Home Feed
Home
Search
Search
Add Review, Blurb, Quote
Add
Activity
Activity
Profile
Profile
Boys in the Boat: Nine Americans and Their Epic Quest for Gold at the 1936 Berlin Olympics
Boys in the Boat: Nine Americans and Their Epic Quest for Gold at the 1936 Berlin Olympics | Daniel James Brown
The #1 "New York Times" bestselling story about American Olympic triumph in Nazi Germany For readers of "Unbroken," out of the depths of the Depression comes an irresistible story about beating the odds and finding hope in the most desperate of times the improbable, intimate account of how nine working-class boys from the American West showed the world at the 1936 Olympics in Berlin what true grit really meant. It was an unlikely quest from the start. With a team composed of the sons of loggers, shipyard workers, and farmers, the University of Washington s eight-oar crew team was never expected to defeat the elite teams of the East Coast and Great Britain, yet they did, going on to shock the world by defeating the German team rowing for Adolf Hitler. The emotional heart of the tale lies with Joe Rantz, a teenager without family or prospects, who rows not only to regain his shattered self-regard but also to find a real place for himself in the world. Drawing on the boys own journals and vivid memories of a once-in-a-lifetime shared dream, Brown has created an unforgettable portrait of an era, a celebration of a remarkable achievement, and a chronicle of one extraordinary young man s personal quest."
Amazon Indiebound Barnes and Noble WorldCat Goodreads LibraryThing
Pick icon
100%
blurb
atenelli
post image

This is a reread for me and an excellent palate cleanser after T.C. Boyle‘s Outside Looking In. I have a friend who lives out of state and we started “ buddy reads” about a year ago. This was her choice for Labor Day. I read this book when it was first published. It is just as good the second time around.

kspenmoll ❤️💙🩵 4mo
13 likes1 comment
blurb
TheSpineView
post image
kspenmoll Great choice; great book!💙 4mo
Bookwormjillk So glad my son is reading this in his junior English class this year. 4mo
TheSpineView @kspenmoll 👍🤩😊 4mo
See All 6 Comments
Eggs Love this story❤️❤️ 4mo
50 likes6 comments
blurb
Blueberry
post image
kspenmoll Fabulous book! 5mo
Eggs Loved this book 🧡❤️🧡 5mo
35 likes2 comments
blurb
Kshakal
post image

This was a phenomenal non-fiction read!!

#sundayfunday @BookmarkTavern

BookmarkTavern I read this for my book club a few years ago and really enjoyed it! Thanks for posting! 5mo
22 likes1 comment
review
MonicaLoves2Read
post image
Pickpick

Read this in one night! It was so good and interesting! Fast paced and a quick Read.
Brown made me feel like I was in the boat with them every time they were rowing. It's an inspiring story about never giving up, sometimes relying on others when you never have before, striving to do your best and reaching for the gold, whatever that maybe in your life. Highly recommend!

😊 Happy Reading 😊

#readaway2024

blurb
MonicaLoves2Read

Well, I just got a notification from Libby that this book has arrived on my shelf, so I am going to read it before the one I got from Goodreads.😊

blurb
TheSpineView
post image
51 likes2 comments
blurb
Eggs
post image

“It‘s not a question of whether you will hurt, or of how much you will hurt; it‘s a question of what you will do, and how well you will do it, while pain has her wanton way with you.”

#Boat
#SummerSouls

@Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks

I highly recommend both the book and the film 🖤

Texreader I agree that the book was great. I need to see the movie 6mo
Amiable Loved this book! 6mo
Eggs @Texreader 💚 🛶 🩵 6mo
See All 6 Comments
Eggs @Amiable 🙌🏻🥲🫶🏻 6mo
Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks 💙🛶💙 6mo
Eggs @Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks 🤩🫶🏻🥰 6mo
61 likes1 stack add6 comments
review
KristiAhlers
post image
Pickpick

I loved this story. It read as if it were fiction when it's very much a true story. I hated each time I had to put it down so I could go to work. Highly recommend this one. #bookspin @thearomaofbooks

Meshell1313 Ooh I just saw the movie and wanted to read it. The movie was great! 🍿 10mo
TheAromaofBooks Woohoo!!! 10mo
kspenmoll Fabulous book! 10mo
44 likes2 stack adds3 comments
review
AngieKWilson
post image
Pickpick

Ok I‘m ready to see the movie! I‘m very much sliding into 2024 with a TBR pile of non-fiction!

