If You Lived Here, I'd Know Your Name: News from Small-Town Alaska

by Heather Lende | Biographies & Memoirs |
ISBN: 156512524X Global Overview for this book
Registered by wingwaterfallingwing of Rockledge, Florida USA on 8/12/2012
Buy from one of these Booksellers:
Amazon.com | Amazon UK | Amazon CA | Amazon DE | Amazon FR | Amazon IT | Bol.com
7 journalers for this copy...
Journal Entry 1 by wingwaterfallingwing from Rockledge, Florida USA on Sunday, August 12, 2012
trade-size paperback.

from the back cover:
Tiny Haines, Alaska, ninety miles north of Juneau, is accessible mainly by water or air - and only when the weather is good. There's no traffic light, no mail delivery, people can vanish without a trace, and funerals are community affairs. As both obituary writer and social columnist for the local newspaper, Heather Lende knows better than anyone the goings-on in this breathtakingly beautiful place.

Quite an interesting read. Definitely a place not for the faint of heart.

Journal Entry 2 by wingwaterfallingwing at Raleigh, North Carolina USA on Monday, August 13, 2012

Released 11 yrs ago (8/13/2012 UTC) at Raleigh, North Carolina USA

CONTROLLED RELEASE NOTES:

Sent to someone who had this on her Wish List.

Journal Entry 3 by collectorkerri at Springfield, Illinois USA on Saturday, August 18, 2012
Received this lovely RABCK today. Thanks, waterfalling!

Journal Entry 4 by collectorkerri at Springfield, Illinois USA on Thursday, May 9, 2013
I loved this chronicle of life in small-town Alaska. From the moose on the cover (I can imagine his voice in my head; it reminds me of the dog Dug in the Pixar movie Up) to the excerpts from Heather Lende's newspaper column, I enjoyed every minute of it. This does, however, solidify my belief that I would not like living in a small town where everybody knows your business. Haines sounds beautiful; I have visited Alaska, but never got anywhere close. Maybe next time. The book now is on its way to firegirl as part of the Nonfiction Bookbox.

Journal Entry 5 by Firegirl at Annandale, Virginia USA on Tuesday, May 14, 2013
Thank you so much for sending this my way! I've read some small town books before and always enjoyed a glimpse into that life. Looking forward to this one.

Journal Entry 6 by Firegirl at Annandale, Virginia USA on Monday, September 2, 2013
I thought this was pretty good. As others reviewers have mentioned, Lende writes obituaries for Haines, Alaska (pop. 2500) so there is a fair amount of death in the stories. This didn't bother be; in fact, I think it gives her a very interesting perspective. It is a collection of stories, so it's great to pick up and read bits at a time. I think it's best that way, actually, as in some cases she introduces a person in relation to their obituary, then mentions them again in a later story as if they were still alive. (Needless to say, the stories are not in the book in an obvious chronological order.) I didn't try to keep people straight and I think that helped in the reading.

Lende is religious and a parent - two things I am not - so at times I couldn't relate to her, above and beyond the fact that I don't live in small town Alaska (or a small town anywhere, for that matter). While I think living in a rural-ish community would be an adventure in a way, I have no desire to be either a parent or religious, so the stories that centered on those fell a little flat for me.

Regardless, the book provides a glimpse into a life so different from mine, that at times I found it fascinating.

Journal Entry 7 by Firegirl at Annandale, Virginia USA on Monday, September 2, 2013

Released 10 yrs ago (9/2/2013 UTC) at Annandale, Virginia USA

CONTROLLED RELEASE NOTES:

RABCK!

Journal Entry 8 by JennyC1230 at Woodstock, Georgia USA on Tuesday, September 10, 2013
Thank you so much for the RABCK! I love Alaska and this looks like a very interesting story from a tiny town in Alaska. I'm looking forward to reading it, then I will probably add it to my Bio/Humor VBB.

Journal Entry 9 by JennyC1230 at Woodstock, Georgia USA on Friday, September 27, 2013
My Review: I really enjoyed this story. I used to look at living in Alaska as being romantic and fun, but the reality is it's a lot of work. The author raised her kids there and it wasn't always easy. We take a lot of things for granted like living near good hospitals.

I love this quote from the book: "A life spent working and living in a small town with people I may disagree with has taught me a lot about humilty and forgiveness. Some lessons have been more painful than others, but my days and my life are richer because of them."

