April GeoCAT -- Polar Regions, Islands and Bodies of Water

Polar Regions, Islands and Bodies of Water

Welcome to our most diverse month!

Our first Polar Region is the Arctic, which is the northern most part of the world. The Countries included in the Arctic Circle include United States (Alaska), Canada, Finland, Greenland (Denmark), Iceland, Norway, Russia and Sweden.





Northern Lights or Aurora Borealis


Suggestions:

Never Cry Wolf by Farlye Mowat
Smilla’s Sense of Snow by Peter Høeg
The Golden Compass by Philip Pullman
White Sky, Black Ice by Stan Jones
Narwhals: Arctic Whales in a Melting World by Todd McLeish
First at the North Pole: or, Two Boys in the Arctic Circle by Edward Stratemeyer

Several selections of Scandicrime would fit nicely in this division.

Next let’s head all the way to the other end of the world, Antarctica, the southernmost continent. Antarctica has no government but several governments conduct research there via the Antarctic Treaty System.





Southern Lights or Aurora Australis


Suggestions:

Endurance: Shackleton’s Incredible Voyage by Alfred Lansing
Where’d You Go Bernadette Maria Semple
At the Mountains of Madness H.P. Lovecraft
Ice Bound: A Doctor's Incredible Battle for Survival at the South Pole by Jerri Nielson
The Worst Journey in the World by Aspley Cherry-Garrard

Several non-fiction and horror would fit nicely in this division.

Next up is Islands. I will list islands that didn’t fit into any of the other months but any island is fair game. An example used in the General thread would be Madagascar. Read about it this month or wait for Southern Africa. Same goes for the Shetland Islands, etc... Got it!

Madagascar


Sheltand Islands


Iceland and Greenland I’ve mentioned up in the Arctic region.

Some islands that weren’t specifically part of the other categories are:

Brunei
Cyprus Exodus
Indonesia The Year of Living Dangerously by Christopher J. Koch
Philippines We Band of Angels: The Untold Story of American Nurses Trapped on Bataan by Elizabeth M. Norman
Timor-Leste
Malta Empires of the Sea: The Siege of Malta, the Battle of Lepanto, and the Contest for the Center of the World by Roger Crowley
Oceania (not including Australia and New Zealand) which includes Melanesia, Micronesia and Polynesia



French Polynesia


Several books about the South Seas by Robert Louis Stevenson and Herman Melville that would also fit in...

Bodies of Water

Have fun with this one!

Amazon


Bering Sea


Nile


Suggestions:

Death on the Nile by Agatha Christi
Life on the Mississippi by Mark Twain
Frenchman's Creek by Daphne Du Maurier
In the South Seas by Robert Louis Stevenson
The River of Doubt: Theodore Roosevelt's Darkest Journey by Candice Millard

Please post suggestions and I'll put them up.

I'm planning to read Black Skies by Icelandic author Arnaldur Indridason.

I'm planning to read The Orchid House by Phyllis Shand Allfrey, set on the island of Dominica. If I have time, I'll also read Island Exiles about Nauru during WWII.

I'll read The Prophets of Eternal Fjord by Kim Leine, set in 18th century Denmark and Greenland. I also have A Question of Red (can't make the touchstone work) by Indonesian author Laksmi Pamuntjak on my list, but let's see if I can get to it.

I have several to choose from: I've been meaning to read The Beak of the Finch about the Galapagos Islands. I also have Oliver Sack's book Island of the Color Blind about Micronesia. For a really quick read, I may choose Rainbow's End a Christian fiction book set on Washington's Orcas Island that my Mom shared with me several years back.

I'll be reading Ice Bound: A Doctor's Incredible Battle for Survival at the South Pole by Jerri Nielson.

I'm hoping to get to The Bone Seeker by M. J. McGrath this month. It is book 3 in the Edie Kiglatuk mystery series which takes place in Arctic Canada.

