Into the Ear of the Storm

Are you a weather junkie? You know the type--people who stare at the sky instead of the road on their morning walk, who notice the instant the sea breeze kicks in during an afternoon at the beach, who check the Weather Channel every day. Pilots, fishermen, farmers, and travelers often succumb to the syndrome, but fascination with potentially disastrous weather is by no means exclusive to them.

Whether you're a storm-starved soul or looking for great stories well told, you can find satisfaction in any number of weather-related audiobooks. Recent releases include HALSEY'S TYPHOON, which covers the massive Typhoon Cobra that hammered Admiral William "Bull" Halsey's Pacific fleet in December 1944; Douglas Brinkley's THE GREAT DELUGE, a long look at Hurricane Katrina; and Anderson Cooper's DISPATCHES FROM THE EDGE, which has sections covering Katrina and the great tsunami of 2004.

All convey a central message: that the energy, force, and determination of Mother Nature cannot be contained, and often cannot be anticipated with sufficient accuracy to protect the places she chooses to destroy. The passages that cut straight to this deep-seated fear are first-person accounts from people who have experienced severe weather phenomena and lived to tell their stories. Notable for its emotional power is Linda Greenlaw's THE HUNGRY OCEAN. Greenlaw's audio performance stands out because she tells us, in her own words and her own voice, exactly what it was like to hold her boat and crew together during one of nature's strongest displays of energy, at times when they were hanging on for dear life.

While most of the books included here are not first-person narrations, they do feature first-person accounts of storms from 1880 to present day. Many contain enough science to satisfy the serious student, and all plunge the listener into the maelstrom, be it near the top of Mt. Everest or the chasm of the deep. So grab your galoshes and jump right in.--Ruth L. Lind

AUG/SEP 07
(c)2007 AudioFile Publications, Inc.

Are you a weather junkie? You know the type--people who stare at the sky instead of the road on their morning walk, who notice the instant the sea breeze kicks in during an afternoon at the beach, who check the Weather Channel every day. Pilots, fishermen, farmers, and travelers often succumb to the syndrome, but fascination with potentially disastrous weather is by no means exclusive to them.

Whether you're a storm-starved soul or looking for great stories well told, you can find satisfaction in any number of weather-related audiobooks. Recent releases include HALSEY'S TYPHOON, which covers the massive Typhoon Cobra that hammered Admiral William "Bull" Halsey's Pacific fleet in December 1944; Douglas Brinkley's THE GREAT DELUGE, a long look at Hurricane Katrina; and Anderson Cooper's DISPATCHES FROM THE EDGE, which has sections covering Katrina and the great tsunami of 2004.

All convey a central message: that the energy, force, and determination of Mother Nature cannot be contained, and often cannot be anticipated with sufficient accuracy to protect the places she chooses to destroy. The passages that cut straight to this deep-seated fear are first-person accounts from people who have experienced severe weather phenomena and lived to tell their stories. Notable for its emotional power is Linda Greenlaw's THE HUNGRY OCEAN. Greenlaw's audio performance stands out because she tells us, in her own words and her own voice, exactly what it was like to hold her boat and crew together during one of nature's strongest displays of energy, at times when they were hanging on for dear life.

While most of the books included here are not first-person narrations, they do feature first-person accounts of storms from 1880 to present day. Many contain enough science to satisfy the serious student, and all plunge the listener into the maelstrom, be it near the top of Mt. Everest or the chasm of the deep. So grab your galoshes and jump right in.--Ruth L. Lind

AUG/SEP 07
(c)2007 AudioFile Publications, Inc.