The Rowing Librarian

Book to Read

2012-01-26T13:14:00.002-07:00

Blood Over Water by David Livingston, James Livingston

Shadows of Glory, by William Woodruff

2012-01-26T12:59:00.001-07:00

I tried to like this book, after having to order it in from Inter-library loan when my library district didn't have it. While it has some rowing in the beginning the main idea is the horror of WWII... spoiler... only one of the boys in the 8+ survive the war.

Blog Link about Rowing Books For Youths

2011-10-18T09:53:00.002-06:00

Check out this blog by a self proclaimed independent rowing historian for books geared for youth with a rowing theme. Many are from the 1800's and early 1900's, I haven't tried to see if you can get any in the library!

To Read List

2011-10-17T18:48:00.002-06:00

Shadows of Glory, by William Woodruff

In the Sky: A Fantasia about Rowing, by Rob Slocum

The Glass Fence, by Barry James Hickey

Almost Home: A Novel

2011-10-16T10:41:00.003-06:00

Mostly a relationship/love story about an American who has been forced to confront her past including her lost love. Jordan was a coxswain at Cambridge and her life was shattered when her boyfriend and fellow crewmember drowned the day before the big race. Once the background story is set the story proceeds with more spy/mystery type elements.

A Discovery of Witches

2011-08-13T16:34:00.008-06:00

I am starting some more postings due to a challenge at work to become more tech savy... while I created this blog long ago, I haven't kept it up. No promises this time either but:

I can recommend to any rowers who liked the Twilight vampire series the book: A Discovery of Witches, by Deborah Harkeness. This book also has a lot of history and alchemy which I like. Bonus: The main character also rows!

The Challenge

2009-02-01T16:47:00.004-07:00

I'm starting up the blog again after two years... I just read The Challenge, by Devin Mahony. This is a book about rowing from the cox's point of view. Devin Mahony was the first woman cox for the Harvard Varsity Crew. An fast, fun read.

The Doctor Rocks the Boat

2006-07-08T10:01:00.001-06:00

I had an earlier post announcing that this book by Robin Hathaway would be coming out. It is now published so I checked this book out from my local library and found that it was a fast read. Twin themes of medicine and rowing are intertwined. However, the problem I had with this story was that the author made the sport of rowing seem much more dangerous than it is - implying that it is hard to get out of the shoes. The story includes a near drowning (the guy was unconscious so getting out of the shoes wasn't the real cause of the problem) and a drowning. Both of these incidents imply/state that being tied into the shoes is dangerous and that it is difficult to get out of the shoes. I don't flip too often but in my six years of rowing I don't remember anyone say they ever had problems getting out of the shoes when they flipped, especially when the shoes described in the book were Velcro vs. laces. Any thoughts?

See more about the author at: http://www.robinhathaway.com/author_info.html

Palais de Justice - Short Story

2006-07-07T08:27:00.001-06:00

The short story Palais de Justice in the book Ellis Island and Other Stories by Mark Helprin is a look at the psychological aspect of rowing dealing with the idea “that if two boats pulled up even it nearly always becomes a contest.” (p.95) Read this short story of only 12 pages to find out about the contest of an older man in a heavy wooden boat vs. a younger man in a newer lightweight single.

The Separation

2006-06-24T18:26:00.002-06:00

In 1936, twin brothers Joe and Jack Sawyer win a bronze rowing medal for Britain in the Berlin Olympics, meeting Rudolf Hess when he presents the medals at the award ceremony. Later when England enters the war, the fact that the brothers look alike and have the same initials (J.L. Sawyer) causes confusion between Jack who becomes a bomber pilot and Joe who becomes a conscientious objector working for the Red Cross. This story provides an alternative history of World War II with hints of parallel realities.

This book by by Christopher Priest was the winner of the Arthur C. Clarke Award and the British Science Fiction Association Award.

Clive Cussler

2006-06-18T05:16:00.000-06:00

The hero of Clive Cussler's series - The NUMA Files - is Kurt Austin. The series starts with the book Serpent which includes descriptions of Austin rowing a Maas Aero.

Find out more about Clive Cussler and the real National Underwater and Marine Agency (NUMA) that Cussler supports with the royalties from his books at the link below.

Rowing Water Skier

2006-06-14T16:25:00.000-06:00

Is it possible to water-ski behind an eight-man rowing team? Find the answer to this question in the following book and video - look for both in your library:

Mythbusters: The Explosive Truth Behind 30 of the Most Perplexing Urban Legends of All Time by Keith and Kent Zimmerman.

MythBusters: Breakstep Bridge. [video] Produced by Beyond Productions for Discovery Channel.