I've come up with the following potentials for April:

Three non-fiction picture books:
The Blue Whale by Jenni Desmond
Neighborhood Sharks: Hunting with the Great Whites of California's Farallon Islands by Katherine Roy
Shackleton's Journey by William Grill

Viking non-fiction:
The Far Traveler: Voyages of a Viking Woman by Nancy Marie Brown

A graphic novel about Arctic exploration:
First Man: Reimagining Matthew Henson by Simon Schwarz

YA novels about Hawai'i:
Between the Deep Blue Sea and Me by Lurline Wailana McGregor
The Islands at the End of the World by Austin Aslan

And everyone's favorite novel about twins growing up on an island in Chesapeake Bay:
Jacob I Have Loved by Katherine Paterson

The book I read this month would also qualify for next month. Far North is a post apocalypse set in Siberia. I thought it was beautifully written.

I'm sure I have several books on my tbr that will qualify. My current audiobook, Journey to the Center of the Earth, starts the expedition from Iceland, I think.

No clue yet what I'll read for this, but I would add an endorsement of Endurance: Shackleton's Incredible Voyage by Alfred Lansing, especially on audio. It was outstanding!

>12 inge87: - Oooh, Jacob Have I Loved! I might have to pull that old favorite off the shelf....

I am thinking about reading Clive Cussler's The Silent Sea.

Great set up, Ro! I am planning on reading Kensuke's Kingdom by Michael Morpurgo. This is a story of a boy who becomes a castaway when he is swept off his family's yacht and must learn to survive on an island. I am also hoping to read Dead Wake by Eric Larsen about the Lusitania.

I've been saving End of the Earth: Voyages to Antarctica by Peter Matthiessen, which I picked up at a book sale a month or so back :)

I'm not sure (due to my random picking of books from a jar) whether I'll manage any this month, but I've a few suggestions of books that I've really enjoyed. In no particular order:

Billy Connolly Journey to the Edge of the World (a TV tie-in book, but don't let that put you off. It's wonderful - his journey along the Northwest Passage).
Judith Schalansky Atlas of Remote Islands: Fifty Islands I have never set foot on and never will (strange, and stunning).
Ron McMillan Between Weathers: Travels in 21st Century Shetland.
Charles Maclean Island on the Edge of the World (about St Kilda).
Andrea Barratt The Voyage of the Narwhal (fiction about an Arctic exploration expedition. Bleak but beautiful).
Adam Nicolson Sea Room. An extended love story about the remote and uninhabited Hebridean islands, the Shiants. One of my top 5 books of all time (along with about 15 others!).
Alastair McIntosh Soil and Soul. Activism, ecofeminism, theology, humanism, opposing land grabbing on the Hebridean islands of Eigg and Harris. Bonkers, brilliant, and inspirational.

Actually I have a couple of island books I really want to read, so I might make an exception and interrupt the randomness to make sure I get to them in April.

Lots of great suggestions already! I am going to listen to Endurance: Shackleton's Incredible Voyage by Alfred Lansing. I got that as a BB from Katie when she listened to it. I'm also going to try to fit in Never Cry Wolf by Farley Mowat. Lots of love for this one due to the CAC over in the 75 group. The audio is available via Hoopla. Last, but not least, I am going to read White Sky, Black Ice by Stan Jones.

ETA: I finished sprucing up the place so go back up top and check out the view! ;-)

I plan to continue the Nathan Active series and read Stan Jones' Shaman Pass.

I'll have to check my tbr.

I've had Endurance by Lansing on hold at the library for months!!! I don't know why it's so popular now, but they only had one copy for... maybe 20ish holds (maybe it was more) a while back. I see they now have 3 copies, but I'm still #16 on the hold list.

Obviously that one will not be coming in for me in April! I'll have to come up with something else.

Does the Galapagos Islands fit? Or would that go with South America? Anyway, I have a recommendation if it fits:
Plundering Paradise by Michael D'Orso.

It's been a long time since I read it, but it might also fit for the RandomCAT (environment), as well.

Any island fits. Even if its covered in another month. That's what we decided way back when. So go for it!

>23 luvamystery65: Thanks! I couldn't remember the discussion! :-)

That book is really just a recommendation. But, it will help in my own searching for what to read.

I love islands! And the polar regions are pretty cool too (see what I did there?). Don't know what I'll read, but I'll participate for sure.

The pictures look great!

