The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time is the story of Christopher Boone, an autistic boy.  He finds his neighbor’s dog, Wellington, dead and sets upon an investigation.  The search reveals many things.  But mostly it reveals what it is like to be autistic.  As Christopher moves through his adventures, the book describes the problems he has with his parents, friends and strangers.  The book illustrates his difficulties with sensory information and with unfamiliar surroundings. This is a great book for any one who has an interest in learning about the thought processes and feelings of an autistic person.  It is also just great reading.

Nickel and Dimed is about a woman, the author, who investigates what it would by like to work at a minimum wage job such as cleaning lady or waitress. She also wants to know if it is possible to pay rent, pay for food, transportation etc. while earning a minimum wage in the range of $7.00 per hour. Ms. Ehrenriech held various jobs like this in 3 different parts of the country. After reading this book, I am very thankful for my job and for having my college education which enabled me to have a career as a speech pathologist. I have a new appreciation and respect for workers who have jobs that pay low wages. I hope I am not the type of person who abuses workers such as those who work at McDonald’s etc. However, after reading Nickel and Dimed, I know I will never mistreat those that perform jobs that serve the rest of the population.

Since we are approaching the 25th anniversary of Elvis’s death, I decided to review a book about his early life entitled Last Train to Memphis by Peter Guralnick, 560 pages published by Little, Brown and Company 1994.  Many feel this is the best biography about Elvis Presley. Last Train covers Elvis’s life from birth until he travels overseas to serve time in the United States Army.  We are introduced to Elvis’s parents, Sam Phillips of Sun Records, Beale Street in Memphis and much more.  Last Train was followed by 2 other books by Guralnick that dealt with Elvis’s life: Careless Love and Elvis Day by Day.  I have not read them yet, but when I do, I will be sure to report on them here.  I met Peter Guralnick at Schwartz Bookstore on Downer Avenue.  He signed my copy of Careless Love and answered my question about Elvis’s twin brother who died in childbirth.

This is a series of 3 books set in San Francisco.  I chose them because they are fast, entertaining books for summer reading.  The dialog moves quickly and we learn about the characters through their dialog.  The series has been made into mini series televised on PBS American Playhouse and Showtime. Further Tales of the City is currently nominated for an Emmy for best mini series.  Enjoy.

My first book recommendation is Earth in the Balance by Al Gore. This science has held up for many years. Plus, I think web site viewers should start realizing what a big mistake the country made by “electing” (and I use that term loosely) little George as president.

My next book recommendation is Staggerford by Jon Hassler. I read this novel for my book club, and it started a whole round robin of people reading Jon Hassler’s books. This is Hassler’s first novel. It is the story of a young teacher in rural Minnesota and the community in which he teaches. I enjoy books about towns that are somewhat removed from the rest of the world. I saw Jon Hassler at Marquette University a couple of years ago. He said Staggerford was partly based on a true story that happened near his own town. He also said he felt so strongly about it that he just had to work through his feelings by writing about the incident. Staggerford is the first in a trilogy with some of the same characters. I hope everyone enjoys this book.

Since I missed my book review in April, I will review 2 books for the month of May. The books are the first in a series of 3 books about Winston S. Churchill.  The series is by William Manchester.  We Churchillains have been waiting for the third book for a long time.  I have no idea when it will be published.  The series is entitled The Last Lion.  It covers the life of Churchill from his birth in 1874 to 1932.  This is an excellent history of the early life of Churchill.  The title stems from Churchill’s loyalty to the crown.  The reign of Queen Victoria was symbolized by the Lion.  Churchill was born at the end of the Victorian era, but remained loyal to the monarchy during his years as a member of Parliament and a cabinet minister.

The first book is called Visions of Glory. The book discussed Churchill’s early family life, his schooling and his early years in the military.  We also hear of his years as a war correspondent and his first attempts to run for office.  This is a very interesting book.  In it we learn why Winston wanted to run for office and how he formed his early viewpoints.  Visions of Glory explains how Churchill rose from one of the Crown’s most valued cabinet ministers to spend 9 years in the political wilderness.

The second book, one of my all time favorites, is entitled Alone.  It describes the time when Churchill was out of favor with the British government and held no cabinet post.  It dramatically tells how Winston rose from the political wilderness to capture his old post, Lord of the Admiralty. It carefully illustrates how naive British foreign policies helped lead to the rise of Hitler and Nazism.  It is very exciting to read how Churchill fought and fought and fought to prepare the British empire for war and to warn the world of Hitler’s evil.

Possession is a novel published in 1990 by Vintage International. It is 555 pages long. Possession is the story of Roland and Maud, two young, British scholars who have devoted their lives to the study of Victorian poetry. Two poets in particular: Randoph Ash and Christabel LeMotte. Roland is an expert on Ash and Maud is an expert on LeMotte. Together they research the lives and work of Ash and LeMotte. They soon find that the poets have more in common than style and narrative. They may even have met and had a relationship. The poets’ lives have many similarities to the young people that are researching them. The poems within the novel could make up a book of poetry in themselves. I think you will be very drawn to the story as the two young scholars trace the poets’ lives through letters, journals and poems. You will also be drawn to the emerging love story of Maud and Roland.

Please forgive me faithful readers. I know I have been very late in getting my review out to you. I hope this review will make up for the lateness.

I would like to review a book about my uncle. It is entitled In Search of a Hero: The Life and Times of Tony Canadeo by David Zimmerman. 255 pages by Eagle Books Publishers. In Wisconsin, it is available at Schwartz Books in Shorewood, Barnes and Noble in Brookfield and Gallery of Sports Art in Greenfield. This book is a biography about my uncle Tony Canadeo, a former Green Bay Packer football player. It includes a lot of family history, many personal and Packer statistics and many wonderful photos. My favorite is the photo of the house Tony and my Dad grew up in. Tony was Dad’s older brother. The Forward was written by my cousin, Bob. “In Search of a Hero” is a straightforward book about the early years of football in Green Bay. It plainly tells the history of Tony from boyhood to the present times. It is a must read for Packer fans. I hope you all enjoy it.

Greg, my brother, Dan, and I got to meet the author at a book signing event at Gallery of Sports Art. He was appearing there with Tony. David Zimmerman is a lifelong Packer fan who wrote this book as a tribute to Tony and the early years of Packer history. Tony was his favorite player while David was growing up in Wisconsin.