Rain: a natural and cultural history

by Cynthia Barnett

Books by journalists aren't always great, even if the journalist is an excellent journalist. This book is full of fascinating information, but the narrative and thematic arrangement was not what I wanted it to be. I have a co-worker who disagrees; as the Dude says, "Yeah, well, you know, that's just, like, your opinion, man."

I took longer to read this book than I expected. As fascinating as the information is, I felt swamped by the digressions and wanted a bit more science. The author truly delivers on the cultural history (mostly European and North American) promised by the title, and I started to enjoy that aspect more when I re-started reading after stalling out for close to a week. Could be that I'm judging this book too harshly because I wasn't in the mood for it, or something.