Great job setting up the thread Roberta! From looking at your suggestions and what others have suggested, I see that I have Frenchman's Creek and The Orchid House on my shelves. I'll have a look around and see what else might come to mind.

If anyone is interested in reading about Indonesia, I would recommend Indonesia, Etc.: Exploring the Improbable Nation which I read last year before visiting the country for the first time.

Thank you everyone for the positive comments. I was struggling as to how to set up the format. After a few tweaks I'm happy with it.

Some books that I am considering
Two Old Women by Velma Wallis (398.2) fits Dewey Cat
Sea of Glory by Nathaniel Philbrick

Iceland, police procedural by Arnaldur Indridason, first one Jar City

The Voyage of the Beagle
In Search of Robinson Crusoe
This Rough Magic Corsica Mary Stewart
The Evolution of Jane Cathleen Schine (fiction)
The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society
Independent People by Laxness for Iceland and The Swarm by Frank Schätzing for the ocean
Hawaii by Michener and books by Brennert, Honolulu and Moloka'i and House of Many Gods by Kiana Davenport.

Maybe I can get to a couple of these. Like to do the one that fits two CATS

>14 katiekrug: I've actually never read it because I hated the end of Bridge to Terabithia, but I've decided it's time that I finally do.

I'm going to read Unfamiliar Fishes, by Sarah Vowell, which talks about Hawaii, Puerto Rico, and Guam, among other places.

Lots of possibilities here:

Dangerous Work: Diary of an Arctic Adventure by Arthur Conan Doyle for the Arctic.

Lots set in Indonesia or the UK for islands.

Would Huckleberry Finn count for bodies of water? Isn't it mainly set along the Mississippi?

>32 Robertgreaves:, most of it does occur on the river or cities on the river

I will probably choose from the first two. I believe Zuckoff's book would also qualify as it takes place in the South Pacific.

The Lake District Murder by John Bude
The Sea Captain’s Wife by Beth Powning (a voyage)
Lost in Shangri-La by Mitchell Zuckoff

I started a book this week for the April GeoCAT, thinking that I'd get a headstart. I loved it so much that I carried on until I finished it, before the challenge has officially started! Jim Crumley's Among Islands is about the Scottish islands, it is beautiful and poetic (and has some gorgeous pictures too). It is 20+ years old now, so there are a few factoids which are now out of date (eg Skye is now attached to the mainland by bridge, and Eigg is now in community ownership), but that didn't stop it being a wonderful read. 4.5/5.

I'm going to have to dig out another book now for the right month!

I found a bunch more on my shelves that I could read for this month besides Frenchman's Creek and The Orchid House:

Captain Blood - about a physician and English gentleman who becomes a pirate sailing the Spanish Main
Trooper to the Southern Cross - about a couple's voyage on a troop ship from England to Australia
The Island of the Day Before - shipwrecked in the bay of a beautiful island
The Adventures of Robinson Crusoe - shipwrecked on an island
East Along the Equator - a journey up the Congo into Zaire
No Signposts in the Sea - a gentleman with not long to live takes a cruise
Moby Dick
Treasure Island
Eye of the Needle - espionage on a remote island
Old Glory: An American Voyage - an Englishman's voyage on the Mississippi in an aluminum rowboat
20000 Leagues Under the Sea
The People from the Sea
The Mysterious Island
Galapagos
The Story of a Shipwrecked Sailor

I think my top choices are ones that will fit more than one CAT or KIT - Galapagos (will also fit Random CAT), The Orchid House and Old Glory: An American Voyage both also fit the AlphaKIT.

>36 LisaMorr: Lots of great ideas Lisa! Save Moby Dick for next January. I think a couple of us may try to tackle that together.

>37 luvamystery65: I'll do that - I didn't really have a burning urge to read it this month... :)

>38 LisaMorr: I myself need until January to work up to Moby Dick. I don't know why I seem to recall liking Melville when I was younger but I don't know what I read by him. ??? It must have been his shorter work when I was in school.

I finished my first book for the challenge, Jenni Desmond's wonderful The Blue Whale.

I'll probably read Discovering the Northwest Passage by Glenn M. Stein.

I finished reading Land of Love and Drowning which takes place on St. Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands.

