Love The Alaskan Laundry? Readers share 100 books like The Alaskan Laundry...

By Brendan Jones,

Here are 100 books that The Alaskan Laundry fans have personally recommended if you like The Alaskan Laundry. Shepherd is a community of 12,000+ authors and super readers sharing their favorite books with the world.

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Book cover of To the Bright Edge of the World

Peggy O'Donnell Heffington Author Of Without Children: The Long History of Not Being a Mother

From my list on women without kids (that arenā€™t sad).

Why am I passionate about this?

Iā€™m a historian who knows women have long lived not-sad lives without children. Iā€™ve spent years researching the full and vibrant lives women without children lived throughout historyā€”lives that often were only possible because they didnā€™t have the responsibilities of motherhood. Iā€™m also a woman living a decidedly not-sad life without kids. And yet, in popular imagination, a woman without kids must be longing to be a mother or grieving the fact that she isnā€™t. I know firsthand that it can be isolating not to have kids. But in writing about the sheer variety of lives non-mothers lived in the past, Iā€™m trying to show that weā€™re not alone.

Peggy's book list on women without kids (that arenā€™t sad)

Peggy O'Donnell Heffington Why did Peggy love this book?

Unlike Iveyā€™s other book The Snow Child, which grapples with the grief of infertility (a book I also love!), this book considers the opportunities a life without children allows for.

It opens with Lieutenant Colonel Allan Forrester as he prepares to lead an expedition into Alaska in 1885. His wife, Sophie, is an explorer in her own right and plans to accompany himā€”until they realize sheā€™s pregnant and decide she has to stay behind.

Spoiler: Sophie miscarries and learns she will likely never be able to carry a baby to term. But this isnā€™t an endpoint for Sophie: instead, it sets her on a path toward professional and creative success, as well as love and happiness in her marriage.

Weā€™re used to reading about how motherhood gives life meaningā€”I loved Iveyā€™s portrait of how not having kids can do the same.

By Eowyn Ivey,

Why should I read it?

5 authors picked To the Bright Edge of the World as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

SHORTLISTED FOR THE EDWARD STANFORD TRAVEL WRITING AWARDS 2016.

Set in the Alaskan landscape that she brought to stunningly vivid life in THE SNOW CHILD (a Sunday Times bestseller, Richard and Judy pick and finalist for the Pulitzer Prize), Eowyn Ivey's TO THE BRIGHT EDGE OF THE WORLD is a breathtaking story of discovery set at the end of the nineteenth century, sure to appeal to fans of A PLACE CALLED WINTER.

'A clever, ambitious novel' The Sunday Times

'Persuasive and vivid... what could be a better beach read than an Arctic adventure?' Guardian


'Stunning and intriguing... the reader finishesā€¦


Book cover of Ordinary Wolves

Rosemary McGuire Author Of Rough Crossing: An Alaskan Fisherwoman's Memoir

From my list on Alaska by Alaskans.

Why am I passionate about this?

I grew up in a wilderness cabin in Alaska, surrounded by more wild animals than humans. For many years, I worked in the heavily male-dominated Alaskan fishing industry. I still work as a scientist in rural Alaska. I care passionately about the place, and the truthful stories written about it by people with deep roots and diverse backgrounds here.

Rosemary's book list on Alaska by Alaskans

Rosemary McGuire Why did Rosemary love this book?

This book is the most gripping and true-to-life tale Iā€™ve ever read about growing up in the wilderness. As a young boy in northern Alaska, the author learned as much from wolves as from his few friends.

Mesmerizingly beautiful, frightening, and touching, this book made me cry when I finished it.

By Seth Kantner,

Why should I read it?

3 authors picked Ordinary Wolves as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Ordinary Wolves depicts a life different from what any of us has known: Inhuman cold, the taste of rancid salmon shared with shivering sled dogs, hunkering in a sod igloo while blizzards moan overhead. But this is the only world Cutuk Hawcley has ever known. Born and raised in the Arctic, he has learned to provide for himself by hunting, fishing, and trading. And yet, though he idolizes the indigenous hunters who have taught him how to survive, when he travels to the nearby Inupiaq village, he is jeered and pummeled by the native children for being white. When heā€¦


Book cover of Jimmy Bluefeather

Nancy Lord Author Of pH: A Novel

From my list on authentic Alaska by Alaskans.