KCofKaysville @AngieKWilson I enjoyed the book when I read it. 11mo
11 likes1 comment
blurb
Eggs
post image
IndoorDame ❤️❤️❤️ 12mo
Eggs @IndoorDame 🧡🧡🧡 12mo
TheSpineView Perfect! 12mo
Eggs @TheSpineView 🧡🤩🧡 12mo
42 likes4 comments
blurb
Eggs
post image

Here are 2 movies that are on my mind. I read Boys in the Boat, and I want to watch the film. I‘ve been a faithful watcher of The Crown since it debuted (2015 maybe?). I started watching it after Thanksgiving, then stopped when I realized I didn‘t want it to be over😕

#MovieTime
#DecemberDreams
@Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks

tpixie Great photo of Princess Di and sons. So tragic 12mo
Eggs @tpixie Actually those are the actors portraying Diana and sons! Good matchup isn‘t it? 12mo
willaful Wow, very well done.

I spent some time at the Diana memorial fountain in London; such a nice, peaceful spot.
12mo
See All 7 Comments
tpixie @Eggs lol I can see that now after I blew up the photo! lol yes! They have the looks and Di‘s and William‘s head tilt! 12mo
Eggs @willaful It would have been nice to see Diana grow older and become a grandmother to her 5 grands 😢 12mo
willaful *sniff* 12mo
Eggs @willaful I bolstered my courage and watched episode 4-6 last night 😔😢😩 of the final season…sigh. Just 4 to go 12mo
55 likes7 comments
blurb
Blueberry
post image
Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks 🌝📚❤️ 1y
Eggs Perfect 🛶 👍🏼 1y
46 likes2 comments
blurb
kspenmoll
post image

I was utterly gobsmacked by this true story. It was a book club pick in 2017!

Eggs 🙌🏻🙌🏻🙌🏻 1y
Roary47 This is on my list. Man so many good true stories out there. Soooo little time! 🥹 1y
45 likes2 comments
blurb
TheSpineView
post image
Eggs 🙌🏻🙌🏻🙌🏻 @kspenmoll and me too!! 1y
TheSpineView @Eggs Great minds! 1y
46 likes1 stack add2 comments
review
Eggs
post image
Pickpick
kspenmoll I picked this fabulous book as well!😀 1y
Eggs @kspenmoll Great minds 🧠 🩷 1y
JenReadsAlot I was surprised how much I loved this one! 1y
See All 6 Comments
Eggs @JenReadsAlot Agree! It was well written 👍🏼 1y
marleed I will never have anything but mad respect for rowers after reading this book! 1y
Eggs @marleed Great point. My body was aching just thinking about it 😫 1y
60 likes6 comments
review
Pruzy
post image
Mehso-so

It might have taken me two or three years, but I‘ve finally finished this book.

It was well written, you just have to really like reading a lot of play by plays about rowing.

blurb
Sharpeipup
post image

Listening to this inspirational story on a quiet day in the office.
Happy to hear it will soon be a movie with George Clooney.

#page2screen

mabell I hadn‘t heard about the upcoming movie. It‘s an absolutely fabulous story! So inspirational ❤️ 2y
34 likes1 stack add1 comment
review
Bigwig
post image
Pickpick

I really enjoyed this 2013 narrative about the young men on the U.S. 9-person rowing team at the 1936 Berlin Olympics. The focus is Joe Rantz, who was cruelly abandoned as a boy and forced to live a nearly animalistic existence during the Great Depression. There are elegant insights into the physical, psychological and emotional craft of rowing, shell-building, and the trials of life in 1930s America and Germany. A good tale very well told.

review
Eggs
post image
Pickpick
kspenmoll My pick! Loved this book! 2y
Eggs @kspenmoll Yay-great minds etc❣️ Unforgettable! 2y
Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks ❤️❤️❤️ 2y
64 likes2 stack adds4 comments
blurb
GinaKButler
post image

Up next! My reading has been a bit all over the place...this is actually my April #doublespin I‘ve heard such good things!

