What a great book! Detailed, yet easy to read, this book covers all that anyone would desire to know about the 24th Wisconsin. As a regimental history, it ranks among the top that I've read. This book shows above all else the personal side of the regiment and the war. Beaudot shows how soldiers are tied to home in a much better way than have past regimental historians. As Beaudot was describing the 24th's final battle, the Battle of Nashville, I literally gasped as he told of the last man ever to be killed in the regiment. My story here tells of how much Beaudot depicted the personal side of the story. Readers become truly in touch with the men that make up this brave regiment from Milwaukee. This book is worthy to be on every Civil War buffs bookshelf.

How much more interesting and informative to read a history book which includes everyday folks people and not just the well known leaders and heroes! This book is well written, easy to ready and could easily interest even those who are not Civil War buffs or who don't even like history. It will be most helpful to genealogists as well. One of the better Civil War unit books I've ever read. I kept forgetting I was reading a history book! Also, it's about time the story of the 24th Wisconsin, a forgotten regiment, was told.

While some regimental histories are black and white, two dimensional laundry lists of thinly researched memories, William J.K. Beaudot delivers a full color, 3D panorama of life in the 24th Wisconsin Infantry. Solid scholorship provides the foundation for this vivid account by an acomplished story teller. This book does justice to the men and deeds of the 24th. Men like the young Arthur MacArthur and his winning of the Medal of Honor. A fine read and a real value to anyone with an intrest in Civil War history.

A few updates about this book: ABCs of Wisconsin was selected as a CCBC (Cooperative Children's Book Center) Choices for 2001. Additionally, the readers of Madison Magazine voted Alison as one of the Top Three Artists in Madison for 2001. [...]

Amazing illustrations...great whimsy...interesting facts. And, I even learned a little about Wisconsin that I didn't know about! Of all our ABC books, our kids select this one first to read.

This book brought back great memories of my childhood growing up in Wisconsin. Alison Relyea did a wonderful job and look forward to more books illustrated by this talented artist.

A short book that tells a long story. A recommended reading for people of all ages; young people to learn about the way men
and women fought to help protect the freedoms we enjoy and adults to remind them of the sacrifices men and women made to serve their country because as the more time that passes, the more we forget. All ages can learn about happenings of the war in the easy to read, colorful, and descriptive style used by author Reich. His story reminds us of the unpleasantness of a soldier's life and should be read by those who benefited and by those who need to be reminded of the sacrifices made by the combat soldier.
Discover the real story of the Vietnam War from a man who fought in it and made the best of the situation. I am appreciative and thankful for people like the author who served their country and to the author for sharing his not-so-pleasant experiences by writing about them in a day by day account that helps the reader learn the real story.

A friend gave me Rockets Like Rain as a gift. Not liking "war stories", I opened the book with hesitation. From the first paragraph, where Reich is kicked out of the university, I was hooked. Reich conveys the atrocities of war with passion and kindness. His strong writing style decribes life in the field, without the usual unsavory details and four letter words. As a woman, I found this particularly enjoyable.

Rockets Like Rain is a classic memoir which should be required reading for middle and high school students. It would truly help them understand history.

Picture a soldier, a draftee and combat correspondent, under the protective arm of the Army's Public Information Office, facing near certain death just days prior to the completion of his one year tour of duty in Vietnam, and a mere 72 hours before his final departure from Duc Pho. The soldier, in fact, is closest to death during those few hours, while buffered by the firebases surrounding his brigade headquarters, than at any time during the year of his enlistment. Enemy rockets rain down like fireworks as a sendoff.

That soldier is Dale Reich and his story, ROCKETS LIKE RAIN, reads like a letter home written by a young and lonely and frightened recruit. The year is 1969 and the place is Vietnam where death has no "moratorium". It is always in the air -- a malevolent presence, one whose spectral face a soldier might not even glimpse before the falling of its axe. Vietnam, we are reminded, was a place where death could come as easily in the form of friendly fire as from bullets fired purposely, or randomly, by the enemy.