Why am I passionate about this?

Iā€™m a long-time Alaskan (and former Alaska writer laureate) with a passion for my placeā€”its people, environment, and history. Iā€™ve always read widely in its literature and have watched it mature from superficial ā€œlast frontierā€ stories into a complex and diverse wealth of authentic and well-told stories. Since 2015 Iā€™ve reviewed books for the Anchorage Daily News and have made it my business to know and support the growing Alaska writing community. Alaska is particularly strong in nonfiction writing while fiction (other than mysteries and short stories) has been slower to develop, and Iā€™ve chosen to highlight five examples of novels that present truths through imaginative leaps.

Nancy's book list on authentic Alaska by Alaskans

Nancy Lord Why did Nancy love this book?

Set in Southeast Alaska, Jimmy Bluefeather honestly depicts both environmental and generational change.

A Tlingit-Norwegian canoe carver anticipates the end of his life while his grandson struggles with his own future and a whale biologist resists authority in favor of moral action. Heacox grounds his beautifully-written story in considerable research as well as with respect for cultural beliefs and practices.

The canoe carver in particular is well-drawn and memorable, with toughness, resilience, and humor earned from living close to the Earth and its waters, in a place of stories. A canoe journey carries the story into a wild landscape, questions about conflicts between economic development and the preservation of lands and cultural values, and understandings of human frailty and strength. 

By Kim Heacox,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Jimmy Bluefeather as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it. This book is for kids age 13, 14, 15, and 16.

What is this book about?

Winner, National Outdoor Book Award

"Part quest, part rebirth, Heacox's debut novel spins a story of Alaska's Tlingit people and the land, an old man dying, and a young man learning to live."
-Kirkus Reviews (starred review)

"A splendid, unique gem of a novel."
-Library Journal (starred review)

"Heacox does a superb job of transcending his characters' unique geography to create a heartwarming, all-American story."
-Booklist

"What makes this story so appealing is the character Old Keb. He is as finely wrought and memorable as any character in contemporary literature and energizes the tale with a humor and warmth thatā€¦


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Book cover of Tap Dancing on Everest: A Young Doctor's Unlikely Adventure

Tap Dancing on Everest by Mimi Zieman,

Tap Dancing on Everest, part coming-of-age memoir, part true-survival adventure story, is about a young medical student, the daughter of a Holocaust survivor raised in N.Y.C., who battles self-doubt to serve as the doctorā€”and only womanā€”on a remote Everest climb in Tibet.

The team attempts a new route upā€¦

Book cover of Sivulliq: Ancestor

Rosemary McGuire Author Of Rough Crossing: An Alaskan Fisherwoman's Memoir

From my list on Alaska by Alaskans.

Why am I passionate about this?

I grew up in a wilderness cabin in Alaska, surrounded by more wild animals than humans. For many years, I worked in the heavily male-dominated Alaskan fishing industry. I still work as a scientist in rural Alaska. I care passionately about the place, and the truthful stories written about it by people with deep roots and diverse backgrounds here.

Rosemary's book list on Alaska by Alaskans

Rosemary McGuire Why did Rosemary love this book?

This book tells of Indigenous resistance to white colonizers in northern Alaska and the fierceness of a motherā€™s love as she fights to save her daughter from kidnapping.

Lily Tuzroylukā€™s voice is fresh and utterly compelling. She writes of a place she knows. This book both broke my heart and thrilled me.

By Lily H Tuzroyluke,

Why should I read it?

2 authors picked Sivulliq as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

In the spring of 1893, arctic Alaska is devastated by smallpox. Kayaliruk knows it is time to light the funeral pyres and leave their home. With her surviving children, she packs their dog sled and they set off to find family. Kayaliruk wakes with a bleeding scalp and no memory of the last day. Her daughter was stolen by Yankee whalers, her sons say. They begin chasing the ship, through arctic storms, across immeasurable distances, slipping into the Yankee whalers' town on Herschel Island, and to the enemy shores of Siberia. Ibai, an African American whaler, grew up in Newā€¦


Book cover of The Power Of Concentration

Ralph Lamson Author Of Emergence In All Seasons

From my list on self-realization, curiosity, exploration, struggle, and the magic of success.

