From the Bookshelf of Crazy Challenge Connection

Find A Copy At

Group Discussions About This Book

Showing 2 of 17 topics — 1,527 comments total
+ Yearly Challenges
This topic has been closed to new comments. * Yearly Challenges - The Thrill of Victory
By southpaw285 · 1 post · 808 views
last updated Jan 09, 2013 05:54PM
2025-26 Shrink that TBR
By Jimena , Moderator · 52 posts · 60 views
last updated 2 hours, 24 min ago
showing 10 of 139 topics    view all »
Other topics mentioning this book
February 2018 Anticipation
By Chaitra , Moderator · 12 posts · 19 views
last updated Feb 18, 2018 08:19PM
CCC RaT #2, Feb 26 - Mar 3
By Barb , Moderator · 20 posts · 29 views
last updated Mar 04, 2018 02:19PM
Winter 2017 Scavenger Challenge: Northern Lights
By Suzanne · 176 posts · 131 views
last updated Mar 11, 2021 09:35AM
Colleen's Completed (Yippee!)
By Colleen · 179 posts · 109 views
last updated May 06, 2024 10:47AM
Fall 2017 Scavenger Challenge
By Connie N. · 131 posts · 109 views
last updated Apr 10, 2018 09:19AM
4/10/18 - Books
By Connie N. · 13 posts · 23 views
last updated Apr 23, 2018 11:48AM
2018 Help Me Decide
By Connie N. · 2005 posts · 184 views
last updated Feb 24, 2024 10:04AM
March 2018 Scavenger Challenge : Alexander Graham Bell
By Barb , Moderator · 119 posts · 87 views
last updated Jul 17, 2018 08:56PM
One Hit Wonders of the 2000s
By JoAnne · 99 posts · 107 views
last updated Jul 30, 2018 07:48AM
EXTREME Challenge: Obstacle Course
By Suzanne · 1858 posts · 315 views
last updated Jan 02, 2025 06:20PM

What Members Thought

Anne ✨ Finds Joy
I thought this book captured the beauty and harshness of Alaska (and of life) so well! The domestic violence aspect was definitely hard to read about, but the story line really drew me in with its depth, and I loved all the different turns it took.

I listened on audio, and was riveted, listening pretty much straight through. Julia Whelan's narration suited the book really well, and the listening experience reminded me of her narration of Educated.
...more
Kate
Mar 25, 2018 rated it really liked it
4.5/5

An incredible, beautiful, and captivating book. It tells the story of a young girl and her parents who are drifters. They find themselves settling in Alaska, and this is the tale of the challenges and obstacles they encounter and overcome - not just the physical challenges of the state, but emotional challenges too.
BookishStitcher
Mar 19, 2018 rated it it was amazing  ·  review of another edition
This was a wonderful book that was very hard to read at times. It's the story of a man who after suffering as a POW from the Vietnam war he decides to move his wife and daughter to remote Alaska when he inherits some land from a buddy who died in the war. The novel is told from the point of view of the young daughter Leni. As they quickly find out, Alaska is not a great place for her father who already has anger issues. There is a lot of domestic violence in this book. There is also a love of th ...more
Jackie
This was a moving story. It was a book club choice and all I knew about it was that it was about Alaska.

A couple and their teenage daughter moved to Alaska to get away from the bad things that were happening in the lower 48 states. Although they were very unprepared to live there, especially in the winter, with help from their neighbors they survived. The father was a Vietnam veteran and came home with a lot of mental issues. Hoping that Alaska would help him (and for a while it did), things go
...more
Kristin
I was so excited to read a copy of The Great Alone early because our library won one of the ARE's from Goodreads. Thanks Goodreads! I have enjoyed reading many other Kristin Hannah books and this one also did not disappoint.

The early 1970's was a time of turmoil for many American families, mostly because of the Vietnam War. In this book, Hannah uses the war to showcase how Ernt Allbright becoming a POW affected the life of the entire family. Lenora, or Leni, becomes the storyteller in this tragi
...more
Linda C
When Leni is 13 her Dad, a returned Vietnam vet with trouble adjusting, decides to move his family to Alaska and live off the grid. As Leni and her mother adjust to the rugged life, her Dad seems to grow increasingly aggressive alienating everyone around him and growing more abusive toward her mother. The story is told by Leni who becomes more of a parent to her fragile mother. Despite the impending feel of the story and the harsh life, Alaska works its way into Leni's soul; almost a character i ...more
 Olivermagnus
Mar 04, 2024 rated it really liked it
The Great Alone is about a family that moves to Alaska in 1974. Husband and father, Ernt Allbright, is a former POW who came home from the Vietnam War a changed and volatile man. He impulsively decides to move his family to Alaska, where they will live off the grid in America’s last frontier. His wife, Cora, will do anything and go anywhere for Ernt, even if it means following him into the unknown. Their thirteen-year-old daughter, Leni, is caught in the middle of her parents’ passionate and sto ...more
Dedra
Jun 17, 2018 rated it really liked it
This was a fantastic book! I couldn’t wait to get off of work to get back to it.

Kristin Hannah never disappoints.
Joann
Jan 03, 2018 marked it as to-read  ·  review of another edition
Daniel
Feb 04, 2018 marked it as to-read
Elizabeth
Feb 11, 2018 marked it as to-read
Plethora
Feb 22, 2018 marked it as to-read
Leslie Ann
Nov 16, 2018 rated it really liked it
Carissa Brown
May 18, 2018 marked it as to-read
Stacey
Jul 21, 2018 rated it liked it
Shelves: audiobook
Plethora
Jul 12, 2018 marked it as to-read  ·  review of another edition
Carol
Jul 12, 2018 marked it as to-read  ·  review of another edition
Phyllis
Oct 26, 2018 marked it as to-read
Chrystal
Nov 23, 2018 marked it as to-read  ·  review of another edition
Ashley Au
Jan 18, 2019 rated it it was amazing
Elle Lee
May 18, 2020 rated it really liked it
Shilpa
May 09, 2020 marked it as to-read  ·  review of another edition