I hope everyone had the chance to read Rosemary Kaye’s “Favorites of 2021” yesterday. As Jeff said, it’s always fun to read about books I haven’t heard of, or don’t know. There was only one book on Rosemary’s list that I’ve read, but I laughed all the way through her comments about that one. You might want to check it out.
So, if you’re around my age (64), do you remember where you were in January 1978? This is the week of the blizzard of ’78 in northern Ohio. It wasn’t always the amount of snow. I was in college at the time, and Monday classes were cancelled for the first five weeks of the year because of the storms, the snow and the winds. Sometimes, it was the wind that made the snow and cold worse. There have been many times and places that had more snow, but those of us who had to dig out cars, go to classes, try to stay warm, remember that year. “The massive winter storm hit the Ohio Valley and Great Lakes Jan. 25-27. The blizzard dumped vast amounts of snow with near-hurricane-strength wind gusts, heaping snow into enormous drifts up to 15 feet tall. In the end, 70 people died during the storm — 51 of them in Ohio alone.”
“The Great Blizzard of 1978 was a historic winter storm that struck the Ohio Valley and Great Lakes regions from Wednesday, January 25 through Friday, January 27, 1978. It is often cited as one of the most severe blizzards in US history.”
There was a blizzard in 1977 as well. “National Weather Service forecasters called for a blizzard warning across Ohio early on Friday, January 28, 1977. The cold wave and high winds swept across the state at dawn. Temperatures fell from 20 degrees to 5 to 10 degrees below zero during the day.”
So, enough about weather history. I hope you’re all enjoying whatever weather you’re getting.
On to the real reason we’re all here. What are you reading this week?
I have never read one of Dean Koontz’ books. I hope Quicksilver turns out to be as good as the first chapter because that just made me laugh. Here’s the online summary, since I haven’t had time to get far into this yet. It is set in Arizona, though, one more reason I was interested in reading it.
Quinn Quicksilver was born a mystery―abandoned at three days old on a desert highway in Arizona. Raised in an orphanage, never knowing his parents, Quinn had a happy if unexceptional life. Until the day of “strange magnetism.” It compelled him to drive out to the middle of nowhere. It helped him find a coin worth a lot of money. And it practically saved his life when two government agents showed up in the diner in pursuit of him. Now Quinn is on the run from those agents and who knows what else, fleeing for his life.
During a shoot-out at a forlorn dude ranch, he finally meets his destined companions: Bridget Rainking, a beauty as gifted in foresight as she is with firearms, and her grandpa Sparky, a romance novelist with an unusual past. Bridget knows what it’s like to be Quinn. She’s hunted, too. The only way to stay alive is to keep moving.
Barreling through the Sonoran Desert, the formidable trio is impelled by that same inexplicable magnetism toward the inevitable. With every deeply disturbing mile, something sinister is in the rearview―an enemy that is more than a match for Quinn. Even as he discovers within himself resources that are every bit as scary.
What about you? What are you doing this week? What books are you listening to or reading?
No blizzards in my corner of Northern California, thank goodness! But we could use a bit more rain. I just finalized the February issue of my chapter newsletter (Sisters in Crime), so I may have a bit more time to read.
Mel Brooks is 95, and his autobiography, ALL ABOUT ME: MY REMARKABLE LIFE INSHOW BUSINESS, is just as joyful as he still seems to be, covering everything from his childhood in Brooklyn to his military service in World War II and onward through his show business career. His writing, directing, acting and producing efforts sprang from his zany sense of humor, and his ground-breaking movies, recordings, and Broadway musicals made him one of the first 10 EGOTs (Emmy, Grammy, Oscar, Tony, multiple times over). Later on in his life he received Kennedy Center Honors and other distinguished awards. Mel takes us behind the scenes on such memorable movie shoots as Blazing Saddles, Young Frankenstein, High Anxiety, and Robin Hood: Men in Tights, several hilarious “2,000-year-old man” recordings with best friend Carl Reiner, and the wildly popular and multiple-Tony-winning musical version of his earlier movie, The Producers, to name just a few. I had forgotten that he was also part of the team behind one of my favorite old sitcoms, Get Smart. And he had a successful 40+-year marriage with his beloved Anne Bancroft. With a can-do personality and seemingly unlimited energy, he has made his memoir an upbeat, entertaining read.
