Beyond Road's End: Living Free in Alaska

Janice and Ed Schofield had a wild adventure, leaving a life of relative ease in NH to take on the challenges of Alaska. After leaving most of their worldly goods behind they headed northwest to start a new life from scratch with their dog, Max. I found the book difficult to put down; holding my interest as I learned how they lived off the land and built a log home from trees on their property. Ever resourceful, they followed their hearts to develop projects such as Janice researching and writing a book on native Alaskan plants. When they needed it the most, the money turned up to fund their projects. The friendships they developed over the years were deep and long-lasting as they contributed a great deal of time and energy to protect the environment with their activism. A good story about people you enjoy knowing to meet and spend time with. It was especially interesting to me as Janice and I taught school together for two years, before she and Ed began their new life together.

I won this book from a giveaway. I honestly wasn't too thrilled about it. I signed up for it because the description sounded a little interesting, and I figured "why not?" Were it not for this, I never would've glanced at this book twice. That said, I was surprised. It actually held my interest - and the latter half I just kept wanting to read, find out how it all ended. The last part covers the Exxon Valdez oil spill - which I remember vaguely from my childhood. Reading a local's account is heart-wrenching! That whole situation saddens me to this day, and now it will more than ever before. I now find myself much more interested in actually visiting Alaska. While I'm not one for cold, I now think I'd like to see it first-hand. I suppose I could go during the summer months. Anyway, this book made me actually want to see Alaska - whereas before I just thought it'd be neat to see. All of that said, I must say that the characters are a bit - how shall I say it - eccentric. There's talk of listening to voices and spirit forces and whatnot. Being as this is a memoir, I have to take it at face value. It's not something I'd do - or care to do - my life, but to each their own. I actually wanted to give this book 3.5 stars, but that's not an option - so, four it is. It was an enjoyable read. Anyone even remotely curious about Alaska likely would enjoy it.

Sorry, I have not had a chance to read it yet. I'm a slow reader and have other books to read first.