Jan 19
Does the weather affect your choice of reading material?
I live in New England, and this past week we have had a deep freeze, with almost record-low temperatures. I’ve found it difficult to read any book set in a cold climate, as it just seems to make me colder. My current book of choice (due out in the summer) is a novel where tropical plants often take center stage, and I’ve found that I warm up when reading it. I can imagine myself in the middle of a hot, steamy environment, and can almost smell the greenhouse-like atmosphere.
So I’ve been thinking about what book I would recommend to others who want an escape from the frigid cold. The first book that popped into my mind: The Sex Lives of Cannibals by J. Maarten Troost.
If you’re a fan of Bill Bryson, I think you’ll love The Sex Lives of Cannibals (though it really has very little to do with either sex or cannibals). Troost tells the tale of his relocation to the small island of Tarawa in the South Pacific. His wife had the opportunity to take a government job, and Troost imagined himself living the life of leisure, hanging out in the tropics with little to do but bask in paradise and write the next great American novel.
Real life on the island, of course, was nothing like Troost imagined. Reality was an overcrowded, bureaucratic nation that struggled with sanitation and an all-too-frequent shortage of beer. Troost writes about his disillusionment in a self-deprecating manner that kept me laughing through the entire book. It’s a comic travelogue that would be a treat to read on a cold, snowy day.
What do you read when it’s very cold or very hot? Do you try to escape the weather through reading?
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We encourage you to write down or print out the title information and shop at your local bookstore. Titles link to LibraryThing, a social networking site that allows you to catalog your home library. LibraryThing also links to various online purchasing options. Here are the books from this post:
The Sex Lives of Cannibals by J. Maarten Troost, Broadway trade paperback
The Sex Lives of Cannibals by J. Maarten Troost, Broadway trade paperback
(all information is for the U.S. editions).
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I’ve never really thought about that before. We live in a pretty temperate climate, so the weather really doesn’t affect my reading.
Ann, that’s an interesting way to escape the cold (and as a huge Bill Bryson fan, I bet I would like this book). I don’t adjust my reading according to the weather, but I do change based on events (baseball during the season, Poe for the week of his anniversary) and geography (Tony Hillerman for a trip to Arizona).
p.s. Don’t read Into Thin Air until July!
Dave, I love your theme reading!
As far a travel reading (as in your Arizona example), I’m always torn between reading before a trip, or after. If I read before, then I often view the place through the lens of the book. If I read after, I view the book through the lens of the area. Not sure which I like more….
Good question…I end up reading longer books (CHUNKSTERS) when it’s cold. Hunkering down with something long makes me feel like I can wait out the cold.
When it’s hot hot hot (like now) I… oh, well I KNIT A GIGANTIC LACE SHAWL IN WORSTED WEIGHT MERINO WOOL. Sorry was I yelling? That’s what crazy people do. x
what happened to my comment?
Taueret, seems to have been some kind of delay with your comment, but it’s there now (if you look, they both posted at the same time. Weird).
Anyway, about that shawl … LOL, I have been there. And I think that possibly the hot weather is what put an end to my knitting, which I still haven’t resumed. Hey, read a book instead, OK?