Books set in Alaska
Every state has its hallmark writers. Mississippi has William Faulkner and his incomparable (fictional) Yoknapatawpha County and Missouri can lay claim to Mark Twain. The state of Maine is gifted with Pulitzer winner Richard Russo and horror icon Stephen King. Rural Pennsylvania is the playground of the much-heralded (and occasionally maligned) John Updike, and when many bibliophiles think of New Jersey, they also think of Richard Ford's series of novels featuring recurring Everyman character Frank Bascombe. Illinois can lay claim to William Maxwell, Sandra Cisneros, and Adam Langer, among numerous others. And what reader can think of Washington State without contending with the sparkle-vampire yarns of Stephanie Meyer?
What makes authors like these inextricably associated with a particular state is not simply the matter of their having been born there or choosing to live there. The connection, from a writerly standpoint, is deeper than that—their work, nearly all of it, is set in "their" state.
Of course, there are certainly exceptions. Whether a writer sets a tale in the town where they went to college or spent part of their childhood—like Donna Tartt's "The Secret History" and its New England arts school setting and the almost-factual small town of Jo Ann Beard's "In Zanesville," respectively—or crafts a story that follows a social or political theme to a location they know little about but lay narrative claim to anyway, the world is rife with books known, loved, and respected that also capture the essence of place—books where setting itself is one of the strongest characters.
Stacker compiled a list of books set in Alaska from Goodreads. Whether you're looking for a good read set in the state you call home, or you're looking to expand your curiosity with a writer you're already familiar with, we've got you covered.
Forty-Ninth
- Author: Boris Pronsky
- Published: October 1, 2021
- Genres: Historical Fiction, Novels, American History, Historical
- Read more on Goodreads
The Simple Wild (Wild, #1)
- Author: K.A. Tucker
- Published: August 7, 2018
- Genres: Romance, Contemporary, Contemporary Romance, Fiction
- Read more on Goodreads
The Alaskan Laundry
- Author: Brendan Jones
- Published: April 26, 2016
- Genres: Fiction, Adventure, Contemporary, Novels
- Read more on Goodreads
Flight of the Goose: a Story of the Far North
- Author: Lesley Thomas
- Published: February 12, 2005
- Genres: Fiction, Historical Fiction, Fantasy, Nature
- Read more on Goodreads
The Snow Child
- Author: Eowyn Ivey
- Published: February 1, 2012
- Genres: Fiction, Historical Fiction, Fantasy, Magical Realism
- Read more on Goodreads
A Tundra Tale
- Author: Lone Alaskan Gypsy
- Published: November 12, 2014
- Genres: Christmas, Fantasy, Holiday
- Read more on Goodreads
Hatchet (Brian's Saga, #1)
- Author: Gary Paulsen
- Published: September 30, 1987
- Genres: Young Adult, Fiction, Classics, Adventure
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North of Hope: A Daughter's Arctic Journey
- Author: Shannon Huffman Polson
- Published: March 19, 2013
- Genres: Memoir, Nonfiction, Adventure, Womens
- Read more on Goodreads
Alaska - Travelogue by State: Experience Both the Ordinary and Obscure (Exploring America Series Book 1)
- Author: Amber Richards
- Published: May 30, 2014
- Genres: Travel, Nonfiction
- Read more on Goodreads
Alaska and Back: With Dave and Dorothy
- Author: Dorothy May Mercer
- Published: October 8, 2013
- Genres: Nonfiction
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Hold the Dark
- Author: William Giraldi
- Published: September 8, 2014
- Genres: Fiction, Horror, Thriller, Mystery
- Read more on Goodreads
The Raven's Gift
- Author: Don Rearden
- Published: January 25, 2011
- Genres: Fiction, Thriller, Dystopia, Mystery
- Read more on Goodreads
A Tundra Tale
- Author: Lone Alaskan Gypsy
- Published: November 12, 2014
- Genres: Christmas, Fantasy, Holiday
- Read more on Goodreads
Son of a Midnight Land: A Memoir in Stories
- Author: Atz Kilcher
- Published: February 6, 2018
- Genres: Memoir, Nonfiction, Biography, Autobiography
- Read more on Goodreads
30 Days of Night, Vol. 1
- Author: Steve Niles
- Published: January 10, 2004
- Genres: Graphic Novels, Horror, Comics, Vampires
- Read more on Goodreads
Rinn's Crossing
- Author: Russell Heath
- Published: March 30, 2020
- Genres: Mystery, Fiction, Thriller
- Read more on Goodreads
Looking for Alaska
- Author: John Green
- Published: March 3, 2005
- Genres: Young Adult, Fiction, Contemporary, Romance
- Read more on Goodreads
Winds of Skilak: A Tale of True Grit, True Love and Survival in the Alaskan Wilderness
- Author: Bonnie Rose Ward
- Published: December 31, 2013
- Genres: Nonfiction, Memoir, Adventure, Biography
- Read more on Goodreads
Faceless (Mortal Monsters, #1)
- Author: Monica Millard
- Published: September 1, 2015
- Genres: Paranormal, Fantasy, Young Adult
- Read more on Goodreads