Tag: fiction

The Book Shelf: Part 3

This is the third of a three-part look at some of the books I read over the past year. Nothing brought back more memories than That Old Gang of Mine, featuring Bill Spunska and some of the gang from Scrubs on Skates. Oh, those were the days! . . . I hope you were able to find a title that intrigued you over the past three days, and here’s to a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.

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Nocturne — Ed McBain is the author of a series of books on the 87th Precinct. This is No. 48 in the series, and it begins with the murder of an elderly woman who once was a renowned concert pianist. It isn’t long before there are more bodies and some missing money. Oh, and there’s a dead cat; it was shot alongside the old woman. Lots of good gritty stuff here.

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Playing for Keeps: Michael Jordan and the World He Made — As much as this book, which was published in 2000, is about Michael Jordan’s climb to the top of the NBA’s world and his life in the business world, primarily with Nike, it’s about basketball’s changing times as money took over. Author David Halberstam wrote this terrific book without sitting down with Jordan, who agreed to be interviewed but later changed his mind. There is lots here about basketball under coach Dean Smith at North Carolina, what the arrival of ESPN meant to the NBA, the bad boy Detroit Pistons, the importance of Phil Jackson to Jordan’s career, the enigmatic Jerry Krause, who was the Chicago Bulls’ general manager, and a whole lot more. I highly recommend this book.

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Playing for Pizza — One day, while in Italy, John Grisham, the author of so many legal thrillers, happened upon a football game — as in American football. This book came out of that experience. It’s fluff, but there is some good fun between the covers as QB Rick Dockery tries to rediscover some positives with the Parma Panthers. No, there really aren’t any surprises. The good news is that the book isn’t especially long.

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Raylan — Published in 2012, this was author Elmore Leonard’s last book before his death in 2013. The book, which chronicles the adventures of U.S. Marshal Raylan Givens, is highlighted by Leonard’s usual gift for dialogue and whacky characters. Leonard had featured Givens in earlier works (Pronto, Riding the Rap, Fire in the Hole), which led to the TV series Justified. Raylan, Leonard’s 45th novel, was written after Justified already was on the small screen.

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Resurrection Walk — You can’t go wrong with a book by Michael Connelly, can you? In this one, Harry Bosch, retired from the LAPD, is working for his half-brother, Mickey Haller, the Lincoln Lawyer. And this one is all about whether a young woman killed her husband, who was a cop, and was wrongfully convicted in a conspiracy involving more cops.

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The Rise and Fall of the Press Box — Leonard Koppett had a lengthy career as a sports writer with stints at The New York Times, New York Herald Tribune, New York Post, Palo Alto Times and Oakland Tribune. Yes, he knew the way to a whole lot of press boxes. In this book, finished two weeks before he died on June 22, 2003, at 79, he walks the reader through the rise and fall of the newspaper industry, while detailing the differences faced by today’s sports writers as compared to those who were on the beats 70 and 80 years ago. Insightful and entertaining.

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The Street Lawyer — Published on Jan. 1, 1998, this was author John Grisham’s ninth novel. Michael Brock, one of 800 lawyers with a high-powered firm in Washington, D.C., is at the plot’s centre as Grisham takes aim at such firms and the homeless issue. It’s good Grisham, and will keep you out of trouble for a day or two.

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Taking Down Trump: 12 Rules for Prosecuting Donald Trump by Someone Who Did it Successfully — Tristan Snell, the author of this book, was an assistant attorney general for the state of New York who led the team that beat Donald Trump in court in a case involving the defrauding of hundreds of students to the tune of US$42 million by Trump University. In his book, Snell details how things went down — from start to finish — and really explains all that went into it. Yes, it’s a blueprint for the legal community. It’s also a good look into what is a seriously flawed justice system.

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Texas — Another magnificent work of historical fiction from the prolific James Michener, this one, published in 1985, covers the Lone Star State’s history, starting with the Spanish explorers. It goes on to explore the impact of, among other things, religion, slavery, missions, immigration, ranching, education and, yes, football on the state. Keep in mind that it’s 1,076 pages long so isn’t exactly a two-day read. But it’s well worth whatever time you might want to invest in it. (P.S.: It took me almost three weeks as I finished it 21 hours before it was due back at the library.)

