I'll end March as I started ... with books about sled dogs. :-)

First up is a 'coffee table' book today: Travelers of the Cold: Sled Dogs of the Far North, by Dominique Cellura. From early legends and rock paintings to the modern day sport of skijoring, the author covers several continents and hundreds of years in this well written and well researched book. Definitely worth a couple of cups of tea!

Although the Iditarod is the most well known sled dog race, the Yukon Quest is considered to be a more difficult route. In Running North: a Yukon Adventure, the author, Ann Mariah Cook, follows along (in a quirky truck) as her husband with his team of Siberian Huskies, runs the race.

From Gary Paulsen (author of Winterdance) comes Puppies, Dogs, and Blue Northers: Reflections On Being Raised By a Pack of Sled Dogs. Back home in Minnesota, Cookie is about to have her puppies. I love the descriptions of the puppies and how they interact with the other Paulsen dogs, especially with William (never 'Bill') as he teaches them how to get the tasty bits from a beaver skull. The illustrations are paintings done by his wife, Ruth Wright Paulsen.

Polly Evans is the author of several travel books. Although she claims to not like 'discomfort' she has ridden horses in Argentina, traveled around New Zealand on a motorbike, and through China using public transportation. Mad Dogs and an Englishwoman: Travels With Sled Dogs in Canada's Frozen North is her adventure of following the Yukon Quest trail. I waffle between great admiration for Polly Evans, and thinking she is crazy, but her writing is good and I've enjoyed her books. I love reading about her getting to know the dogs and working with them as a team.

For those who like a good mystery, a long ago read, Murder on the Iditarod Trail, the first in a series by Sue Henry. Mushers are dying on the trail, Jessie Arnold may be next, and State Trooper Alex Jensen is determined to find the killer. It's a dim, but good memory. :-)

It seems fitting to end with another 'coffee table' book ... this is one I bought just for the pictures ... Huskies in Action: the Fascination of Dogsledding, by Rico Pfirstinger. (It was worth it)! The text is interesting, too, however, since it's about dog sled races in Europe, something I know very little about.

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From 1912 - 1959 the U.S. flag had 48 stars. From 1960 (officially July 4) to the present day the U.S. flag has 50 stars. For that one year (July 4, 1959 to July 3, 1960) the official U.S. flag had 49 stars. I wonder how many still exist?

I remember singing a song in elementary school about "Alaska and Hawaii, we welcome both of you" (No one else does, however, so I'm now thinking our music teacher wrote something special for an assembly).

When I heard a snippet of a story about the Alaskan flag, I went looking for more information and found Benny's Flag, by Phyllis Krasilovsky and illustrations by Jim Fowler. It starts with an Aleut boy named Benny Benson who lived in Chignik in a time when Alaska was still a territory. It was announced in school that there was a competition to design a flag. Benny thought he had a nice design ... and as it turns out, others thought so too since his idea won. Now, this can't be a spoiler, since we've all seen that flag, however, I won't explain what his design means. ;-)

As a casual (very casual) dresser, the title Fashion Means Your Fur Hat is Dead: a Guide to Good Manners and Social Survival in Alaska, by Mike Doogan and illustrated by Dee Boyles made me chuckle. If you want to know how to behave in Alaska, this is the book for you! Be sure to check out Chapter 9 and celebrating holidays. July 4th fireworks, for example .... ;-)

For a silly, whimsical, tall-tale sort of history of Alaska, Mark Wheeler's Half-Baked Alaska is the best choice. He pretty much covers everything someone from the 'outside' would need to know before traveling to our northernmost state. Mark was also a water-color artist and his work is beautiful. He graduated from a local high school in 1961 where he once painted the drum heads for the bass drums used in the marching band. Sadly, he died in 2010.

Planning on moving to Alaska? Then The Frozen Toe Guide to Real Alaskan Livin': Learn How to Survive Moose Attacks, Endless Winters & Life Without Indoor Plumbing, by Brookelyn Bellinger is the book for you. Full of helpful hints and strategies along with locations of hardware stores, food unique to Alaska, dates and locations of races, festivals and so forth this would be a most useful book. And even if you are not moving to our 49th State, it was still a fun read. (Why is there a town named Chicken, for example). :-)

For laughing out loud, try Moose Dropping & Other Crimes Against Nature: Funny Stories from Alaska, by Tom Brennan. There are funny stories about both natives and tourists, the government, bush pilots and wildlife (and more). Learn all about moose dropping! (No, an actual moose is not dropped ... think about it for a moment). ;-)

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Several friends rolled their eyes and groaned when I told them I was including a book on John Philip Sousa this month .... you know, the march king? I thought it was hysterical, but perhaps I should apologize? (One friend has told me she thought it was fine).

