Peak Careers

Professional Development for Career Practitioners

Book Reviews

Books by Paul Doiron

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I plan to read a bunch of Paul Doiron’s books so I will simply list them here like I have done with a couple other authors rather than write a review of each book.

The Poacher’s Son -Doiron’s first book and first one I read. Loved it. (November 2021)

Trespasser – A woman dies. Somehow it is tied to another woman’s death a few years before…and somehow Mike Bowditch the Maine Game Warden is involved. (December 2021)

Bad Little Falls – Another great story of Mike Bowditch the Maine Game Warden who finds himself in trouble again. This time he is Down East near Machias in the winter with a couple of frozen guys in a bog, one lives…or maybe he doesn’t. I love that Doiron writes about Maine in the woods and he tells a great crime scene style story and I spend most of the book trying to figure out “who done it”…only to be surprised again at the ending. (December 2021)

Massacre Pond – Someone killed a bunch of moose and left the right where they dropped. All the usual suspects were there but the police and warder service could not figure it out…until Mike Bowditch gets involved in his own special way. (February 2022)

The Bone Orchard – Holy crap, he quits the Warden service. No this can’t be! Don’t worry, he still has a gun and works in the woods. And don’t worry, he has a nose for trouble finding him or Bowditch finding the trouble. This may be my favorite so far, I never saw the twists and turns…I even cried a couple of times. (March 2022)

The Bear Trap – This book is not available in print and is a short story based upon the Great Pond hermit who lived in the Belgrade Lakes area for 30 years. He stole from camps so he could live in the woods. Doiron adds an interesting twist. It is available for free at Amazon.

The Precipice – Murders on the Appalachian Trail and Bowditch is on the search and rescue team but, of course, it gets more complicated than that. Lots of suspects in this one…but who did it? (I know 🙂

Widowmaker – There is a wolf involved with this one. Not quite sure why, but there is. And yes, a bunch of people die…some by accident, some by a guy…or is it a group of guys?

Knife Creek – I skipped a couple of books because Bull Moose didn’t have them. So now he has a new girlfriend. Someone who didn’t care for him one bit in Massacre Pond. This was a real thriller of a book that in some places scared the crap out of me :O Sorry, I nearly swear there. I could not figure out how we was going to get out of the last predicament he was in. There really seemed like no way out, but of course, Mike Bowditch did it. Or did he?

Rabid – Yikes! Short story about a guy who gets bit by a bat and his Vietnamese wife who he brought back after the war seems extremely nervous about him getting rabies…for a good reason.

Stay Hidden -(on the shelf, ready to go next)

Backtrack – (Kindle only short story)

Almost Midnight – His buddy Billy Cronk is having issues in prison and Mike tries to help. But things quickly get out of control. Oh yeah, and his wolf reappears from Widowmaker. Because I have not read them in order, I’m missing some of the love problems he’s had but the stories are still great.

The Imposter – (Kindle only short story)

One Last Lie – (ordered 9/20/22)

The Caretaker –

Dead by Dawn –

Skin and Bones –

Hatchet Island –

Help Wanted: An A to Z Guide to Cope with the Ups and Downs of the Job Search

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By Karen Litzinger, MA,LPC

Have you ever worked with a client who was the Debbie Downer or Negative Nick of job searching? I have. Sometimes the negativity is understandable if they had just recently been laid off and had no idea it was coming. Other times, people are just stuck and don’t know how to get out of their funk.

This book is such an uplifting book for the job searcher who is struggling. I love how Karen uses the alphabet to make over 26 great points (Yes, she uses all the letters and some letters multiple times) about common reasons people might be in a negative way.

Each “letter” begins with an inspirational quote. Here’s one for Persistence by Julie Andrews; “Persistence is failing 19 times and succeeding the 20th.”

This is followed by great advice from Karen on the importance of persistence with specific things to think about.

Each letter then ends with an affirmation to help people change their mindset. “I persist with grit and rise to the occasion.”

I love this book. Notice I didn’t say “loved” like I’ll never go back to it. I will keep this book on my shelf and flip it open occasionally just for those moments I might need it.

I will also be recommending this to future clients who are stuck in their job search to help them be more positive and inspired to move forward.

