Books for Blizzards

Do you love opening a Christmas present and discovering a book that’s the perfect choice for you? Here are some books that can make that happen for someone you love, or perhaps that Santa will bring to you if you’re good.

Starting with books for kids, The Power of Snow is one of those that proves the author’s brilliance for thinking up the contents. Combining a basic math concept with delightful illustrations, the book will become a favorite so be ready to read it again and again. More and more snowflakes cavort with wildlife as we go from 22 to 214. Even adults will have fun with this one.

They Hold the Line details the life of a wildland firefighter and illustrates the terminology of that world. Perfect for children and adults who are curious about those green transport vehicles with Hotshot labels, people in yellow shirts, and huge planes dipping into lakes.

In Northern Sights a young girl investigates the Northwoods, seeing it anew from the perspectives of the wildlife who live there. Vole, moose, owl, beaver, and others share their view in the enchanting illustrations.

Is there a child on your list who is beginning to enjoy chapter books? They and the adults who read to them will chuckle and cheer as the Peach family competes against others who have won a trip to Sweden to stay in an ice hotel. Cool! Wrap up Frozen Peaches.

Who loves a thriller? Here are hours of reading for them: In the true crime genre, Murder at Minnesota Point tells of the trails–mostly misleading–and travails of detectives trying to find the culprit who killed an unidentified young woman. Discovering her identity was mystery enough, but then years of persistence

Chapman Street Books

Quality used books on all topics, including many with local interest. Bring yours in for a discount. Big free box. Home to Prairie Fire Tobacco, with imported and domestic blends. 139 E. Chapman St. 218-365-2212 took them far afield. At once a glimpse into the history of crime fighting in the early 1900s and a character study of the cops and detectives who were not of a mindset to give up easily.

Much scarier is The Taken Ones, a novel set in northern Minnesota. Starting with the disappearance of three young girls and revisiting it as a cold case decades later, the story is psychologically entwined with the investigators’ own pasts in surprising ways. Don’t pick it up unless you have the whole evening to read.

If history is what appeals to someone you’re shopping for, get a copy of Gunflint Falling. (Yes, 1999 is now considered history even though it seems like yesterday to some of us.) As in his previous book Gunflint Burning, the award-winning author focuses on the people impacted by this natural disaster–the 60-some injured and 100s of luckier survivors, those involved in medevac operations, and crews arriving from all over the country to help clear portages and repair campsites.

Speaking of the Boundary Waters, here’s the perfect gift for someone just beginning to travel there or for anyone interested in how someone else does it.

Ken Hupila has been a guide and photographer in canoe country for decades. He shares his techniques, wisdom, and some great stories in Your Trip into the Boundary Waters , a collection of articles first published in the Ely Echo. Ken’s travel advice, fishing tricks, recipes, and more will make a first trip more successful than it might be without this. Order a copy by calling the Ely Echo at 218-365-3141.

Moving on to the natural history buffs on your list, you can choose between birds, ferns, and fish; and of course tons of others by browsing the bookshelves at Piragis bookstore. Ten Birds That Changed the World is a clever blend of history and ornithology. Readers of this book, whether an avid birdwatcher or a casual observer, will have a new respect for the place of the avian realm in human enterprise. The concept of extinction arose from the study of birds. Horrible murders were committed in an attempt to preserve the plume trade. And once a war was declared on a bird species. The repercussions of these and the other events in this book had global implications. Fascinating stories, well told.

For the natural history nerds–we know you’re out there– Ferns and Lycophytes of Minnesota would be a gift treasured for years. Practical and easy to use even for the non-scientist, the book contains a key and gorgeously detailed photographs that make species identification fairly simple. Trail-worthy, but equally at home on the coffee table.

On to your angler enthusiast. Along with a nice packet of lead-free tackle consider a copy of Beneath the Surface. This is not a how-to for catching fish, although it contains plenty of advice.

This is a more of a treatise on the world of fish...the underwater ethos, recognizing that with the understanding of the fishes’ lifestyles an angler will be more likely to succeed. Anyone curious about the underwater world of northern lakes, which is practically anyone who spends time at a lakeshore cabin or in a boat, will find something fascinating here. For the person who has gazed in wonder at the aurora borealis, or is still looking forward to their first experience, beauty and understanding will be found in Spirits Dancing–The Night Sky, Indigenous Knowledge, and Living Connections to the Cosmos. Really, that subtitle says it all. An ode to the wonders revealed only in darkness, an increasingly rare situation in our overlit modern population centers, the stunning photography unfolds in page after aweinspiring page. The illuminating text provides explanations beyond wavelengths and magnetism, exploring the cultural and spiritual responses to these heavenly displays. This could be a perfect “hostess” gift or addition to the cabin library.

Find these titles at Piragis Northwoods Co. Bookstore or check them out at the Ely Public Library. It’s ok to buy a gift for yourself, too!

A good photographer captures an image in the perfect light with an artful composition that arouses emotion in the viewers who relate the content to their own lives. A great photographer reveals something new, unseen by other observers but distilling the meaning of the subject into a creative expression. The one-in-a-million photographer does all that, but also has insights into the deeper story within the picture, crafted from an understanding of the world that eludes most of us and an insatiable curiosity.

In his new book, Beyond the Light, Layne Kennedy elucidates the deeper stories hidden within his one-in-a-million mind, stories that turn his photographs from outstanding images to a unique and illuminating perspective. Layne is described by Jim Brandenburg (Photographers and others with creative genius seem to gravitate to our area like moons to a planet.) as having an “...intelligent and gifted eye...driven by a thirst for the positive in life without the usual naïveté that accompanies. A smart exuberant joy sings from his work.” This book likely exceeds your gift budget, but make a date with the person on your list who is an aspiring photographer to go to the library and share an hour or two looking at a copy of the book that Layne generously donated. You’ll find his writing as captivating as his pictures.