Scan barcode
lekakis's review
1.0
Swimming fangirl writes thoughts about swimming. Mixed teenage romantic cliches with scattered thoughts on swimming. No writing plan, just rambling. It's interesting that the author thinks we care about her thoughts while she swims. Especially when these thoughts are about "where the birds poop goes" when she swims in an open pool..
yuniverse's review
adventurous
challenging
informative
inspiring
lighthearted
reflective
relaxing
medium-paced
4.75
logansqd's review
3.0
Liked some chapters more than others, but appreciate that this was written and published
oceanelle's review against another edition
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
relaxing
medium-paced
4.75
nina_rod's review
5.0
I was in a reading slump. I’ve noticed I don’t make time for reading in the summer since I feel like it’s a season for doing. Instead I tend to do most of my reading in cooler, darker months that just beg a lamp and cup of tea.
So I was thrilled to find and to finish this gem if a book. And I didn’t want to read it. But I needed something to complete my King County 10 to Try book challenge. The last category I had left was “Sports or about a sports athlete.” But I don’t even like sports! I don’t even like competitive swimming.
I hesitate to say I love to swim, since what I do doesn’t really fit the definition of swimming. I just like to putter in the water. Sometimes swim, sometimes dip, sometimes water aerobics, mostly play, but rarely do I like to do laps. I do love being in and around water tho. However, I also know that the power of water can kill you and with climate change, rising seas will kill us all! So a book about swimming can’t be too bad, eh?
And this book was absolutely wonderful! am obsessed with the story now that I heard about it from this book about the Icelandic fisherman who survived a 6 hour swim to shore in March after his boat sank. I am also obsessed about learning about Nihon Eiho, the Japanese art of swimming. It’s part art, part why?! I was constantly googling stuff to get a visual to what I was reading about.
So this completes my King County 10 to Try challenge. I have never completed a challenge this early in the year! I am usually trying to finish up the challenge before the December deadline, so this year is a pleasant surprise!
So I was thrilled to find and to finish this gem if a book. And I didn’t want to read it. But I needed something to complete my King County 10 to Try book challenge. The last category I had left was “Sports or about a sports athlete.” But I don’t even like sports! I don’t even like competitive swimming.
I hesitate to say I love to swim, since what I do doesn’t really fit the definition of swimming. I just like to putter in the water. Sometimes swim, sometimes dip, sometimes water aerobics, mostly play, but rarely do I like to do laps. I do love being in and around water tho. However, I also know that the power of water can kill you and with climate change, rising seas will kill us all! So a book about swimming can’t be too bad, eh?
And this book was absolutely wonderful! am obsessed with the story now that I heard about it from this book about the Icelandic fisherman who survived a 6 hour swim to shore in March after his boat sank. I am also obsessed about learning about Nihon Eiho, the Japanese art of swimming. It’s part art, part why?! I was constantly googling stuff to get a visual to what I was reading about.
So this completes my King County 10 to Try challenge. I have never completed a challenge this early in the year! I am usually trying to finish up the challenge before the December deadline, so this year is a pleasant surprise!
smalltownbookmom's review against another edition
3.0
I like reading about topics authors are really passionate about and that was definitely this book. Found it interesting that there's actually a scientific explanation for why we have our best ideas in the shower! Entertaining listen. Would recommend to fans of What makes Olga run or H is for Hawk.
alexblackreads's review
3.0
This book combined the history of swimming, the science of swimming, and memoir of the author's personal experience with swimming into a lovely book that is basically a love letter to swimming.
I found so many of the topics interesting. Tsui interviewed Olympic swimmers, open water swimmers, paleontologists, shipwreck survivors, scientists, and religious leaders. This book contains basically the breadth of swimming in the human existence. I especially loved the interviews with swimmers. The different people she met, who all swam for different reasons, were really fascinating. I found myself wishing there was a bit more of that.
Sometimes I think Tsui was trying a little too hard to be overly meaningful. The information itself was great, and I really enjoyed hearing about her personal history, but it felt kind of pretentious at points. I kind of wanted this to be more journalism focused than it was.
If you like swimming, and I mean really care about swimming, I would recommend this book to you. I'm not really a swimmer so I struggled a bit, but I do think it was well done.
I found so many of the topics interesting. Tsui interviewed Olympic swimmers, open water swimmers, paleontologists, shipwreck survivors, scientists, and religious leaders. This book contains basically the breadth of swimming in the human existence. I especially loved the interviews with swimmers. The different people she met, who all swam for different reasons, were really fascinating. I found myself wishing there was a bit more of that.
Sometimes I think Tsui was trying a little too hard to be overly meaningful. The information itself was great, and I really enjoyed hearing about her personal history, but it felt kind of pretentious at points. I kind of wanted this to be more journalism focused than it was.
If you like swimming, and I mean really care about swimming, I would recommend this book to you. I'm not really a swimmer so I struggled a bit, but I do think it was well done.
emeck's review against another edition
5.0
Wow wow wow!
Finally got to read this book and I couldn’t recommend it more! This was such a nice read (and different for me i don’t typically go for non-fiction, but need to more often). It was super educational and informative, without being at all boring, which sometimes non-fiction can be. But more importantly it gave me space to reflect on my experiences as a swimmer. I really enjoyed getting to relive some favorite moments of my childhood being on a swim team & the joy i feel even now as an adult when I’m in the water.
Totally recommend this if you’re looking for a new nonfiction to kick off 2024!
Finally got to read this book and I couldn’t recommend it more! This was such a nice read (and different for me i don’t typically go for non-fiction, but need to more often). It was super educational and informative, without being at all boring, which sometimes non-fiction can be. But more importantly it gave me space to reflect on my experiences as a swimmer. I really enjoyed getting to relive some favorite moments of my childhood being on a swim team & the joy i feel even now as an adult when I’m in the water.
Totally recommend this if you’re looking for a new nonfiction to kick off 2024!
cbendixe's review against another edition
4.0
4.5 stars! Perhaps if my neighborhood pool had been open the last year and a half, this book might not have meant so much to me. The perfect form of exercise, where sweat doesn’t drip down your face, and yet your whole body works….how I’ve missed it! Bonnie Tsui perfectly captures that emotion in this nonfiction gem, but also the various ways swimming fulfills a human need (whether for survival, community, etc.). She touches on various topics: history of public pools, benefits of open water swimming, how do the great Olympic swimmers do it, her family’s bonds of being in the water together, and so on. And yet, it all flows perfectly. I need to own this book so I can mark my favorite parts, and figure out how Tsui put all the pieces together!