Books set in Alaska

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September 27, 2022
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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

- Rating: 4.64 (42 ratings)
- Author: Boris Pronsky
- Published: October 1, 2021
- Genres: Historical Fiction, Novels, American History, Historical
- Read more on Goodreads

The Simple Wild (Wild, #1)

- Rating: 4.33 (71,596 ratings)
- Author: K.A. Tucker
- Published: August 7, 2018
- Genres: Romance, Contemporary, Contemporary Romance, Fiction
- Read more on Goodreads

The Alaskan Laundry

- Rating: 3.76 (1,282 ratings)
- 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

- Rating: 4.19 (127 ratings)
- Author: Lesley Thomas
- Published: February 12, 2005
- Genres: Fiction, Historical Fiction, Fantasy, Nature
- Read more on Goodreads

The Snow Child

- Rating: 3.98 (135,113 ratings)
- Author: Eowyn Ivey
- Published: February 1, 2012
- Genres: Fiction, Historical Fiction, Fantasy, Magical Realism
- Read more on Goodreads

A Tundra Tale

- Rating: 4.10 (21 ratings)
- Author: Lone Alaskan Gypsy
- Published: November 12, 2014
- Genres: Christmas, Fantasy, Holiday
- Read more on Goodreads

Hatchet (Brian's Saga, #1)

- Rating: 3.76 (355,888 ratings)
- Author: Gary Paulsen
- Published: September 30, 1987
- Genres: Young Adult, Fiction, Classics, Adventure
- Read more on Goodreads

North of Hope: A Daughter's Arctic Journey

- Rating: 3.81 (266 ratings)
- 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)

- Rating: 3.82 (38 ratings)
- Author: Amber Richards
- Published: May 30, 2014
- Genres: Travel, Nonfiction
- Read more on Goodreads

Alaska and Back: With Dave and Dorothy

- Rating: 4.62 (56 ratings)
- Author: Dorothy May Mercer
- Published: October 8, 2013
- Genres: Nonfiction
- Read more on Goodreads

Hold the Dark

- Rating: 3.42 (2,426 ratings)
- Author: William Giraldi
- Published: September 8, 2014
- Genres: Fiction, Horror, Thriller, Mystery
- Read more on Goodreads

The Raven's Gift

- Rating: 3.89 (750 ratings)
- Author: Don Rearden
- Published: January 25, 2011
- Genres: Fiction, Thriller, Dystopia, Mystery
- Read more on Goodreads

A Tundra Tale

- Rating: 4.10 (21 ratings)
- 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

- Rating: 3.95 (166 ratings)
- Author: Atz Kilcher
- Published: February 6, 2018
- Genres: Memoir, Nonfiction, Biography, Autobiography
- Read more on Goodreads

30 Days of Night, Vol. 1

- Rating: 3.79 (19,464 ratings)
- Author: Steve Niles
- Published: January 10, 2004
- Genres: Graphic Novels, Horror, Comics, Vampires
- Read more on Goodreads

Rinn's Crossing

- Rating: 4.33 (46 ratings)
- Author: Russell Heath
- Published: March 30, 2020
- Genres: Mystery, Fiction, Thriller
- Read more on Goodreads

Looking for Alaska

- Rating: 3.98 (1.4 million ratings)
- 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

- Rating: 4.27 (1,641 ratings)
- Author: Bonnie Rose Ward
- Published: December 31, 2013
- Genres: Nonfiction, Memoir, Adventure, Biography
- Read more on Goodreads

Faceless (Mortal Monsters, #1)

- Rating: 3.97 (61 ratings)
- Author: Monica Millard
- Published: September 1, 2015
- Genres: Paranormal, Fantasy, Young Adult
- Read more on Goodreads

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