Lesa, I see that you also read and reviewed an ARC of Katharine Schellman’s LAST CALL AT THE NIGHTINGALE on NetGalley. I enjoyed reading your longer and more detailed review. I admire the way the author evokes the setting–1924 New York– in the first in a new series. Prohibition is the law of the land, and the Nightingale is a crowded speakeasy. Patrons may be low wage-earners or business owners, black or white or Chinese, attracted to men or to women. All are willing to risk being arrested in a raid for the opportunity to drink forbidden liquor and dance the Charleston or the waltz to the live music. Vivian and her sister grew up as orphans and now support themselves as seamstresses. Florence is not a risk taker, but Vivian often spends her evenings at the Nightingale, trading dances for free drinks and treasuring the moments she is away from the harsh realities of her life. One night she discovers a dead body in the alley behind the club, and she finds herself involved in the often-dangerous activity around identifying the man and figuring out who might have wanted him dead. It’s a lively story, and it’s not easy to guess the guilty party. It will be interesting to see how the characters are developed in more depth in future installments, which I thought was a bit lacking in this Jazz Age mystery. The cover–oh, yes, Lesa, it is extraordinary! (July)
Eleanor Brown’s new novel, ANY OTHER FAMILY, is a fascinating, in-depth character study of an unusual blended family on vacation in Aspen for two weeks. The family consists of the four biological children of one young woman, who decided she was incapable of raising them herself. She doesn’t figure as a main character here, but rather as a plot device, The spotlight is on the three women who have adopted her children and who are committed to raising them as a family, getting everyone together for frequent events and periodic vacations. Tabitha and her husband have the 4-year-old twins. The primary organizer of the group, she delights in making everyone happy but is often unknowingly resented by the other two women for imposing on their personal lives. Eleven-year-old Phoebe chose to live with Ginger, who has no partner and had never envisioned adoption, and schoolteacher Elizabeth and her husband adopted the baby almost a year ago. Tabitha assumes Ginger will want to move closer to her when Phoebe is accepted at a school nearby. She is oblivious to the fact that Elizabeth feels she is a bad mother, after IVF put the family’s finances in jeopardy and her husband loses his job. Amidst the daily activities planned by Tabitha and enjoyed especially by the children, bad feelings escalate among the three women, fired not only by their current circumstances but by their pre-adoption backgrounds. It only fuels the flame when the biological mother is once again pregnant, and everyone assumes Elizabeth and John will add a second baby to their lives. This is an intense tale told by an expert storyteller, with an uplifting but realistic ending that doesn’t seem contrived. (July)
Margie, That cover is just gorgeous for Last Call at the Nightingale. I’ll be interested to see a second book.
Any Other Family does sound intense. Even from your review, I feel sorry for Ginger and Elizabeth.
Good morning everyone, from a beautifully sunny Scotland.
This morning I am meeting up with a friend whom I haven’t seen for probably 15 years. We had our first children at the same time, and used to see a great deal of one another when they were little, but my family moved a lot, so we were reduced to sending Christmas cards. Now we are back in touch (we now live within a few miles of one another), and I am looking forward to seeing her, though also a little bit nervous!
This week I read my first Patricia Wentworth detective story THE CLOCK STRIKES TWELVE (a Miss Silver mystery.) It was written in 1945 and is set a few years earlier, during the war – though that hardly features. A family is gathered for New Year’s Eve; after dinner the wealthy patriarch, James Paradine, announces that one of them has betrayed the family, and that he will wait in his study until midnight for that person to come to him with a confession. Needless to say, he ends up dead. And also needless to say, every member of the family – plus the estranged husband of one of them – is a suspect; they all have secrets.
I really enjoyed this book and can’t think why I’ve never read Wentworth before. I felt her writing flowed well and her characters were far better developed than Agatha Christie’s (I know, I await the thunderbolt…but I’ve never quite understood why she’s called the Queen of Crime. I find her books very ‘samey’.) I have one more Miss Silver mystery on my shelves, and I look forward to reading it. Apparently there are 39 of them! So plenty of reading pleasure ahead.
I’m now reading LOVE, OR NEAREST OFFER by Adele Geras. It’s about Iris, who works as an estate agent and likes to find the right property for the right person. She has just split up with her partner, much to the disapproval of her mother and all of her smugly married friends. So far we are still meeting her various clients, who, as you would expect, all have their problems, from the mother of a toddler who wants a house with a garden instead of her wealthy husband’s penthousewith a scary balcony overlooking the Thames, to a retired widower who needs to downsize from the home he shared with his beloved wife, and a divorced woman who wants a new start but is being pestered by her ex, whose new trophy wife has seen the light and dumped him. I’m enjoying this far more than the book I gave up on last week, which had a similar cast of characters and in some ways a similar set up – a luxury apartment block on the Spanish coast – I think this demonstrates how important, at least for me, character development is. The people in the last book were cardboard cut outs, whereas I already feel i ‘know’ these ones. But I’ll see how it goes – it may not fulfil its early promise!
