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njmatt04's review against another edition
4.0
As a meteorologist, I have read a lot of books about weather and hurricanes in particular. This book earns a place on my primary shelf for weather books. There’s nothing that stands out in particular about this book; it just does a really good, readable job of navigating the reader through America’s long, miserable history of hurricanes. It’s about a good an overview as you could ask for about hurricanes, and it reads well for any expertise level. The author did a fine job balancing the complex technical realities of tropical systems with readability. I highly recommend this if you want a good single volume hurricane book.
altlovesbooks's review against another edition
informative
sad
medium-paced
5.0
"In Cantore you have science and show business all wrapped up in one spiffy Gore-Tex package."
I live in Florida, but I did not grow up in Florida. While I've seen the gamut from tropical storms to category 5 hurricanes up close, I didn't have the same born-and-bred knowledge many lifetime residents have about what came before. This book helped fill in the gaps nicely, and was an incredibly entertaining read.
The early chapters of the book cover the basics of hurricane history, from early encounters with these freakishly powerful storms to the beginning advances into meteorology and storm prediction. Sprinkled amongst the science are rather detailed accounts of individual storms, from accounts written in the 1500s all the way through Sandy (with a nod to Dorian in the epilogue). There's sad stories, absurdly funny stories (in a gallows humor sort of way), heroic stories, and more government bureaucracy than you can shake a stick at. I really appreciated the detailed look at some of these storms that have impacted us in the past.
I will say, however, that if you're looking for anything in-depth in terms of science, you'll probably want to look elsewhere. While basic terms and concepts are covered, it's in an accessible way, and anyone with prior knowledge in the field will likely already be familiar with what's presented.
Highly recommend for anyone living in a hurricane-prone region, or anyone interested in an incredibly engaging book about these monster storms.
I live in Florida, but I did not grow up in Florida. While I've seen the gamut from tropical storms to category 5 hurricanes up close, I didn't have the same born-and-bred knowledge many lifetime residents have about what came before. This book helped fill in the gaps nicely, and was an incredibly entertaining read.
The early chapters of the book cover the basics of hurricane history, from early encounters with these freakishly powerful storms to the beginning advances into meteorology and storm prediction. Sprinkled amongst the science are rather detailed accounts of individual storms, from accounts written in the 1500s all the way through Sandy (with a nod to Dorian in the epilogue). There's sad stories, absurdly funny stories (in a gallows humor sort of way), heroic stories, and more government bureaucracy than you can shake a stick at. I really appreciated the detailed look at some of these storms that have impacted us in the past.
I will say, however, that if you're looking for anything in-depth in terms of science, you'll probably want to look elsewhere. While basic terms and concepts are covered, it's in an accessible way, and anyone with prior knowledge in the field will likely already be familiar with what's presented.
Highly recommend for anyone living in a hurricane-prone region, or anyone interested in an incredibly engaging book about these monster storms.
melissarochelle's review against another edition
4.0
Growing up in Florida, hurricanes just were. I remember Hurricane Andrew and lots of people from my hometown driving down for work to rebuild. Just because I lived through them doesn't mean I know anything ABOUT them. A Furious Sky is a great primer for understanding hurricane basics, navigating the REAL dangers surrounding hurricanes, and details on some of the most devasting hurricanes to hit the United States.
ntilley905's review against another edition
dark
informative
medium-paced
3.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Fire/Fire injury
Moderate: Death, Death of parent, Animal death, and Child death
nagleabby12's review against another edition
4.0
Reading books for knowledge? Look at me go.
This was fascinating. I learned a lot about facets of history I hadn’t thought of before. Interesting also to see how many times US history was influenced by hurricanes.
He delivered the information in a way that kept me engaged, was funny at times, but was also capable of communicating just how devastating a lot of the stories being relayed actually were.
As a certified weather nerd I really enjoyed the chapter where he went into detail about the advancements being made in hurricane forecasting.
Especially as he got into the more modern hurricanes that I remember seeing on the news it really had me looking at them from a new perspective. Katrina and Sandy especially. I mean, how much of the damage was caused as a result of people not wanting to prepare for the worst? Also, the way so many common threads ran between survival stories from ALL periods of American history was fascinating. Weather you lived in 1800 or 2012, riding a floating roof was the way you were going to make it out alive.
Yeah, I liked this. Really interesting, great writing, and gave me my a background on hurricanes with respect to impact now that I live somewhere I have to worry about it.
This was fascinating. I learned a lot about facets of history I hadn’t thought of before. Interesting also to see how many times US history was influenced by hurricanes.
He delivered the information in a way that kept me engaged, was funny at times, but was also capable of communicating just how devastating a lot of the stories being relayed actually were.
As a certified weather nerd I really enjoyed the chapter where he went into detail about the advancements being made in hurricane forecasting.
Especially as he got into the more modern hurricanes that I remember seeing on the news it really had me looking at them from a new perspective. Katrina and Sandy especially. I mean, how much of the damage was caused as a result of people not wanting to prepare for the worst? Also, the way so many common threads ran between survival stories from ALL periods of American history was fascinating. Weather you lived in 1800 or 2012, riding a floating roof was the way you were going to make it out alive.
Yeah, I liked this. Really interesting, great writing, and gave me my a background on hurricanes with respect to impact now that I live somewhere I have to worry about it.