A Sideways Look at Clouds

by Maria Mudd Ruth

A natural history, filled with intrigue and humor, of our ubiquitous yet utterly fascinating clouds - Written by a critically-acclaimed natural-history author - Shares author's fun journey to understanding clouds - Written for the curious--but non-science--minded Author Maria Mudd Ruth fell in love with clouds the same way she stumbles into most passions: madly and unexpectedly. A Sideways Look at Clouds is the story of her quite accidental infatuation with and education about the clouds above. When she moved to the soggy Northwest a decade ago, Maria assumed that locals would know everything there was to know about clouds, in the same way they talk about salmon, tides, and the Seahawks. Yet in her first two years of living in Olympia, Washington, she never heard anyone talk about clouds--only the rain. Puzzled by this lack of cloud savvy, she decided to create a 10-question online survey and sent it to everyone she knew. Her sample size of 67 people included men and women, new friends in Olympia, family on the East Coast, outdoorsy and indoorsy types, professional scientists, and liberal arts majors like herself. The results showed that while people knew a little bit about clouds, most were like her--they had a hard time identifying clouds or remembering their names. As adults, they had lost their curiosity and sense of wonder about clouds and were, essentially, not in the habit of looking up. A Sideways Look at Clouds acknowledges the challenges of understanding clouds and so uses a very steep and bumpy learning curve--the author's--as its plot line. The book is structured around the ten words used in most definitions of a cloud: "a visible mass of water droplets or ice crystals suspended in the atmosphere above the earth." A captivating story teller, Maria blends science, wonder, and humor to take the scenic route through the clouds and encourages readers to chart their own rambling, idiosyncratic course. Whether you are outside under the clouds, inside planning your next adventure, or curled up anywhere with a good book, A Sideways Look at Clouds will engage, inform, and inspire.

Genres: Nonfiction, Nature, Science, Natural History

224 pages, Hardcover

Published August 30, 2017

Reviews

[Brendan Monroe · Rating 3 out of 5]

Back in 2012, I traveled to Finland and then down through the Baltics. One clear day that May, I stepped inside a curious-looking shop in Riga, Latvia, and came away with a coffee mug with an inscription of the Latvian myth of the "Cloud Pusher." This fascinated me, so much so that it spawned two loves — one for mug collecting, and another for clouds.

As for clouds, my fascination is less to do with their science and more to do with the ways different cultures have, over time, interpreted their meaning.

I came upon "A Sideways Look at Clouds" at Browser's Bookshop in Olympia, Washington this past July. Seeing it there on the table and drawn in by the lovely cover, I was filled with that curious cloud intrigue once again.

The author is herself from Olympia, which likely explains why this book was at that bookshop in the first place. Olympia and Washington State, more generally, are well known to be particularly overcast places, so it makes sense that a book about the clouds would come from there. All well and good.

Unfortunately, what I didn't care for so much about this book — and why it took me three long months to finish it — is that I found it to be somewhat too personal.

In between what were often quite technical explanations of clouds that I found occasionally difficult to parse, the author has overly long sections in which she talks about her own fascination with clouds. These include several pages where the author drives up to a hill that overlooks Olympia in order to catch a glimpse of a fog enveloping the city, and then drives down to a lake so she can take a swim while totally submerged in this fog.

I just wasn't very interested in these sections, they didn't shed any light for me on the clouds but only on the author's fascination with them — a fascination that readers of this book are already likely to share to the point that these bits come off as obvious and uninteresting. This only added to the tedium that I often experienced while reading this book, which is unfortunate since clouds most definitely do not bore me.

There is some insight to glean here, I particularly liked learning about how meteorologists name the clouds, but there's far too little of it for my liking in light of the page length.

Over the course of the three months it took me to finish, sections of this book passed in and out of my mind without ever really settling. Even now, several days after finishing it, I find it difficult to recall much of it at all.

[Jenn · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was all just way over my head, though I stuck with it because the authors stories kept me interested. I do appreciate this book, however, and the way it’s opened my eyes to the clouds above us. I don’t know that I’ve ever loved anything as much as Maria Ruth loves clouds 😆

[Erinp · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting and fun, found it tricky to follow at times (but maybe cause I was on a kindle and the pictures don't come through as well). Overall I liked it and would recommend to science-minded people. Love the topic, who would have thunk it. Thanks for the rec Laura!

[Jocelin · Rating 4 out of 5]

As a self- professed neophile (lover of clouds), this book A Sideways Look at Clouds captured my attention. I have always had a fascination with clouds since I was a little girl. I always thought of them as being magical and beautiful. Reading about another’s love of clouds made me curious, so I checked the book out at my local Cobb County library. This book was filled with scientific evidence, stories, trivia questions, and shared memories of clouds.

When I was growing up the main cloud types that I studied in science class were cirrus, cumulus, stratus, and nimbus. Now clouds are classified into to 10 types:
Cirrus
Cirrocumulus
Cirrostratus
Altocumulus
Altostratus
Nimbostratus
Stratus
Cumulus
Stratocumulus
Cumulonimbus
These are the main cloud groups but, there can be numerous names for them. The list could possibly be endless.

Cirrus, Cirrocumulus, Cirrostratus are high level clouds.
Altocumulus, Altostratus, Nimbostratus are mid-level clouds.
Stratus, Cumulus, Stratocumulus are low level clouds.
Cumulonimbus are clouds that grow vertically.