Why am I passionate about this?

During an intensely productive period as a licensed clinical psychologist, I invented virtual reality immersion therapy described in US Patent 6425764 and authored Virtual Therapy: prevention and treatment of psychiatric conditions by immersion in virtual reality environments. UCSF Clinical Professor of Psychiatry, Dr. Lawrence Lurie wrote: ā€œRalphā€™s vision is of the whole world, the context is history from the beginning of time. The author quotes Emerson, Dante, Chaucer, Jung and many more from before and after the invention of the printing press. The originality, language, and world view make this book interesting reading. The story is well told in verse, pictures, quotations, and more. I enjoyed the vast expansiveness of the story and the details of many peopleā€™s lives.ā€

Ralph's book list on self-realization, curiosity, exploration, struggle, and the magic of success

Ralph Lamson Why did Ralph love this book?

The Power of Concentration is a practical guide for developing concentration. I liked this book because it helped me through graduate school when stress was high. The book contributes to a discussion of positive psychology. Concentration is placed within the grasp of each person. The author links concentration to the development of desirable habits while overcoming bad habits." Theron Q. Dumont noted, "Concentration is paying attention to a chosen thought." His work is relevant today given distractions from many corners of life. 

By Theron Q. Dumont,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked The Power Of Concentration as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

This course of lessons will stimulate and inspire you to achieve success; it will bring you into perfect harmony with the laws of success. It will give you a firmer hold on your duties and responsibilities. All your real advancement must come from your individual effort. Success is assured when you are able to concentrate for you are then able to utilize for your good all constructive thoughts and shut out all the destructive ones. It is of the greatest value to be able to think only that which will be beneficial.


Book cover of The Holy Science

Jennie Lee Author Of True Yoga: Practicing with the Yoga Sutras for Happiness & Spiritual Fulfillment

From my list on yoga philosophy for those who want to dig deeper.

Why am I passionate about this?

As a long-time student and teacher of yoga, I have read extensively on the philosophy and practice of this ancient science. After 25 years, I still discover daily, new benefits as I deepen my understanding of this traditionā€™s peace-bringing principles. Because I have found so much personal wellbeing through yoga, I made a career as a yoga therapist, coaching others in the yogic practices which help us establish inner peace, balance, and joy. Hundreds of clients have given me feedback in the benefits they too have received by integrating these teachings. Through the embodiment of yoga philosophy, we can truly transform our consciousness and reunite body, soul, and spirit.

Jennie's book list on yoga philosophy for those who want to dig deeper

Jennie Lee Why did Jennie love this book?

For the serious student of yoga philosophy, this tiny book packs a mountain of wisdom as it establishes the inherent unity between the religious teachings of east and west. I particularly appreciated the explanation of the ā€˜mean-nesses of the heartā€™ which impede our spiritual progress. I find it is important to be aware of the obstacles that present themselves on the spiritual path so that I can prepare to overcome them and become a more compassionate and service-oriented person. For those interested in science, he also includes a great explanation of the ā€˜yugasā€™ or cycles of human existence.

By Sri Yukteswar Giri,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked The Holy Science as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

This extraordinary treatise explores parallel passages from the Bible and the Hindu scriptures to reveal the essential unity of all religions. Swami Sri Yukteswar is renowned as the revered guru of the great pioneer of yoga in the West, Paramahansa Yogananda (author of Autobiography of a Yogi). In this remarkable work - composed in the year 1894 at the request of the great Indian sage, Mahavatar Babaji - Sri Yukteswar outlines the universal path that every human being must travel to enlightenment. He also explains the vast recurring cycles of history - the yugas that mark the upward ascent ofā€¦


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Book cover of The Ballad of Falling Rock

The Ballad of Falling Rock by Jordan Dotson,

Truth told, folks still ask if Saul Crabtree sold his soul for the perfect voice. If he sold it to angels or devils. A Bristol newspaper once asked: ā€œAre his love songs closer to heaven than dying?ā€ Others wonder how he wrote a song so sad, everyone who heard itā€¦

Book cover of The Dark Side of the Light Chasers: Reclaiming Your Power, Creativity, Brilliance, and Dreams

Michael Bungay Stanier Author Of The Coaching Habit: Say Less, Ask More & Change the Way You Lead Forever

From my list on unexpectedly useful books about coaching.