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That Old Gang of Mine — If you are of a certain vintage, you will have fond remembrances of reading Scrubs on Skates, Boy on Defense, and Boy at the Leafs’ Camp, author Scott Young’s trilogy about Bill Spunska and a handful of other Winnipeg high school hockey players. The first of those, Scrubs on Skates, was published in 1952. A couple of months ago, I rediscovered That Old Gang of Mine, which was published in 1982. Canada’s national men’s hockey team has perished in a plane crash and the Winter Olympics, set for Moscow, are fast approaching. What to do? Why not get the gang from Daniel Mac in Winnipeg back together, fill in a few holes and have them represent Canada? That’s exactly what happens in a book that brought back a lot of childhood memories. Unlike the first three books, this one is an adult read that even includes a federal minister having an affair with the national team’s coach.

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Traitors Gate — This is the sixth book in author Jeffrey Archer’s series that chronicles the life of William Warwick, who by now is Chief Superintendent with London’s Metropolitan Police. This time, Miles Faulkner, Warwick’s long-time protagonist, is working on a heist that involves lifting the Crown Jewels as they are being transported from the Tower of London to Buckingham Palace. The characters are familiar and there are a couple of subplots, involving Warwick’s wife and a fellow officer, but there isn’t much in the way of surprises. Still, like the first five books in the series, it’s a nice, comfortable read.

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12 Months to Live — Jane Smith is a defence lawyer with a client she despises who has been charged with the deaths of three people from one family. She also has been diagnosed with cancer and given 12 months. Oh, and people connected to the trial keep disappearing or being killed. Authors Mike Lupica and the ultra-prolific Richard Patterson spin a gritty tale that is quite readable. . . . I also read the sequel, Hard to Kill, which is similar to the opener. And with the way Hard to Kill ended, it would seem there will be a third entry in the series.

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A Year in the Sun: The Games, The Players, the Pleasure of Sports — George Vecsey, a sports columnist with The New York Times, chronicles his travels through 1986, including soccer’s World Cup in Mexico City, the Mets’ World Series victory (hello, Bill Buckner), some tennis, some basketball and hockey and a whole lot more. Vecsey wasn’t a hack-and-slash columnist; rather he had a soul, and he shows it here. This is a favourite and I can’t believe that I only discovered it in May. Having spent more than 40 years in newspapers, always in sports, there are parts of this book to which I could relate, especially when it came to lugging equipment on road trips.

Part 3 of 3

The Book Shelf: Part 2

The second part of this year’s Book Shelf includes a baseball book that should be on every fan’s to-be-read list. Tyler Kepner’s The Grandest Stage: A History of the World Series is truly a diamond gem.

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The Golden Spruce: A True Story of Myth, Madness and Greed — Published in May 2005, this is author John Vaillant’s best-selling story of a special tree and how it met its bitter end. But, like Vaillant’s Fire Weather, it’s more like three or four books in one, because it’s about the Haida Gwaii’s fight to avoid extinction in the Pacific Northwest and the quandary in which the logging industry finds itself as it destroys the very thing that keeps it alive. This was Vaillant’s first book.

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The Grandest Stage: A History of the World Series — This one, published in 2022, should be on the book shelf or in the ereader of any sporting fan. Author Tyler Kepner was The News York Times’ national baseball writer when he wrote this one and it’s a diamond gem. There are all kinds of interesting anecdotes about some of the best- and least-known incidents in World Series history.

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Hawaii — Magnificent. Author James Michener’s historical look at Hawaii comes in at more than 1,000 pages. And it’s a wonderful 1,000 pages. He apparently took four years to research the subject, then three years to write the book. It took me a month to read it because I was wanting to savour it; like a lovely pinot noir, I refused to rush through it.

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The Heat Will Kill You First: Life and Death on a Scorched Planet — What is climate change-induced heat doing to our planet, and what does the future hold? Author Jeff Goodell, an environmental journalist, has the answers in this book that was published in 2023, meaning it’s quite up to date. Here’s what Jennifer Szalai wrote in a New York Times review: “As this terrifying book makes exceptionally clear, thinking we can just crank up the A.C. is a dangerous way to live.” . . . If you’re one of those climate-change deniers, you don’t want to read this one because it’s got all of the evidence.

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Heaven and Hell in the NHL: Punch Imlach’s Own Story — Published in 1982, this is Punch Imlach’s story in his own words, as told to writer Scott Young. Imlach focuses mostly on his time with the Buffalo Sabres and his second-go round with the Toronto Maple Leafs. And, no, he doesn’t pull any punches. This was another book I rediscovered; I only wish I knew what kind of impact it had in 1982 because he certainly names a lot of names, including Darryl Sittler, if you know what I mean.

