I read Laura Ingalls Wilder's The Long Winter as a kid, and was fascinated with the details of how they survived - twisting hay into sticks to burn, grinding wheat in a coffee grinder, etc.

This tragic true story of the killer blizzard of 1888 was interesting reading even for someone who's never experienced true winter. It was an unexpected bonus to read that the author was inspired in part by Wilder's book, and that he found many of the details in her book echoed in accounts of people who survived the 1888 blizzard.

Going to Florida in what I *hope* is a wishlist RABCK. Enjoy!

What a wonderful surprise! A book from my wishlist. How surprised I am and blessed by my BC friends.

So sorry for taking so long to get to this book. It is next on my pile to read. I will journal after I finish reading the book. Thank you again for sharing with me.

How truly tragic! My heart justs aches for those who lost so much in the Blizzard. The author did a lot of research and wrote in a compelling way. I will reserve for the Non-fiction VBB when it is my turn to make choices.

Enjoy! Off to Firegirl for Non-fiction VBB

Arrived safe and sound! This past winter I experienced what was, for our area, a pretty significant snowstorm. I spent two nights sleeping at the hospital where I work because roads were so bad and I had to be there to work. While that's nothing like what I expect to read in these pages, it will at least give me a basis for comparison. Thanks for sending this!

I have never been in anything that could really be considered a blizzard. The worst I've dealt with was a fairly decent snowstorm in the D.C. area that caused me to have to sleep a few nights at the hospital where I worked at the time. I've certainly never faced feet of snow or blinding, death-causing weather like the Midwest and northern climates see from time to time. Consequently, I don't really have a basis for comparison, which was all the more reason I was keen to read this. It was full of things I should have really found interesting, but didn't, though it wasn't a total loss.

It started out well, with a good intro that set the scene and grabbed my attention. Then the book drifted a bit into the science behind what caused this particular storm. Now I like books that teach me things. I like science and learning about stuff I don’t know. I don’t really get meteorology, so was initially glad to see that there was a bit in the book to explain it. However, try as I might, all I got out of it was “blah blah blah cold front blah blah air blah blah lots of snow.” I finally had to just skim that bit and move on, telling myself, “Right. Some weather happened and out of total nowhere on a decently nice day, hell came in the form of a horrible sudden blizzard, nobody could see their hand in front of their face and it was terrible. Got it. Moving on.”

The book bounces around, describing the storm and its effects on numerous people - teachers, schoolchildren, families, meteorologists. I must say, I found the meterologists' stories pretty dull. I understand they were impacted by the storm and felt a lot of guilt for not warning people soon enough, but I really couldn't drum up interest in their career progressions before and after the blizzard. "Blah blah blah government post blah weather blah blah upheaval blah blah blah." Skimmed most of those bits too.

The parts about the people directly IN the storm, however, I gobbled up like candy. It's pretty obvious early on who makes it and who doesn't based on how Laskin writes about them, whether they directly thought/did something or if it is just assumed that they did. Laskin does take some liberty in giving some thoughts and emotions to those who succumbed, but none of them felt unlikely, so I didn't mind so much.

In the end, I mostly enjoyed this and feel it gave a strong sense of what it was like to be in such a disaster.

(Counts for the 2017 "Reduce TBR" challenge.)

Off to Florida, little book! Happy travels!

The Book_Drunkard sponsored a CHRISTMAS IN JULY activity, and I chose this book from Firegirl's bookshelf! It's been on my wish list for a long time! The funny thing is that this book has spent some time in my neighborhood previously, and then traveled away and is now back in town!

Thank you, Firegirl for sending it along! Not sure when I'll get to it, though!

Dec 1, 2020: To be read soon and then to be sent to book_drunkard, who requested to read it next.

12/13/20: Starting to read this today!

Feb 6, 2021: I actually loved this book. As a previous reader mentioned, my attention would wander somewhat while reading the meteorological parts, but I devoured the biographical and social elements. The stories of the pioneer spirit were inspiring and, yet, sad. Ready to be packaged and sent to book_drunkard in Indiana as part of Booklady331's KTM Challenge (Link).

Released as part of Booklady331's KTM Challenge (Link)

☺ Happy Traveling, Book! ☺

Received today.

Wow, it looks like this book must have taken this scenic route to get here or, maybe, it got held up by a blizzard!
I'm looking forward to reading this, it has been on my wish list for a few years and I'm thrilled to finally have it in my hot little hands.
Thank you!

No, dear book_drunkard. Dad-i-libri took a few days to get it to the post office! Glad it's there!

Making another journal entry to add this back to my shelf.