Why am I passionate about this?

Coaching is a wonderful technology that can help people be a force for changeā€¦ and is often wrapped up in mystic and woo-woo and privilege that makes it inaccessible and/or unattractive to too many. I want being more coach-likeā€”by which I mean staying curious a little longer, and rushing to action and advice-givingā€”to be an everyday way of being with one another. Driven by this, Iā€™ve written the best-selling book on coaching this century (The Coaching Habit) and have created training thatā€™s been used around the world by more than a quarter of a million people. Iā€™m on a mission to unweird coaching.

Michael's book list on unexpectedly useful books about coaching

Michael Bungay Stanier Why did Michael love this book?

Carl Jung has two quotes that I love. First, ā€œthe gold is in the dark.ā€ And second, ā€œIā€™d rather be whole than good.ā€ Both recognize that weā€™re complicated, contradictory, and gloriously messy beings. Debbie Fordā€™s book was the first time I felt I could actually do something with the profound wisdom of Jung. One particular exercise pretty much ā€œcuredā€ me immediately of some long-standing resentment I had with a former boss. Even though the language is sometimes a bit too woo-woo Californian hippy for me, itā€™s a book with some deeply useful exercises to help you become more whole, kinder to yourself, and ultimately more wholly you.

By Deborah Ford,

Why should I read it?

2 authors picked The Dark Side of the Light Chasers as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

In this enlightening guide, Debbie Ford explains that the dark side of our personality should not be hidden. By denying our dark side, we reject these aspects of our true natures rather than giving ourselves the freedom to live authentically. Here she shows that it is possible to acknowledge and accept our so-called weaknesses, proving that these qualities may be important, hidden strengths. For example, perhaps some 'selfishness' can save us from exhaustion and resentment.

Full of illuminating stories and practical exercises, Debbie Ford shows us how to reconcile our darker impulses and find the gifts they offer. Your lifeā€¦


Book cover of Happy for No Reason: 7 Steps to Being Happy from the Inside Out

Maria Baltazzi Author Of Take a Shot at Happiness: How to Write, Direct & Produce the Life You Want

From my list on wellbeing that will make you feel happier.

Why am I passionate about this?

My career began in television, and the demands wore on me over time. I started realizing that I cared just a little too much and too intensely. It was not emotionally or mentally healthy nor sustainable in the long run. Thus began my journey. Reading a few books turned into several courses, eventually leading to a PhD in Conscious-Centered Living. I realized I wanted to share with others what I learned along the way. However, coming from a creative background, I wanted to take a creative approach toward becoming happier and more content ā€“ and do it in a sustainable way. Thus, my book was created to help other seekers.

Maria's book list on wellbeing that will make you feel happier

Maria Baltazzi Why did Maria love this book?

Marci Shimoffā€™s book was my first happiness book on my inner journey. Reading it excited and inspired me and it now sits on my bookshelf crammed with bookmarks and worn pages.

I think of Happy for No Reason as a happiness encyclopedia filled with so much usable knowledge. Marci also became my first mentor through her ā€œYear of Miraclesā€ online group. She is so generous with her wisdom and encouraging to others ā€“ this is a woman who walks her talk. I will forever be grateful for her initial inspiration.

By Marci Shimoff, Carol Kline,

Why should I read it?

2 authors picked Happy for No Reason as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Everyone wants to be happy, yet so many people are the opposite of that, with increasing numbers of anti-depressants being dispensed each year. Clearly we need a new approach to life. Happy for No Reason presents startling new ideas and a practical programme that will change the way we look at creating happiness in our lives. Marci Shimoff combines the best in cutting-edge scientific research into happiness with interviews with over 100 genuinely happy people, and lays out a powerful, holistic, seven-step formula for raising our 'happiness set point'. Our happiness levels are like a neuro-physiological thermostat - we canā€¦


Book cover of Centering in Pottery, Poetry, and the Person

Shaun McNiff Author Of Art Heals: How Creativity Cures the Soul

From my list on art healing.

