I've been meaning to read The Boys in the Boat: Nine Americans and Their Epic Quest for Gold at the 1936 Berlin Olympics, by Daniel James Brown for some time now. Tall Reader made it easy by loaning me a copy. Author did a wonderful job with his research, don't miss the notes at the back. I even started skimming the end notes for each chapter as I was reading, there's a lot of good stuff there! Rowing had always been the sport of the elite (think east coast here). Seattle was barely a spot on the map. The team was made up of the sons of loggers, farmers, boat builders. One was basically homeless (his father remarried, new wife did not like the son). Times were hard, jobs scarce and yet, they found something in rowing. Somehow, they found the rhythm they needed to qualify for the Olympics. I'm not doing this justice here folks, (and I've promised no spoilers) this is an excellent read, I was up until nearly midnight two nights in a row it was so hard to put down! Imagine an author good enough to get your heart pounding over the outcome of events from almost 100 years ago, where you know what happened!

Reading Hermit With Dog