Take a photo of a barcode or cover
421 reviews for:
Welcome to the Goddamn Ice Cube: Chasing Fear and Finding Home in the Great White North
Blair Braverman
3.89 AVERAGE
421 reviews for:
Welcome to the Goddamn Ice Cube: Chasing Fear and Finding Home in the Great White North
Blair Braverman
3.89 AVERAGE
I bought this for a friend who (as I hoped) loaned it back. A deceptively meandering structure that captures the tension of Blair’s individual journey and the struggle of working out if and how to be safely female. Has given me a lot to think about in my past, including my expectations of myself and other people. Great writing.
adventurous
informative
inspiring
reflective
sad
medium-paced
adventurous
dark
emotional
informative
inspiring
tense
medium-paced
One of my favorite books of the year written by someone who I've come to absolutely adore this year. Blair is SO COOL and such a badass. This was such a treat to read; I would recommend to anyone. Easy, short read and a worthy story to hear. Turns out I'm just gonna graduate college, move somewhere super north, and train snow dogs while writing books.
adventurous
emotional
informative
reflective
slow-paced
Thought there would be more dogsledding stories and mishaps (the stuff that I was looking for didn't turn up until the afterward).
Stories about women repairing themselves after they let men destroy them are not my jam.
Stories about women repairing themselves after they let men destroy them are not my jam.
I was expecting a light read about dog sledding and Arctic adventure, but this memoir also includes some heavy topics, such as sexual assault. At times the narrative is confusing, moving from one place and time to another without clear markers, but I suppose the Arctic trails aren't any more obvious! This would be a great book for high schoolers, to replace the "coming of age" genre (a lá Catcher in the Rye) with a new type of book, about a woman realizing she doesn't have to put with shit from men.
I read this when it first came out in 2016 and now again. I loved it both times but was able to settle into it more the second time around, catching new subtleties, enjoying the Norwegian characters and coffee at the store (if ever there was something meant for the large screen, this is it). This is such a wise and thoughtful meditation on men and women and points north—Arctic Norway and Alaska.
The story begins in the present and works its way back and forth between present and past. Blair as an exchange student in Lillehammer, as a student at a wilderness folk school in Arctic Norway, where she learned dogsledding—there are so many epic moments in these chapters, as a guide in Alaska, and as a grown-up woman returning to Norway.
Blair is one of the bravest writers I know and while there is lots of adventure, this is not your standard adventure tale. It's something much deeper about what it means to be female in a male landscape; what it means to lose yourself; then find yourself again.
The story begins in the present and works its way back and forth between present and past. Blair as an exchange student in Lillehammer, as a student at a wilderness folk school in Arctic Norway, where she learned dogsledding—there are so many epic moments in these chapters, as a guide in Alaska, and as a grown-up woman returning to Norway.
Blair is one of the bravest writers I know and while there is lots of adventure, this is not your standard adventure tale. It's something much deeper about what it means to be female in a male landscape; what it means to lose yourself; then find yourself again.
adventurous
dark
emotional
hopeful
reflective
tense
medium-paced
Content Warnings
Moderate: Sexual assault, Sexual harassment