From reading Reich's vivid account, told movingly in simple and unadorned language, one gains an understanding that people, caught in the maelstrom of a war, devoid of direction or mature leadership, can be warped beyond recognition. Vietnam, Reich tells us, was a place where every soldier's individual craziness had room to grow, in moist, fertile soil, into full blown madness. (Note: Dale Reich was a co-editor of the official newspaper of the 11th Infantry Brigade of the Americal division, the one which produced the My Lai Massacre.)

One also learns that the individual soldier could also exercise reason and caution, and even strive to be removed from action in the killing fields. It was Reich's struggle to resist the insanity that makes one realize that not every new and inexperienced soldier is automatically a killing machine.

Though painful to read, ROCKETS LIKE RAIN delivers a powerful message and a necessary reminder to those of us who are currently counting statistics about Afghanistan, and who think we may, with the passage of time, be able to put our nightmares about the carnage of war safely aside. It reminds us forcefully that war -- any war -- however conducted or concluded, lives on in the memories and lives of our veterans, and that those memories deserve a respectful forum.

I am grateful to Dale Reich to be so reminded.

As one of the Friday Riders listed in this book, I have known and ridden with Bob Sobie, the author of the Elroy Sparta Trail Guidebook, for a number of years. As a matter of fact it was my Bachelor bike ride that Bob mentions in the book. As an author and a psychologist I believe I have a unique perspective of Bob and the words he wrote in this book. If the famous analyst C.G. Jung were to meet Bob he would probably call him a "sensing" person. Let me tell you why I believe that's important for an author of a guidebook. Being a sensing person Bob writes what he gets through his senses. He writes about what sights you will see. He describes the sounds you'll hear. He includes how much the trail will incline or decline. He even includes what you should expect from sleeping and eating at various places along the trail. Though his own passion about the trail definitely does leak out, he leaves whether you ride or how much you ride up to you, as he does with all the other attractions in the area.

As one of the Friday riders listed in this book, I have known and ridden with Bob Sobie, the author of the Elroy Sparta Trail Guidebook, for a number of years. As a matter of fact it was my Bachelor bike ride that Bob mentions in the book. As an author and a psychologist I believe I have a unique perspective of Bob and the words he wrote in this book. If the famous analyst C.G. Jung were to meet Bob he would probably call him a "sensing" person. Let me tell you why I believe that's important for an author of a guidebook. Being a sensing person Bob writes what he gets through his senses. He writes about what sights you will see. He describes the sounds you'll hear. He includes how much the trail will incline or decline. He even includes what you should expect from sleeping and eating at various places along the trail. Though his own passion about the trail definitely does leak out, he leaves whether you ride or how much you ride up to you, as he does with all the other attractions in the area.

Finally....the essential trail guide worthy of the scenic Elroy Sparta Trail----America's first rails-to-trails bikeway. From tunnels to trails to history to tourist attractions to accommodations, the Sobie Guide is a celebration of cycling and the natural beauty of the unglaciated regions of southwest Wisconsin.

Sophie, a Czechoslovakian woman who worked as a translator in her native country, finds herself in a totally different world when she moves to the United States...Chicago to be exact. Hating her job as a waitress in a busy city, she soon finds a job in a small Wisconsin town keeping house for a grieving widower, Alec Riley, and his children. What follows is the cutest, sweetest love story. This is definitely Lori Wick in her finest form-gentle lessons about life, cute bits of humor, and a warm love story make this one of those "comfort" books to curl up with. I have read this book three times (whenever I feel the need for a nice sweet read) and have loved gentle, caring Sophie every time. The story of love and family healing is one that you won't want to miss..."Sophie's Heart" will capture your heart!