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Hotel — In researching this 1965 novel, author Arthur Hailey actually lived in the Roosevelt Hotel in New Orleans for two months. The research paid off because this book about the St. Gregory Hotel and its staff over a five-day period is absorbing with a whole lot of angles. It later became a movie and then a TV series that ran for five years.

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The Housekeepers — Author Alex Hay’s first novel involves a heist set in 1905 London. It’s not your average heist, either. A group of women, led by a fired housekeeper, decide to rob a mansion during a gala affair that is being held right there. They not only want to rob the joint; they want to clean it right out. Some good fun here.

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Inside The Empire: The True Power Behind the New York Yankees — With the 2024 Yankees in the MLB playoffs in October, I dug into Inside the Empire. It’s a look at all aspects of the Yankees’ organization, with authors Bob Klapisch and Paul Solotaroff wrapping it all around the 2018 season. This is a riveting look at what many baseball fans refer to as the Evil Empire.

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In the Galway Silence — Ken Bruen’s writing style takes a few pages to get used to, but Irish PI Jack Taylor, who put the rude in crude, makes it all worthwhile. Taylor has a whole lot of skeletons in his closet and if you can be addicted to something he likely is. But Bruen’s Taylor-centred books are worth reading just for Taylor’s repartee.

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Let Me Finish — Roger Angell, who died on May 20, 2022, at the age of 101, was a wonderful baseball essayist. However, there is little about baseball in this work, which was published in 2006. Instead, he writes about his life, family and a whole lot more, and it is emotional and wonderful. If you enjoy great writing and a lot of nostalgia, this one’s for you.

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Lightfoot — Published in 2017, author Nicholas Jennings’ book on Gordon Lightfoot is an intriguing and honest chronicle of the life and loves of a man who struggled with many demons. Lightfoot, who died on May 1, 2023, was one of the greatest singer/songwriters we have known. But he struggled with booze and family life, and after reading this you are free to wonder if he was ever really happy before the last few years of his life — yes, after he had stopped drinking. You also will find yourself wondering just how much of a role the booze played in the writing of all those marvellous songs.

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The Longmire Defense — In years past, I frequently watched episodes of Longmire, the TV show based on author Craig Johnson’s novels. However, I hadn’t read any of the books. Until this one, that is. Walt Longmire is the sheriff of Wyoming’s Absaroka County, and is working a cold case with all signs pointing towards the involvement of his grandfather. Published in 2023, this is the 19th of Johnson’s books in the Longmire series. I enjoyed it enough that there will be more of these books in my future. . . . During 2024, I also read The Highwayman and The Dark Horse, both books in the Longmire series. Quite enjoyed both of them.

Part 2 of 3

The Book Shelf: Part 1

While I stopped writing here on a regular basis quite a while ago, I have continued to compile thumbnails of some of the books I have read over the past year.

So . . . with Christmas on the horizon, the annual three-part Book Shelf feature is appearing here this week.

I hope you enjoy it, even though it’s far from featuring all sports-related books — and perhaps it will help with your Christmas shopping.

Enjoy!

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If you haven’t already read it and are only going to read one book in the next while, you should make it author John Vaillant’s Fire Weather: The Making of a Beast.

I re-read it as June was turning into July, finishing it while we were under a heat warning and waiting for the thermometer to hit 40C. This was the best book I read in 2023 and it’s at the top of the list again this year.

This is an accounting of the 2016 fire that swept through Fort McMurray, Alta., but it really is a whole lot more than that, including more than ample evidence that big oil is complicit in the climate change that we now are experiencing.

Fire Weather is right out of Stephen King country, only it isn’t fiction. It’s frightening; it’s glorious; it’s devastating. It’s all of that and so much more. It also was a finalist for the 2024 Pulitzer Prize for general nonfiction.

From the nomination: Fire Weather is “an unsparing account of the rapacious Alberta (oil sands) fire, fuelled by an overheated atmosphere, dry forest and omnipresent petroleum products, that consumed the town of Fort McMurray at the heart of Canada’s oil industry, which brings the global crisis of carbon emissions and climate change into urgent relief.”

Vaillant supplies all the scientific evidence needed in explaining to where we earthlings are headed. He also explains that what we don’t know is this — is it too late?

At one point he writes:

“There have been five major extinctions in Earth’s history, but only the end-Permian has been called ‘the Great Dying.’

