Reviewing my list of books that I read this year, I realize that I hadn’t written about two books from my Alaska adventure.
The Northern Lights: Secrets of the Aurora Borealis by Syun-Ichi Akasofu, Alaska Geographic Society, was sent to all members of the AAAS expedition that I did in March. This was a required read for us before we began the trip. The book reviewed the historical documentation of the aurora, the scientific process of the phenomenon and the literary/cultural writings about it. The book was basically a primer on the aurora so we wouldn’t all ask the same dumb questions when we were in our lecture classes.
Looking for Alaska by Peter Jenkins is a travel tale memoir of Jenkins and his family exploring different areas of Alaska. Because he was a known author of adventure tale, he was afforded access to many opportunities that the average person would never experience. They traveled over twenty thousand miles in tiny bush planes, on snow machines and snowshoes, in fishing boats and kayaks, on the Alaska Marine Highway and the Haul Road, searching for what defines Alaska. I liked that I traveled some of the roads, visited some of the towns, understood some of the sights, sounds of Alaska so I could experience the book’s journey.
Alaska was a lifetime experience. The literature was a nice supplement.