I read As Red as Blood by Salla Simukka. This was a pretty good YA thriller set in Arctic Finland.

COMPLETED The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain (river)

I started reading A Brief History of Montmaray by Michelle Cooper, set on a fictional island in the Bay of Biscay, and realized it fits this category.

>45 VivienneR: I have been intrigued by that book for a long time. I look forward to seeing how you like it.

>45 VivienneR: I've added that to my wishlist, it looks really interesting.

Thinking of fictional islands reminded me of Ella Minnow Pea too.

>46 mamzel: and >47 Jackie_K: A Brief History of Montmaray was fun, not too serious. It's hard to resist castles on remote islands!

I finished Little Black Lies by Sharon Bolton, which is set in the Falkland Islands and so fits all three aspects of the category, considering that a lot of action takes place on boats. The unique setting and the really strong sense of place made this thriller stand out for me. Fair warning, though: it is brutal to young children and animals.

I just finished Ice Bound: A Doctor's Incredible Battle for Survival at the South Pole by Jerri Nielson. WOW! This was definitely a 5-star read. Jerri Nielson is the doctor who developed breast cancer during her one year assignment to the South Pole. She was the only medical person on site, she had to actively participating in her own testing and treatment, and she had to wait months until she could be safely evacuated. It was an incredible story of survival. It was also a very descriptive and informative account of life at the bottom of the earth.

>50 LoisB: I remember reading about that doctor and her amazing battle. As if the diagnosis alone wasn't bad enough. I seem to remember that a carpenter had to perform some part of the treatment.

>50 LoisB: I remember her doing various procedures on herself!

>51 VivienneR: >52 LibraryCin:

Yes, she had to train others to do some of the procedures, but had to do others herself. Amazing story!

I finished another book that fits for this month, Mother Earth, Father Sky by Sue Harrison. This was an excellent prehistorical fiction story focusing on the Aleut people of the Aleutian Islands.

I read The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society a story set on one of the Channel Islands, set in the time right after WWII ends.

>55 Kristelh: What did you think, Kristel?

>56 LibraryCin:, I was surprised that it had been a favorite at PBT because while it was good (3.5 stars for me) it wasn't anything extroidenary. I did like learning about the Channel Islands and I liked a lot of the characters.

>57 Kristelh: I also rated it 3.5 when I read it. I don't know if my expectations were too high... 3.5 is good, but I wasn't blown away by it, either.

>57 Kristelh: & >58 LibraryCin:
It got an 3.5 from me too! The Channel Islands history parts were great, but there were some choices made for the characters that didn't jive with me.

I finished Shaman Pass (Northwest Alaska) by Stan Jones for this CAT. Jones is to Iñupiat what Hillerman was to Navajo (although Hillerman is the better writer), so it has a lot of descriptions of Eskimo traditions and life. Good series that I would recommend if you want to get a small insight into the culture, but perhaps not the greatest of mysteries.

>59 -Eva-: I am waiting for White Sky, Black Ice by Stan Jones from the library. I am looking to learn more about the Eskimo traditions after reading Never Cry Wolf.

I listened to Never Cry Wolf during a day trip to San Antonio. It was really good. I definitely want to read more about wolves. I also finished Endurance: Shackleton's Incredible Voyage by Alfred Lansing. I listened to it and it was a great audio. Some parts are tough but those men were true adventurers.

Now I need to look on my shelves and pick. I know I have several that would fit in this region.

I finished The Silent Sea which wasn't really a sea story the way I thought it would be but actually still fits the category as a substantial amount of it takes place in Antarctica.

Now I am reading Victory: An Island Tale by Conrad, set in a fictional island in Indonesia... and if time allows, I have Dangerous Work: Diary of an Arctic Adventure by Arthur Conan Doyle on my Kindle...

I completed the historical fiction story The Voyage of the Narwhal by Andrea Barrett.
>60 luvamystery65: One of the interesting parts of the story was early contact with the then-called Esquimaux in the Baffin Bay areas. I learned the name means raw-meat-eaters.

I'll be reading If You Lived Here, I'd Know Your Name: News From Small-Town Alaska, and I hope to also get to Biggest Elvis, set in the Philippines.

