Appeal of non-fiction
Growing up, the only non-fiction books I read were textbooks.
Now I relish finding engaging books in that genre.
I admit I haven’t read many. In fact, I can only recall four: “Pledged: The Secret Life of Sororities,” “The Quarterlife Crisis” and “The Overachievers: The Secret Life of Driven Kids,” all by Alexandra Robbins, and “The Children’s Blizzard” by David Laskin.
I recommend the latter to anyone who complains about wintry weather.
I read “The Children’s Blizzard” about the time Mother Nature walloped the Stateline Area with subzero temperatures and, boy, did it make me appreciate modern living.
Laskin documents the blizzard in 1888 that killed many children in the Plain States. At that time, families struggled to stay warm in their homes and stretched out whatever food they had. The day of the blizzard followed a particularly bad stretch of weather and started off relatively warm and sunny, causing most students to go to school without hats, gloves and warm coats.
The temperature dropped dramatically within a matter of hours and the precipitation was so heavy that people could hardly see their hands in front of their face. Imagine walking home in flimsy clothing. I have a hard enough time staying warm with sweaters, scarves and gloves.
Laskin intersperses the drama of the blizzard with scientific explanations of the weather which, for me, was sometimes difficult to follow without illustrations.
He also includes chapters about the politics that era’s weather forecasting system, which predates the National Weather Service.
It was truly a fascinating read and gave me an appreciation for the pioneers.
