I don't usually do Top Ten Tuesday but I saw on Lark's blog that the theme this week is:
Books With Weather Events in the Title... or on the Cover
Being a true Brit the weather is something of a major preoccupation so I had to do it this week, didn't I?
I'll link some of the books to my reviews if I've read the book and can actually find the review. (Some were read before I started this blog.)
1. First up, a classic that needs no introduction: The Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Grahame. Lots of weather in this one including one of my favourite ever scenes in literature with Mole lost in the Wild Wood in a blizzard.
2. The next book is weather on the cover, The Long Winter by Laura Ingalls Wilder. To my mind one of the best books ever written about deadly winter weather.
3. Ill Wind by Nevada Barr is one of her excellent Anna Pigeon books, this one is set in the Mesa Verde NP in Colorado.
4. Next up, an anthology I'm planning to read in December that I have on my TBR shelf: Sunless Solstice: Strange Christmas Tales for the Longest Nights edited by Lucy Evans and Tanya Kirk. Quite excited about this one.
5. The Sunny Side of the Alps by Roy Clarke is a lovely non-fiction book about the author's stay in the beautiful country of Slovenia.
6. Another beautiful 'weather' cover is this edition of High Rising by Angela Thirkell.
7. Four Cheeks to the Wind by Mary Bryant is an excellent account of the author and her husband's attempt to cycle around the world.
8. Richmal Crompton didn't just write the 'Just William' books she also wrote a lot of books for adults, one of them being Frost at Morning, which I read just before I started this blog in 2007. It's a WW2 novel exploring how the war affected children. A sad but beautiful book.
9. A non-fiction book I own but haven't read yet is Weatherland by Alexandra Harris. This sports a wonderful summery, cloudy sort of cover. It looks fascinating so I'll put in on my pile for 2024.
10. And lastly, here's a book I don't own, haven't read, but want to. The Storm by Daniel Defoe. Just look at that cover!
Well, that was fun! I should do Top Ten Tuesday more often!
28 comments:
I’m glad you joined us this week!
The Long Winter was a good read.
Here is my Top Ten Tuesday post.
The Long Winter is a book I read during the pandemic. Reading it calmed me during that difficult time.
You found some perfect titles and covers for this week's TTT! I didn't even think of The Long Winter and that's one of my favorite childhood books. And I'm intrigued by Ill Wind because of the Mesa Verde setting. I've been there and it's such a cool place. :D
I haven't read any of these, but I did like the titles you chose. They fit the topic well.
Great choices for the list, Cath. I hadn't realized, I think, how many book titles include the word "wind" before I saw these all placed in a single list.
Top Ten Tuesday post are fun, even if they sometimes take time to put together. You chose some great titles and books for that topic. Sunless Solstice, the anthology, sounds especially interesting. I look forward to hearing about the stories.
I need to get to The Wind in the Willows soon, but I have been saying that forever.
I enjoyed reading your top ten, Cath, so I'm glad you had fun putting them together. The Long Winter reminded me of the joy that the Laura Ingalls Wilder novels brought me when I was a child. I haven't read them for years, but I ought to see what I think of them now. And I really like Nevada Barr's work; I haven't kept up with it as I'd like, but she's very talented.
Four Cheeks to the Wind sounds amazing.
Great list!
Oooh! The Wind in the Willows is a book I need to reread again! Great list!
Here’s my TTT
Rabbit Ears Book Blog: WORLD’S WEIRDEST BOOK BLOG!
Lydia: Thank you! I didn't read LIW as a child as the books weren't very available in the UK in the 1960s. I read them in my 50s in fact and absolutely loved them.
Deb: I can well imagine that reading LIW during the pandemic must have been very calming.
Lark: Ill Wind was 'excellent' with a very strong sense of place. All of her books have that. It must've been fantastic to go to the Mesa Verde! Wow.
Deanna: Thank you, it took a while to remember some relevant titles.
Sam: I found more for 'wind' than anything else I think. High Wind in Jamaica would've been another one. The Name of the Wind. Anne of Windy Poplars. I could go on and on. LOL
Tracy: Yes, it did take a while to put this together but I had a free morning so I thought, 'Go for it..'
Sunless Solstice will be my December weird fiction read, hopefully it will not disappoint. Yes, you do need to get to The Wind in the Willows I just hope it's not a disappointment after the build-up! LOL
Margot: LIW's books weren't around as much in 1960s UK as they are now so I didn't read them until I was in my 40s or 50s. I thought they were delightful and can only imagine how much I would've loved them as a child.
I'm way behind with the Nevada Barr books myself. My next is book 7 and she's written 19 I think, the last in 2016 so I wonder if she's brought the series to a close. Since then she's just written one standalone, in 2019.
Rebecca: Thank you. Four Cheeks to the Wind really was amazing!
Ronyell: The Wind in the Willows is one of my all-time favourite classics and I try to read it every few years as there's always something new to discover.
I enjoyed this post and your great mix of titles.
'The Wind In The Willows' was one of my favourite childhood books and as you can probably guess, 'The High Rising' is on my list to read.
I quickly scanned my immediate TBR list (22 books) to see if I had anything to bring to the party and came up pretty empty:-
1 - 'Spring, Summer, Autumn, Us' by Fiona Collins
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/61411419-spring-summer-autumn-us?from_search=true&from_srp=true&qid=1fDLkMa37e&rank=1
2 - 'Lilac Skies' by Shivani Bansal
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/63032725-lilac-skies?from_search=true&from_srp=true&qid=GBf3ebOMWt&rank=2
3 - 'Escape To The Swiss Chalet' by Carrie Walker
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/125200225-escape-to-the-swiss-chalet?ref=nav_sb_ss_1_26
Although I am looking forward to reading them all :)
I sent Glen your list and he has added Sunless Solstice to our Amazon Wishlist. Also another book from the Tales of the Weird series, Chill Tidings: Dark Tales of the Christmas Season.
Oh, this is a fun topic! I have only read The Long Winter (surely the best of her books and I like the Puffin cover) and the Thirkell but I think I would like Frost at Morning.
Yvonne. Thanks, I'm glad you enjoyed the post.
Those are some different and interesting suggestions from you. I particularly like the sound of Escape to the Swiss Chalet... I've looked it up on Amazon and it does sound like a fun read. But the most interesting one sounds like it will be Lilac Skies. I'll be interested to hear what you think of that.
Tracy: I don't think I know Chill Tidings, I'll look that up. The other Christmas one I own from the weird tales series is Haunters at the Hearth, so I'll dip into that through December too.
Constance: I haven't read all of LIW's Little House books but of those I've read I think The Long Winter is the best too. I'm pretty sure you would like Frost at Morning. I thought it had been reissued by Persephone but it doesn't come up on Amazon so perhaps I'm mistaken. Yes... I'm thinking of Family Roundabout which is also excellent.
I loved this post and your awesome list of books.
The cover of High Rising makes me want to read the book! Have fun.
New Release books: Thank you!
Harvee: It does, doesn't it? It's one of my favourite ever book covers.
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