Staff Picks: Arctic Kingdom Book Club

Dear Friends,

We continue to think of you and ways to best manage this time. Many of us are yearning for new stories and are looking for chances to travel vicariously through movies and novels.

A good story can transport us all over the world! We can learn about new places we want to visit or undergo a tremendous journey as we race through the pages of a great book.

We thought it would be fun to pass on some of our own staff favourites since they tend to focus on adventure and the Arctic.

An earlier blog, Arctic Kingdom Book Club, offers a series of fantastic Arctic books from a wide array of genres. It ranged from captivating non-fiction accounts to mysterious historic fiction, and environmental awareness. All of them will transform you to the pristine Arctic world and make some exciting holiday gifts!

Today, we came up with a continuation of our Book Club as we offer Staff Picks from the friendly people that make Arctic Kingdom your Arctic Travel Expert.

Here is Arctic Kingdom’s Staff Picks:

DAVE, Expedition Leader in Operations

“The Arctic Grail – the quest for the Northwest Passage and the North Pole 1818 – 1909”

By: Pierre Burton

An awesome account of Arctic expeditions during this era.

The first copy in my possession I had found sitting in a curbside pile of books as a give away. I lost track of it and liked it so much I decided to purchase it.

Thomas, Expedition Coordinator in Operations

“Into The Wild”

By: Jon Krakauer

I liked it because it explores self-limitations, withdrawal from civilization and isolation through nature.

“The Beach”

By: Alex Garland

Tropical yes, but similar to our trips you are entering the unknown, seeking adventure and escaping reality in an exotic location.

KRISTYN, Vice President of Operations

“The Joy of Less”

By: Francine Jay

I feel overloaded in many areas of my life. Keeping stuff out of life eases my stress levels.

“Becoming”

By: Michelle Obama

These are super motivating books by women who have achieved great things. They are well-written and inspiring. Buying them on audible has the advantage of having the author’s reading their own books.

“Essentialism”

By: Greg McKeown

This is about doing fewer things, but doing them better. We are always invited to participate in more and more things, but we should only say yes to the things that really make us happy and make lots of room in your life for those things. I’ve read this book three times over the years.

MEARON, Marketing & Communications Manager

“Frankenstein”

By: Mary Shelley

A masterpiece that intertwined the genres of Romanticism and Gothicism with arguably the fist Science Fiction story of all time, Frankenstein: or, The Modern Prometheus is a story many know of but few know the true story to.

Differing greatly from the Frankenstein of film, Shelly’s novel focuses on Victor Frankenstein, a scientist, who find himself in the Arctic looking for his unnamed monster. After being found in the Arctic, Frankenstein relays his story of the monster he had created. Dealing with themes of family, society, isolation, sublime nature, and more, this story is sure to inspire a journey into the deepest parts of what it means to be human.

NATASHA, Sales Manager

“The Right to be Cold”

By: Sheila Watt-Cloutier

A real look inside Inuit way of living as it is part memoir. Sheila explores the parallels between safeguarding the Arctic through climate change and the survival of Inuit culture.

I really appreciated how it was about the journey of a woman who rose from a humble beginning to a leader of her people and has received international recognition for her work.

KAREN, Client Services Specialist

“The Winds of War”

By: Herman Wouk

I cannot say enough good about it, it is a captivating and utterly fascinating account of the 2^nd World War as fictionalized through the eyes of an American military family.

SCOTT, Field Planning Manager

“Ice Ghosts: The Epic Hung for the Lost Franklin Expedition”

By: Paul Watson

This book is a great account of the 200 year search for the Franklin vessels across the Canadian Arctic. It incorporates history and the idea of exploration.

From my perspective, having sailed the route of Franklin through Victoria Strait imagining what these sailors had to endure is fascinating!

“Endurance: Shackleton’s Incredible Voyage”

By: Alfred Lansing

Although it is set in the Antarctic region, this is another great tale of exploration, bravery and perseverance.

The fact that it is written by an author that served in the Navy helps put an accurate perspective to the sailors’ experiences. I thought it was well written and grips the reader.

MARIE CLAIRE, South Baffin Program Manager

“Latitude Zero”

By: Mike Horn

I could not put this book down once I started reading it! It’s about explorer and adventurer Mike Horn’s journey around the globe along the equator.

“Furiously Happy”

By: Jenny Lawson

A hilarious book about anxiety, taxidermy raccoons and everything in between. I read this book while traveling and laughed out loud at almost every page. During these challenging times we could all use a little humour and wisdom about mental health.

“Into Thin Air”

By: Jon Krakauer

I read these when I was going through an everything about Everest phase. Two climbers’ accounts of the series of events that led to tragedy on Everest in 1996. The Climb is essentially a response to Jon Krakauer’s version of the events in Into Thin Air.

MAT, Marketing & Communications Coordinator

“The Alchemist”

By: Paulo Coelho

I really loved how it makes you yearn to go on an adventure and expresses the joys and trials you go through on any good adventure! A great read that is over all too quickly.

I remember flying to the Northwest Territories and people kept stopping me while I read to start talking about how much they enjoy it and would ask little jokes from the book.