The Matanuska Valley’s Fireside Books in downtown Palmer, known locally as the home of “good books and bad coffee,” has been a major supporter of Northern Light Media books for several years, keeping several of our titles in stock on their shelves. Their Weekly Top Ten List records the best-selling titles, and this week we are delighted that three of our books are on the list:

• The 1935 Matanuska Colony Project, The Remarkable History of a New Deal Experiment in Alaska, tells the story of the 200 families who were brought to the Matanuska Valley to build homes and make new lives for themselves under President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s New Deal for America. An all-but-forgotten chapter in American history, when the U.S. government took a direct hand in the lives of thousands of its citizens.

• The Matanuska Colony Barns, The Enduring Legacy of the 1935 Matanuska Colony Project – As part of the federally-funded social experiment known as the Matanuska Colony Project, each family’s farmstead included a magnificent barn, a sturdy structure 32′ by 32′ square and soaring 32′ high. Today the remaining Colony barns are an iconic reminder of what has been called the last great pioneering adventure in America.

• The Beautiful Matanuska Valley, From the Matanuska Glacier to Point Mackenzie and from the Knik Glacier to the Little Susitna River – Stories and photos of Knik, Sutton, Matanuska, Big Lake, Chickaloon and other sites tell the story of the founding, settling, and development of the Valley, with details about the geography, geology, transportation, agriculture, mining, recreation, tourism, and history – highlighted by hundreds of full-color photographs!