The Johnstown Flood

The Johnstown Flood by David McCullough

I borrowed this WMA audiobook through the public library's OverDrive download service.

My review, originally shared April 2, 2012:

While the beginning of the book dragged a bit, as McCullough was introducing the setting and major players before the flood, I still enjoyed this book a lot and learned a great deal about the 1889 flood (Note: This book does not cover the flood in the 1970's and in fact doesn't mention it at all). As someone who grew up in southwest/central PA, I was familiar with most of the places that came up in the telling and found this book especially interesting from the regional standpoint. The stories of the survivors and especially of the relief efforts made me tear up more than once.

Edward Herrmann does a fantastic job reading the audio version. 

Stars: 4

Runability: 3 

Edward Herrmann is one of my favorite audiobook readers. Fans of the Gilmore Girls TV show will know him as Grandpa Gilmore. I kind of felt like Rory, hanging out with him in his study and talking books. I was glad that I made the choice to listen to this book on audio instead of "actually" reading it. 

I find that nonfiction books in general are more difficult for me to run to, perhaps because there's not usually as strong of a narrative thread holding it together in my brain. There were lots of mini-narratives throughout, but the overarching story was more difficult for me to follow and care about while huffing and puffing along the pavement.