Summertime reading! What could be better than stretching out in the hammock on a warm summer day with a good book about fast dogs and freezing temperatures? There have been some great books on mushing published in the past few months, and here are my reviews of a few:

"All Alaska Sweepstakes" by Mark and Helen Hegener

The historic All Alaska Sweepstakes sled dog race is the subject of a new book from Northern Light Media, "The All Alaska Sweepstakes, 2008 Centennial Race," by Mark and Helen Hegener (your Team and Trail blogger). Dozens of beautiful photos by Jan DeNapoli, Donna Quante and others tell the story of the 16 Alaskan mushers who entered their teams, each hoping to have their name engraved on the Sweepstakes trophy beside the great mushing legends "Scotty" Allan and Leonhard Seppala; and, of course, they were racing for the richest purse ever offered for a sled dog race: $100,000 winner-take-all!

Excerpt:

"One of the pilots in Candle asked me if I'd seen any wolves, and I said no, and he said there was a big pack of wolves headed this way. I was about two hours out of Candle on my way to Gold Run and I see all these green eyes about fifty feet off the trail, a hundred yards ahead of me. So I had my headlight on bright and I'm looking at these eyes. My .44 was in my sled so I unzipped my sled bag and I'm looking, there's a lot of sets of eyes looking at me." -- Musher Aaron Burmeister

"Graveyard of Dreams" by Craig Medred

Craig Medred has written about the Iditarod perhaps more than any other single writer, gathering numerous awards as he made the race come alive for his readers; in 1992 he was named one of the best sports writers in America for his Iditarod coverage. Now Craig (an Alaska Dispatch staff writer) has added to his considerable writing accomplishments with his first book about the Iditarod, "Graveyard of Dreams: Dashed Hopes and Shattered Aspirations Along Alaska's Iditarod Trail."

Excerpt:

The "come back" theme resonates throughout these chapters: The come back from the brink, the come back from heartbreak, the come back time and again by those who should have quit. But one come back story bears telling first because it is a remarkable tale that spans both the despair and glory so exemplified by the Iditarod. It is the story of Lance Mackey and his Comeback Kennel.

"The Lance Mackey Story" by Lance Mackey

The Lance Mackey Story: How My Obsession with Dog Mushing Saved My Life is as close as most of us will ever come to hitching a ride on Lance Mackey's sled as it crosses the vast frozen reaches of Alaska, and as such, his book doesn't disappoint. From the opening chapter when he shares the awe and wonder of making sled dog racing history in 2007 with his unprecedented dual Yukon Quest and Iditarod wins, to the closing lines, which will be savored long after reading the book, Lance's masterful use of the written language to convey places, events, and especially emotions, draws the reader into his world.

Excerpt: