Location: United Kingdom
Member Since:
Aug. 09, 2011
Linda Rollins
Smashwords book reviews by Linda Rollins
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Restless Highways
on Aug. 31, 2011
I’m not exactly sure what this book is meant to be. It appeared at first glance to be a collection of short stories. However, on reading the very short excerpts they appear to be more like introductions to longer stories, but nothing is mentioned about that being the case. As short stories, I would say that they are incomplete and come across more like ideas for actual stories since they only seem to provide part of a picture. The writing is good, however, and there are some excellent ideas which I would love to see developed into full stories, but as they stand they are not full or complete enough for me to really enjoy.
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Be Brave, Be Strong: A Journey Across the Great Divide
on Sep. 02, 2011
One woman's challenge to complete the world's longest off-pavement cycling route - The Great Divide Mountain Bike Race, travelling from Banff in Alberta to the Mexican Border; a total of 2,740 miles. This is a story of sheer endurance and perseverance. Jill Homer describes her journey beautifully, with all of its psychological and physical ups and downs. The writing is elegantly crafted and is an inspiring and motivational tale for anyone, though it will probably have deeper meaning for cyclists, and especially endurance cyclists and mountain bikers. It is a fairly serious book with not much lightness about it, but it is as gripping a tale as any adventure story, though admittedly there were one or two moments when I became a little bored, but only because I am not a cycling person. There is such a strong underlying theme of human resilience, however, and of random acts of human kindness without it being 'slushy' that anyone can enjoy it. I am so pleased that Jill Homer completed the race and doubly glad she has written this book. Favourite Quote: "The fact that something is impossible has never been a good reason not to try."