100 Words For Rain by Alex Johnson
Jun. 16th, 2024 11:50 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
quippeThe Blurb On The Back:
What is a ‘custard’ wind? - Why is a rainy wedding lucky? - What’s the difference between ‘daggle’ and ‘dibble’ weather? - Does sunshine make us kinder? - Why were weather reports once banned?
The British obsession with the weather is world famous. We talk about it endlessly - five whole months of our lives, to be precise. We use it to start conversations with complete strangers. It affects our moods, shopping habits and even how we vote.
This book is packed with information you’ll want to share about this most important subject - quirky history, surprising facts, fascinating folklore, strange words and intriguing people.
Alex Johnson is a journalist, magazine editor, designer and author. This is a lovely book about the British national obsession - the weather - that mixes folklore, local dialects, psychology, economics and, of course, the weather itself. There are loads of facts and nuggets grouped around different types of weather and, yes, there are 100 words for rain as well. It’s a perfect read to enjoy in your garden on a warm sunny day with a cold drink.
Johnson has organised the book into 14 chapters, such as Snow and Ice, How Weather Affects Behaviour, War, Sun, Folkore, Rain and so on. Each chapter has a lot of interesting facts about that topic with Johnson drawing on literature, folklore, local dialects and languages (including Welsh, Scots Gaelic and Irish), history and psychology to pull together things to say about each. A lot of thought has been put into each and Johnson is careful to keep the tone light and informative, not overly dwelling on any particular topic but instead allowing the reader enough to keep them entertained before moving onto the next point.
If I had a complaint (and I say this realising that it’s unfair given the title of the book) it’s that the long lists of different terms and words for various weather types do go on a bit. I do recognise that I’m being churlish saying that because they’re not uninteresting but they do go on for a couple of pages.
All in all though, this is a really pleasant read. It gives you plenty to think about and is informative at the same time. It’s the kind of book that you can happily read while sitting in your garden during the summer with the radio on and a cool drink by your side and that is no mean feat to achieve.
The Verdict:
Alex Johnson is a journalist, magazine editor, designer and author. This is a lovely book about the British national obsession - the weather - that mixes folklore, local dialects, psychology, economics and, of course, the weather itself. There are loads of facts and nuggets grouped around different types of weather and, yes, there are 100 words for rain as well. It’s a perfect read to enjoy in your garden on a warm sunny day with a cold drink.
100 WORDS FOR RAIN was released in the United Kingdom on 11th April 2024. Thanks to the Amazon Vine Programme for the review copy of this book.
The British obsession with the weather is world famous. We talk about it endlessly - five whole months of our lives, to be precise. We use it to start conversations with complete strangers. It affects our moods, shopping habits and even how we vote.
This book is packed with information you’ll want to share about this most important subject - quirky history, surprising facts, fascinating folklore, strange words and intriguing people.
Alex Johnson is a journalist, magazine editor, designer and author. This is a lovely book about the British national obsession - the weather - that mixes folklore, local dialects, psychology, economics and, of course, the weather itself. There are loads of facts and nuggets grouped around different types of weather and, yes, there are 100 words for rain as well. It’s a perfect read to enjoy in your garden on a warm sunny day with a cold drink.
Johnson has organised the book into 14 chapters, such as Snow and Ice, How Weather Affects Behaviour, War, Sun, Folkore, Rain and so on. Each chapter has a lot of interesting facts about that topic with Johnson drawing on literature, folklore, local dialects and languages (including Welsh, Scots Gaelic and Irish), history and psychology to pull together things to say about each. A lot of thought has been put into each and Johnson is careful to keep the tone light and informative, not overly dwelling on any particular topic but instead allowing the reader enough to keep them entertained before moving onto the next point.
If I had a complaint (and I say this realising that it’s unfair given the title of the book) it’s that the long lists of different terms and words for various weather types do go on a bit. I do recognise that I’m being churlish saying that because they’re not uninteresting but they do go on for a couple of pages.
All in all though, this is a really pleasant read. It gives you plenty to think about and is informative at the same time. It’s the kind of book that you can happily read while sitting in your garden during the summer with the radio on and a cool drink by your side and that is no mean feat to achieve.
The Verdict:
Alex Johnson is a journalist, magazine editor, designer and author. This is a lovely book about the British national obsession - the weather - that mixes folklore, local dialects, psychology, economics and, of course, the weather itself. There are loads of facts and nuggets grouped around different types of weather and, yes, there are 100 words for rain as well. It’s a perfect read to enjoy in your garden on a warm sunny day with a cold drink.
100 WORDS FOR RAIN was released in the United Kingdom on 11th April 2024. Thanks to the Amazon Vine Programme for the review copy of this book.
