September RandomKIT: It’s Raining Men! (Weather)

It’s Raining Men! (Weather)


"clouds" by oneiric wanderings is licensed under CC BY 2.0. To view a copy of this license, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/?ref=openverse.

From wikipedia:
“Weather is the state of the atmosphere, describing for example the degree to which it is hot or cold, wet or dry, calm or stormy, clear or cloudy. On Earth, most weather phenomena occur in the lowest layer of the planet's atmosphere, the troposphere, just below the stratosphere. Weather refers to day-to-day temperature, precipitation, and other atmospheric conditions, whereas climate is the term for the averaging of atmospheric conditions over longer periods of time. When used without qualification, "weather" is generally understood to mean the weather of Earth.”

Feel free to read something about weather, in general, or about specific types of weather (hurricanes, tornadoes, storms, blizzards, heat waves, etc). Climate change would work, as well.

Suggestions:
Nonfiction:
Weather for Dummies / John D. Cox
The Worst Hard Time / Timothy Egan
Man vs. Weather: Be Your Own Weatherman / Dennis DiClaudio
Angry Weather / Friederike Otto
Into the Storm: Violent Tornadoes... / Reed Timmer
Isaac’s Storm / Erik Larson

Fiction (ok, most of the fiction I’ve read with weather playing a part are suspense/thrillers!):
The Guest List / Lucy Foley
The Unwanted Guest / Shari Lapena
The Night of the Storm / Nishita Parekh
Trapped / Michael Northrop

Don’t forget to post to the wiki:
https://wiki.librarything.com/index.php/2024_RandomKIT#September:_It.27s_Raining...


"Dramatic weather Portugal | Dramatische Wetterlage Portugal" by Astro_Alex is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 2.0. To view a copy of this license, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/2.0/?ref=openverse.

Unless I think of something better, I think my best bet for this one is Heat and Dust by Ruth Prawer Jhabvala

I think I shall try Strange Weather in Tokyo by Hiromi Kawakami. From an LT reviewer ".....Her writing here gives a particular attention to .........weather & nature as reflection of inner thoughts,.........."

At first I thought that I didn't have much choice for this, but I have unearthed a few books that I could read. Because I don't feel like reading climate fiction right now, I think I'll either read Wintergäste by Sybil Volks, which features a snow storm, or Three Sea Stories by Joseph Conrad, which depicts a hurricane and other weather phenomena. Both fit the AlphaKIT, so I might even read both.

This months' theme makes Murder in the Wind by John D. MacDonald a perfect choice. The story is about a group of people stranded by a hurricane and sheltering together in a run-down house.

I plan to read The Weather Woman by Sally Gardner. This is historical fiction and it's 460 pages long so with other books I'd like to read next month, this one could be finished late.

I will likely read Fire Weather by John Vaillant.

I'm hoping to get to Spring Rain: A Life Lived in Gardens, a memoir by Marc Hamer. Although I'm not sure how much weather will feature :)

I've had It's Raining Frogs and Fishes: Four Seasons of Natural Phenomena and Oddities of the Sky on my TBR forever, and I'm not sure it's a perfect fit, but it's the closest I've got, so that's my plan!

A book I am reading for review starts out with a huge rain storm Rhythm and Clues.

ETA: I also read Murder in the Snow which features several snowstorms.

I enjoyed Rain: Four walks in English Weather if that helps anyone.
I'm a bit stuck for ideas on this one.

>11 Helenliz: - I took this as a BB a couple of years ago and am looking forward to it.

A few more ideas:

Far From The Madding Crowd by Thomas Hardy - the storm that is depicted is only one chapter, but it is a crucial scene in the novel.

The High House by Jessie Greengrass - climate fiction, this was a BB from Jayne that I enjoyed.

All We Can Save, a collection of essays about courage and solutions in the face of the climate crisis. I have only read some of them, but plan to read more. My favourite one is "Community Is Our Best Chance" about a community that worked together in the aftermath of Hurricane Maria on Puerto Rico.

>7 LibraryCin: I found Fire Weather fascinating. Hope you do too.

Still searching for something to meet this category.

I have Isaac's Storm by Eric Larson in my collection. I will read it if time permits; I've a lot of other reading already planned.

