I have an affiliate relationship with Bookshop.org and Malaprop's Bookstore in beautiful Asheville, NC. I will earn a small commission at no additional cost to you if you purchase merchandise through links on my site. Read more on my affiliate page.
Welcome to my weekly update for August 22, 2021!
If you’ve been around here much, you probably know that my husband and I travel with his job. You might not know that our permanent home is in the mountains of western North Carolina (near Asheville). Anyway, on Tuesday, Tropical Storm Fred came roaring up over 500 miles from the Gulf of Mexico and caused catastrophic flooding throughout western North Carolina. It’s bad, folks.
This kind of event happens sometimes. I think (and I’m not a meteorologist, so this is just a guess) fast-moving storms come in, either from the Gulf or the Atlantic, blow over the relatively flat lands, hit the mountains, slow down, and dump all their moisture. But, like other catastrophic weather events in the 21st century, it does seem to be happening with more regularity. I would guess the last time we saw something like this was with Hurricane Ivan in 2004, a few weeks before our outdoor wedding.
As I write this on Wednesday evening, 35 people are missing. Luckily our house, and the houses of our family and friends, are not in flood plains. But plenty of other people lost everything. I’ve seen videos of mobile homes literally floating away down the street. One acquaintance on Facebook had to evacuate her house when she realized that her private bridge was about to wash away. You can see photos and videos on the Charlotte Observer website.
Please keep these people in your thoughts and prayers. This is still pretty early in hurricane season. Hopefully this will be our only flood this season.
Posted:
Men We Reaped by Jesmyn Ward–5 Stars
Ten of My Favorite Places to Read
Read:
Illuminations: A Novel of Hildegard von Bingen by Mary Sharratt
The Giver (Giver Quartet #1) by Lois Lowry, read by Ron Rifkin
And two picture books I read a couple of weeks ago but forgot to mention here:
Luna’s Big OXcident by P. T. Custard, illustrated by Amanda Rose Warren
Cozy by Jan Brett
Currently Reading:
Time and Again by Jack Finney
Archenemies (Renegades #2) by Marissa Meyer, read by Rebecca Soler and Dan Bittner
Up Next:
I still haven’t started The Catcher in the Rye by J. D. Salinger. I also have 30 Days of Night by Steve Niles and Ben Templesmith checked out from the library. I would normally read the latter in October for Halloween but The New York Times chose it as the best horror book from Alaska so I wanted to read it while I’m here.
What did your week look like?
Deb Nance at Readerbuzz hosts The Sunday Salon and Kimberly at Caffeinated Book Reviewer hosts Sunday Post. Kathryn at Book Date hosts It’s Monday! What Are You Reading?
31 Comments
I missed the news of the flooding in NC. So sad! Time and Again has been on my TBR for a while. Will watch for your review if you post one!
I’m not even sure how much it was in the news so I wanted to do what I could to bring attention to it. Time and Again is moving a bit slowly for me but I’ve been distracted with guests. Hopefully I’ll have a better opportunity to give it the attention it deserves now that I’m back in my routine.
Fires on the West Coast and floods on the East Coast… it seems we are in one emergency after another (and several at the same time). I hope the missing people get found soon, but am very glad to hear that your family is safe.
There are so many weather extremes everywhere, in addition to covid. It gets exhausting, doesn’t it?
It really does.
So much extreme weather! I’m glad you are enjoying your time in Alaska and finding Alaska-centric books to read. Come see my week here. Happy reading!
So many extremes everywhere! I’ve really been enjoying my Alaska books. Some states haven’t interested me as much but Alaska books have really caught my attention.
I read The Catcher in the Rye for the first time just a few years ago. Enjoy your books and your week, and stay safe. Here are my WEEKLY UPDATES
Catcher in the Rye is one of those books that I feel like I should read, just so I know what all the fuss is about.
We seem to be getting a lot more of those big weather events everywhere. A big flood like that is heartbreaking and loss of homes and people so sad. All the best for your reading week.
Crazy, destructive weather does seem to be everywhere.
I’m so sorry to hear about the devastation in NC. My thoughts and well wishes go out to all those people.
Take care and hope you are well this week.
Thanks, Greg.
