Books like Mighty Storms of New England — picked by fans

Meteorologists generally regard this 2004 two-volume set as the definitive tome in describing the major snowstorms which have impacted the northeastern US since colonial times. These two highly credentialed and well-known former National Weather Service experts provide a detailed analysis of each storm, along with their painstaking reconstruction of surface and upper-air pressure patterns for many of them. The result is an enormous wealth of information offered up in this 821-page magnum opus (with some 500 references) which will satisfy both the interested layperson and the seasoned professional meteorologist. 

This delightful chronicle of the infamous Blizzard of 1888 and its impact upon the population of New York City was published on the storm’s 100th anniversary. Prior to penning this book, Ms. Cable authored nine others over nearly two decades—including several on American social history—and served as editor/writer for The New Yorker and Harper’s Bazaar (among other publications). In my view, this prior experience was key to her uncommon ability to consistently evoke the vivid images of the trials and tribulations experienced by numerous real-life figures (some famous), and to create a broader social context throughout the book. For these reasons, hers was among the most enjoyable accounts of the Great Blizzard I’ve had the pleasure of reading.

This book is ideal for those who simply want to enjoy the plethora of great visuals which capture the splendor of New York City’s most memorable blizzards. Covering twelve such events between 1888 and 1994, this oversized book contains, by far, the greatest number of photos I have ever seen in a single compilation. Each photo’s caption also includes the source detail—something rare in most other accounts. Ample text accompanies each photo, making this a most pleasurable and informative read. 

This book, with its captivating accounts of human bravery, is unmatched for sheer excitement. Turner’s vivid description of the misfortunes befalling scores of residents throughout the Northeast stems from the astonishing level of detail he garnered through dozens of interviews with survivors and meteorologists and from myriad articles he culled from over 20 newspapers dating back to 1888. Born in 1935 and a lifelong native of the Jersey shore, he is able to artfully share his childhood experiences living through three of the legendary superstorms in this superbly written and well-researched work. Even without a degree in meteorology (though once a high school geography and English teacher), Turner’s love of big storms—particularly snowstorms—is obvious throughout. Dare I say it could well rival my own?

I love how Dean takes a creepy cow head on a barn, and builds a compelling mystery around it. The cow head permeates the book, watching, judging, accusing, and shedding tears in the aftermath of a storm—seemingly more alive than wooden. Next to the cow head, snow is the dominant image. It’s a place for fun, as the main character and her close friend create snow angels, but it also carries a warning in the form of a message written in white, and as a blizzard, it knocks out the power in town, making getting around dangerous. Set in New England in the dead of winter, this is a book to read on a dark, frigid night with a hot drink and a blazing fire. 

The Patient is a very quick read and easy to get sucked into, questioning everything you might know or think. I love how it was told through a series of online posts during which the narrator, a young psychiatrist, slowly reveals his story, never quite knowing if what he experienced was real or if he was going crazy.

I love how the sci-fi aspect took it out of our real world just enough to feel fantastical but not too much to be unrealistic or like a classic high-fantasy novel. The pace was fantastic, the twists and reveals were perfectly placed, and it was just the right amount of horror. I appreciate any book that is unexpected and leaves me thinking about it for days after I’m finished.

Ulrich, winner of the Pulitzer Prize for A Midwife's Tale, first wrote this ground-breaking study of women in early New England. With her characteristically elegant prose and inspired organization, she details the varied roles women played in family, community, and religious life. An illuminating work, and a page-turner.

Joseph Wood creatively uses landscape, settlement patterns, and the built environment to challenge a fabled view of the Currier and Ives New England village. The compact village center, with a steepled church, tidy white homes, and quaint shops surrounding the village green has too long colored our historical imaginings about an idealized New England past. But these forms, Wood convincingly argues, do not describe our colonial past. They are a 19th c invention that both romanticizes and obscures the actual colonial landscape of scattered farmsteads, meadows, and pastures. Early New England was shaped by a land-hungry people who sought competency & security in an expansive countryside. Richly illustrated with maps and images, this book is a model of how to use unusual evidence to recover the past. 

I have always loved the image of Jo March hiding up in the attic (she calls it a “garret” because it’s more romantic) of her family’s New England house, munching on russet apples and writing furiously away with her pet rat, Scrabble, as her muse, or curling up with Jane Eyre—it’s the only place she can be alone.

She’s one of the classic aspiring young writers of literature—a totally unconventional, headstrong girl with big ambitions who has provided inspiration for her real-life counterparts for generations, me included.

I found this to be one of the most compelling novels I’ve read to draw me deep into the fabric of the hardscrabble life of a New England community down on its luck with the crash of the cod fishing industry.

The sympathetic but thwarted characters are all entangled in dangerous waters of one kind or another, from drug smuggling to physical danger to marital issues. I was as fascinated to learn about the economics and lifestyle of the fishing life as I was moved by the struggles of characters caught in a complex net of change outside their control.