For the episode summary from TV.com go to the link below.

Drawn to the Rhythm

2006-06-09T05:26:00.002-06:00

I'm currently reading the biography Drawn to the Rhythm: A Passionate Life Reclaimed by Sara Hall, a Colorado native who now lives in Boston. Sara dedicates equal time to describing how she developed as a rower and how she developed as a person strong enough to free herself from her emotionally abusive marriage.

I was pleasantly surprised when Sara wrote of the help a reference librarian provided her - finding books and articles about rowing for Sara during her first year of rowing and how Sara reported her progress to the librarian, bringing her first medal to the library to share the victory with the librarian.

Much of the culture of rowing that Sara describes in learning to row in New York is a very different than the Rocky Mountain Rowing Club has. She felt she was an outsider because she wanted to row a single. Our club teaches students to row in singles so they can go out safely on their own right from the start and our coaching program includes singles as well as big boats.

Rabbit's Guide to Rowing Films

2006-06-06T14:29:00.000-06:00

This British website is a fun place to find out more about movies with rowing themes or with rowing in the plot. The majority of the movies have screen shots, a plot summary and the website creator's spin on the rowing in the movie. Interesting commentary is made about mistakes, inconsistencies and things that just don't happen in real life.

Check out: http://www.twrc.rowing.org.uk/movies/filmguide.htm

Notebook 366 - Published Online

2006-06-04T17:09:00.002-06:00

Update Oct. 2011: this story is no longer avaiable online -

Carve Magazine is a free and non-commercial online publisher of short stories. Check out Notebook 366 by Michael Horner. This is a short story about a rower, his wife and the instructor of a memoirs class that the wife attended. It is a story about obsessions and relationships with odd twists and turns.

The River Killings

2006-06-04T00:18:00.000-06:00

A new book coming out this fall called The River Killings by Merry Jones.

Description from the publishers catalog*: “On vacation from her art therapy job, Zoe Hayes takes a sculling class with her best friend, Susan. When their boat capsizes, Zoe and Susan find themselves flailing about amongst a mysterious throng of floating corpses. Someone along Boathouse Row is a murderer, but who? An argument with Zoe’s fiancé, Detective Nick Stiles, leads Zoe and her daughter Molly to the river at night. What she finds there is a sinister plot that she may not be able to escape.”

(*p.55 from http://www.stmartins.com/Booksellers/minFall06.pdf)

Rowing Pathfinder

2006-05-28T12:09:00.001-06:00

Path finders (lists of resources on a topic) are one type of assignment that students may have to do in library school and librarians may do in real life. Follow this link and find a list of resources on the topic of rowing including: books, websites, etc.

This path finder was compiled by Bill Meehan http://www.thesportjournal.org/article/pathfinder-reference-sources-sport-rowing

my mommy rows

2006-05-09T06:33:00.001-06:00

I haven't read my mommy rows by Theresa Gang but this book sounds like a unique way to share the love of rowing with children.

Find out more at:
http://mpower.mmdesigncorp.com/pub/31188/MMR_Website.htm

Dougie Mortimer's Right Arm - Short Story

2006-05-05T07:47:00.000-06:00

In Jeffrey Archer's collection of short stories, Twelve Red Herrings, chapter 3 is a story called "Dougie Mortimer's Right Arm". An American who rowed with Cambridge during the 1970's wants to leave a gift to the club that they would remember him by. Dougie Mortimer's right arm is that gift.

It appears this story is also avaiable in The Collected Short Stories by Jeffrey Archer.

A Mystery Slightly Related to Rowing

2006-05-04T07:31:00.001-06:00

Trying to get some balance in my life, I have started rowing again. Today I rowed and did some weight training so I was too exhausted to spend much time on studying. Instead I read:

Eakin's Mistress : A Jamie Ramsgill Mystery by James Bradberry.

Architect/sleuth Jamie Ramsgill goes for a job interview for a Philadelphia firm in which his old friend David Laycutt is a partner. When he arrives for his job interview, however, Jamie finds that Laycutt has disappeared and has taken almost all of the company's money. The story line revolves around a painting by Thomas Eakins, (famous among rowers for his paintings of rowing). It starts with blackmail, but ends up with several murders while Ramsgill tries to sort out the mystery behind the painting. (Is the painting a forgery or not?)

A fast enjoyable read, I finished it in one afternoon.

The Boys from St. Petri

2006-04-25T20:54:00.003-06:00

The Boys from St. Petri was written by Bjarne Reuter.

This story takes place in 1942 and is about a group of young men who begin a series of increasingly dangerous protests against the German invaders of their Danish homeland.