@TheAromaofBooks
#bookspinbingo

kspenmoll Loved this book! Read it for bookclub. 2y
TheAromaofBooks I'll be interested to hear your thoughts on this one. It sounds like a book my husband would enjoy!! 2y
GinaKButler @TheAromaofBooks I loved it! And, I hope he does, too, if he picks it up! 2y
TheAromaofBooks I'll have to hunt it up at the library!!! 2y
23 likes1 stack add4 comments
review
Roary47
post image
Mehso-so

3✨ I was recommended this book by a friend who really enjoyed it. I have never watched rowing when viewing the Olympics, but have a new appreciation for it after reading this. The lives of the athletes were not ideal, but they became great together.

blurb
Roary47
post image

Almost done with this year! I just need to do graduation for the seniors and then it‘s summer break time! Getting caught up on housework before that and listening to the tagged book. I had to show you my amazing shirt: “Let‘s be honest I was crazy before the chickens” 😍

review
Cheyennemorton
post image
Bailedbailed

I have to say it‘s not my type of book I find it boring no action. The first chapter was snoozing and I thought it was just cause it was the first chapter but the whole book is making me fall asleep. The book might be interesting for someone else just not me so I am bailing out.

review
LeafingThroughLife
post image
Pickpick

Believe the hype - this book is great. I listened to the audio and actually continued listening without multitasking a few times because Brown was so great at creating suspense behind races that…I already knew the outcome of. 🤷🏻‍♀️ A vividly told story of a team of underdogs weathering the Great Depression and surprising the world with their grit and determination. Loved it.

marleed I have so much respect for rowers as athletes after reading this. Also, so interesting what it was like to be a college athlete back in the day. 3y
BookBabe Great review… #stacked! 3y
37 likes1 stack add2 comments
review
rebbyj
Pickpick

Tristan's first time. Such a good story.

review
Amoon
post image
Pickpick

Never thought I‘d ever read about the Gold Medal winning rowing team in the 1936 Olympics. Heard about this on the FABULOUS podcast “What Should I Read Next?” The way the author describes the races makes you feel like you‘re witnessing the race. Well developed characters and excellent information about everything to do with rowing success- inspiring and exciting .

Amoon I read somewhere that there‘s a documentary on PBS about the Olympic rowing team 3y
8 likes1 comment
blurb
JenReadsAlot
post image

1. Tagged book was an unexpected excellent read. Also, Beartown.
2. I love watching sports. Brewers, Badgers and Cowboys! And this year go Bucks!!
Thanks for the tag @peaknit @TheSpineView #two4Tuesday

TheSpineView Thanks for playing! 🏈 3y
marleed Omg - Boys in the boat is so good. I‘m drawn to fiction reads but the truth is a good nonfiction stays with me forever. I have enormous respect for the athleticism of rowing after reading this book. I read it in the midst of the college tuition scandals which added to my interest in understanding what it takes to be a great athlete here. 3y
JenReadsAlot @marleed This book totally caught me by surprise with how much I loved it! 3y
20 likes1 stack add3 comments
blurb
SamAnne
post image

1. I don‘t read about sports much but I did enjoy the tagged book. And if Scrabble is considered a sport, I loved Word Freak, an inside view of competitive ScrAbble. Such a great read! @TheSpineView

TheSpineView Thanks for playing and happy Tuesday! 3y
34 likes1 comment
blurb
Beatlefan129
post image

🏈 I don‘t read a lot of sports books, but the tagged book was fantastic, highly recommend!

🏈 I grew up in Green Bay, Wisconsin, so I am a Cheesehead 🧀 I love watching Packer football!

#Two4Tuesday

TheSpineView I need to read that book. Stacked! Thanks for playing! 3y
38 likes1 stack add1 comment
review
Bookboss
post image
Pickpick

Why did I wait so long to read this?! This is the fascinating story of the 1936 Olympic rowing team. The author does a wonderful job of incorporating details from the time period and the story of one particular rower, Joe Rantz. The book also describes Germany and its preparations for the Olympics. I am not a fan of sports books, but I am a fan of history. The audiobook narrator does an excellent job.

