The snowstorm

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George Osborne should read this book – but he just wouldn’t get it. Or maybe he would – it is very engagingly written. On her way to Utah to see her dying mother, college student Darby Thorne gets caught in a fierce blizzard in the mountains of Colorado. With the roads impassable, she’s forced to wait out the storm at a remote highway rest stop. Inside are some vending machines, a coffee maker, and four complete strangers. Joy has a component, if not of morality, then at least of seriousness. It signifies a happiness which is a serious business" So he had some corny moments. And some inconsistencies. He spends considerable effort proving that China is by far the worst pollutant country in the world. Then he blames capitalism for global warming. Comfort food, warm shelter and a gripping book are part of the blizzard survival guide. A day of forced seclusion is the perfect time to catch up on reading. Once you’re done shoveling, forget the snowstorm raging outside with one of these snowy, chilly novels and read it, in the comfort of your home and every blanket in sight.

Hyperbole? You could say so, I suppose. But what can I do, other than speak of my experience? Once, on a May morning a few years ago, I came out on to the banks of the Upper Itchen, at Ovington in Hampshire, and the river with its flowers and willows and the serenity of its flow and its dimpling trout in its matchless, limpid water, all gilded by the sunshine, seemed to possess a loveliness which was not part of this world at all. This is a very good read from one of our finest writers about the natural world. I think Mike could write well about anything – certainly anything he cared about. But notice, that he is not, and would not claim to be, an expert on nature. Maybe that’s one reason why he sees the joy more clearly than some of us who ‘know’ more. Perhaps that knowledge compromises how much we can feel for nature. Does the head too often get in the way of the heart? I hope not, but if it does then this book reminds us of the richness of nature from an emotional point of view as well as an intellectual one.Nature has many gifts for us, but perhaps the greatest of them all is joy; the intense delight we can take in the natural world, in its beauty, in the wonder it can offer us, in the peace it can provide - feelings stemming ultimately from our own unbreakable links to nature, which mean that we cannot be fully human if we are separate from it. An amazing and enjoyable read!!… You could almost feel the cold winds of the raging storm and see the smashing waves of the sea… almost impossible to put down… I didn’t want the book to end. If you like thrillers, twists, and atmospheric storytelling, I think you’ll love this one!’ Goodreads reviewer, ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

I heard the author interviewed by Krista Tippett on her On Being podcast and wanted to hear more from him. I learned so much about what's going on in the natural world that I either don't pay attention to or isn't widely published. So many fascinating stories, including many from his life.I thought my best friend’s death must have been an accident. But as I look down at the footprints in the deep snow, I suddenly see the truth: my oldest friends have been lying to me and one of them was the killer… but which one?