Something for Everyone by Lynn Lovegreen

Like Paty Jager, I am also an eclectic reader. It’s not unusual for me to read a mainstream romance, a young adult novel, and an old classic in the same month. So picking which books to recommend in this post was hard for me! Here are a few Alaska books from different genres so everyone can find something she’d like. 

Chapter Book: Both middle grade readers and older ones will enjoy Sweet Home Alaska by Carole Estby Dagg. Dagg's extensive research is evident, but it doesn't overwhelm the engaging characters. The setting (1930s Alaska) gives you an interesting look at history, but the heartwarming story will carry you through the book.

Biography: Wealth Woman by Deb Vanasse is about Kate Carmack (or Shaaw Tláa, her Tagich name), best known as the Native wife of George Carmack, the supposed discoverer of the great Klondike gold strike. Vanasse paints a vivid picture of the woman and her times. This book is a compelling biography, but also more, an analysis of the cultures and personalities in the years before, during, and after the Klondike gold rush.

Young Adult Historical Romance: My own novel Gold Nuggets is on sale right now, so I’ll give you part of a review by Victoria Pitts Caine: “Charlotte, who loves her Alaskan home, isn’t sure where her future will take her, but wants to become a writer and to accomplish that she must either find a job in Fairbanks or go to college in the East. While the family is preparing for Charlotte’s sister’s wedding, they have an unexpected visitor, Henry, who passes through their small town.

He has heard about the land at the foot of Denali and he wants to visit. He is enthralled by what he sees and has aspirations to become part of the political movement to save the land and its wildlife by with the creation of McKinley National Park.”

Whatever you like to read, hope you find a good book in Romancing the Genres this month! :-)

Lynn Lovegreen grew up in Alaska, and still lives there. Her young adult/new adult historical romances are set in the Alaska Gold Rush, a great time for drama, romance, and independent characters. See her website at www.lynnlovegreen.com.

My Favorite Places by Lynn Lovegreen

Like some of our bloggers, my favorite places have changed throughout my life, but there are threads that tie them together.

When I was growing up in Fort Richardson, Alaska, our housing was next to a small patch of woods. I used to spend hours under the birch trees, making up fairy stories among the ferns and dwarf dogwood blossoms. Later, when I was a teenager, my dad had a boat in Whittier, Alaska. I discovered I loved being on the water, and we explored Prince William Sound, admiring the glaciers cascading into the sea, watching otters and whales. Both places were beautiful to me, but in different ways.

Those woods and the Sound hold special memories for me, but I can’t do those things anymore, now that I don’t have access to the post and the boat has new owners. I do go out on the ferry or other people’s boats as often as I can, but it’s not the same. I still enjoy our family’s condo in Whittier, and Billings Glacier in Prince William Sound is a touchstone I need to see from time to time.

I also have new special places I can go with my husband and daughter and son-in-law, like Denali National Park and Preserve and Homer’s Kachemak Bay. There are so many beautiful and interesting places to see in Alaska. I find wonder and solace in the mountain views or ocean swells. And great stories are in the history of these places, for example from Kantishna in Denali, where I set  Gold Nuggets, my latest book. Instead of telling myself fairy stories, I am writing young adult historical romance, but I’m still inspired by my favorite places.

Learn more about Gold Nuggets at http://www.prismbookgroup.com/goldnuggets.htmlhttp://www.prismbookgroup.com/goldnuggets.html.

Lynn Lovegreen grew up in Alaska, and still lives there. Her young adult historical romances are set in the Alaska Gold Rush, a great time for drama, romance, and independent characters. See her website at www.lynnlovegreen.comwww.lynnlovegreen.com.