The Magnetic North: Notes from the Arctic Circle

Although a bit dry, there were things I liked about this book:
- The chapter setup - a chapter for each country or region.
- The balance of travel and history
- The anecdotes and stories within the story
But there was really only one thing that annoyed me:
- The index to the illustrations - so annoying to have this at the start of the book, so that very time you come across an illustration, you have to return to the index to find out what it is. Why do this? Why not have the text at the foot of the illustration so you can read it as you view?
- Also i agreed with this review about this particular sentence, which I read three times, thinking WHY?, but it was by far the worst example.
Overall, probably a 3.5 - worth the effort, for sure.

The Magnetic North by Sara Wheeler




Wheeler takes her readers places no one has been, places no one really wants to go except via books. This time, she guides us through the frozen north, the lands and waters north of the Arctic Circle. She's an ideal guide, one who seeks out all the coolest (in both senses of the word) spots and who finds all the best of the Arctic stories, and relates her tales with a delightfully literate vocabulary.