Racing Books

People stand up and listen. This is a book that can be a difference maker for you. Buy the book. Read it. Apply it! This gives the every day guy a chance. Don't be fooled by the title. This is an excellent well rounded and well thought out investment program that nobody it talking about...nobody! Don't wait.
Joe - Woodstock, VA

Although humor may be sprinkled throughout this whole book, it should be taken very seriously. He gives a very well thought out, and examined approach to very high risk investment. He gives not only relevant stock examples, but also relevant historical examples. My only recommendation is to read one or two general trading books, before reading this one, otherwise you won't be able to fully appreciate his alternative view of investing.

For grammar, punctuation, and sentence structure, I would give "Forty Years" a 3-star review. It became more clear as I continued reading that the manuscript skipped a stage or two in the editing process.

But who cares about that? Really, nobody reads an investing book and worries about grammar, punctuation, and sentence structure. We're there for the meaty details of how to make the most with our hard-earned money, and "Forty Years" is chocked full of meat. I've never been one to accept the conventional manner of investing - buy and hold the blue chips - so I'm taking this as an opportunity to stretch my muscles a bit in the world of gambling, er, investing.

Scared money doesn't make money, and, finally, with Carach's advisement, I have a channel to vent my desire to make money before I'm 70. Thanks Fred!

I read this book with great interest because for the past four years I have been using similar investment strategy. From my experience, I can confidently say that the strategy in this book really works. My own research convinces me it will continue to work for quite a long time to come. I would recommend it to anyone who wants to protect or enhance their wealth. In fact I would suggest reading it at least three times.

This is the best book I have read regarding penny stocks and how to get started. There is more practical knowledge in these 142 pages than anywhere else. This is a down-to-earth book by a down-to-earth investor.
One of the best parts for me is the section entitled "What a Bargin Looks Like" - listing seven key areas to look for when purchasing a stock. Big Al also list stocks from his own portfolio. This is a big help when evaluating your own picks - by reviewing his.

I think this was a great book because it captured the life of a teen girl. Some thing she did reminded me of my friend who is exatly like Bron. I would recomend this book to everyone. I think adults should also read this book so they can get and understanding of a teens life. Some parents dont understand Teens. Eveyone but this book its worth reading.

Bronwyn Lewis is a sixteen-year-old girl who has just been forced to move to Ojala, California with her family. The year is 1960. Bron is a good student, and has always lived life by the rules. It doesn't take long for her to realize if she doesn't change herself, she will not fit in with the carefree, easygoing teens in town. A popular interest of these individuals is drag racing, something that Bron wrongly thought she would never experience herself. Soon she meets J.C., an extremely attractive racer, and Will, a down-to-earth, old-fashioned country guy. She gets caught between them, and some interesting things occur with both men. I guess you could say she has a lot of things on her mind, including her reckless friend Lanie, the legendary horrific fires of Ojala, the profits of her family business, and her life's turn for romance and adventure. Hobbs really brings Bron's story to life through her dense plot and rising action. There is an overwhelming mood this book gives you through Bron's interactions with other characters. I really started to enjoy the book as the number of friendships and relationships Bron aquires increased. The ending really left me thinking because there is a distinct mystery to it. The genre is a combination of coming-of-age, adventure, and romance; no single genre would be fit by itself in my opinion. I really felt like I knew the characters personally as the plot thickened. I would definatly recommend this book to anyone. If an adult were to read it, he or she would have a good idea of the aspects of American teenagers' lives.

this is a really good book! it gives good insight on a teen girl's point of view on things. not only that, but it is fast paced! i got in bed to read at nine and stayed up until two to finish it! belive me, you will like this book!

This is one of the best books I've ever read. It made me laugh and cry and fall in love with every bit of it. The author was so great and I hope that I can get to read more of her books, soon. I just loved it, if you haven't read it then you need to. You have no idea what you're missing.

As an adult I was very moved by the story, especially the insight into the thoughts of a young woman. There was a "true story" feeling in the Bron's experiences. A must read for parents of young people...lots of insight into the need to "belong". Hobbs has done a superb writing job!

This book is a most beautiful tribute to racing legends. Both the photography and stories of each champion will warm your heart......some will bring tears to your eyes. A very special book for anyone who has ever read about these magnificant animals. I highly recommend it, as well as Old Friends, Barbara Livingston's first book. Both are treasures.

I loved this book as much as the first one, the descriptions of all these grand horse are just a good as the wonderful pictures. It so nice to know these horses are remembered and cared for so lovingly. Can't wait for volume 3!

Beautiful, moving, a reasonable alternative to those of us who can't afford the first "Old Friends" ,going for c. $260 and up.

Great book with lots of nice pictures. Printing quality is excellent and with detail info regarding each . Great book and really enjoy reading it.