I’m also about to start THE BELL JAR by Sylvia Plath. I feel I need to read this to fill a gaping hole in my knowledge. Plath was such an interesting woman – something I only recently realised, after my failure, years ago, to engage with her collected letters. I think I was far too young/inexperienced to read them then.
On the radio I’m listening to MRS DALLOWAY by Virginia Woolf – another lacuna in my reading life – and I’m enjoying it much more than I thought I would. I’ve also just started A CARIBBEAN MYSTERY – it’s easy listening and June Whitfield was a great Miss Marple. I probably enjoy Christie more in this format, as the actors make it fun. On the page I just can’t get very interested. I can already see this one going the same way as most of the others – ie someone is a ‘face from the past’ that only one person (already murdered!) recognises as a serial killer. Hey ho. I think I am lacking the Christie gene.
On TV we are watching BROADCHURCH. Madeleine and I saw it when it was first broadcast, but my husband has not seen it. Watching it after all this time, I am noticing lots of things I missed, and even though I know the identity of the murderer, I am enjoying it. David Tennant and Olivia Coleman are such good actors, and the supporting cast is excellent too – notably Jodie Whittaker as the mother of the murdered boy, and Andrew Buchan as his less than truthful father.
Oh my goodness, just seen the time – I must scoot.
I hope everyone has a great week!
Rosemary, I love your comments about Agatha Christine, even though you’re missing the Christie “gene:. You’re so funny. No book or author is perfect for everyone. Be careful on your walk today. You don’t want to be hit by lightning for your remarks!
Thank you, again, for sharing your list yesterday. I know people enjoyed your reviews.
I did enjoy Rosemary’s list! Has been fun to see all of them over the past few weeks. I am reading Dark Ice by Paige Shelton.
I like that series by Paige Shelton, Holdenj.
I just finished The Lions of Fifth Avenue by Fiona Davis and stated Find Me by Alafair Burke.
My current nonfiction is The Cruelest Mile by Gay and Laney Salisbury.
My current audible is Little Darlings by Melanie Golding.
I feel like a terrible librarian and lover of NYC, Caryn, because I haven’t read The Lions of Fifth Avenue. I think I have a copy of it somewhere, though.
A bit of an international flavor in my reading this week. First up GOOD EGGS the 2021 debut by Rebecca Hardiman. Set in Dún Laoghaire, Dublin, where an 83-year-old granny lives by her own rules. Her son arranges a caretaker to monitor her — and gets more than he bargained for. The story centers on three generations of a rowdy Irish family and second chances.
APRIL IN SPAIN (2021) John Banville (his previous crime novels have been published as Benjamin Black). The story follows Dublin pathologist Quirke, in the Basque village of Donostia. After an accident, Quirke meets a doctor who looks oddly familiar. Quirke’s daughter comes in hope she can confirm if the doctor really is April Latimer, who has been missing and presumed dead for years. The Irish police are involved, too. A parallel story features troubled Irish hitman Terry Tice.
UNDER THE COLD BRIGHT LIGHTS (2019 Garry Disher) is set in Australia and features a cold case detective. The book received several mentions in this blog in 2019 when it was published. I can’t recall what prompted it into my current reading, but glad that happened.
Rounded out the week with a trip to a literary festival in Alderney, UK Channel Islands, in Anthony Horowitz’s latest A LINE TO KILL with enigmatic detective Daniel Hawthorne. Clues and misdirection abound in this clever locked room mystery.
Yesterday I picked up a half dozen held books at the library (including The Maid). My reading bin overfloweth.
Oh, you had a good week of reading, MM. I loved Under the Cold Bright Lights. I think I’m due for a Garry Disher book soon. I think I have some unread ones at home.
Thanks for the trip down memory lane, Lesa. We had our own Northeast Blizzard of 1978 a week or so after yours, February 5-7. It was one of the rare times in those years that New York City actually closed public schools. (we lived closer to downtown then, and Jackie was about a mile or so from her school.) Your storm was obviously worse but ours was bad enough.
As for Dean Koontz, Jackie is the much bigger fan, but I have read quite a few of his books too. The one you really need to read is <bWatchers, which has one of the great dogs in fiction, Einstein the Golden retriever. This one sounds more up my alley after too many books of his that didn’t interest me.
