Booking Through Thursday - Stormy Weather

BTT

Apparently last week's Booking Through Thursday was missed due to hurricane Sandy.  But it's back this week so be sure to jump over there and check out everyone's response to the question(s):

1. How do storms affect your reading? Do you go for comfort reading? 2. How do you deal with power outages? Do you read by candlelight? Flashlights? Use a self-lit e-reader or tablet? Skip reading altogether for the duration and instead play games with the family?

Here in California we weren't affected by the hurricane. We're rarely affected by any storms. But I grew up in Minnesota, and we had good ol' winter blizzards and tornado season in the spring. Both would knock out power on a regular basis but the response was always quite different.

When the snow and ice knocks out power you are not only in the dark for the moment but realistically stuck in the house for a day (or two) until the roads are clear. But you are perfectly safe so you can relax and enjoy the isolation. This involves lots of blankets, maybe some hot chocolate, and a good book. I read a lot of epic fantasy as kid and would sit in bed and finish off an eight hundred page whopper in a day. 

Tornadoes, on the other hand, always hold the danger of impending destruction. You can't just light a candle and relax. We'd have to gather up all those warm blankets and head into the furnace room in the basement in the center of the house. Maybe even get all the way back under the stairs to be ready for the house to collapse on top of you. Not really the easiest place to read.

I can't remember the last time we lost power for any reason around here. But my laptop has a battery and I've got a cellular modem. I'd probably still be checking email, reading on my kindle app, or hopefully still writing away. Times and technology change everything.