I'm counting Emily Wilde's Encyclopaedia of Fairies given how important bleak winter weather is to the plot and setting.

I have North Carolina's Hurricane History on my shelf and hope to read it this month. It's one I've been wanting to get to for a while. But this looks like a busy month, so I'm not sure if I'll be able to fit it in. I might be able to start it but have to finish next month.

I read and thoroughly enjoyed The Weather Woman by Sally Gardner. It takes place in Regency England. The protagonist has the unsettling but useful skill to predict future weather.

It might be a stretch, but I'm counting Flowers from the Storm by Laura Kinsale for this KIT because there's a weather word in the title. But while there is a thunderstorm in one scene, it doesn't really affect the plot.

>19 christina_reads: No worries! A weather word in the title is fine!

>6 clue: I also really enjoyed The Weather Woman. I had never heard of the frost fairs on the Thames before reading this book, so that was very interesting to do some further reading on.

>21 JayneCM: I had read The Frozen Thames by Helen Humphries several years ago and that's one of the reasons I decided to read this. I really enjoyed it too.

I read Fog of Doubt by Christianna Brand (originally London Particular), which features London fog as an important plot element.

I found Hurricane by John D. MacDonald a great read. The author develops "Hurricane Hilda" in great detail and builds his story to an exciting climax.

>20 LibraryCin: Thanks! :)

Somewhat tangentially, I read Maui Strong by Neil S. Plakcy, a short story written as a fundraiser for the victims of the Maui wildfires, which were at least partially caused by a change to a drier climate in the island.

Just finished Rain Dogs by Adrian McKinty.
Not the locked room mystery we are familiar with, but a locked castle mystery. Set in Carrickfergus, Northern Ireland this was a great novel with Sean Duffy investigating a suspected suicide at Carrickfergus Castle. I love the way the author blends the mystery with the sometimes grim current events, and brightened by typical Northern Ireland wit. McKinty's opening won me over immediately with Duffy on crowd control during Mohammed Ali’s arrival in Belfast and he held my interest through to the surprising conclusion.

I’ve visited the castle many times and have a beautiful watercolour painting of it, done by my son.

October's thread is up! https://www.librarything.com/topic/363368#n8623180

Notes From an Apocalypse included a good amount of reflecting upon weather/climate.

Fire Weather: A True Story from a Hotter World / John Vaillant
4.5 stars

Record-breaking heat, strong winds, and desert-like humidity all played a part in the wildfire that hit Fort McMurray, Alberta in May 2016. This book initially introduces the reader to Fort McMurray and its main industry, the oil patch (or tarsands, to be more accurate – that’s not just the environmentalist in me saying that; it seems that really is the most accurate term for it (vs “oilsands” – it really is tar until a lot of equipment, energy, money, etc. go into it to make it liquid)).

The next section is all about the fire, as 88,000 people evacuated the city with no notice, almost all heading out the one highway in/out that doesn’t lead to a dead end. The book then mostly followed first responders who stayed back to fight the fires.

The last section of the book discusses climate change. And the impact this has on the environment, the temperature, fires, and other major disasters that are now happening much more frequently and are stronger than ever before.

I live in Alberta and very distinctly remember the wildfire; I expect many people around the world also remember, with the images and videos that came out as people were evacuating. I remember the one person’s camera inside their house with the fish tank that recorded the fire taking over the house until the camera cut out – this is described in the book (and I went to rewatch the video – those poor fish!).

I have never been to Fort McMurray, nor do I know anyone who works in the oil patch (if I do, I don’t know them well). Of course, the fire was the main pull for me to read the book; I also am fascinated by disaster stories. But also: has anyone else heard of “fire tornadoes”!? Holy crap! New phenomenon. The first one ever occurred in Australia in 2003, then it happened in California in 2017 or 2018. Crazy! The author did provide a lot of information on fires, in general, as well, which I found interesting.

I also read a lot about climate change, and Vaillant had a lot of information in this book, including quite a bit about oil companies that knew what was happening and that humans (and the contributions from oil/gas production) were part of (that is, the main) cause of climate change this time around. It made me think of tobacco companies who didn’t want to lose their profits, so they not only do nothing, they stifle attempts to make things better.