Rowing connection: one of their early protests takes place while rowing an 8 in race.

This book won the Mildred L. Batchelder Award; given each year by the American Library Association to honor the most outstanding children's book originally published in a foreign language and then translated into English and published in the United States.

This book is a young adult book that adults may enjoy also.

Rowing Romance

2006-04-10T22:21:00.000-06:00

Check out this British website that spoofs romance books with a rowing twist!
http://www.twrc.rowing.org.uk/books/rr.htm

Dead in the Water

2006-04-04T20:02:00.001-06:00

If you like the old fashioned Cozy/Amateur Sleuth style of mysteries you may like this book:
Dead in the Water: A Daisy Dalrymple Mystery by Carola Dunn.

Set in 1923 England, Daisy Dalrymple is visiting the country house of her aunt and writing a story for an American magazine about the rowing events of the Henley Regatta. Her cousin's boyfriend is the captain of Oxford's Ambrose College team so the team is staying at the house also. (The Cox sleeps in the closet because he is short!) Team spirit is not the best due to some social class conflicts. The plot includes many scenes on the water including the first death. This is an easy reading murder mystery, enjoyable but I would get it from the library and not buy it myself.

Deep Pockets

2006-04-02T05:53:00.000-06:00

I'm back! With the crunch of finishing class projects, spring break and being sick I haven't posted for a while.

But I haven't been idle. I've took some time to read for pleasure and found some more books with rowing characters.

The one I just finished is by Linda Barnes and is titled Deep Pockets. St. Martin's Press, 2004.

Set in Boston, a Harvard professor asks P.I. Carlotta Carlyle to help find a black mailer. But there is much more going on. Did Denali Brinkman, the freshman rower the professor had an affair with really commit suicide in the Harvard boathouse?

Want to know more? Go to the authors website and you can read reviews and a first chapter excerpt.
http://www.lindabarnes.com/index.html

Rowing Facts

2006-02-19T14:14:00.001-07:00

"Singles may be as narrow as 10 inches across, weigh only 23 pounds, and stretch nearly 27-feet long."

"Physiologists claim that rowing a 2,000-meter race - equivalent to 1.25 miles - is equal to playing back-to-back basketball games."

These and more fun facts can be found at the USRowing website: http://www.usrowing.org/About/Rowing101.aspx

On the Water - Historical Fiction

2006-02-13T13:57:00.001-07:00

Not much goes on rowing wise in the winter besides cross training or erging for those who like to row and go nowhere. I have been averaging 10 minutes on the erg every other week. It is not my favorite thing to do.

I'm currently reading On the Water by H.M. van den Brink, translated from the Dutch by Paul Vincent. Set in Holland, 1939 this story is told from the perspective on a teen age boy from working-class parents who doesn't fit socially into the traditional rowing scene but he and another boy, David, are chosen to row in a pair.

Several moments when reading the descriptions of rowing I knew just what the author was saying. Some examples:

p 26 - "The chaos in my body was nothing compared with the chaos that eight bodies can cause collectively. "

p 31 - "I had the constant suspicion that I might be the hitherto undiscovered defective cog-wheel in our machine, and that once I was removed things were bound to go smoothly."

p 39 - describing being in the stoke seat of the pair for the first time - "But the dizzying emptiness in front of me, towards which I had to move at each stroke, was something I couldn't get used to immediately."

I'm half way though the book and have read in reviews that the pair have Olympic hopes. Does the war interfere with their dreams? I'll keep reading and encourage you to find that out yourself.

Indoor Rowing

2006-02-03T10:17:00.001-07:00

Our rowing club sponsors a indoor rowing race each winter. Since you aren't moving, the rowing machines (called ergometers or ergs) are linked by computer to each other and you can see how hard you are pulling compared to the other rowers by watching your "boat" go across the screen.

Come out and watch the races this
Saturday, Feb. 4, 2006

To find out more about rowing without water see:
http://rockymountainrowing.org/mileHighSprints

A link to the Rocky Mountain Rowing Club

2006-02-02T14:15:00.001-07:00

Here is a link to the website of the rowing club I belong to. We offer lessons to the public at Cherry Creek Reservoir.

http://rockymountainrowing.org/

Lisa Scottoline's Mysteries

2006-01-29T20:52:00.000-07:00

A mystery loving friend of mine (who also loves rowing) introduced me to Lisa Scottoline's stories staring Bennie Rosato. Bennie is the leader of an all-female law firm of Rosato & Associates in Philadelphia. Bennie also rows. I read Mistaken Identity where part of the story takes place on the water. For more information click on the title of this post or the web link below, it will take you to Lisa Scottoline's homepage. http://scottoline.com/Site/