The Road Less Taken by Kathryn Bertine

As I've mentioned, I am a recreational cyclist. I want to really emphasize the recreational part of that sentence- I ride a few hours a week and at an average speed that might make Kathryn Bertine, author of The Road Less Taken, fall fast asleep. Kathryn is a retired professional cyclist who has twice taken aim at the Olympics. I was really excited to come across her book at the library.

Told in a series of essays, many of which were submitted as articles for ESPN and espnW, Kathryn shares her experiences as a representative of a very small nation (St. Kitts and Nevis) striving to keep up with the monoliths of European teams in the pursuit of Olympic qualifying points. Already in her thirties and slightly later to the sport than her competition, Bertine is determined to succeed. When told she "might" be able to make a break away from the peloton, she explains it this way:

"Might" is all I need to hear. I have built an emotional empire on might, this strange world that yields definitions of both strength and chance, as if it surreptitiously knows they're the same thing. I used to be paralyzed by Mights and Maybes...yet I knew in order to progress, I had to build an empire on might and crown myself the Empress of Maybe. Only then, I finally figured out, could I get where I wanted to go.

This kind of willpower is inspiring. I have never been athletic and I started my own cycling very late in the game, but I can build on might and maybe. I can keep pushing, even if I'll never race with the big girls.

Bertine gives a lot of insight into what the world of women's pro cycling Olympic qualifications are like. She describes lots of travel, home stays (bunking with a family in lieu of a hotel to save money), and she talks a lot of the disparity between women's and men's cycling. When asked what she thinks about Lance Armstrong's cheating, she responds with the names of five female pro cyclists that she says "deserve more attention and discussion than the question of whether Lance cheated." Bertine is a strong fighter for equity in women's cycling, advocating for women's events to be added to the major men's races, fairness in prize payouts and also in base pay, and in greater respect for the women's side of the sport.

When an article in Bicycling Magazine (who really should have known better) came out in 2011 ranking women's cycling's hottest racers, Bertine was aggravated. Not only was it kind of gross, but the article only showed how "hot" these women are while failing to list what awesome athletes they are. Bertine fixed it for them by listing those same women, along with three others she felt should be included: what what really made them outstanding cyclists. She calls it her list of "Watties" (a watt being the unit of measurement for the amount of energy expended in an athletic effort). It is a fantastic list and maybe the best part of the whole book. 

Bertine writes with humor and candor. She mentions that she never answers the question of if she has ever crashed out loud. She will nod her head, but is somewhat superstitious about saying anything in any way that the "gods of jinx" might hear. I can totally understand that! 

I really liked this book. I'll leave you with one last bit of inspiration I gained from it:

You don't have to get over your fear in order to do something. It's okay to bring the fear with you. just cut out its tongue first.

 

The Truth is a Theory by Karyn Bristol

I had the honor, and stressful responsibility, of choosing this month's book club book. I always feel so much pressure to pick a good one and I'm thrilled to announce I succeeded! The Truth is a Theory by Karyn Bristol features the ensemble cast of Allie, Megan, Tess, and Zoe, four young women who meet on their first day of college in 1986. Told in alternating timelines of the past beginning with college and the present in Allie's journal entries with a start date of June 2000, we see how the women grow together and then possibly apart. We see how their ideal futures turn into their more realistic adult lives. We watch love bloom, marriages struggle, friends fight, and friends hold one another together.

At first I was worried that maybe I had chosen something that leaned too closely to chick-lit for book club. Not that chick-lit doesn't have its place, but it usually isn't meaty enough for a good group discussion. The more I read, the more I realized how meaty and textured this story actually was. There is something we can all relate to as women, experiences we've all had or watched friend endure. I really liked this book and it was a winner for all the ladies in my book club. The themes and topics raised in the novel led to the sharing of similar experiences and lots of really good conversation. There were characters we loved, characters we hated, and we had a good time deciding which of us was more of an Allie, a Megan, a Tess, or a Zoe.

A favorite theme of the novel stems from the title. Is the truth a theory or is it absolute? Does the truth I experience have to match the truth you experience? Or do we all experience the same event differently? A quote that has stuck with me and that I've shared with other friends since finishing this read is when Zoe and Allie are catching up over dinner with the group and Zoe asks how Allie is doing. Allie responds the way most of us do when asked that question: "I'm fine." Zoe then does what a good friend should do- she challenges her:

"Are you?...I'm hearing fine, but I'm not so sure I'm seeing fine in your eyes....You know, you say fine and I say fine, and we just add to the giant myth that everything's great for everyone else and we're the only ones who can't quite cut it. Sometime the brave face isn't the most useful."