It wasn't easy to get my hands on a book about John Phillip Sousa, but I finally did, and what a find it was! John Philip Sousa's America: the Patriot's Life in Images and Words is by the last direct descendant .... John Philip Sousa IV (with Loras John Schissel). It is a delightful collection of photos, news clippings, etc., in fact, it looks a bit like a scrap book might. Sousa was the director of the Marine Band for many years and was the one who started them on the tours which made them so famous. He took the band across the United States and then on to Europe. He wrote marches, dozens and dozens of them as well as dance music, songs (sometimes the words, too) and operettas. A wonderful tribute to a most interesting man.

"The Stars and Stripes Forever" may be the most familiar Sousa march ... it's the one with the nifty piccolo solo in the trio. Harvey Phillips may have been the first to play it on the tuba. His book, Mr. Tuba, was an exhilarating and exhausting read, the man had boundless energy! He is responsible for bringing the tuba (and it's variations) from the back of the band or orchestra, mostly playing the 'on beats' (while the horns did the 'off beats') to a solo instrument, and one that is now found in many brass ensembles. He had older music transcribed, and commissioned new solo works for the tuba. As a free lance musician, he played classical, jazz, in the pit for both opera and Broadway shows ... pretty much anywhere he could. In a spine tickling moment, he mentioned one the professional tuba players he'd worked with, and it was someone I had played with once as well. His name was George Black, and he played in the Bellingham Civic Band at the end of his life. He was amazing. The enthusiasm Harvey Phillips had for his tuba was infectious and I found this a hard book to put down. (Read this now and be ready for International Tuba Day on May 1)! :-)

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The war may have ended in 1945, but rationing, utility clothing, Victory Gardens, and so forth continued for another five or six years. Times were tough, you used up every bit of food, you reused clothes, repurposed anything you could ... times were tough. Various radio shows and bulletins offered advice and hits and many of these were compiled by Jaqueline Mitchell in The Good Life on a Budget: Delicious, fun, and timeless times for tough times. From how to supplement the various kinds of fertilizer for better results, to wearing the same outfit over and over (but making it look new and/or different), to preserving the harvest from your Victory Garden, this was an interesting read. It also made it all the more understandable why my folks saved everything. :-)

The kitchen was, for a long time, a hub of activity, partially because it took a long time prepare and cook the meals. Take a look at what that was like in Kitchen Memories: Food and Kitchen Life 1837 - 1939, compiled by Elizabeth Drury and Philippa Lewis from the Amoret Tanner Ephemera Collection. Watch the evolution in appliances and gadgets as the kitchen became more and more modern.

Moving beyond the kitchen to the entire house, At Home: A Short History of Private Life, by Bill Bryson is a wonderful tour of the various rooms of the house, and how that has changed over the years. (I am particularly relieved that washing clothes is now so very easy). Written with the usual Bryson humor.

Then, moving from a somewhat broad to a more narrow look at things we use every day there's Consider the Fork: How Technology Transforms the Way We Cook and Eat, by Bee Wilson. While the knife has been around for a very, very long time, the fork is rather new, and took a while to catch on. Even the basic plate is newer than I would have expected! I suggest reading this book along with Kitchen Memories for a glimpse at those things that no longer exist in the kitchen of today.

And finally, after books on where we eat, how it is prepared and eaten, a book about how we eat. Three Squares: the Invention of the American Meal, by Abigail Carroll is a nice read about just that. A fast meal, eaten 'on the go' may not be as new as we think. The midday meal was once the largest meal of the day (no more, sadly), cereals made breakfast much, much easier when houses had fewer servants, and so on. Again, a nice overlap with the books mentioned above tied these books together.

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One of my best (and dare I say it, oldest) friends is someone I met in college. Unlike so many of us, she knew what she wanted to do with her life and was on her way to graduate school even as a freshman. She was (and is) fascinated by Ancient Egypt.

