In the High Peaks
















Monday, May 25, 2020

Heat Wave Rising This Week and a Mad Plunge into Books!

How can it be? Bitter cold and snow on Saturday, May 9th and Mother's Day, followed by a week of very cool temps and cold nights. Then a resplendent warming with everything blooming all at once, and, in the past 3 days, we very suddenly, almost overnight, now have total shade from deciduous trees, and tomorrow a damned heat wave, with temps in the high 80s F. until this coming Saturday.

I always like to plan in advance how I'll survive a heat wave. As lots of you know, I'm a winter thriver. So I need plans.
And I'll survive by reading first and foremost, of course.

I mentioned this winter that I vowed I'd stack in a thriller for the next heat wave--I didn't think it would be in May, but the thriller I vowed I'd read I have now borrowed from the New York Public Library as an ebook. It's Something in the Water by Catherine Steadman, published in June 2018.  I read Steadman's Dear Mr. Nobody in February this year, just after it was published. I thought it was a very good thriller, though maybe not stellar, but still very good.
Other bloggers and readers have indicated that Something in the Water is an even more intense thriller than Dear Mr. Nobody.
SO! In heat waves and high humidity, I go for thrillers and TOTAL DIVERSION wherever I can find them.  And I must say that during this pandemic, I have been tremendously lucky (and blessed) to have had access to so many great e-books via The New York Public Library.

This is a very brief post. I have read some great books in the month of May.  Madeleine L'Engle's And Both Were Young was a book that spoke directly to my heart. I hated for it to end. It is a treasure, mostly because it is not merely a coming of age story. It encompasses how grief and loss affected so many people directly after WWII. Of course, Phillipa's loss of her mother was due to an automobile accident, but the grief of others in her midst were war-related traumas. It is a resplendent book. Joy and grief, intertwined, all set in the mountains of Switzerland.

And last but not least, I'm going to try to tackle The Mysteries of Udolfo by Ann Radcliffe this summer,  starting June 1st.  It's one of the original Gothic classics,  so as a Gothic fan, I really feel I should mine its  depths. I'm  reading this with Cleo of Classical Carousel.

10 comments:

  1. Oh goodness, I do hate heatwaves. I do exactly the same as you and find a shady corner and sit with the fan on and a book. We're in the middle of a dry, warm spell here but not, thank goodness, with 80 degree temps. We have high 60s to mid 70s. Warm enough for us while we're trying to get the veggies planted.

    Will look up And Both Were Young as the story and country of setting both appeal. I've finished The Woman in White - wonderful - and needing something a bit less tense I've since read a delightful book, Summer at the Lake by Erica James. Two five star books one after the other... I feel blessed. Take care!

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    1. But Cath, with your dry spell, how are you managing watering your crops? Is it very difficult to manage?
      We are extremely dry as well. It is absolutely astounding that we have had TWO weeks of cloudless skies. This never ever happens here. And while it's been welcome in some ways, we desperately need rain now.
      I do think that you would really enjoy And Both Were Young. It is a wonderful book, and do make sure your edition is the revised one (1983 or later). L'Engle mentioned in the intro that when the book first appeared she had to eliminate references to death and grief, because they were not considered suitable topics for young people in 1949. After WWII, not suitable topics?? One has to wonder at that!
      So glad you liked The Woman in White, and yes it is a bit intense.
      And I'm going right now to look up Summer at the Lake. Surely sounds good. Be well, Cath, and enjoy your garden and your books!

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  2. I really loved Something in the Water so, Mr. Nobody left me a bit disappointed.

    Not looking forward to hot temps this week. Heat is better than humidity for me.

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    1. Hi Diane,
      I know what you mean about Mr. Nobody--yes, it wasn't stellar, but it was just good enough that I didn't mind that I had spent time on it.
      And am I ever in total agreement with you! It's the humidity that makes me cranky and very, very dull-witted and stupid. I hope you have the means to stay cool!

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  3. I was glad to hear about And Both Were Young and will look into finding a copy. I haven't read anything by L'Engle yet.

    We are getting some welcome overcast and coolish weather here and I am sorry to hear about your hot weather. Having lived in the South as a child and visited there often, I know all about humidity and its effects.

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    1. Hi Tracy,
      I think you may find And Both Were Young to be very moving. I certainly did. So glad you're weather hasn't been too beastly hot yet!

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  4. I'm with you, I prefer it to be colder as opposed to hotter. It is supposed to be very hot next week here in KC, up near the 90's, and I'm not looking forward to June starting there. Hopefully we will see a temperature dip after that. I'm not ready for it to be time where the windows need to be closed and the air conditioner on all the time.

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    1. Oh, Carl, you do live in a summertime super-hot part of the country. Plan a vacation out in the Adirondacks in New York for someday. We are much, much cooler in the summer than KC. Normally. Actually, we hit only 58 degrees here today.

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  5. I thought Something in the Water was well done but it is very stressful to read books where you are constantly yelling at the characters not to do anything so stupid!

    I splurged four years ago on central air. It was worth every penny. I put it on last night for the first time this year. The last straw was when I tried to remove one of the window units and nearly fell out the window with it, just managing to untangle myself at the last second. Never again, I swore!

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    1. OH, YES!!
      I spent this afternoon cursing her for being so extravagantly idiotic, so incredibly stupid, that it is indeed a MAJOR FLAW in the novel. That's all there is to it! BAD! I will continue reading but I am incredibly disappointed. No one, no intelligent person would have been as stupid and impulsive as she was. I think it's incredible that Mark did not kill her, really!

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