“It is to this terminal catastrophe — caused, not by meteorites, or by shifts in Earth’s orbit, but by unrelenting combustion — that geoscientists are comparing our own Petrocene Age. Our fire-powered civilization is now in the early stages of replicating that ‘one-in-a-lifetime’ extinction event. It is widely understood in the scientific community that a sixth major extinction is under way, and that it is wholly due to human activity. As confronting as this idea may be, it shouldn’t come as a surprise: never in Earth’s history has there been a disruption like us: billions of large, industrious primates whose evolving behaviour is almost entirely dependent on the universal burning of hydrocarbons. Nor has Earth ever had to carry (at the same time, no less), billions of methane-emitting livestock the size of pigs and cattle.

“There is a terribly symmetry in this. What we are allowing to happen now with carbon dioxide and methane is what cyanobacteria did with photosynthesized oxygen billions of years ago: gassing the planet to death.”

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OK. Enough of that kind of talk. On to Part 1 (of 3) of The Bookshelf, a look at most of the books that I read in 2024. . . .

Bad City: Peril and Power in the City of Angels — Paul Pringle, a Pulitzer Prize-winning investigative reporter with the Los Angeles Times, has stumbled on a drug-riddled scandal involving the head of USC’s prestigious medical school. Write the story. Print the story. Right? Not so fast. It seems there were people at the Times with ties to USC and they threw up one roadblock after another. After more than a year, the story got printed, and this book, which brings to mind Spotlight and All the President’s Men, tells the story of all that went into the investigative reporting, which uncovered two other USC scandals before it was done, and all that went into getting it into print.

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Billy the Kid: The War for Lincoln County — As someone whose early reading habit was fuelled by Louis L’Amour, I have long had a weak spot for good westerns. And make no mistake — this is a really good one. In this novel, author Ryan C. Coleman explores how a young man came to be William Bonney, aka Billy the Kid, one of the wild west’s most-notorious gunfighters.

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Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee — In this best-seller that was published in 1970, author Dee Brown tells the story of the settling of the American West, and he does it from the side of the numerous Indian tribes, many of which ended up being wiped from the planet. From Time magazine’s review: “Compiled from old but rarely exploited sources plus a fresh look at dusty Government documents, (it) tallies the broken promises and treaties, the provocations, massacres, discriminatory policies and condescending diplomacy.” This is a thoroughly engrossing read, but, oh my, is it painful!

One quotation from Sitting Bull really stayed with me:

“And so, in the summer of 1885, Sitting Bull joined Buffalo Bill’s Wild West Show, travelling throughout the United States and into Canada. He drew tremendous crowds. Boos and catcalls sometimes sounded for the ‘Killer of Custer,’ but after each show these same people pressed coins upon him for copies of his signed photograph. Sitting Bull gave most of the money away to the band of ragged, hungry boys who seemed to surround him wherever he went. He once told Annie Oakley, another one of the Wild West Show’s stars, that he could not understand how white men could be so unmindful of their own poor. ‘The white man knows how to make everything,’ he said, ‘but he does not know how to distribute it.’ ”

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Collision of Power: Trump, Bezos and The Washington Post — Author Martin Baron was the executive editor of the Washington Post when Amazon honcho Jeff Bezos purchased the newspaper. Baron was in that office through Donald Trump’s first four-year presidency. Those four years included all kinds of verbal attacks by Trump on Bezos and the Post. All of that, and more, is chronicled in great detail here, as is the impact of social media on young people entering newsrooms, something that ultimately led to Baron’s retirement. 

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A Cool Breeze on the Underground — I’m a big Don Winslow fan; the man can write, for starters. Also, he has great characters and does a wonderful job of developing them. Such is the case here, in one of his earliest works, the first of five books featuring Neal Carey as the main character that was published in 1991. A pick-pocket as a youngster, Carey now is a private detective of sorts; in this one, he is tasked by a U.S. senator and his wife with bringing back a teenage runaway from London. Lots of grit in this one, too. . . . I also read While Drowning in the Desert, the fifth of Winslow’s Neal Carey books. It also was a fun read.

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The Country and the Game: 30,000 Miles of Hockey Stories — Everyone is well aware that hockey plays a rather large role in the lives of many Canadians. But just how large? And what about in some of the places that are somewhat off the beaten path? Author Ronnie Shuker wanted to find out, so he packed up his car — named Gumpy, after, yes, Gump Worsley — and went coast to coast to coast, taking notes the whole time. The result is an entertaining piece of hockey lore.

