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The Sun Is a Compass

A 4,000-Mile Journey into the Alaskan Wilds

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The Sun Is a Compass

By: Caroline Van Hemert
Narrated by: Xe Sands
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About this listen

This gripping true story follows a biologist's human-powered journey from the Pacific Northwest to the Arctic to rediscover her love of birds, nature, and adventure—perfect for fans of Cheryl Strayed.​

During graduate school, as she conducted experiments on the peculiarly misshapen beaks of chickadees, ornithologist Caroline Van Hemert began to feel stifled in the isolated, sterile environment of the lab. Worried that she was losing her passion for the scientific research she once loved, she was compelled to experience wildness again, to be guided by the sounds of birds and to follow the trails of animals. In March of 2012, she and her husband set off on a 4,000-mile wilderness journey from the Pacific rainforest to the Alaskan Arctic, traveling by rowboat, ski, foot, raft, and canoe. Together, they survived harrowing dangers while also experiencing incredible moments of joy and grace—migrating birds silhouetted against the moon, the steamy breath of caribou, and the bond that comes from sharing such experiences. A unique blend of science, adventure, and personal narrative, The Sun is a Compass explores the bounds of the physical body and the tenuousness of life in the company of the creatures who make their homes in the wildest places left in North America. Inspiring and beautifully written, this love letter to nature is a lyrical testament to the resilience of the human spirit.

Winner of the 2019 Banff Mountain Book Competition: Adventure Travel

©2019 Caroline Van Hemert (P)2019 Hachette Audio
Adventurers, Explorers & Survival Animals Polar Regions Adventure Alaska Heartfelt
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Critic reviews

"What a marvelous book. An enthralling blend of adventure story, insightful memoir, and keen-eyed nature observation. Van Hemert is a fearless spirit and a master storyteller, to be admired equally for her astonishing grit and her elegant, compelling prose."—Jennifer Ackerman, author of The Genius of Birds

"A truly astounding journey, beautifully written. Caroline Van Hemert follows in the tradition of wilderness adventurers John Muir, Margaret Murie, Cheryl Strayed, and Robert Macfarlane, but she is not one to stick to well-trodden trails. Alongside her husband, she faces predatory bears, roaring rivers, and 4,000 miles of the world's most remote, wild country. She also weaves in her doubts, questions, and insights as a woman and bird biologist. An edge-of-your-seat thrilling read, but with a refreshing humility and grace. My favorite book of 2019, and one the best Alaskan books I have ever read."—Eowyn Ivey, author of To the Bright Edge of the World and Pulitzer Prize finalist The Snow Child

"Van Hemert's vibrant and elegant book transports, educates, and inspires. To read The Sun Is a Compass is to be masterfully guided through the wild by an expert not only on nature itself but on the deep and often hidden connections between the natural world and our human lives."—Barbara Natterson Horowitz, MD, coauthor of Zoobiquity

What listeners say about The Sun Is a Compass

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"A gripping story"? Not so much, frankly.

More of a book about a womans internal dialogue about her life, parents, career, romance, and decision to have a child, than a "gripping" adventure.

We travel along on a couple seriously arduous trek across Alaskan and Canadian wilderness, while listening to a stream of consciousness about the authors life choices, past, present and future. Well written internal thought dialogue. Not what I would describe as an adventure book. More of a meditation on life choices while walking through wilderness.

As a biologist the author inserts lots of factoids about birds.

I am not sorry I read this book, but it would not be on a list of books I would ever read again.

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Dreadfully boring

I guess it my fault I had a feeling this book would be jam packed with emotional fillers completely irrelevant to the title or story
I just couldn't get past the first chapter. Best of luck to everyone else.

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