Ada Blackjack

In case anyone's curious, and I know you are, I haven't been lazy at reading lately. Just lazy at blog posts.

My latest book is called Ada Blackjack: A True Story of Survival In the Arctic by Jennifer Niven. I was unfamiliar with the history of Ada Blackjack before reading this book, so it was easy to get into the suspense. The book is about the early 1920's expedition by four men and one Eskimo woman to the unexplored Wrangell Island. Using personal diaries, news reports of the time, and letters exchanged between family members, Niven pieces together a well-told story of the experiences of the crew and the famous arctic explorer who funded them, Vilhjalmur Stefansson. In the book, no one is fully hero, victim, or responsible for the troubles experienced.

At first, I thought the book was ill-titled because Niven tells a lot of background about the men on the expedition, but upon reading more, I discovered why that was important. I'm not one who romanticizes the Arctic, and I've never had much desire to visit, but this story was suspenseful and interesting. In case you don't know the ending, I won't be the one to break it to you because I think this book is well worth the read to find out.

A strong 4