I didn’t expect to be moved by a book about rowing, but The Boys in the Boat by Daniel James Brown surprised me. It’s not just about a sport, it’s about endurance, about holding on through hard things, and about learning to move in step with others when life keeps pushing you off balance.

I read it in the fall of 2023, a few months before the movie came out. I had heard it was being adapted and wanted to experience the book first to sit with the real story before seeing it on screen.

The story follows nine working-class boys from the University of Washington as they prepare for the 1936 Olympics in Berlin. At the center is Joe Rantz, a young man who was left behind by his family and grew up carrying more than his share of silence and loss. His journey is not just physical; it is deeply emotional. He wasn’t just rowing to win; he was rowing to belong.

What really stayed with me was how Brown let the story unfold. He doesn’t rush it. There is a quiet patience with the way he writes, and it mirrors the rhythm of the boys finding their place in the boat and in each other’s trust. When they finally reach that perfect harmony, that “swing,” you feel it, even if you’ve never touched an oar.

The Boys in the Boat isn’t a loud story. It’s about grit in quiet places. It’s about learning to trust, to show up, and to keep going when the world tells you you’re not enough.

It may be a book about rowing, but more than that, it is a story about finding your place and holding on when it finally feels like you have arrived.

Buy The Boys in the Boat on Bookshop.org. I love supporting indie bookstores!

I snapped this photo while reading The Boys in the Boat last fall. This line caught me — a reminder that even in hardship, staying open to life means you just might find something beautiful in the most unexpected places.