Why am I passionate about this?

By chance, just over 50 years ago, I became an art therapist in a state hospital on the Northshore of Boston where I have always lived. With support from Rudolf Arnheim at Harvard University and others, I committed myself to furthering personal and community well-being through art. In my mid-twenties I established a graduate program at Lesley University which spawned an international community of expressive arts therapy. I have worked worldwide in advancing art healing and art-based research. Now University Professor Emeritus, and for the first time without a full-time position, I am trying to embrace the unpredictable ways of creation, and as I wrote, Trust the Process.

Shaun's book list on art healing

Shaun McNiff Why did Shaun love this book?

This is a poetic masterwork with the potterā€™s wheel as a metaphor for creating our lives as ā€œan ongoing processā€ in which every act integrates all of life. In our current era there is a tendency to cry cultural appropriation when we look beyond our immediate context and study art healing principles within the whole human community and find ourselves in others. Mary Caroline Richards offers good art medicine for this myopia in demonstrating how ideas are not the property of persons ā€œbut live in the worldā€ as people and all of nature do. ā€œThe deeper we goā€ in the contemplative process of centering, the more separations ā€œdissolve.ā€

By Mary Caroline Richards,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Centering in Pottery, Poetry, and the Person as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

A flowing collection of poetry that is also a guide for life.


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Book cover of Ferry to Cooperation Island

Ferry to Cooperation Island by Carol Newman Cronin,

James Malloy is a ferry captain--or used to be, until he was unceremoniously fired and replaced by a "girl" named Courtney Farris. Now, instead of piloting Brenton Islandā€™s daily lifeline to the glitzy docks of Newport, Rhode Island, James spends his days beached, bitter, and bored.

When he discovers aā€¦

Book cover of Happiness

James Sulzer Author Of The Voice at the Door

From my list on poets and politics.

Why am I passionate about this?

As a teenager, I ā€œdiscoveredā€ the poetry of Emily Dickinson and put her verse to music. Later, at Yale University I delved deeper into the power of rhythms, the beauty of images, the clarity of insightsā€”how they combine to create a genuine poetic voice that reveals an interior world. Politics, of course, define our interactions in the exterior world, and great novels meld these two elementsā€”poetry and politicsā€”into a seamless union. Iā€™ve been inspired to write novels about two poetsā€”Emily Dickinson and John Keatsā€”to bring the reader into the intense, poetic world of their blazing interiors and their unique outward politics.

James' book list on poets and politics

James Sulzer Why did James love this book?

Happiness is a gentle, insightful, poetic depiction of the politics of nature in London, Englandā€”specifically, the treatment of urban foxes in the midst of human activity. The layers of life (children, adults, foxes, falcons, street cleaners, psychiatrists, immigrants, landowners) interact here in ways deeply moving and insightful, reminding me of the central question in much of my writing: the boundaries between our private, poetic perceptions and the politics of survival.

By Aminatta Forna,

Why should I read it?

2 authors picked Happiness as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

'Forna's voice is relentlessly compelling, her ability to summon atmosphere extraordinary ... A thing of lasting beauty' OBSERVER SHORTLISTED FOR THE RSL ONDAATJE PRIZE 2019 SHORTLISTED FOR THE JHALAK PRIZE 2019 A breathtaking novel from Orange Prize-shortlisted and Commonwealth Writers' Prize-winning author Aminatta Forna Waterloo Bridge, London. Two strangers collide. Attila, a Ghanaian psychiatrist, and Jean, an American studying the habits of urban foxes. From this chance encounter in the midst of the rush of a great city, numerous moments of connections span out and interweave, bringing disparate lives together. Attila has arrived in London with two tasks: to deliverā€¦


Book cover of To the Bright Edge of the World
Book cover of Ordinary Wolves
Book cover of Jimmy Bluefeather

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