I also read Braving It an ARC that I received from the LT ER program. The author tells about three trips made to the Alaskan wilderness with his teenaged daughter. Throughout the story, you see his deep respect for Alaska and its people.

I finished Grimsey, set on the eponymous small island north of Iceland.

I finished The Wasp Factory, set on a small island off the Scotland coast. Unfortunately, I cannot recommend it.

>67 sturlington: Sorry to hear The Wasp Factory didn't live up to expectations. I've had an Iain Banks on the "up next" pile for a while but it's just not attracting me enough to make it to the top of the pile.

I added a second book to the CAT this month: The Solitude of Thomas Cave by Georgina Harding about a 17th century whaler who took on a wager to spend the winter in the Arctic. Recommended.

I just finished Kensuke's Kingdom by Michael Morpurgo. This survival story is set on a small island in the Pacific. Although children's story, I enjoyed this understated story.

Finished End of the Earth: Voyages to Antarctica by Peter Matthiessen

The Raft / S.A. Bodeen
4 stars

Robie is 15-years old and has grown up on a small island in the Pacific. She is visiting a friend in Hawaii, when she decides on the spur of the moment to head home. She manages (last minute) to get on one of the few flights that goes to her island each month; this flight is for supplies, so it is only her, the pilot and the co-pilot. While over the water, the plane goes down; Robie and Max, the co-pilot, make it into the raft and have to figure out how to survive.

I really liked this. It took a few (short) chapters before I got sucked in, as it was initially background info to set up the story. But once she got on the plane, I was hooked for the rest of the book. It's YA, so it's a very quick read and I finished in a day (really, overall, probably just a few hours).

I have read The Bungalow by Sarah Jio. It is set on the South Pacific island of Bora-Bora during WWII. I found it to be a good read, mostly a romance with a bit of a mystery in there for added intrigue.

Completed listening to A Journey to the Center of the Earth by Jules Verne. It begins and ends on islands (Iceland and Stromboli, Italy) and there is a voyage on a subterranean sea, as well.

I doubt I'll finish it by the end of the month, but I'm about to start Harris in History and Legend by Bill Lawson, which I bought when I went to Harris on my honeymoon.

I finished The hills is lonely, where an Englishwoman reminisces on the time she spent on some Hebridean island. Mildly entertaining.

I am going to try to squeeze in Jar City which is set in Iceland.

I finished White Ice, Black Sky by Stan Jones. It is set in Chuchki Alaska north of the Arctic Circle. Nathan Active is an Inupiat Alaskan State Trooper raised by white parents. The mystery and writing are decent. I'll try the second in the series.

I didn't read the books I had hoped to read, but I did read Annie John by Jamaica Kincaid. It takes place on the island of Antigua.

>77 luvamystery65: That sounds like an interesting series!

Finished Jar City (set in Iceland) in the nick of time :-)

I finished The Orchid House on Saturday (also just in the nick of time!). A lovely Virago Modern Classic set on the island of Dominica where three sisters come home to deal with issues with the men in their lives that stayed on the island.

>79 leslie.98: Glad you managed to squeeze in Jar City. I like this series a lot, particularly because of the Icelandic setting, and finished Black Skies for the challenge.

I also finished The Guernsey Literary and Potato Pie Society and enjoyed it very much, though like others have expressed earlier in this thread, I'm not sure why it has had so much acclaim. I'm now eager to reread another book about Guernsey that I'd read decades ago: The Book of Ebenezer Le Page.

>81 mathgirl40: If you're looking for a good book set on Guernsey, may I recommend The Book of Lies? It's one of my favourite books from the past decade.

>82 Nickelini: Thanks for the recommendation!

I read:
The Quality of Silence by Rosamund Lupton. Ice trucking in the Arctic, a deaf child, and a missing father. Suspense, good sense of place, 3.5 stars.
Two Old Women: An Alaska Legend of Betrayal, Courage and Survival by Velma Wallis. Abandoned native elderly enduring the elements in the Alaskan arctic. 4 stars.

I finally finished my April choice: The Prophets of Eternal Fjord by Kim Leine, about a Danish missionary in 18th century Greenland.

Finished One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich, which is set in Siberia.