{"id":29066,"date":"2016-09-19T22:15:57","date_gmt":"2016-09-20T02:15:57","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/sonderbooks.com\/blog\/?p=29066"},"modified":"2016-09-19T22:15:57","modified_gmt":"2016-09-20T02:15:57","slug":"review-of-thunder-and-lightning-by-lauren-redniss","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sonderbooks.com\/blog\/?p=29066","title":{"rendered":"Review of Thunder and Lightning, by Lauren Redniss"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"thunder_and_lightning_large\"<\/a>Thunder and Lightning<\/p>\n

Weather Past, Present, Future<\/em><\/p>\n

by Lauren Redniss<\/p>\n

Random House, New York, 2015. 262 pages.
\nStarred Review<\/p>\n

Thunder and Lightning<\/em> is another Science Picture Book for Adults by the author of Radioactive<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n

As with Radioactive<\/em>, which is a biography of Marie Curie, Thunder and Lightning<\/em> is full of facts \u2013 but the most striking thing about it is the dramatic pictures.<\/p>\n

I can\u2019t really describe the pictures adequately, so I\u2019m going to focus on the words here, but be aware that if this is a book you find interesting at all, you should check it out and see for yourself.<\/p>\n

The author explores so many aspects of weather! Mainly she tells weather-related stories, but there are also many things about the science of weather. Some of the stories told include a cemetery washed out by a flood, the secret forecasting formula used by Old Farmer\u2019s Almanac<\/em>, people struck by lightning, a ship that sunk in fog, swimming from Cuba to Florida, devastating fires in Australia, a World Seed Bank in Svalbard, the ice trade on Walden Pond, and making rain in Vietnam. This perhaps gives an idea of the wide range of topics covered here, which all relate to weather.<\/p>\n

The author relies heavily on quotes, which bring an immediacy to each story, each exploration.<\/p>\n

Here are some things Arctic explorer Vilhj\u00e1lmur Stef\u00e1nsson had to say in 1921:<\/p>\n

The daylight is negligible; and the moonlight, which comes to you first through clouds that are high in the sky and later through an enveloping fog, is a light which enables you to see your dog team distinctly enough, or even a black rock a hundred yards away, but it is scarcely better than no light at all upon the snow at your feet.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

I think my favorite chapter, though, is Chapter 7, \u201cSky.\u201d After fascinating ramblings and explorations on various topics, I turned the pages on \u201cSky\u201d \u2013 and discovered 16 pages of paintings of sky. Lovely.<\/p>\n

This book is surprising and hard to describe. Check it out and see for yourself.<\/p>\n

Buy from Amazon.com<\/a><\/p>\n

Find this review on Sonderbooks<\/a> at: www.sonderbooks.com\/Nonfiction\/thunder_and_lightning.html<\/a><\/p>\n

Disclosure: I am an Amazon Affiliate, and will earn a small percentage if you order a book on Amazon after clicking through from my site.<\/p>\n

Source: This review is based on a library book from Fairfax County Public Library.<\/p>\n

Disclaimer: I am a professional librarian, but I maintain my website and blogs on my own time. The views expressed are solely my own, and in no way represent the official views of my employer or of any committee or group of which I am part.<\/p>\n

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