No Place Like Nome


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There's No Place Like Nome


Book Description

When Jack Palmer was offered a job as a "cat skinner," driving a tractor for a mining company in Nome, Alaska, there was no time to waste in deciding. It was the morning of June 15, 1934. He had a lovely wife, Alice, a young daughter, Artis, a lot of debt, and no job in Seattle. Jack stepped on to the gangplank of the S.S. Victoria at Pier Two that same afternoon. Alice and Artis received a telegram from Jack later that summer: YOU BE ON LAST BOAT STOP HAVE HOUSE READY STOP BRING FOOD FOR NEXT EIGHT MONTHS STOP JACK A Northwest author with the voice of a natural storyteller, Artis Palmer humorously and tenderly chronicles the challenges faced by her family during the Great Depression. Eccentric characters and unexpected adventures are entertainingly bound by the force of place and community. From bootlegging in Seattle to gold mining in Nome, Alaska, There's No Place Like Nome reveals the courage and resilience of the human spirit in tough times.




Nome


Book Description

As a man who sees his life as ordinary—an enduring, repetitive pain, Gus Rivers acknowledges his destructive indifference is the root of his marriage’s failure. His answer is to run away to unearth the contrast, he believes, will help him rediscover the love and adventure his life needs. There is rejuvenation in separation. Gus chooses Nome. But changing the scenery doesn’t change the man. The diversion of an ill-advised love affair, the intrigue of drug dealers’ plots, covert war, and savage murders blur his initial purpose. Gus eventually learns that there’s no place like Nome.







Arctic Bibliography


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Over the Top


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Only one person has ever sailed vertically around the world - Adrian Flanagan. Sailing horizontally is difficult enough, crossing thousands of miles of ocean only to get near land at the Capes and battle treacherous currents. However, hundreds of sailors have still managed it. Adrian became obsessed with the idea of sailing vertically around the world as a boy, before he even knew whether it was possible. Thirty years later he managed it. This is his own account of his remarkable adventure. It was an epic challenge, sailing through the perilous waters around Cape Horn and across the remote, hostile stretch of the Russian Arctic. He survived being washed overboard, capsizing, a close encounter with pirates, and also managed to treat not one but two dislocated wrists - all of this alone, a thousand miles or more from anyone who could help him complete his quest. It wasn't all high drama, however. Adrian experienced moments of awe-inspiring beauty - being accompanied by a pod of whales, and swimming with dolphins. This is a timeless and unique story, pacily written with a sense of humour, but which captures the zeal and determination required to accomplish something nobody else has ever done before.




Travelers' Tales Alaska


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In Travelers' Tales Alaska, contemporary adventurers, seekers, and lifelong Alaskans take you into the "Last Frontier" for wild and poignant adventures. Walk among bears, witness the Inupiat taking of a bowhead whale, and spend time "weathered-in" on the Bering Sea coast. Follow the seasons of commercial fisherfolk in the world's most dangerous seas, sail the Inside Passage, or flight-see with bush pilots famed for high-stakes navigation around Denali, North America's highest mountain. Discover the 49th state’s quirky side, including an entire town that lives in a single World War II-vintage high-rise, a "Hairy Man" who roams the Bush, and backcountry gourmands who communicate with edible plants. Drive the Alaska Highway or head north along the pipeline Haul Road to the Arctic coast, not simply to get there, but to be there. Get the inside view as Alaskans share their stories of learning a new land or guiding tourists through Native culture. Whether you choose camping at Wal-Mart or casting for grayling on a lake named Paradise, whether you travel the Great Land in actuality or in your armchair, these stories bring Alaska alive, in all its latter-day complexity and glory.




McNally's Puzzle


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From the #1 New York Times–bestselling author: Palm Beach sleuth Archy McNally’s feathers are ruffled when a bird store owner is killed. Hiram Gottschalk, owner of the Palm Beach shop Parrots Unlimited, fears for his life. First, he finds a photo of himself and his deceased wife slashed to ribbons; then, a Mass card with his name on it is taped inside of his closet door; now, someone has wrung the neck of his beloved pet bird. In desperation, he turns to McNally & Son for a private investigation. McNally meets with Gottschalk, along with his client’s cursing parrot. McNally wisely ignores the bird’s command to go to hell, but he can’t ignore the fallout when his client is stabbed in his sleep and Gottschalk’s unstable son, Peter, becomes the prime suspect. When more victims turn up, McNally has to puzzle out the motives of a murderer who has just killed two more birds with one stone . . . and is now targeting the dapper detective.




The Book of General Ignorance


Book Description

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • Misconceptions, misunderstandings, and flawed facts finally get the heave-ho in this humorous, downright humiliating book of reeducation based on the phenomenal British bestseller. Challenging what most of us assume to be verifiable truths in areas like history, literature, science, nature, and more,The Book of General Ignorance is a witty “gotcha” compendium of how little we actually know about anything. It’ll have you scratching your head wondering why we even bother to go to school. Think Magellan was the first man to circumnavigate the globe, baseball was invented in America, Henry VIII had six wives, Mount Everest is the tallest mountain? Wrong, wrong, wrong, and wrong again. You’ll be surprised at how much you don’t know! Check out The Book of General Ignorance for more fun entries and complete answers to the following: How long can a chicken live without its head? About two years. What do chameleons do? They don’t change color to match the background. Never have; never will. Complete myth. Utter fabrication. Total Lie. They change color as a result of different emotional states. How many legs does a centipede have? Not a hundred. How many toes has a two-toed sloth? It’s either six or eight. Who was the first American president? Peyton Randolph. What were George Washington’s false teeth made from? Mostly hippopotamus. What was James Bond’s favorite drink? Not the vodka martini.