When ‘ugh…’ is the best word that you can come up with to describe your feelings about a situation, you know it’s not good. I am referring to Old Man Winter, of course, which could be described with these words: rain, sleet, snow, blow, repeat, all with temperatures that could freeze an Alaskan.
The National Weather Service has tried to make it easier for us to get through the bad weather by entertaining us with names for each storm. I believe we are now up to the letter “I.”
Some are very cool names, and I wonder if it was fun thinking them up. Is naming a storm similar to naming a baby, I wonder? Is there a book published especially for the occasion of naming winter storms?
Many of the storm names for this year have descriptively powerful definitions; “Strong,” “Intelligent,” “Chief,” “Cool & Creative,” etc. There is only one way to deal with winter storms; lots of hot cocoa, and STACKS of good, ‘cool,’ ‘creative’ fiction to get your through the next storm. Read on!
The year is 1944, and twenty three year old Tess DeMello has broken her engagement to the only man she’s ever loved and impulsively married Henry Kraft, a stranger she mysteriously finds attractive. Relocating from her home to Hickory, North Carolina, Tess is caught up in Henry’s strange ways and secrets; a man who shows no interest in her but is respected by the townspeople, and who treat Tess like the outsider that she is. When polio becomes a rampant epidemic in the town of Hickory, the residents build a polio hospital, and Tess’s nursing degree leads her to find refuge working in the hospital among the young children stricken with the virus. At home, however, Tess finds Henry’s behavior more alarming than ever, and as she struggles to save lives at the hospital, she feels her own may be in jeopardy in ‘The Stolen Marriage’ by Diane Chamberlain.
A recent divorce and the death of her mother bring Isabelle Austen back to her small island hometown to take over the family tourism business. Drowning in her misery, Isabelle finds her world changed for the better when Henry North arrives on the island, sweeping her off of her feet. But Henry’s past is a disturbing one, and as Isabelle delves deeper into Henry’s world, she discovers that his previous relationships have ended not only badly, but dangerously for the women he was involved with. Just as suddenly as their intense relationship began, Isabelle begins to feel the tingle of suspicion, and in searching for the truth, realizes that her own life may be at risk in ‘What’s Become of Her’ by Deb Caletti.
When con-man, Conrad, becomes the victim of an alleged murder, his three, yes three, wives are the suspects. Although each of them had their reasons for wanting him dead, the trio of the ‘Conrad Wives Club’ teams up when they meet in Bootleg, Texas, each hoping to lay claim to a lakeside cabin owned by Conrad. There, the three of them meet, sharing the summer at the cabin, revealing to one another their lives with Conrad, each making the journey from sworn enemy to a friendship that none of them ever expected in ‘The Barefoot Summer’ by Carolyn Brown.
Evelyn Marche is now among the widows of World War I. The year is 1917, and Evelyn is a British nurse, spending her days working in a hospital and her nights helping out in her aunt & uncle’s café. Evelyn has a secret of her own, however; she is also a spy working for a Belgian resistance group in cooperation with the British Secret Service. The crash of a British plane leads Evelyn to help the injured, among them, a British Prisoner of War. Coming to the aid of British RFC Captain Simon Forrester puts Evelyn’s life in danger, and as the lies and secrets mount, they each know that their chance of surviving their situation is grim in ‘High as the Heavens’ by Kate Breslin.
Since we are currently only up to the letter “I” in the winter storms list of names, and Zoey, the last on the list, seems a long way off, it’s probably a good idea to be prepared for whatever is on the horizon for the rest of the winter. So, I say, STOCK UP on the most important things to get you through it, and that list includes LOTS of great, new fiction, straight from your local branch of the Jasper County Public Library!
Drawing: Sketch of the Ice King from Adventure Time reading his favorite story: the Adventures of Fiona and Cake.