I’m hoping to finish Fredrick Backman’s Anxious People soon (today?). The television adaptation did a good job with it, and by streamlining it into six half hour episodes may have improved it somewhat. Certainly the banker, who I found obnoxious and annoying on television, is so, so much worse in the book. And yes, there is humor here too.
After reading the Jayne Castle book, Jackie is reading the same author (Jayne Ann Krentz) under her Amanda Quick name, with Tightrope, first of the Burning Grove books she’s read.
Most of my reading has been short stories. I read Dolphin Junction, the collection by spy writer (creator of Slough House) Mick Herron. Good book other than the long title story, which was pretty terrible to my way of thinking. Only one Jackson Lamb story.
I’m enjoying Laura Lippman’s collection, Seasonal Work, which I am nearing completion of, with a couple of stories to go. Her PI Tess Monaghan is in a few of the stories, including “The Book Thing” about the real Baltimore bookstore of that name, where every book is FREE – really. A friend took me there during the 2007 Baltimore Bouchercon. It is now only open one day a month after a fire some years ago. A very interesting story was “THe Everyday Housewife,” about Tess Monaghan’s newlywed mother in 1973. Good story.
Up next is The Runaway by Nick Petrie, the new Peter Ash book. I know some people don’t like these but I do.
Have a good – and safe – week out there, everyone, and stay warm! (Of course, that isn’t generally a problem in Florida, but we’ve had some abnormally cold days here, and Saturday is predicted to be 20 degrees colder than normal.)
As soon as I mentioned Dean Koontz to Jackie, she said, “Tell her to read Watchers.”
For whatever reason, I enjoyed the Odd Thomas series and that was the one stopped her reading Koontz. It’s an “I see and talk to dead people” series, like Stephen King’s Later and Darynda Jones’s Charley Davidson series.
Jeff, I know both of you are right. I do need to read Watchers. I know I’d love Einstein. Thank you, both, for the recommendation.
Blizzard talk does bring back memories, doesn’t it, Jeff?
Thank you for the mentions of Mick Herron and Laura Lippman’s collections. I have copies of both. They may be this next week’s giveaways!
Good morning. We’re supposed to have snow here this weekend but hopefully not a blizzard.
I read THE RESTAURANT AT THE END OF THE UNIVERSE by Douglas Adams. It’s the second book in his Hitchhikers series. I’d only read the first one so I’m working my way through the series as they come in from the library.
An ARC of MURDER THROUGH AN OPEN DOOR by Melissa Bourbon. The third in a paranormal mystery series featuring an ancient curse, Irish mythology and treasure hunters. I like this series but they have to be read in order because of the ongoing story.
An ARC of THE PATRON THIEF OF BREAD by Lindsay Eager. This was a YA book and it just didn’t work for me – there were several plot points that were too unrealistic, including having a gang of homeless children who could barely feed themselves rescue and raise a baby for eight years.
I didn’t always get Douglas Adams, Sandy, but I liked him. And, I do remember how important it is to have a white towel.
The Melissa Bourbon series sounds interesting!
Good morning. Our expected weather for this weekend in Northern New Jersey is a bit confusing. It does not seem that the meteorologists can get a handle on whether we will be getting snow and how much. If the storm moves one way, we may not get any snow or less than expected, if it moves another way, we could get up to 2 feet. I guess we will just have to have the snow blower ready, the bread, milk and eggs in house, a good book, and just wait and see.
As for reading, I just finished Things You Save in a Fire by Katherine Center. A smart and capable woman is looking to be taken seriously in the male dominated field of firefighting. I loved listening to this book on audio. I think a large part of my enjoyment was the book’s narrator, Therese Plummer. She did a wonderful job capturing the personalities of the characters and differentiating between the male and female voices along with their accents (Boston). Some of the problems may have been resolved a little too easily but the message was clear…forgiveness of yourself and others.
I am reading Iron Lake by William Kent Krueger, and of course, loving it. I am in awe of a writer’s ability to create such a strong sense of character and place and William Kent Krueger can do just that! I look forward to continuing with this series.
Have a wonderful week.
That sounds like the weather prediction we had for last week, Kathleen. We were lucky, and didn’t get much.
My sister just discovered Katherine Center. She’s on her third book by that author, and said they just speak to her.
William Kent Krueger is such a wonderful talent, isn’t he, Kathleen?
The best Krueger is still ahead of you. Boundary Waters is one of the best in the whole series.
