a book recommendation for you

This summer, my newest obsession has been listening to audio books.

I listened first to this one, then this, this and this (even though I had already read it and seen the move. It was so fantastic even for a second time and maybe even better to listen to than to read or watch).

While heading to our favorite vacation spot a few weeks ago, Ryan and I decided to listen to a book while we drove the 3.5 hours.  It seemed like a fun thing to do to pass the time while the kids had their headphones on watching their movie. Finding a book that we both would like was the tricky part: Ryan loves a good business/marketing/strategic thinking book, I much prefer a novel.

Somehow we landed on a book that piqued both of our interests and gave it a try. And then we couldn’t stop. We listened all the way to vacation, all the way home and this past week have spent our evenings sitting on the couch silently listening to this fascinating, compelling, engaging story.

What’s the book, you ask? Well let me share.

The book is called The Boys In The Boat by Daniel James Brown. It’s been sitting in my kindle for over a year after my mom and aunt told me I’d love it. But I just never started. I’m so glad I waited so that Ryan and I could ‘read’ it together – it’s so fun to listen to and great to talk about the story with each other. We feel so old sitting on a Friday night listening to a book, but whatever. We like it.

The story is about a crew from the University of Washington who defy odds and win an olympic gold medal at the Berlin Olympics just as Nazi Germany was coming to power. It’s about the history of the boys – one in particular named Joe Rantz – about what it was like to grow up during the great depression, the dust bowl, life in the Pacific Northwest during this time. But it’s also about the sport of rowing, the art of paddling, of boat making, and strategy. And then most of all it’s about what a team can do when they trust in one another. Seriously, we love it.

I found this video from the author about the book:

It’s so good you guys. The funny thing is, as we were listening on that long drive on vacation, we noticed the kids each took off their headphones and started listening along. Even they loved it! So it’s a big win. Highly recommended by the whole Lex family.

You can learn more about the book here.