false 36 574 548 true 5689610 read 2 true 483766 currently-reading 24 true 483765 to-read 51 false 484046 knitting 36 false 484060 childhood 32 false 486418 mystery 21 false 484043 cooking 18 false 487205 exploration 16 false 487209 desertisland 7 false 487213 biography 7 false 486433 canada 6 false 2867735 mountaineering 4 false 487184 wanted 3 false 487366 spinning 2 false 3791853 education 1 false 3791856 learning-disabilities 1 false 5140075 gay-erotica <![CDATA[Audra added 'Lady Franklin's Revenge: A True Story of Ambition, Obsession, and the Remaking of Arctic History']]> http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/3739834 Lady Franklin's Revenge: A True Story of Ambition, Obsession, and the Remaking of Arctic History (Hardcover) by Ken McGoogan
bookshelves: canada, currently-reading, wanted
]]> <![CDATA[Audra added 'The Explorer's Daughter']]> http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/69282230 to: The Explorer's Daughter (Paperback) by Kari Herbert
This book was written by a English woman whose parents took her to western Greenland when she was 10 months old to live on Herbert Island in the early 70s for two years. They returned for a short time when she was 9. In her thirties she decided to return for an extended visit.

In the early 70s, the community she lived in was still a traditional hunter/gatherer community. But the interesting thing was that in 1999, when she returned, although the community had been resettled to the mainland, the traditional ways had not yet been forgotten. In fact, even in 1999 the community still uses dogsleds and harpoons to hunt polar bears and narwhals.

It's a book that could have been longer; she examines the problems of the community - the younger generation being caught between two worlds, the effects of alcohol, the limitation on traditional hunting grounds - and covers some historical facts I was unaware of (the crash and subsequent radiation poisoning of a B-52 bomber; the forced resettlement of a community to make room for an air base) without drawing conclusions. If you want your lessons tied up and handed to you, this book isn't for you. Some problems are too complex to have sound bite answers.

But if you want to know what living in the farthest north is like - I never thought about the fact that you would have to go fetch ice to melt all the water needed for cooking and drinking - this is a great book. ]]> <![CDATA[Audra is on page 118 of The Explorer's Daugh... ]]> http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/69282230 Audra is on page 118 of 368 of The Explorer's Daughter ]]> <![CDATA[Audra added 'Showing the Flag: The Mounted Police and Canadian Sovereignty in the North, 1894-1925']]> http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/69281573 Showing the Flag: The Mounted Police and Canadian Sovereignty in the North, 1894-1925 (Hardcover) by William R. Morrison
bookshelves: to-read
]]> <![CDATA[Audra added 'Without Fear, Favour, or Affection']]> http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/69281471 Without Fear, Favour, or Affection (Paperback) by Charles Scheideman
bookshelves: to-read
]]> <![CDATA[Audra added 'An Unauthorized History of the RCMP']]> http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/69281324 An Unauthorized History of the RCMP (Paperback) by Lorne Brown
bookshelves: to-read
]]> <![CDATA[Audra added 'Voyages and Discoveries']]> http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/68103571 to: Voyages and Discoveries (Penguin Classics) by Richard Hakluyt
Interesting although not long enough (I want a book about each sailor/explorer). Of course I would say that. ]]> <![CDATA[new comment from Audra]]> http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/17222566 Berty's review of Across the Top of the World: The Quest for the Northwest Passage
by James P. Delgado

I just re-read this on Monday/Tuesday (home sick). It stood up well. I still lament the lack of a comprehensive map, though. And after reading McGoogan's "Fatal Passage" I still feel he shorted John Rae. But those are minor points. It's an excellent comprehensive source. ]]> <![CDATA[new comment from Audra]]> http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/54694654 Steph's review of The Wordy Shipmates
by Sarah Vowell

This is the first book I've read by her so I was enchanted by her style and approach - I do plan to read more by her. For this specifically, it seems as if it'd be a great book to give to a teen who's not "into" history. ]]> <![CDATA[Audra is on page 21 of Tristram Shandy ]]> http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/64580155 Audra is on page 21 of 260 of Tristram Shandy ]]>