Boys on the Boat / Daniel James Brown

RATINGS

Overall: 4/ 5 stars

Text Level: Medium

Entertainment: High

Self-Help: Low

Genres: Nonfiction, History, Sports, Biography, Memoir, American History

Page Count: 404

Is this book right for me and my inmate?

If you are an inmate that needs to find some encouragement at the moment to keep working for success when life is offering you hurdles to struggle over this can be an inspirational read.

Buy on: Amazon

Review By: Blackbird (Inmate)

Learning to trust in others to find your success.

This was an excellent book for anyone that loves a good underdog story. Based on true events this sports story about a group of college rowers made me want to keep reading till the very end. Each race made me excited to find out what happened and I cheered when they won.

The strong theme in this book about rising to meet the challenges of life and not backing down really spoke to me as an inmate. The rowers in this book had the odds in life stacked against them at many times but they found the way to win and learn more about themselves in the process. It made the struggles I have in my life and the fears I hold about how I will be able to turn it around to find success seem like things I can achieve. I found a lot if inspiration in reading about these real athletes. At many times the easiest thing would have been for them to quit, but they kept pushing forward because they had a bigger purpose for themselves. This is something that I have learned to adopt during my incarnation so that I can become what I kow I can be.

One of the biggest take aways I had from this book was how they boys found success once they allowed themselves to fully trust in one another. As an inmate trust can be a very difficult things. We are afraid to get our hopes up and be let down so we decide to wall ourselves off and not trust those we need or society. Yet, learning to trust again is a key part of a successful life. Reading about that in this book really reminded me of the strength it takes to allow yourself vulnerable in trust but how it allows you to become something greater.

This book has become a movie and if you liked the movie maybe give this book a try. In the end I believe this would be a wonderful read for anyone.

Book Quotes

"Men as fit as you, when your everyday strength is gone, can draw on a mysterious reservoir of power far greater. Then it is that you can reach for the stars. That is the way champions are made."

"Harmony, balance, and rhythm. They're the three things that stay with you your whole life. Without them civilization is out of whack."