Set in a small town in Wisconsin during the late '80's and early '90's, Sophie's Heart, by Lori Wick, is a story of true love. After Vanessa Riley died in a fatal accident, Alec Riley was left to take care of his three children by himself. He did not realize he was bearly making it until Sophia Velikonja walked into their lives. An immigrant from Czechoslavakia, Sophie took a job as a housekeeper for the Riley's. Trying to show the love of Jesus through her actions, she gets much more love back than she could ever ask for. This was a wonderful book. Instead of showing love as a feeling that changes with the moment, it showed a realistic picture of two peole who fall in love, with all the uncertainties and trials that go along with it. Anyone who likes to read about loving others and loving God should definitely read Sophie's Heart.

I loved this book. It's a nice "read on the couch" book and is touching and sensitive. My three sisters and my mom all loved it, too. Lori Wick is a great author. I couldn't believe it when someone reviewing the book said it went on and on...sure, it had a lot of pages, but it's the type of book you WANT to keep reading, so I don't know what went into her\his head. Otherwise her review was pretty good. Sophie is a lovable person who has a tender heart. She was a translator, but obviously didn't get cocky over that because she wanted to be a housekeeper, which most people assume is for "dummies" Sophie wasn't that. She wouldn't have wanted housecleaning as a career. One thing I love about these books are the characters are so good....While people in life are lucky to get someone as good as in the romance novels, it's lovely reading about these wonderful people so vividly described so you feel like you know them. Like always after a good book, after I finished reading it, I just sat there and wanted to keep reading. I always want to get to the end, no matter what I'm reading, but once I'm there, it it's really good, I want it to go on and on and on....

The first of Michael Lesy's books, 'Wisconsin death trip' is as harrowing and breathtaking today as when it was first published, back in the early 1970s. Utilizing a veritable treasure-trove of miraculously preserved glass negative plates taken in rural Wisconsin during the period of the 1880s-early 20th Century, and combining them with newspaper clippings and other snippets of local news from the area and era, Lesy has pieced together an amazing (if bleak) view of life in that day and age. Times were hard, and the challenges faced were many and daunting -- anyone bemoaning the state of life in America today should read this book...anyone who wants a truer sense of American history should read this book. You will never forget it.

On a related note, readers might be interested to know that this book inspired Stewart O'Nan's great novel 'A prayer for the dying' (also available through amazon.com).

I was able to read this book in one day, and wanted more. Being a former resident of this area of Wisconsin made it even more interesting for me, but all that aside, it was one of the most intriguing books I've read in a long time. The photographs are a wonderful testament to life in that era & locale, if you're a collector of old photographs & post-mortem shots this is a great book for your library. Reading about all of the madness surrounding these people, their bizarre and sad behaviors really makes you think. The author's conclusion really draws it all together for you.

There is relatively little I can say about this book.

The book is essentially photographs and news clippings from a newspaper in Wisconsin from about 1890 to 1910. Interspersed are snippets from novels dealing with life during the period.

Turning the pages, reading the articles, and looking not at the pictures but into the eyes of the people in the photographs, one gets a sense not of some sterilized, backward glance at these people as some great societal force, not as a band of pioneers, but as very human people, who die in childbirth, die as children, die of diseases that sweep through whole towns and infect the entire state with fear, go insane, murder, and still maintain enough inner dignity to be able to look into the lens of a camera and mask most of their emotions long enough for the half-second exposure but not long enough to pierce the heart of people living a century later. It is pain. It is a death trip.

The book speaks for itself. Actually, it doesn't. The people in word and image speak for themselves.

If you read only one mystery/thriller by a new author this year, make "Monkeewrench" your choice. The plot and characters sizzle and the authors (mother-daughter team of PJ and Tracy Lambrecht) have set the thriller in Minneapolis/St.Paul-Wisconsin, one of my favorite areas, and the stomping grounds of Lucas Davenport of the "Prey" series.