>30 LibraryCin: This looks really interesting and my library has it so I'll put it on the list. They have another one, Principles of Forestry and Conservation, that includes Fort McMurray. This is over 700 pages and shelved in reference. My brother was a forester and I used to read his books, especially if they were about trees rather than forestry management.

>31 clue: Hope you like it!

I was going to read Spring Rain by Marc Hamer for this challenge, but I've overcommitted myself as usual, so am going to have to give this month a miss. Sorry folks!

I have finished Schnee in Venedig. It is February 1862, and snow is falling in Venice.

I read Three Sea Stories: Typhoon, Falk, The Shadow-Line by Joseph Conrad. As the title says, the first story deals with a typhoon. Weather and its consequences for seafaring also plays an important role in The Shadow-Line. In Falk, weather is not one of the main aspects, but it still is essential to one of the plot points when one character recalls being stuck on a ship in Antarctica, an experience that haunts him for the rest of his life..

Found a book on my shelf that suited this challenge, Hurricane Punch. Now I just need to finish it before the end of the month.

I've just finished Ritual of Fire by D. V. Bishop. Set in Tuscany in the summer of 1538, the abnormally hot weather and threatened drought is an ever-present background to the story.

Climate Changed: A Personal Journey Through the Science / Philippe Squarzoni
4.25 stars

This is a graphic novel that chronicles the author as he learns about various aspects of climate change. The author interviewed nine experts in their fields, many (most?) climate experts/scientists, but also economists (with some kind of connection/knowledge of climate change), and one person who combines study of the environment, economics, and society.

I’ve read a lot about this topic, but I still learned a lot from this. It was interesting the way he did this graphic novel, where the majority of the book is providing the information, but some of it was his own musings with his partner about what he was learning. There was much about the science, the exact causes (information about the gases themselves), but also what can be done (or HAS to be done) to mitigate what we’ve done/are doing to have caused those gases to overwhelm nature and our world.

There were dry parts, often when he was going through what some of the scientists were saying (with illustrations that only showed the scientists), but even when the focus was on the experts, it wasn’t all dry; in fact, most of it wasn’t. I also think it’s very important information. Not only do we need to stop our reliance on fossil fuels, we still need to cut back severely on over-consumption and so much more. Things many people aren’t going to want to do.

I learned more about some of the solutions being proposed (mostly by people/politicians who still don’t want to move to renewables (though even that won’t be enough to change our current trajectory, which I suspect is much worse now, as the book is 10 years old), but also by the people who profit from those industries), like hydrogen, carbon capture and storage, and nuclear power (that’s only for electricity and nothing else).

It seemed to me this was very truthful discussion. Something I haven’t really read much about or heard/seen discussed much was the intersection of the economy, the environment, and society, particularly from the one expert where that is her field of study.

I've finished Rain: Four Walks in English Weather by Melissa Harrison.

>39 dudes22: I enjoyed that one when I read it.

>39 dudes22:, >40 thornton37814: so did I. I found I preferred the description of walking in rain more than the actuality!

It is October in Venice, in 1863, in Venezianische Verlobung. Fog envelops the city and it is every bit as murky as the political dealings going on between supporters and opponents of Archduke Maximilian who wants to become emperor of Mexico.

I read a mystery Hidden In Snow by Vivica Sten for this month's challenge. The whole story takes place in Are, Sweden during winter with lots of snow storms.

I finally finished North Carolina's Hurricane History for this challenge. I had a couple of interruptions, for books I needed to read for my RL book clubs. And the interruptions were actually somewhat necessary, as this isn't a book that is really designed to be read straight through; at least, I could not read it that way. There's just too much in the way of factual detail and it's too much to take in all at once. But it is probably as complete a history of these storms that could be given, up to the time the book was published. For a lot of people, it might be more useful as a reference than something to read straight through. But it has a lot of really good information.

>44 atozgrl: There's a new chapter to write to that one now--featuring the part of NC you would expect to be affected less.

>45 thornton37814: Yes, very true. I wrote a longer review on my thread in the 75 Books Challenge, and I mentioned four of the bigger ones we've seen since the book was published: "We've obviously had more since then, notably Isabel (2003), Matthew (2016), Florence (2018), and unfortunately Helene this year." Hurricane Helene recovery looks like it will take more time than Matthew and Florence, which both took years. The mountain terrain just makes everything more difficult.