I have a mere two (three if you count her thesis) books of an ancient Egyptian theme on my shelf so I went to her for further recommendations (and some to avoid).

TimeLife used to put together wonderful book series on a great variety of topics. I've kept a few from some of them, including Ancient Egypt, by Lionel Casson and the Editors of Time-Life books from Great Ages of Man. I loved the parts about daily life, one that was so very long ago. The book came out in 1965 so some of the information may be dated or even incorrect, but as with other TimeLife books, the pictures are worth a look.

When the King Tut exhibit was on tour, my friend and I went together. The fun that was comes back to me with Treasures of Tutankhamun, the guide to the artifacts on display. On the tape that was available there was a demonstration of the trumpet found in the tomb (see page 103). To hear it played, and knowing that it was the same sound heard by the ancient Egyptians gave me goosebumps! (I do know Tut is also spelled with men at the end, but this is the spelling on my guide book).

The Tomb-builders of the Pharaohs, by Morris Bierbrier is currently unavailable locally, but other readers of my blog may still find it at their library, it's one of the best.

My friend suggests we stay away from all books by Budge. The information in them is VERY outdated. Many people have his Book of the Dead, and try to teach themselves how to read Egyptian hieroglyphs from it, but his work was inaccurate even when it was was first published. She even double checked online and found a 2008 version with new introduction (Romer), but the back of the book says it keeps Budges translation.

I used this as a gift one year: Egyptology by Emily Sands and Dugald Steer with illustrations by Nick Harris, Helen Ward and Ian Andrew. An interactive book (before computers changed that term!), I'm told it was fun. :-) There are maps, and fold out pages, a game or two, a guide to reading hieroglyphs, and even a scrap of mummy cloth.

And, for some lighter reading:

The Amelia Peabody mysteries, by Elizabeth Peters comes highly recommended. This is because the author is really Barbara Mertz, an actual Egyptologist using a pen name! There are 19 books in the series, starting with Crocodile on the Sandbank. I've read four (some time ago, now) but remember great characters and settings.

Turns out we share a similar story with Zilpha Keatley Snyder. We each read just one of her books when we were young, and it was because of the subject matter. For me it was Season of Ponies (March 25, 2014 post), while for her it was The Egypt Game. Now I've read both! Sent to live with her grandmother (from Hollywood), April isn't sure what to expect. She soon meets Melanie and learns that they share an interest in Ancient Egypt. This leads to the the Egypt Game. There will eventually be six 'Egyptians' in this delightful book for children. Using things found in a vacant lot, information from books, and lots of imagination (no tvs or phones around here). Strange messages add to the wonder. As does an octopus.

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According to the website on Special Days, the third Saturday in March is National Quilting Day.

My grandmother made amazing quilts. Intricate designs, teeny tiny, very even stitch work, and the history of what each quilt was made from (or so my Dad told me). Much of that history is lost, but the quilts are safe in a local pioneer museum.

Jennifer Chiaverini has a delightful series of books out involving quilts and those who make them. The first in the Elm Creek Quilters series is The Quilter's Apprentice (there's one glaring (to me) error which I hope has been corrected in later publishings of this book) (hint, it has nothing to do with the quilts) and others have (and most likely will be) mentioned in this blog. Many of the main characters are from one family, which allows for recent stories as well as those from past generations. The books talk about quilt design and what they mean, there are pictures of the squares, too. Put together, they can tell a story.

From what I'd learned in the Chiaverini books, it was an easy decision to pick up America From the Heart: Quilters Remember September 11, 2001, curated by Karey Bresenhan. They came from all over the world, not just the U.S. They came from experienced quilters and those for whom this was their first quilt. Men and women, a class of 5th graders and more all with one thing in common. Their quilt was a response to the attacks of 9/11. It's a powerful collection that will bring tears to your eyes.

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It's the solstice today, so spring, at least according to the calender, is here! That seemed like a good reason for an extra post to my blog this week. :-)

Have you ever considered having a snail or slug as a pet? Or wonder how best to display that snail shell collection? Or wonder who the fastest snail is? Learn all this and more in The Secret World of Slugs and Snails: Life in the Very Slow Lane, by David George Gordeon, illustrations by Karen Luke Fildes. This was actually a very amusing book, the author has a dry wit that I enjoyed. On a cold morning, if one looks closely, it is possible to see a puff of exhaled sluggy breath! Oh, and sometimes, snails are faster than 'snail mail'!