Saved for a bookbox.

Journal Entry 10 by JennyC1230 at Woodstock, Georgia USA on Saturday, May 10, 2014
Putting into my bookbox: Virtual Biography/Auto-Biography/Humor Bookbox, for Round #6.

Released 9 yrs ago (7/1/2014 UTC) at ~~~ ♥ ~~~ A Friend ~~~ ♥ ~~~, -- By post or by hand/ in person -- USA

CONTROLLED RELEASE NOTES:

If you have found this book, welcome to Bookcrossing and thank you for taking the time to let us know about its journey. Feel free to enjoy the book and pass it along to a friend, neighbor, family member or co-worker, or simply leave it somewhere for another lucky reader to enjoy as you did! This book isn’t your type of read? No problem, don't feel obliged to read it, just be kind enough to help it on its journey.

Sending to Bkind2books from the Virtual Biography/Auto-Biography/Humor Bookbox Enjoy the book!

Journal Entry 12 by wingBkind2bookswing at Clarksville, Tennessee USA on Tuesday, July 15, 2014
I like books about quirky places and people - this looks interesting. Thanks for sharing!

Journal Entry 13 by wingBkind2bookswing at Clarksville, Tennessee USA on Sunday, June 11, 2017
This was a fun look at a quirky town along the southern coastal inlets of Alaska, between Juneau and Skagway. 5000 foot mountains form a backdrop to beautiful lakes and fjords. The author and her husband moved to Alaska from the East after marrying and put down roots and raised a family. She's been a part-time writer for the local newspaper, mostly social events and obituaries. This keeps her in touch with most of the residents during good times and bad. These short essays revolve around those characters and you might think it would be sappy or depressing, but it's neither. It's honest and unflinching look at what it really takes to live on the edge of wilderness where medical help can be a scary car/plane ride away and sometimes you have to fend for yourself. It takes a special kind of intestinal fortitude to gut out falling in a lake alone and dragging yourself out and skating back to the car fast to prevent hypothermia. It also takes a special kind of heart to let your kid go out on a fishing boat knowing that a dozen other families have lost children to the sea. But these are hearty pioneer stock and there are trade-offs in a kind of life and freedom that is not accessible to many in the lower 48.

Quotes to remember:

...writing about the dead helps me celebrate the living - my neighbors, friends, husband, and five children - and this place, which some would say is on the edge of nowhere, but for me is the center of everything.

Having a sick child helps make warriors out of ordinary parents.

She asked us to please celebrate Olen's life, not mourn his death. "Olen died in a minute," she said, "but he lived for twenty years."

Wild places are reminders that the world doesn't revolve around us. It doesn't care about our little successes or smashing failures. The tides ebb and flow and the seasons change regardless of how we live or die.

...I know that love and life are all mixed up with loss and death.

That's why local shows mean more than big Broadway productions, and local customs, shared with friends and family, take the place of other ones from other places. Happiness can be as simple as a familiar tune and someone to sing it with.

Journal Entry 14 by wingBkind2bookswing at Clarksville, Tennessee USA on Friday, June 16, 2017
Adding to booklady's VBB

Journal Entry 15 by wingbooklady331wing at Cape Coral, Florida USA on Thursday, August 3, 2017
The book arrived today. Thank you for sharing with me. It looks like an interesting read.

Journal Entry 16 by wingbooklady331wing at Cape Coral, Florida USA on Friday, February 2, 2018
Written as a "feel good" book as Lende portrays the life in a small community. Although she personally experienced each episode as obituary columnist for the local newspaper in Haines, she cried in recounting one chapter about a local angler. The author has provided the reader with interesting and charming vignettes of various families and personalities in this small Alaskan town. Life in Alaska is not easy nor for everyone. I, personally, would not like that life.

Reserved for Non-fiction VBB

Released 6 yrs ago (3/1/2018 UTC) at ——- By Hand, Post, Controlled Release——- in Cape Coral, Florida USA

WILD RELEASE NOTES:

Enjoy! Putting in the Surprise Paperback ring round 6. A KTM book looking to find a new home.

Journal Entry 18 by wingSouthernfryedwing at Lexington, South Carolina USA on Tuesday, March 6, 2018
Taking this out of Meekachu07's Surprise Bookring.

Are you sure you want to delete this item? It cannot be undone.