For new authors, the team is excellent at weaving multiple plotlines together, and the team of 5 software developers that is at risk, and who have created risk for others, is an intriguing and slightly comic group (that apparently will be back for at least 2 sequels). Monkeewrench has gotten a lot of critical praise, some of it over-the-top, when comparing its comic touch to that of Evanovich. Make no mistake, this is a dead serious thriller, whose writers have a light and humorous way with words and descriptions. They don't populate the book with cartoon characters (no offense to Evanovich, I love her work). Here's a sample of the kind of descriptive turn that grabs your senses while you work through the plot:

"...the room was an olfactory museum of hundreds of meetings just like this one. Fast food, sweat, and the now-forbidden cigarette smoke -- all these smells and more seeped from the plaster walls and rose from the uneven waves of the warped wooden floor. "

You'll enjoy cops Magozzi, a Mpls. detective and his soft-hearted partner, Gino Rolseth, as well as Wisconsin sheriff Mike Halloran. Mostly though, you'll be annoyed at the sleep you miss, since Monkeewrench is one of those books you can't put down once you start. Plot twists and turns are exciting, and while the eventual discovery of the killer's identity is a little surreal, it makes for a great whodunit.

Looking forward to more from this writing team; their debut was spectacular!!!

This was an amazing book. It was written very well so the reader can easily follow along. Although I got the names mixed up a lot in this book (I didn't even know there were two seperate police forces involved)it was still a great book.
I loved the use of humor in this book and the characters were great. Everyone should read this book because of the first and middle, but I think the end is kinda disapointing. They aren't even talked about a lot in this book so it's a surprise but you don't even know anything about them.
The buildup to find out who the killer was the part I liked best. It was what kept it the most interesting. The emotion of feeling sorry for the cops when they couldn't find the killer even though they had over 5 murder scenes to investigate right in front of them and they still failed was compelling. These cops watched Mall of America for days and they still did not catch the killer. All of what the killer suceeds with makes the reader think he is brillant but then you learn of the killer's past and what he went through. I don't know of anyone that has ever had such an interesting *person* as the killer in a novel. They didn't even know if it was a John or Jane Doe.
This is the 2003 murder mystery that everyone should read up on.

I was curious about this book after reading a glowing review in, I think, People magazine. I've been disappointed by reviews before, but this book was everything the review promised, and more. I love the characters, and especially the interplay between the characters. There are plot twists and enough kinkiness and gore to satisfy those with a blood lust; unlike another reviewer, I didn't find the language particularly obscene. True mystery buffs will have a good idea "whodunit" so the ending is not a total shock, but it is satisfying, nonetheless. It was a one-day read -- I couldn't put it down -- and I look forward to reading more by this/these author(s). I also enjoyed the Minnesota locale, though I can't vouch for its accuracy since I've never been there. If you liked this book, you might also enjoy "AKA Jane" and "Run Jane Run" by Maureen Tan.

The story of B. Traven is as fascinating as any of his novels. A resident of Acapulco, Mexico, who wrote in English, he carefully clouded the issue of his real background, so that for many years he was believed to be one Berick Traven Torsvan, from Chicago, IL, and some even believed him to be Ambrose Bierce. It is still not possible to say with certainty who he actually was, but the best available evidence indicates that he was Ret Marut, a revolutionary anarchist who fled from Germany in the wake of the failure of the post-WWI revolution. This supposition at least has the advantage of squaring with the radical-Left political tenor of his novels, the most famous of which is Treasure of the Sierra Madre.

This is one of those books which has become inseparable from its better known movie version--it's probably impossible to read the story without picturing Humphrey Bogart and Walter Huston. As anyone whose ever seen the movie (which hopefully means everyone) will know, Dobbs is a down-at-the-heels American looking for work in the Mexican oil fields. He and Curtin, another roustabout, have idle dreams of getting rich quick, but it's not until they join up with the aged gold prospector Howard that they actually head into the Sierra Madre mountain range to find their fortune. It is Howard who enunciates Traven's political message and forecasts the plot of the tale :

[G]old is a very devilish sort of thing, believe me, boys. In the first place, it changes your character entirely. When you have it your soul is no longer the same as it was before. No getting away from that. You may have so much piled up that you can't carry it away; but, bet your blessed paradise, the more you have, the more you want to add, to make it just that much more. Like sitting at roulette. Just one more turn. So it goes on and on and on. You cease to distinguish between right and wrong. You can no longer see clearly what is good and what is bad. You lose your judgment. That's what it is.