She also gave us a definition of what a cloud is: is a visible mass of water droplets or ice crystals suspended in the atmosphere above the earth.
She even breaks down each chapter with words from the definition:

Cloud
Visible
Mass
Water
Droplets
Ice
Crystals
Suspended
Atmosphere
Above
Earth

All in all, this was a very fascinating book. Although I will still gaze at the clouds with childlike awe and ponder their beauty. I will now appreciate what great works of art and science they are.

[Cai · Rating 5 out of 5]

Maria Mudd Ruth’s wonderful book A SIDEWAYS LOOK AT CLOUDS, is the result of Ruth’s fascination with clouds which developed after she moved to the Pacific Northwest. Wanting to understand what clouds really are, she decided to educate herself, and she pursued this end with a vengeance, posing questions, reading, finding experts, conducting surveys. The result is this book which provides the layperson with an understanding of how clouds form, what makes them appear as they do, how they are classified, etc. She tells numerous entertaining anecdotes from her own life and the lives of others, and she explores some of the cultural meanings we have ascribed to clouds. This illuminating book is an excellent example of what can happen when someone takes the time to delve seriously into self-education. It has made me see clouds with a whole new eye.

[Adrienne Scanlan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Clouds, huh? Who knew those everyday, mundane clouds could be so...complex...fascinating...and inspiring enough to make us look a little more closely at the world that's above our heads and below those lovely clouds. Well, Maria Mudd Ruth knew, or at least was willing to let a chance glance at a hallway poster take her on an exploration far, far above and beyond her daily life. Luckily, she's shared it with us, and now to my total surprise, I've started to look up and wonder: "nimbus? stratus? really, there's a cloud appreciation society in London? clouds have species?..." and a lot more questions that make daily life just a tad more fun and exciting.

[EB]

The prologue was so good! Then the first chapter was so boring! I keep TRYING to listen to nature writing and... it just doesn't land for me. It's too dry. Too... slow? Too... navel-gazing? I find I'm not especially interested in how the writer arrived at some concept or understanding. Either tell me the facts (e.g., "here's how clouds work") or use the facts adjacent to a personal story in a creative, illuminating way (metaphor!). But this genre is more like, "Here's how clouds work and here's the mundane day-to-day living I was engaged with as I learned these facts." Just doesn't hold my attention :(

[Alyson · Rating 4 out of 5]

My dear friend Shalise has been talking about this book for a year and often points out clouds during our dog walks together. After finally reading A Sideways Look at Clouds, I can see why she loves it.

The author blends humor with fascinating facts, making the science of clouds both accessible and awe-inspiring. There’s a lot of data, but it never feels dry (pun intended, LOL). Instead, it deepens your appreciation for the beauty and complexity of the sky. Clouds are more than just pretty shapes; understanding even a bit of their formation makes them even more beautiful to me.

2025 52 Book club challenge #Direction in the title

[Theresa · Rating 3 out of 5]

Read this if you'd like to understand clouds and how they form and un-form, the physics of what happens inside clouds, etc. The author blends the story of her own learning about clouds with the information she gathers, as a sort of journal-and-encylopedia of clouds. I definitely look up more often now and really relish the variety of shapes and sights of overhead clouds. I did find the book less understandable, and less enjoyable, toward the second half. Overall, a good read.

[Walkalotta · Rating 5 out of 5]

As much an exploration of the author's research as an explanation of the way clouds work, Maria Ruth does a phenomenal job of melding the curiosity of the flâneur with the rigor of a serious researcher. This book was a joy to read, and I find myself looking up at and appreciating the clouds all the more for having read it.

The cover is also adorable. Please do yourself a favor and give this a read.

[Alissa · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm not sure I can name the clouds, but I definitely have a better appreciation and understanding of them. I feel like I missed a bunch of stuff (totally over my head) (ha! pun accidental) and I would benefit from a re-read. Still it was interesting to read and I will be looking up more often now.

2025 52 book challenge: #34 Direction in the title

[Maria · Rating 1 out of 5]

The design of this book just takes my breath away. I drive along a vista everyday and marvel at the clouds in Boise and was excited to read this book. I was less excited once I actually started reading it.

[Cai · Rating 4 out of 5]

I loved this investigation of clouds by layperson Maria Mudd Ruth. She suddenly became interested in clouds after seeing a poster, and she proceeded to launch a thorough, but deeply personal investigation of them. Her book inspired me to want to learn to identify clouds more accurately myself.

[Max · Rating 2 out of 5]

Didn't really enjoy this that much. The author's personal stories were interesting but felt like they took away from the book's content as opposed to adding to them. Some of the jokes throughout explanations of complex content felt grating as opposed to engaging.

[Jo Anne Yeager · Rating 5 out of 5]

A personal, witty, and enjoyable climb inside the clouds

A SIdeways Look at Clouds guides the reader, through a personal journey to understand the wondrous clouds above us. In sharing her personal stories and memories of clouds, the author inspires the reader to reflect, observe and grow. I loved the book and highly recommend it to not only those who love nature, but to anyone who has looked up to the skies for strength, rejuvenation, and solace.

[Elecia · Rating 2 out of 5]

Cloudspotter’s Guide is far superior in every way.

Initial review: Amusing, effective: I spend more time cloud watching, less screens.