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2024 Bookish Books Reading Challenge (Hosted by Yours Truly)

My Progress:


30 / 30 books. 100% done!

2024 Literary Escapes Challenge

- Alabama (1)
- Alaska (1)
- Arizona (1)
- Arkansas (1)
- California (11)
- Colorado (1)
- Connecticut (2)
- Delaware (1)
- Florida (3)
- Georgia (4)
- Hawaii (1)
- Idaho (3)
- Illinois (4)
- Indiana (4)
- Iowa (1)
- Kansas (1)
- Kentucky (2)
- Louisiana (1)
- Maine (1)
- Maryland (1)
- Massachusetts (4)
- Michigan (1)
- Minnesota (2)
- Mississippi (1)
- Missouri (1)
- Montana (1)
- Nebraska (1)
- Nevada (2)
- New Hampshire (1)
- New Jersey (1)
- New Mexico (1)
- New York (10)
- North Carolina (4)
- North Dakota (1)
- Ohio (3)
- Oklahoma (2)
- Oregon (2)
- Pennsylvania (2)
- Rhode Island (1)
- South Carolina (1)
- South Dakota (1)
- Tennessee (1)
- Texas (4)
- Utah (5)
- Vermont (2)
- Virginia (2)
- Washington (3)
- West Virginia (1)
- Wisconsin (1)
- Wyoming (2)
- Washington, D.C.* (2)

International:
- Argentina (1)
- Australia (6)
- Austria (1)
- Bolivia (1)
- Canada (4)
- China (2)
- England (27)
- France (2)
- Ghana (1)
- India (1)
- Indonesia (1)
- Ireland (4)
- Italy (1)
- Poland (2)
- Russia (2)
- Scotland (4)
- The Netherlands (1)

My Progress:


51 / 51 states. 100% done!

2024 Historical Fiction Reading Challenge

My Progress:


52 / 50 books. 104% done!

2024 POPSUGAR Reading Challenge


36 / 50 books. 72% done!

Booklist Queen's 2024 Reading Challenge

My Progress:


52 / 52 books. 100% done!

2024 52 Club Reading Challenge

My Progress:


51 / 52 books. 98% done!

2024 Build Your Library Reading Challenge

My Progress:


37 / 40 books. 93% done!

2024 Pioneer Book Reading Challenge


18 / 40 books. 45% done!

2024 Craving for Cozies Reading Challenge

My Progress:


25 / 25 cozies. 100% done!

2024 Medical Examiner's Mystery Reading Challenge

2024 Mystery Marathon Reading Challenge

My Progress


5 / 26.2 miles (4th lap). 19% done!

Mount TBR Reading Challenge

My Progress


51 / 100 books. 51% done!

2024 Pick Your Poison Reading Challenge

My Progress:


99 / 109 books. 91% done!

Around the Year in 52 Books Reading Challenge

My Progress


52 / 52 books. 100% done!

Disney Animated Movies Reading Challenge

My Progress


139 / 165 books. 84% done!

The 100 Most Common Last Names in the U.S. Reading Challenge

My Progress:


88 / 100 names. 88% done!

The Life Skills Reading Challenge

My Progress:


45 / 80 skills. 56% done!
Friday, July 27, 2018

In-Depth Examination of 1888 Tragedy Empathetic, Fascinating

(Image from Barnes & Noble)

"A safe and carefree childhood was a luxury the pioneer prairie could not afford" (269).

With scorching temperatures blazing across the world right now, it's hard to believe things will ever cool down.  It's even tougher to imagine that in just a few months people will be flooding social media sites with pictures of towering snow piles, foot-long icicles, and slick, impassable roads.  Just as the news is now reporting deaths due to the fiery heat, soon it will feature stories about people hurt and killed due to freezing winter weather.

The Children's Blizzard (2004) by David Laskin reminds readers of just how unpredictable and nasty winter weather can get.  Both fascinating and heartbreaking, the book revisits the blizzard that whipped across the American prairie in January of 1888, freezing hundreds of people and animals to death, some of them in just minutes.  Because the worst of the storm hit right at the time school released, many of its victims were small children who became lost in a blinding whiteout while trying to find their way home.  

Laskin describes in heart-wrenching detail how the epic blizzard was a "perfect" storm of erratic weather patterns, under-educated forecasters, and unprepared pioneers.  He talks about the settling of the prairie by immigrants lured to the area by fanciful promises that glossed over the harsh realities of living on the unforgiving prairie.  Many pioneers, for instance, froze to death inside their homes simply because of lack of fuel, little food, and structures that weren't equal to the task of keeping the deathly chill at bay. 

Thoroughly researched and well-written, The Children's Blizzard makes for engrossing (albeit horrifying) reading.  It offers an empathetic, in-depth examination of the titular event, which is made even more personal by true stories of the people who lived through the blizzard, suffering the kind of shock, injury, and loss that can never be forgotten.  It's a gripping volume, which I recommend highly to anyone who's interested in reading about wild weather and our shocking vulnerability in the face of its immense, awe-inspiring power.

(Readalikes:  Although I haven't read any other books about The Children's Blizzard, I've heard good things about I Survived the Children's Blizzard, 1888 by Lauren Tarshis.  I'm also reminded of other books about weather-related tragedies, including The Perfect Storm by Sebastian Junger.)

Grade:


If this were a movie, it would be rated:


for brief, mild language (no F-bombs), blood/gore, and disturbing subject matter 

To the FTC, with love:  Another library fine find
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Dumb Witness by Agatha Christie

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The Soulmate by Sally Hepworth



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2024 Reading Challenge

2024 Reading Challenge
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2024 - Elementary/Middle Grade Nonfiction

2024 - Elementary/Middle Grade Nonfiction

2023 - Middle Grade Fiction

2023 - Middle Grade Fiction

2022 - Middle Grade Fiction

2022 - Middle Grade Fiction

2021 - Middle Grade Fiction

2021 - Middle Grade Fiction

2020 - Middle Grade Fiction

2020 - Middle Grade Fiction