new substitute principal.  Heavy on story and character development with a spattering of the X-rated stuff, too.

Goodreads synopsis:  If you’re a guy like me, and you find yourself having banged your sexy new boss—the school principal—in the back of your Jeep one drunken night, here’s a few takeaways based on my experience...
          Lesson One: Always get her FULL name.
          Lesson Two: Consider asking what she does for a living.
          Lesson Three: Find out why she’s moved to town. Get details. Details are crucial.
          Lesson Four: Don’t alter her bio in front of an auditorium of high school students unless you know she has a sense of humor for that sort of thing.
          Lesson Five: If you ignore Lesson Four, apologize instead of flirt when you’re sent to the principal’s office.
          Lesson Six: NEVER sleep with her again.
          Lesson Seven: Pay attention to this one—it’s the most important of them all.          

          Don’t fall for your one-night stand.
          Class dismissed. 

65. The Simple Wild by K. A. Tucker

listened on Audible borrowed from CCLS
read by Rebekkah Ross
Unabridged audio (12:34)
2018 Atria Books
388 pgs.
Adult CRF
Finished  7/20/2019
Goodreads rating:  4.46 - 11,857 ratings
My rating: 4.5
Setting: Contemporary Bethel (Bangor), Alaska

First line/s: (from Chapter One, not the prologue)  "That calculator's not mine."

My comments:  The narrator, Rebekkah Ross, read this beautifully.  The setting, in the tundra near Bethel, Alaska (But called Banger) was as well done as the large handful of well-drawn characters.  I do appreciate a character driven story, which this was -- a contemporary, well-crafted sotry with just enough romance, full of humor and heartbreak.  I didn't think that I really cared very much about the protagonist at first, because i was judging the inner Calla by merely looking at the outer Calla, but that didn't last more than about a quarter of the book.  I guess you can say I ended up loving it, through the laughter and the tears.

Goodreads synopsis: Calla Fletcher wasn't even two when her mother took her and fled the Alaskan wild, unable to handle the isolation of the extreme, rural lifestyle, leaving behind Calla’s father, Wren Fletcher, in the process. Calla never looked back, and at twenty-six, a busy life in Toronto is all she knows. But when Calla learns that Wren’s days may be numbered, she knows that it’s time to make the long trip back to the remote frontier town where she was born.
          She braves the roaming wildlife, the odd daylight hours, the exorbitant prices, and even the occasional—dear God—outhouse, all for the chance to connect with her father: a man who, despite his many faults, she can’t help but care for. While she struggles to adjust to this rugged environment, Jonah—the unkempt, obnoxious, and proud Alaskan pilot who helps keep her father’s charter plane company operational—can’t imagine calling anywhere else home. And he’s clearly waiting with one hand on the throttle to fly this city girl back to where she belongs, convinced that she’s too pampered to handle the wild.
          Jonah is probably right, but Calla is determined to prove him wrong. Soon, she finds herself forming an unexpected bond with the burly pilot. As his undercurrent of disapproval dwindles, it’s replaced by friendship—or perhaps something deeper? But Calla is not in Alaska to stay and Jonah will never leave. It would be foolish of her to kindle a romance, to take the same path her parents tried—and failed at—years ago. It’s a simple truth that turns out to be not so simple after all.

Ten Rowdy Ravens - Susan Ewing

Illustrated by Evon Zerbetz
Alaska Northwest Books, 2005
$15.95
32 pgs.
For: kids a bit older than the usual "counting book" age...
Rating: 4.5
Endpapers: Large purple and lavender squares with numbers and cutouts of ravens

First of all, this book is just gorgeous. The illustrations are from carved linoleum prints that are then hand-colored. They're beautfiul. And secondly, the word choices, the alliteration, the writing is clever and deosn't talk down to kids.

"Eight rougish ravens
Pilfer piles of loot,
Cheater swipes some pretty pearls,
Seven give pursuit."

"Five unruly ravens
Gobble up chop suey
Noodles make a bellyache,
Now there's four. Aw, phooey!"

That was a lot of alliterative "r" adjectives! And at the end of the book, a 7-page "Daily Kaw", True News from Around the Raven World, that includes true stories of mischievous ravens, information about these trickster birds, and even "Corvid Classifieds" - all done with superb humor.

I went through a second time for a really close examination of the illustrations. Fantastic!

Ocean's Child - Christine Ford & Trish Holland

Illustrated by David Diaz
Golden Books/Random House
2009
$15.99
Rating: 4.5
Endpapers: Aqua/lavender batik

This gentle bedtime, good-night story is swathed in batik. The backgrounds (from edge of the page to edge of the page) are batiked. Some of the animals are batiked. Batik is a special kind of fabric created with wax resist. It's my favorite fabric - it's beautiful.

Each two-page spread ends with a similar soft chant. For example:

Safe and snug in his leafy bed,
Baby otter is rocked to sleep.
To ocean's child we say good night.
Good night, little otter, good night.

In this way we also say good night to walrus, dolphin, whale, polar bear, puffin, sea lion, orca, albatross, seal....baby and child.

Mmmmmm. A lovely bedtime book.

MOVIE - The Proposal

Charming and really, really funny - a feel good movie!
PG-13
108 minutes
Released June 19, 09 (Dede and I tried to see it in LA on opening night, but all had were first row seats, so we declined.)
7/6/09 at El Con by myself
RT: 46% cag 90%
EW: B+
Ryan Reynolds, Sandra Bullock, Betty White, Craig T. Nelson, Mary Steenburgen

Lots of good, loud laughs go along with this movie. You can't take it too seriously, and you can certainly enjoy Bullock and Reynolds sparring with one another. Great timing, perfect smirks, incredible bodies, and Betty White is.....hysterical!

Sandra Bullock is the executive editor of a high powered publishing firm in NYC, Reynolds has been her executive assistant for three years. She's one scary boss- sort of like Meryl Streep in Devil Wears Prada, but toned down a tiny bit. The whole company is afraid of her. Reynolds loathes her. But when she discovers that she's about to be deported to Canada, she instantly comes up with an idea to marry him so that she can stay in the US and keep her job. Enter the Immigration service with all their questions, send the couple to Alaska for "Granna's" 90th birthday, and you more or less have the major premise of the storyline. Bullock in her high heels and tight ass are a little over-the-top when they arrive in Sitka, but I guess they really want the audience to see her mellow out, so there has to be a big difference. These two actors really "work" together.

Alaska, for this film, was actually Bearskin Neck, Rockport; a mansion near Singing Beach in Manchester, and Gloucester - all in Massachusetts. What fun it must have been for the residents to watch the film. The set/setting was great.

Totally enjoyable, I didn't want it to end. The "interviews" at the end during the credits were really fun, too, but I ended up not reading the credits because of listening and laughing through them. Full audience (smallish theater, but it was Monday night...), very noisy before the film started. Loads of laughs and no squriming or talking during the 108 minutes. Everyone seemed to enjoy it.