I love this quote because it is so full of truth about being a woman, being a wife, being a mother. We all pretend we're fine and we all think we are the only ones who are lying.

I really enjoyed this book and the discussion that followed it. I hope you'll read it and then talk about it with your girlfriends.

 

Conviction by Denise Mina

 

Conviction by Denise Mina, features Anna, an obsessive true crime podcast fan. Early one morning she is thrilled to begin her newest podcast, but as she listens to the early details she is shocked to learn that she knows one of the victims. Still reeling from her discovery, a knock on the front door leads to the destruction of most of the rest of her life as well. On the run, in a manner of speaking, with a family friend whose own life has just been pulled out from under him, Anna is determined to find out the truth of her friend's death. The two of them will travel near and far, chased by some not very nice people, and sometimes escape by only the skin of their teeth.

I could not stop reading this book! It was fast paced and exciting and such a page turner. From the very first page I was captivated. I highly recommend this excellent distraction from the real world. The only reason I am giving four rather than five stars is that it ends too quickly without enough story resolution. An epilogue would have been very welcome. 

One favorite line was about a woman involved in radical protests in Berlin:

The eternal companions of all clever women are mistrust and scorn.

The next paragraph then mentions that you might see someone in a t-shirt with Mistrust & Scorn on it and I just have to have one of those shirts!

Do yourself a favor and add this one to the top of your TBR list.

We Begin Our Ascent by Joe Mungo Reed

 

I was really interested in reading We Begin Our Ascent by Joe Mungo Reed, a book about professional cyclists skirting the edge of safety and legality in an effort to surpass the competition. I am a recreational cyclist and so far from the level of the characters in this book that we aren't even in the same galaxy, but I am very curious about the world of the pros. In this fictional account of a domestique, a cycling team member whose job it is to help the team leader win, we read about Sol (short for Solomon) and how he tries to hang on to his position on a pro team racing in the Tour de France. When legal supplements turn to something dirtier and darker, Sol feels he has no choice but to join his team members, even if he doesn't feel right doing it.

I liked this book, but the writing wasn't my favorite. The language felt stunted and choppy, with sharp corners and no ease. And yet the story was compelling. I am fascinated with the psychology of the peloton, the large group of leaders that work together while also competing against one another. This book takes the reader inside that machine and lets us see how the little moving parts all work together. I also felt disappointed that the ending felt so abrupt and without any resolution. Overall, this novel was intriguing and I really enjoyed the peek behind the curtain of the world of pro cycling.

Pretty Things by Janelle Brown

 

In Janelle Brown's Pretty Things, Nina never meant to become a con artist, it was definitely not in her life plan, but somehow she fell into it anyway. She and her partner (in crime and occasionally in bed) Lachlan search for the extraordinarily rich that can't stop themselves from posting all their glory on social media. Then they take what will never be missed- never getting greedy. When things go south, the two make a run for Tahoe where they can hide out for a bit and maybe pull one last con. The mark: a young heiress, Vanessa, that Nina knew from a one-time meeting in high school. There is a little greed involved, but a lot more revenge.

Told in alternating chapters from Nina's and Vanessa's points of view, we get to see the sometimes crazy motivations for each of their actions and then watch as it all goes spectacularly wrong. The big lure for the reader, though, is that we know from the very beginning that a body will be sent to the bottom of Lake Tahoe and we will just have to wait to find out whose it will be.

The suspense of this story is gripping and so fun. This was a book I didn't want to put down. As clear as it is at different times who the "bad guy" is in the book, it was easy to feel sympathy and compassion for at least most of the characters. You will finish this book angry with at least one player. I'd love to say more, but I don't want to ruin the suspense for you. Pick it up and read it for yourself. You won't be sorry.

What I've Heard- How to Walk Away

When I read Katherine Center's How to Walk Away, I gushed about how much I loved it and how great it was. I have just finished listening to the audio version and it may be that either the book was exactly what I needed back in the fall of 2019 or it was not the book I needed to listen to now. The story is still cute and there are still fun characters, but there were also characters that annoyed me far more than I remember from when I read it. I almost couldn't get through the first scene that leads to the main character, Margaret's accident because her boyfriend was making me so angry. Of course, I knew what was coming this time so that may have also contributed to my frustration. 

This book is still cute, but I'm afraid that's all it is. If you're looking for a sweet romance, an easy read, and an inspiration story about a woman fighting for her own recovery I think you'll like this one. Fluff has its own value, I try never to knock it, but fluff is what this is.

Narrator is kind of annoying.