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The Daybreakers — When I was a whole lot younger than I am today, I was a huge fan of Louis L’Amour’s western novels. I revisited his work in the heat of July 2024 and I wasn’t at all disappointed. This book, from 1960, is the first of 17 he wrote about the Sackett family, and it’s just really good storytelling. There are a whole lot of L’Amour books out there, and they are quick and entertaining reads. . . . I also revisited another Sackett book, The Quick and the Dead, and it didn’t disappoint, either.

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The Deep Blue Good-by — While I had heard of Travis McGee, for some reason I had never read any of writer John D. MacDonald’s 21 books in which he is featured. Well, this one is the first, published in 1964, and it is terrific. McGee is a salvage consultant, whatever that means, who is a PI when he needs the dough. He lives on a houseboat in Florida. While McGee searches for a fraudster who specializes in feasting on vulnerable females, the reader should be prepared for MacDonald’s delicious habit of pontificating on the woes of society, with many of those thoughts still in play all these years later. . . . (BTW, the first four books in the series all were published in 1964.)

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The Diamond Eye — Author Kate Quinn’s book — it’s historical fiction — tells the story of Lyudmila Pavlichenko, who went from aspiring Russian historian/librarian to a sniper known as Lady Death in the early days of the Second World War. An engrossing story that involves a friendship between Lady Death and Eleanor Roosevelt, the wife of the then-U.S. president. This one was rather different from my usual reading tastes, but I quite enjoyed it. I had it finished before I discovered that it was based on a true story, too.

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Even Dogs in the Wild — Author Ian Rankin’s John Rebus is one of the really good characters in crime fiction. And the Rankin-Rebus connection comes through, as usual, in Even Dogs in the Wild. Rankin also manages to surround Rebus with interesting characters and that certainly helps make his books so readable.

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The Exchange — The prolific John Grisham offers this one up as a sequel to The Firm, which introduced us to Abby and Mitch McDeere. However, this one doesn’t nearly approach The Firm as a tense legal thriller. I really was expecting a twist or two, but . . .

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Fer-de-Lance — This book, written by Rex Stout and published in 1934, introduced the world to Nero Wolfe. It also gave us Wolfe’s assistant, Archie Goodwin, who gets more print time than Wolfe and definitely steals the show. Yes, it’s a mystery novel — there has been a murder on a golf course and Wolfe wants the 50-grand reward being offered by the widow to solve it — and a great one. BTW, before Stout was done, according to Wikipedia, he had Wolfe in 33 books, along with 41 novellas and short stories.

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Five Seasons: A Baseball Companion — “Lifelong Phillies fans closely resemble the victims of a chronic sinus condition; they sometimes feel better but never for long.” That is just one sentence from this gem of a book by Roger Angell, perhaps the No. 1 baseball essayist of our time. Here, he writes about the MLB seasons from 1972 through 1976, and he does it with wit, clarity and a real love for the game. He also takes MLB — especially the owners — to task on more than one occasion for what it has done to a game that now decides its champion on frigid fall nights. Great stuff!

Part 1 of 3

The Book Shelf: Part 1 of 3

Having stepped away from writing on this site a few weeks ago, I hadn’t decided whether to post the annual Book Shelf feature here. As I finished reading books, I have been writing thumbnails, out of habit more than anything, I suppose. But I wasn’t sure what I would do with them.

However, the Book Shelf is back by popular demand. Well, I received one email asking for it and I know of at least one other person who has been hoping for its appearance.

So here it is . . .

As usual, it will appear in three parts over three days, and the last part will include my top 10 reads of 2023.

Note that I have been cleaning out bookshelves over the past months, so there are some books on this list that have been around for a while and then some.

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All the Sinners Bleed: A Novel — Oh my, S.A. Crosby can write! This time he has conjured a story centred on Titus Crown, a former FBI agent with a skeleton in his closet, who now is the first Black sheriff in the history of a small Virginia city. And now he finds himself chasing a serial killer. This one is bloody, but, oh my, Crosby can write. A taste: “The myth of Main Street in the South has always been a chaste puritanical fantasy. The reality is found on back roads and dirt lanes under a sky gone black. In the back seat of a rust-mottled Buick and the beds of ramshackle trucks.”

The Amateurs: The Story of Four Young Men and Their Quest for an Olympic Gold Medal — Rowing is an interesting sport if only because there isn’t a career lined with gold at the end of the day. But you can’t question the dedication of the athletes involved. In this book published in 1985, author David Halberstam writes about that and a whole lot more as he follows four Americans chasing 1984 Olympic gold. They are friends and they are competitors, which leads to some complicated relationships and an interesting read.