Thank you Karen for a wonderful uplifting book! Get your copy at https://karenscareercoaching.com/help-wanted/

The Poacher’s Son by Paul Doiron

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I was looking for a good “escape” book after reading the story about King Leopold from Belgium, and this book landed on my lap from my friend Alan. Yahoo! Perfect book for me at this time and now I am hooked on Paul Doiron.

This is the authors first book and I can’t wait to read his other books. It is about a young man who becomes a Maine Game Warden, and yes, in this book his father is a poacher. But there is so much more to this book. I love that he has done extensive research on what game warden’s do and he weaves it into this book.

Plus, so many of the places he describes are places I have been been, Jackman, Waldo County, Spencer Lake, Flagstaff, and more. I could not put this book down once I started. There were times I had to just turn out the light and go to sleep because I could have kept reading.

Want to read a good book about Maine? In the woods? With intrigue and a whole bunch of “who done its?” Start here.

To Wake The Giant by Jeff Shaara

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Once again, a great book by Jeff Shaara who takes real history and brings it alive. This book follows a number of real-life characters in their role leading up to the bombing of Pearl Harbor. From a sailor named Biggs, to Secretary of State Hull, Commander Genda with the Japanese airforce, and more.

Each person comes alive as Shaara shares actual events they were involved with and helps the reader understand the situation for what it was…real life. Real human decisions which need to be made with limited information.

I read this book nightly and often had to just stop myself from reading in order to get some sleep. Especially the last chapter of the actual attack. Wow, what a horrific attack, and we were not ready for it at all.

Shaara begins with Biggs in December of 1940, just about a year before the attack, and brings us through the bombing. We made many mistakes not listening to the clues and believing stereotypes that “the Japanese could never do that because…” He ends the book with his Afterword, explaining what happened to many of the real-life characters after the war.

If you are a history buff or not, this book is worth the read.

cover of the book, To Wake the Giant

The Art of Gathering: How We Meet and Why It Matters

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By Priya Parker

You know when you read something and realize that you were doing some things right but you didn’t know why? Yep, that is how this book felt to me so many times.

Priya walks us through the various parts to gathering, whether it is a simple meeting, family get-together, or a wedding. You really need to be clear about the purpose of the gathering as that will define who is invited, how you invite the, how you greet them, and what you deliver. And oh yeah, how you close. It is all about the purpose and being clear in your own head what that means.

I loved her chapter, Never Start a Funeral with Logistics. Her story about every one being so sad and mournful at a funeral and the first thing the funeral director did was “the bathroom is down the hall…the family would like you to attend a get together at _____”. What people REALLY needed to hear first is recognizing some feelings / emotions.

When I read this I was preparing to do a two-hour long zoom-workshop and realized that the 1st thing I was doing was introducing myself and going over the agenda. I changed it a bit and did a poll that engaged people first and still made the point about what we would be talking about. Hmmm….that was pretty smart. Thanks Priya.

I then had them introduce themselves, where they worked, and some pivotal point in their own career development. Another Priya thing. Many of these folks knew each other but probably did not know a past pivotal moment in their lives.

There is so much more to gathering that we take for granted. If you are the host, you have a responsibility to be clear about the purpose, keep the purpose forefront so that those people who know the purpose and stay engaged, do not get “sidelined” by someone who either hogs the show or does not stay focused on the purpose (which might simply be to get to know each other better). The host has the responsibility to keep the gathering going in the right direction. (i.e. staying on the agenda for a work meeting comes to mind to me).

But, the host can not take over a meeting either – there is a balance and the author does a great job at breaking down these roles, again from something as simple as a family / social get-together to setting up a United Nations meeting.

I enjoyed this book which we discussed in a small book-club I am in. Oh yeah, never end with logistics either. Do logistics 2nd to last and end with a summary of what happened.

Elephantoms: Tracking the Elephant

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By Lyall Watson

The author grew up in South Africa spending time in the bush hoping someday to see a wild elephant. One day, he and a group of other 12 or 13 year old kids saw one and it changed Lyall’s life. From then on he was obsessed with learning more about this great animal.

He ends up going to college to study more but his love is in the bush. He shows us how elephants great memories help them navigate their shrinking world…how they actually mourn for the loss of one of their own…how they care for each other, and much more.

One of the coolest things I learned was their low-level sound communication that is below what humans can hear and can transmit for miles.

So many interesting small stories within this book, I loved it and have a great appreciation for how amazing this animal is and how concerned I am for their shrinking numbers.