It's spring, and a recommendation for The Pacific Northwest Garden Tour: the 60 Best Gardens to Visit in Oregon, Washington, and British Columbia by Donald Olsen comes not from me, but from two of my gardening, traveling, reading, friends. And yes, the book was interesting, but as a non-gardener I thought those who truly love working in their yards would make for better 'recommend -ders'. ;-)

Here's another wonderful seasonal alphabet from Steven Schnnur and Leslie Evans: Spring: an Alphabet Acrostic. (Winter may be found on the December 30, 2014 post). Once again there are delightful pictures from hand colored linoluem cuts, and clever text that can be read both across and down.

Here comes allergy season ....

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A quick check of the Official Iditarod site shows that Dallas Seavey has arrived in Nome and is the winner of the 2015 race. Mitch Seavey is not far behind.

There has been one, just one, photo finish to the Iditarod, and it happened in 1978 with Dick Mackey and Rick Swenson. It is still talked about today. One Second to Glory: the Alaska Adventures of Iditarod Champion Dick Mackey, by Lew Freedman is the story of that race and much more. It is a biography of Mackey, from his childhood in New Hampshire to helping in the early years of the Iditarod, to establishing Coldfoot, a truck stop way up above the Arctic Circle. Like many Alaskans, he is a bush pilot, tour guide and a hunter. And, like a few other Iditarod veterans, he is the father of the next generation of Iditarod (and other races) mushers.

Lew Freedman gathered more stories from mushers in More Iditarod Classics: Tales of the Trail Told by the Men & Women Who Race Across Alaska. Once again the illustrations are by Jon Van Zyle. Just as good as the original, I enjoyed these stories of those who return year after to year to run across Alaska in the cold and the dark!

Gary Paulsen writes great books about running the Iditarod and Woodsong is no exception. Although written for the teenage reader, adults should enjoy it, too. The descriptions of the cold are, well, chilling. (Sorry!) While there is much humor, he never makes light of the event, it's hard work. Even so, at the end, he'll admit .... he'd be back to do it again.

A nice companion to the stories in the Iditarod Classics books is Iditarod: the Great Race to Nome, text by Bill Sherwonit, photography by Jeff Schultz. It's the history of the race that honors the great serum run into Nome, from the humble beginnings to the organized, professional race it is today. Wonderful pictures! I loved seeing the dogs used to haul the mail and water in the 'old days'.

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Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Leslie Meier has at least one mystery for every holiday, big or small, in her Lucy Stone series. The fitting one here is The St. Patrick's Day Murder. I read it so many years ago that the details are long gone, but I will say I enjoy the series and try to read them as close to their proper 'date' as possible. :-)

While I was looking for St Pat's day books I came across A Fine St. Patrick's Day, and, while it looked promising (and it was) I had to check it out because of the author. It was written by Susan Wojociechowski! Loved that name!! The illustrations are by Tom Curry and it is a delightful story about two towns, a leprechaun, and cows in the mud.

Although written with children in mind, A Pot O'Gold: a Treasury of Irish Stories, Poetry, Folklore, and (of Course) Blarney, should prove just as good for adults. Selected and adapted by Kathleen Krull and illustrated by David McPhail this was a most enjoyable read. I loved all the variations on Celtic knots.

It's time once again for this heartfelt St. Patrick's Day toast: "May the road rise up to meet you ... and may you not be stuck behind the nervous ponies on the parade route!"

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March 14 is Pi Day, as in 3.14 (etc.) In honor of that, I looked for some books for this fun post. When I searched for the 16th letter of the Greek alphabet, that is, "pi", this is the version I get: ∏. Not as pretty as others I've seen, but it will have to do.

∏: a Biography of the World's Most Mysterious Number, by Alfred S. Posamentier and Ingmar Lehmann was written for the general reader. Even so, the 'math stuff' went into my head, swirled around for a bit, and then left without leaving much of an understanding behind. However, I did enjoy the chapters on history, enthusiasts, and curiosities. :-) It seems celebrations are started at 1:59 (the next range numbers) and include hijinks, and, naturally, pie. There's a song (to the tune of "American Pie", by Don McLean) and some curious mnemonics for memorizing the first 25 numbers or so.

