Contributed by Sharon Aubrey, Relevant Publishers, LLC.
ReadAlaska Book Fair
November 29-30, 2019
ReadAlaska
The Anchorage Museum
625 C St. Anchorage
FREE Admission
Looking for unique Christmas gift ideas? Maybe you have a friend or relative who makes it difficult to find a present?
Well, we have good news! ReadAlaska, Alaska’s largest book fair since 1993 will be at the Anchorage Museum on the second floor, the Friday and Saturday following Thanksgiving, November 29th and 30th. With thirty local publishers, authors and photographers displaying hundreds of Alaskan books, most signed and personalized by local authors, finding unique and perfect Christmas gifts are now possible.
Whether your friends like fiction or nonfiction or you’re buying for adults or children, you can’t go wrong with the right book. Gifts are available from impossible crime to fishing adventures, fantasy/sci-fi to romantic suspense. Whether you’re looking for a book on how to survive in the wilderness or surviving your in-laws, there’s a great selection for everyone.
Impossible crime is a sub-genre of mystery, where a detective has to solve how the crime was committed before he can track the perpetrators. Steven Levi, Alaskan author of impossible crime, will be showcasing his books including “The Matter of The Deserted Airliner”, in which a 737 lands in Anchorage with no pilot, no crew and no passengers even though it was fully staffed and loaded in Seattle and never stopped. So where are the pilot, crew and passengers? When kidnappers ask for $25 million in diamonds, everyone knows space aliens aren’t involved. Now the detective has to figure out how the pilot, crew and passengers disappeared fast enough to stop the payment of the ransom and expedite their return.
Robin Barefield from Kodiak Island will be promoting her book, “Murder Over Kodiak”, the tale of a floatplane that mysteriously explodes above the Alaska wilderness. Investigators begin digging into the lives of the five passengers and the pilot to determine who was the target of the bomb. Was it the U.S. senator in the midst of a hotly contended re-election campaign or her husband, a corporate raider with no shortage of enemies? Could the bomb have been meant for the cannery owner involved in a contentious divorce, or the refuge manager who has a long list of adversaries? Even the pilot could have been the target, since his girlfriend has violent tendencies and knows how to use explosives. Readers will anxiously engage in this page-turning mystery.
Local Chugiak writer, E.M. Shue, will also be attending for the first time with her steamy romantic-suspense fiction novels beginning with her original Securities International series. E.M’s latest release, “Accidentally Noah”, is receiving 5-star ratings from Amazon readers and climbing the charts. Romance fans are sure to fall in love with the newest Caine and Graco Saga.
For nonfiction readers, ReadAlaska offers true stories of bush flying mysteries and disasters by Gregory Leifer, the life and dangerous times of a sniper in Vietnam written under the pseudonym of T. Martin O’Neil (for good reason). Of course, the book fair has a wide display of Alaskana books and memoirs, including local Chickaloon author, Hilda Luster-Lindner. We even have pet friendly books. Dog lovers are sure to enjoy “On The Road With Remington Beagle” by Valerie Winans, and those looking for spiritual inspiration will be sure to find a little something for the man or woman of faith too.
Over the past 27 years, ReadAlaska also has presented a wide variety of children’s books ranging from Pre-K picture books to chapter books for older readers. This year, Anchorage author, Brooke Hartman, current president of the Alaska Writer’s Guild, will be featuring her new release, “Dream Flights on Arctic Nights”. This beautifully-illustrated book follows a child’s dreamy flight through the Arctic to discover the animals that live there. From the wolves prowling in the snow to the goats and sheep standing on the mountains to the walrus and sea lions lying on big glaciers, children explore Alaskan wildlife with a creative and poetic flare.
The ReadAlaska Book Fair offers extraordinary Christmas presents. Even better, readers can meet local authors and have their books autographed and personalized. Buying local is the best option.
But, if you’re looking for local books and can’t attend the ReadAlaska event the Friday and Saturday after Thanksgiving at the Anchorage Museum, check out the latest website dedicated to Alaskan books at www.alaskanbooks.com where you can find local authors year-round. All Alaskan authors are welcome to submit their books to this website for inclusion. Building community begins by buying local.
