I received an advanced copy of Golden Lily by Lijia Xu in the post a couple of months ago – I suppose because I reviewed a couple of Fernhurst’s books late last year. It came as a very welcome surprise, and I immediately dropped the book I was reading, and got stuck in.

I intended to post a review straight away, but I had difficulty writing it. You see, Golden Lily is an unusual autobiography, and it has taken a while to get my thoughts straight on the book. Continue reading →

I like to read books.

And not even books with pictures – books with just words!

Reading this blog, I can understand that you find that hard to believe. But there it is, it’s a fact.

People that know me know that I like to read books. They’ll often buy, lend or recommend books to me – almost always literary tomes to make me think. Which is good for two reasons:

1. Sometimes it works, and I do actually think about things
2. It makes me look good when I read them in public

However, I’m not above admitting that I like a good old page-turning thriller. And a month or so ago my wife took a break from buying me obscure South American literature (which she really buys so that she can read them and then moan at me that I never read the books that she buys me) and she bought me a thriller. It was called I Am Pilgrim. Continue reading →

In my last post I depressed everyone enough by listing Nick Craig’s achievements. So I decided that I wouldn’t mention the fact that Jon Emmett has coached a Laser Radial sailor to an Olympic Gold Medal as well as winning 3 World Championships, 3 European Championships, 6 National Championships and a bunch of other important events. It’s best that you don’t know about all that, or you’ll just have to go through the whole depression cycle again.

There’s a good chance that many who read this will already have one or both of Jon’s previous books – Be Your Own Sailing Coach and Be Your Own Tactics Coach. If you’ve read the former (as I have) you’ll already be familiar with many of the ideas in his new book, but this new publication has much to offer. If you haven’t read Be Your Own Sailing Coach then Coach Yourself to Win will really help you develop your sailing and improve your results. Continue reading →

Prepare to feel bad about yourself. If you have a fragile ego, or are prone to bouts of depression then I strongly suggest that you DO NOT read on.

I finally got my hands on a book that I’ve wanted to see since I heard it was coming out early this year. Helming to Win by Nick Craig landed on my mat last week, and I immediately got stuck in to reading it.

I was excited because Nick Craig is a name I’ve come across time and again reading about dinghy sailing. He’s probably not very well known outside of the UK because he’s not a professional sailor on the Olympic circuit. But his record is unbelievable.

Which brings us to the depressing part. Continue reading →