Sir Cumference and the Dragon of Pi: a Math Adventure, by Cindy Neuschwander and illustrated by Wayne Geehan is a clever story of Pi for children. Join Radius on his search for the answer to the riddle that will ... well, you'll just have to read the book to find out just what it will solve. ;-)

It seems my best memory of something to do with Pi is from an episode of Star Trek (the original series) "Wolf in the Fold" where Spock tells the computer to calculate to the last digit the value of Pi. As the computer pulls more power to solve this order, the crew is able to overcome the nasty entity that has invaded the Enterprise.

As I sign off today I am humming 'All My Life's a Circle' .... (Harry Chapin) ;-)

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Here are the last of the quote books on my shelf (for now, anyway);-)

An Encyclopedia of Quotations About Music, compiled and edited by Nat Shapiro is a very well organized collection. Even the chapters are divided into more specific topics. Unlike most other quote books, there are photographs of musicians, too. I especially loved the sub-chapter of musical misanthropy filled with 'mis-speaks' (operations instead of operettas) and compliments that aren't so nice, and some that are just plan nasty.

Kathleen Kimble, Robin Petersen, and Kathleen Johnson put together the music quotes in The Music Lover's Quotation Book: a Lyrical Companion. Many of these are quotes from musicians rather than about them. Most enjoyable!

Before dvds, before videos, at a time when one had to rely on reruns to see a favorite show again, in this case Star Trek, there was Star Trek Speaks, compiled by Susan Sackett, Fred and Stan Goldstein. Along with each quote is not only who said it, but which episode and a brief description of the scene. I found when I was reading it that it conjured up nice images in my mind. In this collection, too, there are a few photographs.

For some unknown reason books, movies, and tv shows are often renamed when released in the United States. Often times the original is better (think The Murdoch Mysteries becoming The Artful Detective). So, the subtitle for The Official Quotable Doctor Who went from Wit, Wisdom and Timey Wimey Stuff to Wise Words From Across Space and Time. Hmmf. From their first words to their last and so much in-between, it's still a wonderful collection from the early days of the show to the Eleventh Doctor. (And the first words of the Twelfth).

"There is a pleasure to be able to quote lines to fit any occasion." -- Abraham Lincoln

(thank you Quote Garden) :-)

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I have long been impressed with folks that can get up on a stage and sing and dance, so when I came across Nothing Like a Dame: Conversations with the Great Women of Musical Theater, by Eddie Shapiro, it was an obvious choice! Since I do not attend Broadway plays, and am (ahem) of a certain age, it turned out to be a mixed bag sort of book for me. Some of the women included were too young for me to recognize their names so I would read their biography but skim or skip the conversation with the author. On the other hand, I really enjoyed the ones with Carol Channing, Patti Lupone, Bebe Neuwirth and so on. I liked that it wasn't all 'wonderful' and 'thrilling' ... the hard work and disappointments are here, too. (Patti Lupone was replaced without even so much as a phone call when Sunset Boulevard moved from London to New York). (She'd been hired for both). How Betty Buckley made "Memories" from Cats into the show stopper it is/was made for spine tickling reading. My take is that if you know the person you are reading about, you will enjoy this book. I sure did. :-)

No one is sure where that remarkable voice came from (it was her step-father that was the singer, not her biological father), but what a voice it was! She started on stage, officially, at age 12, but had performed with her vaudevillian parents before then. She was in the original Broadway production of My Fair Lady, but when it became a movie, someone with a better name was wanted so she went on to do this little movie called Mary Poppins (and winning the Academy award for doing so). There were other successes, and failures (both professionally and personally) and in Julie Andrews: a Life on Stage and Screen, by Robert Windler you may read about all of them (up to about age 60 or thereabouts). A nice, well-balanced read.

It was late at night when the thought came to me that Heroine of the Titanic: the Real Unsinkable Molly Brown, by Elaine Landau would fit here nicely ... it's about a 'brazen broad' who became a Broadway character! She was never called Molly while she was alive. The popular Broadway musical and movie got most of it wrong, although she was on the Titanic, and did live in Leadville, she was actually well educated, spoke several languages, and never hid paper money in the stove. She was strong and out spoken on issues such as miner's rights, education for all, and equal rights. All in all a most interesting woman.