KCofKaysville @Bookboss I enjoyed it about a month or so ago ! It's well done.
3y
marleed I thought the same thing when I read it. I have a new-found respect for the athleticism of rowers! 3y
47 likes2 comments
review
KCofKaysville
Pickpick

Really good account of of 9 American rowers from the Seattle area who come together and eventually make it to the 1936 Berlin Olympics. Very inspiring story about relationships and teamwork and effort. Some sad parts about the Great Depression in America and how one of them was abandoned by his family at a young age. Very worthwhile reading along the lines of Seabiscuit, etc.

marleed I have so much athletic respect for rowing after reading this. 4y
KCofKaysville @marleed Me too ! I got tired just reading it. 4y
33 likes2 comments
blurb
KCofKaysville

Starting this. I've read one other by this author that I enjoyed. I like history and this one has a different view of the “Jesse Owens“ Olympics.

25 likes1 stack add
review
DHill
post image
Pickpick

Excellently researched, written and narrated, this story is wholly captivating. The tenacity, grit and grace of these nine young men is remarkable. Highly recommend

review
Butterfinger
post image
Pickpick

There were moments I found myself chewing my nails because it was such an intense read. I knew I liked sports movies, but this sports book had me mesmerized. Whew! Can't wait for the Olympics!!!

#Nonfiction2021 something about unity @Riveted_Reader_Melissa

Pogue I love loved this book. 4y
54 likes1 comment
blurb
Butterfinger
post image

An exhausting day. I don't know how many pages I can read before I zonk out.

Bradleygirl ooh this one may take a while but it is worth the time 4y
38 likes1 comment
review
hwestfall
This post contains spoilers
show me
post image
Pickpick

This was a great book and I loved this sentence at the end. It was the perfect way to close the story.

review
Karkar
post image
Pickpick

I did not think I would have enjoyed this as much as I did. I great story about the US Men‘s rowing team.

Pogue I loved this book 4y
44 likes1 stack add1 comment
review
TheRiehlDeal
post image
Pickpick

A fascinating listen about the journey nine Americans took to win gold at the 1936 Olympics in Berlin.

Side note: I didn't know Syracuse had a collegiate rowing team! That's awesome!

keys_on_fire Read this for book club, and so glad we did! I was fascinated by this story! 4y
Smrloomis I loved this so much more than I would have expected. Don‘t know anything about rowing or any sports really and I still *loved* this 👍🏽 4y
19 likes2 comments
review
Dogearedcopy
post image
Pickpick

🎧 This was exactly the right book for me right now: A story about underdogs, hope and a perfect golden moment in time. It‘s the narrative NF account of the University of Washington crew (8-man rowing) that went to the 1936 “Nazi” Olympics. Wish I had read it though as the narrator mispronounced a few names (“Oregon” and “Thula” most notably) but still, great story! If you like ‘Seabiscuit‘ and ‘Unbroken‘ you will probably like this one too!

Bradleygirl I love this one so much and keep trying to get my family bookworms to read it 4y
emz711 It's so great! I did audiobook and loved it. Have it as a book too and need to reread! 4y
31 likes1 stack add2 comments
review
Eggs
post image
Pickpick

What a great story-so inspiring😔so humbling.

marleed I love this book. I‘ve been thinking about it ever since I started it! 4y
Eggs @marleed 🙌🏻 4y
Crazeedi Need to read!! 4y
See All 6 Comments
Laughterhp I just got this book from the library 4y
Eggs @Crazeedi it‘s so good ❣️ 4y
Eggs @Laughterhp Hope you find it inspiring ❣️ 4y
75 likes2 stack adds6 comments
blurb
Judybskt
post image
SamAnne I enjoyed it far more than I expected. What a story. 4y
TheAromaofBooks Woohoo!! And your sunflower is gorgeous!!! 4y
marleed I loved this book - I read it this May! 4y
24 likes3 comments
review
readingdudemike
post image
Pickpick

The Boys in the Boat - Daniel James Brown

review
S3V3N
post image
Mehso-so

It was informative, but I felt it was wordy. A lot of unnecessary information in my opinion. It was an ok biography.

blurb
S3V3N
post image

1. Boys on the Boat 2. Hair Love 3. Vivid #weekendreads @rachelsbrittain

review
marleed
post image
Pickpick

I get reader-goosies when I‘m learning a piece of history to which I knew nothing and the story is so intriguing that I forget I‘m reading nonfiction. I have a newfound respect for rowing and the athletic prowess required for a team to compete. The popularity of this sport in the early 1900s is fascinating. ...Also, a great read for #Washington State.

TheHeartlandBookFairy This was such a good book! 5y
73 likes3 stack adds1 comment