While perhaps not as good as the first one (the horses are less "famous" overall) this is still an excellent book with the same great pictures and behind the scenes information. What was really heart warming about this book was how many farms and individuals, big and small, actually CARE about their oldsters and keep them happy and comfortable no matter what it takes, high vet bills, special shoes, special feeds, housing, whatever. If only ALL TB owners and breeders would do the right thing that way these farms do then precious few would end up in kill pens or low end auctions.

The service was superb for the above book. It was sent surface mail and I was informed it would be delivered around 15th. October, 2008. It arrived 5th. September - Terrific!! Well packaged and even though I have not completely read it yet, I am very satisfied with its content.

I saw the three races, I'm glad I found the book, us horse people has to stick together.

The DVD was great, the book goes into more detail, but overall a great package.

We continue to be completely satisfied with the excellent service we receive through Amazon.com and its affiliates. Everything is sent quickly (usually ahead of the estimated delivery date), cleanly, in excellent condition, and exactly as advertised. Thank all those involved with this process.

fast service. wonderful to work with. wish we had one more to add to the crown.

This book is responsible for my love of Dick Francis. The story of an up and coming jockey who finds himself in a slump, who is responsible and how he gets himself out of it is riveting.
He writes beautifully and gives such good characterizations that his books are a delight to read.

This is one of Francis' very first books. Written in the early 1960's and set in England, 'Nerve' concerns the exploits of a young and aspiring top steeple-chase jockey. If you haven't read Francis before, you are in for a very nice and enjoyable low-key thriller. Its hard to point to another author and say that Dick Francis is like him or her, because his work is so unlike other writers. Every one of Francis' books has pretty much the same plot outline, but in a strange way, this is not at all bothersome. One reads a Francis book to enjoy the characters and the inordinant amount of plot laden tension that is somehow packed into such a mild mannered little book.

Every time I pick up one of Francis' books I think of the Jean Cocteau movie from the early 50's I think called Orphius. Its based on the old greek myth where some guy goes to hade's (the ancient greek underworld) to rescue his wife who was stolen from him by a god. He gains her freedom on the condition that he not look at her on the way back until they are out of Hade's. Only at the very last step, he does turn around and she is turned into a pillar of salt or something like that... Anyways, in Cocteaus version of the myth, he has the main characters cast as poets, and they drive around the French country side being flocked by admiring fans and lovely young women. The poets there are the rock stars of that fictional society. Well, Francis creates a world very similar to that with his horse racing books, where the entire country of England revolves around the going ons of different aspects of racing.

One interesting aspect of this book, discussed by other readers in this review forum, is that of the human condition known as 'Nerve.' Rob Finn is made to look as though he has lost it over the opening chapters of the book and the mystery revolves around why this was done and exactly who is behind it.

I would highly reccomend this story to anyone... Its a short novel that has with held the test of time though it is entering its fifth decade since publication. It's not the greatest mystery ever written if only because Francis never really took a risk as an author. But this is also one of Francis' very best efforts and will entertain you in a mild mannered way.

This book starts with a bang and never lets up. Dick Francis' novels are admittedly formulaic, but it's a winning formula for sure. The ending is a bit unrealistic, but so what? In life there's a time for being serious and a time for losing yourself in an exciting story with an interesting main character.

This is the second book that I've read of Dick Francis's (currently reading "Blood Sport"). The plot seems to be shorter than Francis's other novels, but still enjoyable nonetheless.
Story tells about a beginner jockey who takes advantage of a chance to race on a good horse. That chance takes him to the winners' circle. However, all this success is envied by some of those around him, that cause him to suffer loss after loss. The jockey starts an investigation that leads him to learn of his enemies. The hero's character is explained piece by piece as the story unfolds and becomes more interesting, especially with his love for his cousin.
Whether you're a horse-race fan, or not (like me), you'll still enjoy this novel. The ending is missing a bit of closure, in my opinion, but still has style and reveals more of the jockey's character.

Dick Francis has written so many bestselling mysteries, it's mindboggling. He excels in crafting enormously engaging, civilized whodunits, which go down smooth as cognac. Mr. Francis has a habit of introducing elements from the racing world into his novels (for those not in the know, Francis used to be a jockey). Yes, it's true that his heroes all come from the same mold and the stories do contain certain formulaic elements, but I think Francis's magic lies in the humanity and empathic nature with which he cloaks his protagonists. His heroes are all too human, all too flawed, and uniformly unassuming and Britishly reserved. Yet, without exception, they all have unexpected pluck, hidden strength, and the inner fortitude to do the right thing. In four decades, Mr. Francis has written some of my favorite mysteries: Forfeit, Rat Race, Reflex, Hot Money, The Edge, The Danger, Decider, and To the Hilt. And then there's Nerve.

Nerve holds a special place in my heart. I first stumbled across Dick Francis's mystery books years ago when I was a kid thumbing thru a Reader's Digest book. That book contained a condensed version of Nerve, which I went thru in a flash. As soon as I could, I went to the public library and borrowed the full-length version and tore thru that one, too. Since then, I've read everything that Dick Francis has ever written and I've enjoyed every one tremendously (even his anthology Field of Thirteen), but, thru the years, I've come back again and again to Nerve and its charismatic hero Rob Finn. It's just such a darn good story.

