Trying to keep on track with my reading rotation, this next book is a non-fictional documentary of the Dust Bowl. The Worst Hard Time is a book that is currently rotating through my book club and when I checked to see if was available digitally through my local library...score!
I listened to this one as an audio, which I think was very helpful because this book can be dry...no pun intended. But seriously, this book is fantastic and I would definitely recommend it...though I would most assuredly recommend listening to it rather than reading it normally.
You learn about the Dust Bowl in history classes growing up, but you never learn some of the crazy things that this book details. For instance, I had no idea that there was a dust cloud that traveled all the way from the Midwest to New York City. I also never knew that the dust was so thick that even within a tightly secured and bundled up house sometimes you couldn't see your own hand held in front of your face, the dust was so dense. And the last fascinating tidbit I learned that I'll share here on my blog is that people got dust pneumonia from these storms. When people died, doctors would open them up and the deceased's lungs would be black with dust. In fact, the Dust Bowl pretty much decimated an entire generation of small children living in the Midwest during this time. Crazy.
I truly feel that everyone should read this book, but most especially if you grew up or currently live somewhere within the Midwest. This is some startling information regarding this part of the country's history and it's amazing that so little of it is taught to school children today. I give this book a big, fat thumbs up...go read (or listen to) it!!
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