Currently reading
Roman Blood
Progress:
171/401 pages
Dearie: The Remarkable Life of Julia Child
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208/557 pages
Avant-gardes du XXe siècle: arts & littérature, 1905-1930
Caesar's Commentaries: On the Gallic War and On the Civil War
Les bûchers de Bocanegra
The Songs of the Kings
Sherlock Holmes: The Complete Novels and Stories: Volumes I and II
The Hobbit
Race to Dakar
A very solid 4 stars. You get into this mad race, this madness of men right from the beginning. Charley Boorman is a compelling narrator and a really, really good character to identify with for this ride of a lifetime. Literally.It could be boring race, motorbike slang and the ego of the star/actor could have ruined the story. Not the case. You hop of the bike along with Charley and when his ride gets interrupted abruptly, you would think the book would lose its appeal. Not so. By then you've gotten to know his crew and got addicted to this insane, deadly rally race in the African Desert. Boorman goes from racer to team nanny (with two broken arms no less) and sees the Dakar to the end. For the readers and fans of Long Way Around, some of the usual suspects from that are there. Russ Malkin (producer and driver of the support 4x4) is as much an adrenaline junkie as the rest of them. Unlike the ghost writer (I assume a ghost writer here) for Long Way Down who didn't get Charley's personality, voice and energy, this one did. It's a great 15 days ride across Western Africa, on race bikes, against all odds.