All of this talk of snow is making me nervous as we don’t know yet what we are going to get Friday night into Saturday. I read Ann Cleeves The Heron’s Call – good but not great, however, it is always good to read about characters you know. Also I read The Neighbor’s Secret by Heller – quite good but they certainly did have a lot of secrets! Thanks to Jeff, I watched Anxious People on Netflix and totally enjoyed it – it reminded me of an Agatha Christie who did it.
I agree, Donna. The Heron’s Call wasn’t as good as the previous book in the series.
Books I’ve read and enjoyed –
One Italian Summer by Rebecca Serle (ARC) – “When Katy’s mother dies, she is left reeling. Carol wasn’t just Katy’s mom, but her best friend and first phone call. She had all the answers and now, when Katy needs her the most, she is gone. To make matters worse, their planned mother-daughter trip of a lifetime looms: to Positano, the magical town where Carol spent the summer right before she met Katy’s father. Katy has been waiting years for Carol to take her, and now she is faced with embarking on the adventure alone.
But as soon as she steps foot on the Amalfi Coast, Katy begins to feel her mother’s spirit. Buoyed by the stunning waters, beautiful cliffsides, delightful residents, and, of course, delectable food, Katy feels herself coming back to life.
And then Carol appears—in the flesh, healthy, sun-tanned, and thirty years old. Katy doesn’t understand what is happening, or how—all she can focus on is that she has somehow, impossibly, gotten her mother back. Over the course of one Italian summer, Katy gets to know Carol, not as her mother, but as the young woman before her. She is not exactly who Katy imagined she might be, however, and soon Katy must reconcile the mother who knew everything with the young woman who does not yet have a clue.”
The Secret Gift of Lucia Lemon by Celia Anderson – “After fifty-eight years of playing it safe, Lucia Lemon wants something more from life. If only she knew what…
Until she receives a package in the post from an old friend that will change her life forever. Inside, she finds a bundle of cash, a collection of old maps, and a beautiful compass that no longer points north.
Holding the compass in her hand, Lucia suddenly feels hopeful – for the first time ever, life feels full of possibility and the open road is calling. If only she’s brave enough to.” answer it…
The Unsinkable Greta James by Jennifer E. Smith – “Right after the sudden death of her mother—her first and most devoted fan—and just before the launch of her high-stakes sophomore album, Greta James falls apart on stage. The footage quickly goes viral and she stops playing, her career suddenly in jeopardy—the kind of jeopardy her father, Conrad, has always predicted; the kind he warned her about when he urged her to make more practical choices with her life.
Months later, Greta—still heartbroken and very much adrift—reluctantly agrees to accompany Conrad on the Alaskan cruise her parents had booked to celebrate their fortieth anniversary. It could be their last chance to heal old wounds in the wake of shared loss. But the trip will also prove to be a voyage of discovery for them both, and for Ben Wilder, a charming historian, onboard to lecture about The Call of the Wild, who is struggling with a major upheaval in his own life. As Greta works to build back her confidence and Ben confronts an uncertain future, they find themselves drawn to and relying on each other.
It’s here in this unlikeliest of places—at sea, far from the packed city venues where she usually plays and surrounded by the stunning scenery of Alaska—Greta will finally confront the choices she’s made, the heartbreak she’s suffered, and the family hurts that run deep. In the end, she’ll have to decide what her path forward might look like—and how to find her voice again.”
All feel good books, well written, with characters I enjoyed spending time with, taking me to locations I enjoyed.
I downloaded The Secret Gift of Lucia Lemon, Kaye. Now, I need to make time to read it.
Sending hugs!
I have Quicksilver on my “want to read” list. Actually, I’ll have to read a lot of Koontz novels to get caught up. I’m behind on so many of my favorite authors, it’s crazy. I’m about to read Francelia Belton’s Crime and Passion: Three Short Stories for my Sisters-in-Crime Colorado book club. It will be a nice change to read short fiction instead of long.
Oh, this is the first Dean Koontz I ever read, Patricia. I am going to read Watchers, though, eventually.
Growing up in the Cleveland area on the lake, I remember some really bad winters. We have not had much winter in Cincinnati yet. In my township, there has been no real snow yet. We are supposed to be 53 by Tuesday.
I only read two books this week. I enjoyed Jane Darrowfield and the Madwoman Next Door by Barbara Ross. I don’t need all the loose ends tied up at the end, but I needed more of an explanation with this one. I do enjoy Jane as the lead character because she is more mature with a great deal of common sense. In this case, Jane has been hired by her young next-door neighbor to decide if she is going crazy. There is a history of mental illness in her family. Jane manages to come up with two plausible scenarios for Megan’s behavior and with the help of her cop friend she solves it.