Perhaps this too argues for Traven's Germanic origins, for sure enough, they do find gold, and within short order the men are acting like creatures out of the Brothers Grimm or the Ring of the Nibelungen, with predictably horrific and tragic results.

Traven's point here, though grounded in everything from Genesis to Teutonic myth to Marxism, is ridiculously utopian. It is not gold (or materialism generally) that makes men act like animals; filthy lucre is merely one more thing to fight over; but food, land, mates, beliefs, skin color, language, etc., serve equally well to make men lose their judgment. In this sense, the novel is horribly dated, obviously a product of a time before we'd seen just how evil socialism would turn out and the degree to which right and wrong would cease to be distinguishable to the practitioners of the anti-materialist ethos.

On the other hand, the awesome power which Traven confers upon gold, to corrupt the human soul, and the harkening back to ancient myth, somehow serve to give the novel a quality of timelessness. Read simply as a meditation on greed, it's hard to see how Traven's core message could ever be out of date. There's a whole lot of Dobbs in all of us; let's try to avoid his fate, eh?

GRADE : B+

I read this book when I was in the 7th grade. I did so primarily because I was a real Bogart fan way back then. I hadn't seen this particular movie at the time so the book was a whole new adventure for me. And an adventure it was. For years I was convinced that I, too, would eventually go gold mining in Mexico. I would spend hours trying to think about how I would sneak all my gold back into the country. Mind you, I don't believe I missed the point of the story even in my youth. It is a brilliantly told tale of how greed can destroy a man. Sounds simple enough but the beauty of the book lies in our being able to witness the gradual transformation of Fred C. Dobbs from a likeable, down-on-his-luck vagabond to a despicable, paranoid SOB who is obsessed with his gold. It wasn't until years later that I came to appreciate the politics of the book. As a social (not political) commentary it can stand alone. It worked fine for me that way until I had read his Jungle Books and others novels. Traven is an anarchist first and foremost and he articulates his case in all of his books; often in ways that may not seem readily apparent. Looking back at "Treasure" with this perspective, the images of anachism suddenly seem clear. We see three men down on their luck (read that to mean victims of industrialized society-two of the men were just cheated out of their pay after working, indirectly, for an oil company). They form a pact among themselves and go away from society to make their fortune. While away from society all is idyllic as the men work in harmony with each other, obeying the rules that they agreed on for themselves. A crisis arises when one briefly returns to society for supplies. When he returns, he is followed by others who corrupt the idyllic state. Soon after, there are some indications of changes in Dobbs character but the true changes occur when the decision to return to society is made.

Well, I'm no anarchist and you don't have to be either to enjoy this masterpiece. That, by the way, is true about all of Traven's works.

Traven deserves recognition as one of the great social novelists, right next to Stienbeck and Orwell-anyone who wonders why need only to read this, his most well-known work (thanks to the film by John Huston). Traven's story is a simple enough tale of how greed can corrupt men, but his intimate portrait of the social conditions which brings this about is what makes the book special. Set in Mexico between the two World Wars, it starts with a destitute American vagabond who's reduced to begging for his meals. He joins up with another American to work at oil camps, only to be exploited and cheated out of their pay. Eventually the duo team up with an old prospector and head to the hills to seek gold.

When they do find some gold, it gradually begins to corrupt them like some cursed treasure from myth. Even though the old prospector warns the two younger men at length of what gold can do to men's minds, paranoia and obsession slowly infiltrate the men's heads. While the men's encounter with bandits is one of film's most famous moments ("Badges? We ain't got no badges! We don't need no badges!"), many other predators lurk in the dusty Mexican landscape. Traven's familiarity with the area is one of the elements that makes the book so strong, as he is able to capture the textures and smells of the mountains and bring them to life. As the story plays out, Traven seems to reveal a strong belief in karma or cosmic justice of sorts and in the end, only the indigenous Huichol Indians emerge as wholly admirable people.

