Riding Through The Storm: My Fight Back to Fitness on the Tour de France: My Fight Back to Fitness on the Tour De France - Geoff Thomas

Advantages: An honest, hard-hitting account
Disadvantages: none

...that he was down mentally. He also shows us more about the love, support and loyalty his family have for him. Maybe it was knowing this, and the 28 day ban on entering a gym after a stoppage defeat, that Bruno stepped up the fitness training and determination to get back on top. During this chapter I have learnt a bit about the politics of boxing. CHAPTER 10 - Terrible Tim, Terrible Night After defeating Gerrie Coetzee we read that Tim Witherspoon is next on the menu for our big battler. The title of the chapter says it all - so I am not going into detail. My own impression of this chapter is that Frank's memories are clearly written with an insight to the real Bruno. Chapter 11- Tyson This chapter, unlike the last two, focuses its attention on Mike Tyson. Bruno recalls the never-ending battle that precedes the famous fight... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average very helpful

Advantages: A compelling read that really dreew my attention and kept me hooked
Disadvantages: That anyone has to go through what Lance went through.

.... He talks about meeting the woman of his dreams shortly after the treatment and how he knew she was the one. In truth this is a very frank and honest book, that really raised my awareness to what Lance suffered and went through during his treatment and beyond. It is very well written and certainly a compelling read from front cover to back. Lance aims to raise awareness for all types of cancer and this book is certainly a good starting point. His story is quite incredible and has touched me in ways I never imagined it would. To achieve all he has despite the obstacles life has thrown in front of him is quite something. I am a cycling fan and this book really gave me a greater insight into just how hard he worked to achieve that 1st Tour De France win, never mind the ones since then. Overall I'd say this book would be of interest... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful

Advantages: Well written. Impressive background-research. Good external-reference. Compelling fantasy legendscape.
Disadvantages: Author's early work. Repetitive and careless French Phrases. Slow? Unrealistic legendscape.

...is great to read, but brings me on to something that annoys me… As a Canadian who lived in Quebec, you would have though De Lint could include in his books, if not a few phrases from a Celtic language, perhaps a bit of good French. Now I'm not about to get involved in an argument about whether having words and phrases in foreign languages in the speech of some characters in books is a good thing, but personally I like it, especially in the Mythic fantasy genre, where "exotic" languages really fit in. I think that it pulls speech away from the artificiality of crafted conversation, as well as challenging me to improve my own language-skills. This for the most part is how de Lint uses his French for the two characters that know it, and although I did get a bit fed up of one character's "N'est pas, inspecteur?" every sentence (if you... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average very helpful