3 Timely Books For a Hard Winter

[linder]

Hi-
Considering this winter's weather, and the amount of time we have, with the unusually snowy, icy and storminess, I would like to suggest 3 books- I would say 'Historical Non-Fiction', as all are true events that have gone down in history as unusual:
1.) "The Children's Blizzard", by David Laskin. Got it's name from the fact that the blizzard hit suddenly and took everyone by surprise, including all the schoolchildren, who'd walked miles that morning to their schools, and were stuck in the blizzard trying to reach their homes....I love this book, have re-read it many times, but it will break your heart.

2.) "A Wind to Shake the World", by Everett S. Allen. I've loved this book ever since I learned how to read, from the bookcases of my grandparents, and when they passed away, they left me the book, so I double-treasure it. The 'wind' here is the 1938 Great New England Hurricane, sometimes known as the 'Long Island Express'. Again, the surprise factor doomed many to tragedy, and like all of these books (IMO), it's a real can't-put-downer! An oldie, but certainly possible to find, if you know where to look (and if you're a passionate Historical-Fiction fanatic, you do). Lots of photos too. Allen was a newspaper journalist, and this book is one of my favorite books covering this storm.

3.) "The Worst Hard Time", by Timothy Egan. This book is all about the Great Depression, specifically the weather aspect of it. The great dust storms that blew up without a moment's notice, and went on and on, to ravage an incredible amount of area.....there wasn't much time to herd up your animals, get them into the barn and then get yourself into your house before the thing was literally upon you, choking you with soil picked up along the wayof the path of the 'duster', and people were totally helpless to keep their soil from blowing away with the rest. It was a fearsome sight to suddenly look up, and see the duststorm converging on your land. And there was just no way to keep a depressing amount of the dust from getting into your house through even the smallest cracks. How people got through these years is hard to imagine, without the least idea of how long it would last (the Depression, the duststorms, the lack of rain....) But Egan truly gives a good (if harrowing) idea of what life was like during this era.

Any one of these great books will make our Hard Winter of 2010/2011 seem not quite as hard! And also, provide some fabulous reading for the potential time off, when work or school is cancelled- again.
~Linder

[LoveHistory]

I'd like to add The Long Winter by Laura Ingalls Wilder to this list. Now those were blizzards!

[fljustice]

[quote=""LoveHistory""]I'd like to add The Long Winter by Laura Ingalls Wilder to this list. Now those were blizzards![/quote]

Loved that book! Reread the whole series last year in a nostalgia kick when my daughter went off to college.

Might also add the Kristen Lavransdatter series by Sigrid Undset. I recall pretty chilling scenes (pun intended) of winter life in medieval Scandinavia.

[Ludmilla]

Gösta Berling's Saga by Selma Lagerlöf -- set in the wintry wonderland of Sweden with some memorable sleigh rides.