And to close this post, a 'snippet' type book, one with lots of short entries. The Untold Stories of Broadway: Tales From the World's Most Famous Theaters, by Jennifer Ashley Tepper. Since the title page also includes "Volume 1" there must be (or will be) others. A nice collection of 'first times at the theater', or what musical inspired someone to become an actor, dancer, set designer, etc. I especially enjoyed the ones about what the old theaters were like to work in ... from the musicians, stage hands, or the guy who worked on the door. It did seem like it needed one more proofing, though, as there are some jarring errors every now and then.

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It's time again for the Iditarod. A big concern this year is the condition of the trail due to lack of snow. Sure enough! A recent check at the Iditarod site tells me the start of the actual race as been moved to Fairbanks. (The ceremonial start remains in Anchorage).

I will start with the oddest book in my collection: Wrestling the Iditarod, by Paul Ellering. Mr. Ellering is a pro-wrestler, neither a sport I like, nor someone I'd see as wanting to run the Iditarod. That being said, here it is! It's part diary, part journal, part memoir and a rather good story all 'round. The author was able to sway my (somewhat biased, but unfounded) image of him by his relationship with his dogs.

Based on a true story, and told by the dogs, Where's the Boss?: a Dog Team Alone on Alaska's Iditarod Trail, by Lois Harter and illustrated by David Totten is a tale that could have had a tragic ending, but because of these amazing dogs, did not.

Many of the dogs on the racing teams are Alaskan Huskies ... basically a mix of breeds as drivers strive for the best combination of temperament, stamina, and athleticism. (Sometimes, as you will read, this leads to amusing incidents). Check out some of these teams in Dogs of the Iditarod, by Jeff Schultz.

Iditarod Classics: Tales of the Trail Told by the Men and Women Who Race Across Alaska, by Lew Freedman with illustrations by Jon Van Zyle is a wonderful collection of true stories from the folks who have 'been there' and 'done that.' Be sure to read the short biographies of each of the contributors, they are as good as the tales they tell.

Every year there is a new poster celebrating the Iditarod and for decades that poster has come from Jon Van Zyle (he's the official artist for the Great Race). His artwork is amazing! The book on my shelf is Jon Van Zyle's Iditarod Memories: 30 Years of Posters From the Last Great Race with stories about each one by his wife, Jona, but there are earlier editions, covering fewer races, of course, available, too. His work may be seen in The Great Serum Race from the February 8, 2014 post as well.

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These three suggestions have been sitting around for some time now so I'm just going to group them together in one short post. :-)

David Laskin is becoming a favorite author (see The Children's Blizzard in the June 21, 2014 post). Next came The Long Way Home: an American Journey from Ellis Island to the Great War which followed twelve men as they immigrated from Europe to start a new life in America. They found work and then came the War ... some volunteered, some were drafted and most were proud to fight for their new country. The War would change their lives dramatically.

The Family: a Journey Into the Heart of the Twentieth Century (also by Laskin) came to me as a gift from Canadian Reader. The author comes from a large family. With the help of cousins, family stories and letters, not to mention archives, libraries, and years of research he traces it back to Shimon Dov Hakohen and Beyle Shapiro in the mid-1800's. Some of the family thrives (think Maidenform Bra), some were Zionists, some died at the hands of the Nazis. As with other books by David Laskin, it was a hard book to put down.

The author of Idiot America mentioned Madison frequently so I asked Constant Reader (who is reading biographies of all the presidents, in order) for a recommendation. Mr. and Mrs. Madison's War: America's First Couple and the Second War of Independence, by Hugh Howard, was the answer. A bit like a journal, or diary, it is the events leading up to and including the War of 1812. Constant Reader was right, it's an excellent read.

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Throughout time women have worked, and worked hard. Here are a few more mysteries set in another time and place, and one non-fiction book to prove my point. ;-)

A favorite series of mine is the Gaslight Mystery series from Victoria Thompson. Much to the dismay of her 'society' parents, Sarah Brandt has defied them, married a doctor, and become a midwife. Even when her husband dies, she insists on remaining a midwife and helping the poorer members of society. Returning characters include a policeman, an orphan, and an abandoned child. The most recent one I've read, Murder in Chelsea, adds an interesting twist to the story line. I'm glad I won't have to wait long for the next book! Wonderful period settings and descriptions. Start with Murder on Astor Place.

