Race Across Alaska by Libby Riddles and Tim Jones

Goodreads synopsis: Libby Riddles wanted an adventure. At the age of 16 she left home for the snowy frontiers of Alaska, the Last Frontier. There her love of animals drew her to the sport of sled dog racing. When she entered the Iditarod, the famous marathon from Anchorage to Nome, she was just another Iditarod Nobody. Twelve hundred miles later, having conquered blizzards, extreme cold, and exhaustion, she and her dogs crossed the final stretch of sea ice, miles ahead of the nearest competitor... and suddenly she realised: I will be the first woman to win the Iditarod. This is the story of a courageous woman and her heroic dogs. This is the story of Libby Riddles's adventure.

My rating: 4 stars.

Content warnings: PG. Mild swearing, violence towards dogs.

Thoughts: I wasn't originally going to read this book, but Winterdance made me want another Iditarod story and this was the other book club pick. But I'm glad I did. The story itself is enjoyable and very easy to get into and read. Riddles talks less about the preparation and focuses more on the specifics of running the race, which was interesting.

What I enjoyed the most though, surprisingly, was the margin notes giving more details about elements of the race, like the dogs, or what's on a sled. I thought I would just skip them and read the story, but I actually really looked forward to them. Having those kinds of details enhanced the reading about the race in general, and it was all neat things to know, written in an easy to digest way. It was nice.

From reading the story, Riddles seems like a neat, down to earth person, and reading through her Iditarod story was something I enjoyed a lot. I'd recommend it to anyone with a passing interest in the Iditarod race.

(As an interesting side note, in one short part of the story, Riddles mentions meeting Paulsen on the race. That, combined with the difference in focuses and details in different places, make Winterdance and Race Across Alaska good books to read together.)