Cruising is the perfect way to see America’s last frontier—wildlife and wilderness abound along the state’s breathtaking coastline, and are easily seen from the comfort of a deck chair or observation lounge.

Thoroughly updated every year (unlike the rest of the competition), Frommer’s Alaska Cruises & Ports of Call is a compact guide that’s on top of all the latest developments and offerings in the rapidly changing cruise industry. Our author, a leading cruise journalists with years of experience, has compiled candid, first-hand reviews of each cruise line and each ship. The easy-to-use ratings, detailed drawings of each ship, and honest evaluations make it easy for you to find the cruise that suits your budget and your personal style, whether you want a luxury liner with fine dining or a small-ship cruise led by serious naturalists.

 

Hunters Moon - [9] Kate Shugak mystery by Dana Stabenow
At Taiga Lodge, George Perry's exclusive big-game hunting camp 125 miles northeast of Anchorage, Alaska, the price of admission has a unique flavor. "The charges depend on the customer's attitude," George tells Kate Shugak, who's working as one of his assistant guides. "The more they piss me off, the higher the price." Which means the party of German computer executives that Kate and her colleagues are looking after will be lucky to go home with any money at all. More interested in firing off their expensive guns than in the sport of hunting moose, these guys are a danger to themselves and anyone else within range. But when human bodies start to outnumber moose-head trophies, the resourceful Aleut Indian Kate realizes that the deaths have more to do with financial and moral crimes back home in Germany than accidents in Alaska. Hunter's Moon, Dana Stabenow's ninth installment in the excellent Kate Shugak series, is enriched with the intricate details of everyday Alaskan life. The author follows the lives of ordinary people as they try to survive the harshly majestic environment as best they can. She shows how people can be tempered and improved by the rugged country, or bent by it to the breaking point. Kate herself might occasionally acquire the mythic proportions of a fictional heroine, but she also embodies the pain and human frailty that make her instantly recognizable as one of us, no matter where we live.

AUDIO added thanks to otherworldly :D!

 
Midnight Come Again - [10] Kate Shugak mystery by Dana Stabenow
Kate's tough life took a tragic turn  in last year's Hunter's Moon. In this ninth entry in the award-winning series, a guilty, inconsolable Kate, impulsively leaving her Alaska bush home for a coastal fishing village, goes to work incognito for Baird Air, a cargo airline. At Baird, she soon runs into Alaska State Trooper Jim Chopin, a friend who's on an undercover job for the FBI. This is only one of several plot-churning coincidences in an otherwise poignant and gripping novel featuring breathtaking descriptions of natural scenery and incisive depiction of Alaskan natives caught between traditional and modern cultures.

AUDIO added thanks to otherwordly :-D!

Frommer’s Alaska features gorgeous color photos of the spectacular scenery and amazing wildlife that await you in America’s last frontier. This extraordinary and detailed guide is personally researched by a lifelong resident, who offers insights into how to discover the real Alaska. You’ll find complete details on whale watching, sea kayaking, hiking, salmon fishing, funky small towns, Gold Rush saloons, glaciers, scenic drives, and more. You’ll even get an up-to-date cruise planner, a free color fold-out map, and an online directory that makes trip-planning a snap.

The Singing of the Dead - [11] Kate Shugak mystery by Dana Stabenow

The background of a hard-fought political campaign in Alaska (where "in a gathering of four people there are five marriages, six divorces, and seven political parties") and the devastating effect of a century-old scandal on the candidates gives even greater depth than usual to Stabenow's 11th Kate Shugak mystery.

The novel shifts effortlessly between the present and the past, tracing the career of one of the state's most notorious "good time girls" from the gold mining era. The author paints a strong, striking picture of the tough life in Alaska 100 years ago and the narrow choice offered women housekeeper or whore. The character of Angel Beecham, known as the Dawson Darling, is compellingly portrayed as a complex woman whose relationship to the contemporary characters is slyly revealed in the epilogue (but wait until you've finished the book to read it). With well-drawn characters, splendid scenery and an insider's knowledge of Alaskan history and politics, this fine novel ranks as one of Stabenow's best.

AUDIO NEEDED!!!