The Appeal — This book by the prolific John Grisham was published in 2008; I have no idea how I hadn’t already read it. Anyway, it was his 21st published book. It begins with a lawsuit involving a company being sued for having contaminated a small community’s drinking water. The jury rules in favour of the plaintiff and Grisham proceeds to put the American judicial and electoral systems on spits and roasts them.

Before the Devil Knows You’re Dead — John Coglin is with the NYPD and he’s one of the good guys. And then, through no fault of his own, it all goes wrong. Author Michael Ledwidge has given us a gritty read with all kinds of great characters, lots of twists and turns, and a crescendo that leads to a great ending. Highly recommend if you’re into this kind of fiction.

Black & White & Never Right: A Hockey Referee — I stumbled on this book while cleaning up some book shelves early in the year, so it was a re-read. Author Vern Buffey was one of the NHL’s top referees back in the day, before leaving to set up the WHA’s officiating department. This isn’t a long book but it’s full of anecdotes  involving lots of NHL names from the six-team era. He also writes about how the NHL office applied heat and discipline to its on-ice officials, at least it did back then.

Brave Face: Wild Tales of Hockey Goaltenders in the Era Before Masks — This is an entertaining read loaded with terrific anecdotes, great quotes and a whole lot of names from hockey’s past. Yes, it’s mostly about goaltenders — from the well-known like Jacques Plante, Terry Sawchuk and Glenn Hall to lesser-knowns like Gaye Cooley, Russ Gillow and Bob Perreault — and their love-hate relationship with masks. Truth be told, it’s the stories involving the lesser-knowns that are the highlights here. There’s also some neat stuff on retired NHL defenceman Craig Ludwig, a shot blocker extraordinaire, his famous shin pads and his aversion to new equipment. Oh, and don’t let the fierce looking cover scare you away. (Disclaimer: Author Rob Vanstone was part of the sports department during my stint as sports editor of the Regina Leader-Post back in the day.)

City of Dreams — This is the second book in author Don Winslow’s trilogy that chronicles the life and times of Danny Ryan, a Rhode Island gangster who is trying to become an ex-gangster — if that is even possible — somewhere in California or Las Vegas. This is a great writer spinning a terrific yarn with all kinds of characters and plot twists. The first book in the trilogy is City on Fire; the third will be City in Ruins.

Desert Star — Author Michael Connelly brings back Harry Bosch and Renée Ballard for another go-round, this time working a couple of cold murder cases. Ballard has returned to the LAPD and now is in charge of the cold-case unit; Bosch, retired from the LAPD, is working for her on a voluntary basis. . . . If you like the Bosch books, this one won’t disappoint. And there’s a twist at the end that may jar you.

Different Seasons — Is there a writer among us today with an imagination and the writing ability of Stephen King? For starters, his imagination is out of bounds. Seriously. In this book, the prolific King gives us four novellas, tales, as he puts it, “that were too long to be short and too short to be really long.” What they also are is really good and, yes, bordering on the macabre. And they will get inside you and twist your guts. Yes, they will.

Draft Day: How Hockey Teams Pick Winners or Get Left Behind — Doug MacLean, who has worn a lot of NHL hats, from president to general manager and coach and beyond, writes openly about the NHL draft and he does it from all angles, providing readers with all kinds of information and anecdotes. He does it with the help of former Toronto Sun hockey writer Scott Morrison; the two worked together at Sportsnet not that long ago.

Evolve or Die: Hard Won Lessons from A Hockey Life — Author John Shannon has had a whole lot to do with the way we view hockey on television today. As a long-time producer with Hockey Night in Canada, he shaped a whole lot about the telecasts — remember the Hot Stove? — and was one of the main planners when HNIC switched from one Saturday night game to the doubleheader format in play today. His employment history also includes Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment and the NHL, not to mention various American-based networks. This is his story, including the hirings and firings he endured along the way. There is a whole lot of interesting stuff between the covers, but it really could have used a few more anecdotes involving his relationships with NHL players, coaches, general managers and executives.

Finest Hour. Winston S. Churchill 1939-1941 — Author Martin Gilbert examines in microscopic detail the world of British Prime Minister Winston Churchill during the first years of the Second World War. It seems that anyone who had anything to do with government kept a diary back then, and Gilbert’s meticulous research allows for a tremendous book. Churchill also was the Minister of Defence at the time, and Gilbert really details how much effort he put into obtaining military help from the U.S. Remember that the Americans didn’t enter the Second World War until the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor on Dec. 7, 1941, which occurs in the final pages of this book.

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(FIRST OF THREE PARTS)