The next book I read was Never Fall for your Fiancee by Virginia Heath. This historical rom-com was pure escapism at its best-totally over the top, charming and just plain fun. Hugh, Earl of Fareham, is 32 and is being pestered by his overbearing mother to wed. He invents a fake fiancee with an outlandish story. When his mother decides to return to England from America to plan the wedding, Hugh realizes he needs find a fiancee. Enter Minerva, a down on her luck artist with 2 younger sisters. Hugh helps her out of a bind and then offers to pay her 40 pounds to pose as his fiancee while his mother visits. Hijinks ensue as the convoluted story begins to unravel but so do Hugh and Minerva’s feelings for each other. This was just the book I needed at the right time. I thought it was terrific.
Happy Reading!
According to what my mother has said about recent weather in the Cleveland area, Sharon, you’ve been very lucky! We’re supposed to have 50s next week, too. As far as I’m concerned, it can then stay in the 50s until summer.
I really need to read Never Fall for Your Fiancee. You’re not the only one who recommended it. Thank you!
It will be a quick read for you, Lesa. I think you might enjoy it.
I remember the Blizzard of ’78. I was working in my first husband’s law office. We had a picture window in the front and I saw the snowing going from right to left in what looked like plastic tubes horizontally. Weird, like snow filled tubes with clear area above and below each tube. I muhttps://www.google.com/search?q=+blizzard+ov+1978+in+indiana&tbm=isch&ved=2ahUKEwjXldX8rdL1AhXAlGoFHXDzAlAQ2-cCegQIABAA&oq=+blizzard+ov+1978+in+indiana&gs_lcp=CgNpbWcQDDoHCCMQ7wMQJzoHCAAQsQMQQzoECAAQQzoKCAAQsQMQgwEQQzoICAAQgAQQsQM6CwgAEIAEELEDEIMBOggIABCxAxCDAToFCAAQgAQ6BggAEAUQHjoGCAAQCBAeUOkMWMp6YJCQAWgEcAB4AIABTYgB_gqSAQIyNZgBAKABAaoBC2d3cy13aXotaW1nwAEB&sclient=img&ei=RMnyYdfjDcCpqtsP8OaLgAU&bih=487&biw=1040&client=opera&hs=HWBt have watched if for over an hour, because I never saw anything like that and never did again. I could not find a picture of that on the internet.
The day after next, we got hungry and trudged to the small grocery and bought everything they had: comflakes and milk! About four days, we saw the National Guard on the road on the main street. We left the office on Saturday and the roads were plowed. Our kitchen water pipes hd frozen and there was water everywhere. I looked in the freezer and my father and sister-in-law had taken all the food. They lived door. We were hungry. We went over and saw my son who was six.. It was a lot of work getting back to normal..
I am still listening to the audio book and the story stopped at a cliffhanger on the 8th disc!
Also reading a book with very long title about being allies. I found the disabled part and i
invisiabe illness to be very true. I would say more but I am tired.
Thank you for the link & your account of the storm, Carolee!
The link is wrong! https://www.google.com/search?q=+blizzard+ov+1978+in+indiana&tbm=isch&ved=2ahUKEwjXldX8rdL1AhXAlGoFHXDzAlAQ2-cCegQIABAA&oq=+blizzard+ov+1978+in+indiana&gs_lcp=CgNpbWcQDDoHCCMQ7wMQJzoHCAAQsQMQQzoECAAQQzoKCAAQsQMQgwEQQzoICAAQgAQQsQM6CwgAEIAEELEDEIMBOggIABCxAxCDAToFCAAQgAQ6BggAEAUQHjoGCAAQCBAeUOkMWMp6YJCQAWgEcAB4AIABTYgB_gqSAQIyNZgBAKABAaoBC2d3cy13aXotaW1nwAEB&sclient=img&ei=RMnyYdfjDcCpqtsP8OaLgAU&bih=487&biw=1040&client=opera&hs=HWB
Wow, thanks for the pics, Carolee. I love old pictures like that. My parents were married in January of 1947 and they were living in a basement apartment near the Forest Hills Tennis Stadium when the Christmas Blizzard of 1947 hit – over 26 inches! Their pictures show their apartment was buried.
I don’t think I’ve congratulated you yet on the well deserved Edgar award. So a belated congrats!
I’m hoping to finish up Twist and Shout Murder by Teresa Trent today. This is the first in a series set in a small Texas town during the 60’s. It took me a bit to get into it, but I am enjoying it overall.