Arden is a very creative and smart individual. Her brother Scott has been raising her since their parents were in a plane crash. Scott and Arden's relationship is just like any other brother and sister's but not only is Scott a brother to her, but he's a father figure too. I recall one time when he tried to explain her name, "Arden can't you wait. I mean didn't you want to know why mom chose to call you Arden?" Everything seems to be going well with Scott. He's got a girlfriend who he seems to be happy with, and he has his snowmobile. But he hasn't convinced Arden that he is happy with his life. One morning Arden wakes up for school and notices that her brother hasn't came home. A day later she gets worried because her brother still hasn't shown up. She calls her brother's friend,Al Walker, who is also a policeman. He calls for a search and a few days later they find Scott's snowmobile by a creek just a few miles away from their house. Arden couldn't believe it, no he couldn't be dead. Everybody assumes that Scott is dead, except for one person... Arden. She spends the next few months searching for her brother. The big question is... Did Scott really die or did he just fake his death? Read the book to find out! I believe that young teens will enjoy this book because the charaters are very real to me. The relationships between the characters are easy to relate to.

This book was really good. I read it on recommendation of a friend, and all I could do after I started was read. I liked it a lot. After I finished I just kept going back and reading over some of the best parts, over and over. It was really good!

The story is about a teenager named Arden who lives with her brother. Both of her parents died when she was young, so he takes care of her. One day he gets in a snow machineing accident, which really scares him. A week later when his snow machine, and other things are found in the river, she knows he is dead. Or is he? No one beleives her, thinking it's brought on by depression, as she starts to search for her missing brother. This book was captivating, a story like no other. I would DEFINATELY recommend it.

The book was about a girl named Arden who was raised by her older brother,Scott. When she was 17 her brother had a snowmobile accident, but Arden believes that he staged it. It basically tells how Arden searches to find her brother and how she realizes how important the little things in life are.I really enjoyed reading this book, it taught me a lot about life, love, and families. I learned how important family can be and how you should never take the things that you have for granted because they wil not always be there. I think that everyone should read the book Thin Ice. It had a very realistic plot and a basic story line that is easy to learn a lesson from.

A nice laid-back approach to a father-son memoir, offering interesting insights into the lives of Dads of sons - and the sons of Dads.

Shaving Lessons offers more descriptions of actual Dad-son activities and less of the author's thoughts and reflections on their meaning and importance for the relationship (but, then, this is a guy writing after all). After my initial surprise, I found that it makes for a easier, less imposing read - it allows the reader to draw his or her own conclusions, inferring the emotions evoked from the events described.

There's a nice, cozy, fireplace-in-a-log-cabin and well-worn-Volvo feel about the book, and while not all Dad's can be as accomplished as Mr. Chandler (playing rock-tunes with a live band to impress a teenage son), most of us can instantly relate to his down-to-earth struggle with a real, honest family life.

For any Son or Dad there is ample food for thought here - not just about male relationships, but about the whole notion of life as the parent of a boy, and as an adult son. Shaving Lessons might even lead some of us to reconsider our relationships with our fathers and/or sons...

Thank you! What a tear jerker! It makes you think about your own relationship with your parents and gives you the opportunity to appreciate them even more. I admire Kurt for opening his heart and sharing his personal thoughts with the readers. That takes courage. Big Kuddos to Ben for letting his Dad write the book;-). Great Job!

Shaving Lessons had me hooked at the very first paragraph in the Prolouge....not to mention had me shedding tears. Kurt Chandler does a wonderful job describing his relationship with his son, as well as examining his relationship with his own father in an honest and sometimes difficult reflection.