Murder in the Telephone Exchange, by June Wright, first published in 1948 is now available as a reprint. It is set in Australia, and was so popular there it outsold Agatha Christie! When a coworker is murdered with a buttinsky, Maggie decides to find the culprit. Lots of period detail, interesting characters, great read!

Ariana Franklin writes mysteries set in medieval times and fills them with unusual characters. In Mistress of the Art of Death (the first in a series) that includes a woman medical examiner, an Arab, and a Jew, sent to Cambridge where several children have been murdered. Add to them the townspeople, knights home from the Crusades, nuns, monks, and one very smelly dog. Wonderful detail gives the reader a great feeling for the time period, but be warned .... that detail also includes the deaths, savage attacks, battles and so forth. This is one of those books I meant to skim so I could include it in a blog post and ended up reading it through all over again. :-)

Rosie the Riveter: Women Working on the Home Front in World War II, by Penny Colman and illustrated with photographs, is a well written history for children. I wish I could have read something like this when I was young, it explains so much! When the men were off to fight there were thousands of jobs, ('unladylike' jobs) that needed doing. Some companies hired women on at once, for others it took a government order. Women were found in all those once 'male only' jobs ... in hospitals, factories, building planes, even playing in symphony orchestras. Photos include women at work as well as posters that recruited them, including, of course, Norman Rockwell's famous one of Rosie. He made a mistake (he realized it too late to do anything about it). Can you spot it?

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There are so many possibilities for March blog posts! Sled dogs, the Iditarod, St Patrick's Day, the spring solstice, pi day, John Phillip Sousa .... there may be several extra posts. :-)

While not a part of the Iditarod, or even a sled dog race of any sort, dog sledding is a means of transportation in Mrs. Mike: the Story of Katherine May Flannigan by Benedict and Nancy Freedman. While listed as fiction, it is based on a true story as the authors knew, and worked with, Mrs. Flannigan when they wrote the book. When she was 16, (in 1907) Katherine May was sent from Boston to her uncle's farm in Calgary, Alberta where it was believed the cold air would help with her pleurisy. While there, she meets and marries a Mountie and moves even further north. This is the story of their life together.

Alone Across the Arctic: One Woman's Epic Journey by Dog Team, by Pam Flowers with Ann Dixon was listed in the August 30, 2014 blog post. Big-Enough Anna: the Little Sled Dog Who Braved the Arctic is that story, but this time written for children and with some wonderful illustrations. Same authors as before, with the addition of Bill Farnsworth did the illustrations.

It should come as no surprise that sled dogs love to pull. After all, it's what they've been doing for generations. Born to Pull, with text by Bob Cary and illustrations by Gail de Marcken is a wonderful introduction to these dogs. With chapters on the various northern breeds (and what they do best) to feeding, training, and racing, this is an excellent read for both younger and older readers.

Ziva, the dog in Wind-Wild Dog, written by Barbara Joosse and illustrated by Kate Kiesler, was a real dog and the inspiration for this story. Sled dogs with one blue and one brown eye are thought to be 'half-wild' and for that reason, one puppy was not picked by other mushers to join their dog team. One man was different, and this is what happened.

Snowmobiles are now the primary means of transportation in the Antarctic, but originally it was provided by dog teams. Of Dogs and Men: Fifty Years in the Antarctic. The Illustrated Story of the Dogs of the British Antarctic Survey 1944 - 1994, by Ken Walton and Rick Atkinson is the story of their adventures. Grand adventure, hard work and an amazing partnership between man and dog make for a thrilling read. Wonderful photographs!

I have a friend who builds dog sleds. He does so the old-fashioned way in that he steams the wood in order to bend it into the proper shape. He's using red oak at the moment, but would like to try white oak and white ash. He lashes them with an old technique, but a new product. Originally sleds were lashed with rawhide, but he uses seine twine (a nylon twine used in purse seine nets). He uses his sleds, too, when there's enough snow, and has a team of three dogs.

Reading Hermit With Dog