Book Reviews – Hockey Legend, DNA matching, and African Turmoil

Scotty by Ken Dryden:

• the author was a goalie for the Montreal Canadiens in the 1970s during which time the team won six Stanley Cups, he also played for Team Canada in the 1972 Summit Series and was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame
• Scotty Bowman is renowned as the best coach in hockey history and one of the greatest coaches in all of sports
• he won more Stanley Cups than anyone else (9 as a coach and 5 in other capacities), coached at the highest level of hockey for over four decades, and is still involved in the game at the age of 86
• this book provides excellent insights into how the game has changed over the past seven decades and the players who have made the sport so exciting to watch
• Ken built the theme of the book around having Scotty analyze players and teams from the viewpoint of a coach in terms of how he would coach them or coach against them
• from here he picked the top eight teams of all time and developed playoff matchups to come up with the best team of all time (hint: it’s not the Calgary Flames)
• I enjoyed this book as it covers my whole span of hockey viewing plus some of the names just before my arrival on this planet and it provides insight into a person who is still as passionate about the game as he was in his youth

 

the one by John Marrs:

• Match Your DNA promises that a quick mouth swab is all it takes to match you with your perfect partner that you are genetically made for
• five very different people are about to meet their one true love but ‘happily ever after’ is not guaranteed for everyone

• I found this book to be a page-turner from start to finish
• it rotated between the five people with each chapter only being a few pages and ending with a real cliffhanger (103 in total) throughout the entire book
• every character and those in their lives were very well developed and engrossing
• for anyone who has been into the online dating scene, you will probably enjoy this even more than others
• one of the most fun reads I’ve had and provided a lot of food for thought
• the ending is not my preferred style, but you will have to read it to know what I mean

 

Elephant Song by Wilbur Smith:

• from the shadows of an African country to the hidden opulence of Taiwan, and the powers of a London conglomerate, this book weaves a fascinating story
• the story revolves around the mysterious value of African elephants and other economic treasures of the wild continent of Africa
• Smith does a great job developing the characters and this intriguing scenario that feels all too true in a general sense
• the story is at times very gruesome, so it is not for the light-hearted
• this book was written in 1991, but still seems relevant today

• I enjoyed this book immensely as I am interested in everything to do with Africa based on my three trips to this wonderful continent
• my brother in law had given me this book several years ago, and I set it aside due to its length (just over 500 pages) however it turned out to be a quick and engrossing read