Thank you, Mark!
I’m afraid I have a hard time continuing those books that take me a while to get into them.
Here in Dallas, we remember the ice storm of 78/79 when what was forecasted to be an hour or two ice storm started just before New Years Day. It ended several days later with widespread damage and power outages. While we kept power here, my Dad’s parents had pine trees come down in the backyard and take the power line down with it. They did not have power for a month. if you saw footage from the SuperBowl ice storm here in 2011, what happened 78/79 was far, far worse.
Current read is an ARC of A KIND AND SAVAGE PLACE by Richard Helms.
That winter of ’78 (’79 in Dallas) was just brutal. As long as I’m not living through it at the moment, I find storm stories fascinating.
Lesa, I forgot to say – in 1978 I was in my first year at university. We did not have a car, so when I went back and forth from London to Cambridge, my trunk was sent by train and delivered to the porters’ lodge. I then had to borrow one of their wooden trolley things to get it to my room – which at that time meant a long walk right through the college grounds, over the river and out of the back gate. Although we had nothing like your weather, I do remember the snow, and my friends and I pushing and pulling that trolley over the hump backed bridge as it slid all over the place. Most of the college rooms were very old and very cold, but I can’t remember minding that – i think I was so excited about my new-found ‘independence’ (we were in fact extremely well looked after in college in those days – a bedder even came in every morning to make your bed and vacuum your carpet….but goodness, we thought we were SO grown up) that I didn’t even notice the cold, it was all so much fun. Happy days.
I once visited the tiny little local museum at Corgarff (Strathdon, in the Highlands) and there saw photographs of the winter of 1972, when the village was completely cut off at both ends, and without any electricity, for two weeks. Huge snowdrifts.
There’s the difference between us, Rosemary. I was a junior in college, but I didn’t find anything appealing about the cold and snow at the university. Actually, it was all the more reason to NOT want to grow up. I think you enjoyed your experiences much more than I did. I can’t imagine having someone make the bed and vacuum!
Honestly? I hope never to experience that kind of winter again!
I love that story of the ‘bedder’ coming in every morning to make the beds!
Our niece went to college in Buffalo and they had underground passages between the college buildings because there was too much snow to walk outside.
Like Margie said, we need rain, but there is very little in the forecast.The last time we had snow around here was 1997.
This week I read:
Deep Sleep by Steven Konkoly; An FBI agent learns his CIA agent mother was onto a giant conspiracy of Russian sleeper agents. Good thing a friend just happens to know a team of mercs.
Bake It To The Limit by Wendy Meadows; Twin female cops retire to a small Georgia town to run a bakery, only to find a dead body in the candle shop next door. It seems the mafia is hanging around this hamlet for some reason, and there’s a festival the entire town depends on. The festival stuff is like Jaws in reverse. The solution doesn’t really make any sense.
Vestmen’s Gale by David McCaleb; A kid who lost his twin sister in a storm finds himself in the body of a Viking exploring North America, and being hunted by the Skraelings and various supernatural beings. A strange Inpirational novel where all the characters are some sort of pagan.
Masking for Trouble by Diane Vallere; There’s apparently a weird town in Nevada that is really into costumes. When the usual obnoxious billionaire who wants to shut down the main character’s store is offed, she has to track down the murderer, and make sense of her realtionship with a mysterious chef.
Glen, This week, all of your books just had odd elements. Just kind of weird.
I’d be happy to live somewhere where I hadn’t seen snow since 1997. On the other hand, you really could use something to get out of the drought.
What the heck does “ The festival stuff is like Jaws in reverse” mean?
We’ll, let’s see, I was living in Laguna Beach, southern Cal, you know, and somehow missed out on that blizzard. I was likely on the beach, playing 2-on-2 volleyball or playing Hearts waiting for my turn, drinking Fresca. I had a white 1962 Corvette then. Those were the days…
Rick, I love your description of where you were and what you were doing in January 1978.
All these years later, I’m still jealous, Rick!
My comment just…disappeared?
Oh, there it is. Anyway, reading. Not much this time, I finished Dust and Shadow, which I mentioned last week, liked it, will blog post on it tomorrow. Also finished The Whole Art of Detection by the same author, Lyndsay Faye. She does a good job with the Holmes pastiches.
Read For the Price of A Dime by Norbert Davis, a collection of 5 pulp stories from Black Mask magazine. Fun, though not much substance to them. Now I’ve started Rosamunde Pitcher’s Winter Solstice, discussed here in the last month sometime, I’m about 60 pages in of 454.