I’ll be rereading the Giver this year. My son is going to read it in school and thought it would be a good time to revisit this classic. It’s been years. I didn’t read the sequels, though. The Men We Reaped has been on my list for a couple of years. I need to get to it. Glad you enjoyed it.
I’m glad your home came out OK but it’s so awful right now with the storms, flooding and all the fires. We’ve been dealing with smoke from all the fires and flash flooding in certain areas.
Stay safe and look forward to your thoughts on Catcher in the Rye!
I added the sequel to the Giver to my TBR as soon as I finished it. I’m curious to know what happens to Jacob.
I think you’ll like Men We Reaped a lot.
Fires and floods? Oh my.
All of this extreme weather has caused so much suffering… my heart breaks for all those who have lost their homes and loved ones. We have evacuated our CT rental for central NY and a visit with my parents. Tima and Again has been on my kindle for years. I’ll be interested in hearing what you think of it.
I hope Henri didn’t cause any damage to your rental.
I’ve experienced five terrible hurricanes, one of which flooded our apartment (we were newly married) and the homes of all of friends and family. So I have great compassion for the people of western North Carolina. One of the missing is my friend’s cousin’s daughter. Hurricanes are awful things.
I really enjoyed Time and Again when I read it, long, long ago. I’ll be interested in seeing what you think about it now.
I’m glad to see how much you enjoyed Men We Reaped. High praise!
Oh my goodness! I hope the daughter is okay!
The extreme weather of all sorts has been so devastating over the past couple of years. I am glad your house is okay, but feel so bad for those of the missing 35.
Have a great reading week!
I can’t imagine not knowing where your family and friends are after an event like that. It’s been hard to track updates but I know five people were found dead a couple of days ago.
I wish we would get a little more rain here in middle NC. I’m just getting ready to read Renegades as it is one of the COYER Sept book club picks.
Anne – Books of My Heart This is my Sunday Post
I hope you like Renegades! I obviously liked it since I’m on to book 2.
Sorry to hear about the storms in your area. That is scary.
I loved the Giver and am excited to see a Jan Brett book I haven’t read.
Have a great week!
The Jan Brett book was cute!
The weather situation has definitely gotten worse in recent years. Droughts, floods, not to mention the fires… I’m sorry so many are suffering and losing their homes.
I’ve read both The Giver and Time and Again. Loved the first and thought the other was good, but not one I loved. (https://lesleysbooknook.blogspot.com/2012/01/time-and-again.html)
We’re back home from a 10-day road trip. It was nice to get away again, which makes me sad that we have decided to cancel our trip to TN. We weren’t going to take the RV, but travel by car and stay in hotels (in order to get to our destination a bit faster than the RV would manage). With the spike in Covid cases, and traveling through several states that are hot spots, we decided it best to postpone the trip. Who knows when it will be safe to go… we’re considering downsizing to a Class B, which should be a faster mode of travel, but they’re in high demand right now and super expensive. Sigh.
Have a good week, Jen!
So far, you’ve summed up my feelings about The Giver and Time and Again. I hope I can make better progress on the latter now that our latest visitors have flown back home.
Downsizing is something I don’t hear very often! I belong to a Facebook group for travel nurses who live in their RVs. Usually the group advice is “Go as big as you can afford!” I disagree but I’m in the minority. You don’t tow a car behind you, do you? The Class B sounds like a perfect choice for you. I can’t imagine trying to navigate everywhere in a Class C. Everything surrounding RVing, including long-term spots, seems to be in high demand right now. We were kind of happy to park our RV for the summer and hope that more campground spots open up this fall. It’s been a struggle over the past year. I hope you find something soon!
The people of western North Carolina will be in my prayers, Jen 🙏 As for my week it has been busy and fun, as I had a mini holiday, although the weather was rather damp and blustery, I can’t complain with what others are going through. There really is a lot of freak weather and disasters at the moment.
A mini holiday sounds lovely!
“The Catcher in the Rye” is really a classic. I’m not sure it’s stood up to the test of time as well as some books have. I wonder why you are reading it.
best… mae at maefood.blogspot.com
I decided to read The Catcher in the Rye in preparation for Banned Books Week next month and because I added it to my Classics Club list.