Oh, the weather? Dry, sunny, temperatures in low 40s.
I remember January 1978 very well, although not because of the blizzard in Ohio. I was living and working in Riverside, CA and separated from my first husband. I had just started dating my current husband, a new beginning for me. We got married after moving to Santa Barbara in 1980.
I haven’t been reading any fiction since my husband’s surgery, just haven’t been able to concentrate on it. The surgery went well, although we won’t know how the eye has healed for 4-6 weeks, and it will take even longer to tell how it has affected his vision. He has a gas bubble in his eye (for healing) and he has to position face down the majority of the time; so he cannot do much and we are not sure how long this will go on.
I had started NEMESIS by Jo Nesbo; I hope I can get back to it soon. Also still reading THE MYSTERIOUS MR. QUIN by Agatha Christie; I have four stories left in that book.
Last year I read 250 pages out of 600 in CARRY ME HOME: BIRMINGHAM, ALABAMA: The Climactic Battle of the Civil Rights Revolution. This week I returned to reading that, and I have read another 125 pages. It is not an easy book to read, but the parts I am reading now are more interesting and less depressing than the earlier sections.
Oh, Tracy. I feel so bad about your husband, his positioning, and his eye. I hope everything works out.
Thanks so much, Lesa. It has been incredibly stressful for both of us… but worse for him in most ways.
Replay. Not bad. Not my normal read. Interesting in that he comes back to life over and over. How he chooses to live each time and how that turns out, kept my interest.
Oh, I liked Replay, Carol Jeanne!
I remember the winter of 1978. I was living in New Jersey, and we, too, were hit with a terrible ice storm and blizzard. It destroyed so many of the trees at my parent’s home. And my hubby Bill likes to tell the tale of his long 1960s limosine disappearing in the snow banks. We are expecting our coldest temps of the year this weekend in Florida – dipping to freezing! We’ll bring in our potted plants and likely lose many others due to frost and the cold. It’ll mean a big clean up this spring.
I’ve discovered the writings of Linda Castillo and her Kate Burkholder series. I’ve already read the first five books in the series and loved each one. Her Last Breath, #5 in the series, was chilling with quite a twist at the end in whodunit. The two main characters each bring baggage to the story and to their relationship that develops over the course of the story. It makes for constantly ebbing and flowing tension in the understory let alone the main mystery going on. Now I’m reading The Dead Will Tell which is #6. This one is chilling as well in that someone from 35 years ago is back and killing the group of people that robbed and killed an Amish family. I’m rather riveted to it, which in a way surprises me, because I’m not usually quite so drawn to keep reading every minute! Good books.
Oh, and Lesa, Dean Koontz has a wicked sense of humor. His occasional e-mails telling us of upcoming books are funny. Quicksilver was no exception. I’ll be curious to see if you like it. I entered a giveaway for it but didn’t win.
Sandie, I’m reading a library copy of Dean Koontz’ book, or I’d send it on.
I’m so glad you’re enjoying Linda Castillo’s books! I like the fact that she and Tomasetti both bring baggage to the relationship. She continues to come up with unusual crimes.
I was living in Mansfield Ohio at the time of the blizzard. That’s where the trucker survived being buried in the snow for an amazing number of days. The snow was so high my little car (Plymouth Duster) was totally buried. My husband tells the story of cross country skiing over to the Mohican Lodge to help the folks stranded there (that was before we met).
Finished CARNEGIE’S MAID by Marie Bennett. Some of it was quite a stretch, I prefer historicals based on true events. My book group will be discussing it next month. I am hoping her new one based on Rosalind Franklin is better.
I just love everyone’s blizzard stories. Thanks for sharing, Cindy!
I’ve had problems with several of Marie Benedict’s books.
Finally came back to work after being home 2 weeks to sickness. Listening to The Paris Bookseller by Keri Maher and reading The Man Who Died Twice by richard Osman
I hope you’re felling much better, Katherine!
I really like Richard Osman’s series. I hope he has a few more in him.
Rick, if you’ve ever seen Jaws, or one of the many rip offs, there isalmost always a festival, fair or some kind of event that brings money to the town. The protagonist wants the event cancelled, for safety, but the mayor and other officals disagree, and bad things happen. In this case, the mayor wants to cancel the festival, but the heroes do not, and they prevent bad things from happening.
i’m currently reading True Crime Story by Joseph Knox in print. I am listening to the Paris Bookseller by Kerri Maher (realistic historical fiction about Sylvia Beach and Shakespeare and Co) on audio.