Nerve, published in 1964, was only Francis's third novel at the time. Yet, even back then, he had what it took to tell a captivating, suspenseful story. The quick plot breakdown of Nerve: Rob Finn has started to make a name for himself as a jockey when he is kidnapped, tortured, and left for dead. Torn up and bleeding, he manages to escape and get help. He then coldly plans his revenge on the bloke what did him wrong. Sounds like a simple plot, but Francis uses his narrative skills to lure the reader into following Rob Finn as he attempts to get back at his disturbed tormentor. It's gripping stuff. Francis's detailed breakdowns of Finn's pain-filled efforts to get back to racing form so soon after he was tortured will make you cringe, as you wholeheartedly pull for the fella. Our hero is very human, vulnerable, and very relatable. Yet, Francis is talented enough as a writer that, by the end of the book, you'll feel some sympathy towards the dastardly villain. And, as an added bonus, Francis throws in one of those unrequited love subplots, as Finn, who has been eternally in love with his beautiful, talented cousin, Joanna, bittersweetly continues to carry his torch. Joanna, alas, does not reciprocate.

I don't know how Dick Francis does it. I'm not into horses or horse racing. Yet, his books never get old for me, and the horse racing elements actually become interesting stuff. I really, really believe Dick Francis's gift, when it gets boiled to its essence, is how well he's able to make the reader relate to his lead character. Every one of 'em is immensely rootable. Before I read Nerve, I mostly read fantasy and sci-fi novels. Nerve introduced me to the world of mystery novels. So, for that reason and also because it's a crackling good tale, Nerve will always be one of my favorites.

Also, glad to hear that Dick Francis has a new book (Under Orders, starring Sid Halley) coming out in a few weeks. I cannot wait.

My son would take this book out from the library every week, finally I brokedown and bought it. It is really funny. All three of my kids ages 2, 4, and 6 love this book, and I truely enjoy reading it too. It is the kind of kid book adults can find entertaining and will not get sick of having to read over and over.

Cars and Dogs -- for a boy, how can you go wrong? Very cute, clever rhymes, detailed silly illustrations with puns for the adults scattered throughout the background. Keeps me and my 5 year old son in stitches. The characters are very cute also. The race is just for fun and there is so much to look at along the way, the dogs get all distracted while they're driving. You could read this again and again!

My four year old son's favorite book. There are lots of words and many detailed pictures and phrases to keep your little one interested. I love the way it comes to a soothing ending as all the dogs go to sleep at the end...perfect for a bedtime story. You won't be dissapointed with this purchase!

I found myself a little tongue tied the first few times we read this but it is a great story and well illustrated. A favorite for any child who loves dogs or cars. (And grown ups too!) Another book we don't tire of reading.

We've had this book since it was published - it delighted my son then and he still loves it at age 7. My 4 year old daughter likes it a lot too. Great rhythm to the words. A favorite of ours and it's an often chosen bedtime book.

I was hooked from the beginning. The characters are brilliant & entertaining, the language, rich & original. Even though Jacqueline is a bit frustrating at times, you can't help but love her!
It is a fantastic story with just enough twists to keep you guessing and the ending will not leave you disappointed.
If you enjoy a good story with a surprisingly good laugh, then this book is certainly one to consider.

I am a new George Frawley Fan. I am waiting for more of his works to be published
My mother suggested, after reading Racing Winds, to read it myself. I was hesitant, but decided to give it a try because she loved the book so much. What can I say but I am hooked on this writer now. I could not put this book down and read it in 3 days, which is very odd for me since I dont have the time to read so much. I wish he had more of his books published because I want to read more of his work. This book pulls you in from the beginning and doesn't let you go even at the end. You still want more. I recommend this book to anyone who knows how to read. Thanks mom for recommending it to me and thank you George for writing it. I want more!

This book is amazing. The numerous twists and turns kept me on my toes and completely enticed. The love scenes and the heroism caused me to fall head over heels in love with Damion Dexter. The author George Frawley is a talented author and I hope to find more books of his. xoxo

This book is amazing. All of the twists and turns kept me on my toes and completly enticed. The love scenes and heroism caused me to fall in love with Damion Dexter. I have recommended this book to everyone I know. Hopefully, I can find some other books by George Frawley. He is an excellent author.

This book was amazing. Its use of twists and forshadowing kept me enticed through out the book. The mixture of romance and action was exhilerating. I have to say the love scenes and heroism made me fall in love with Damion.

This book contains some excellent vintage race pics. The text is essentially a transcript of the video. This is a great gift for track racing enthusiasts. Makes you want to get out to the velodrome and ride!

The photos and graphic layout is very beautiful - it's great to thumb through and get a overview of the time when track cycling was the most popular sport in the US. It isn't a detailed history of the sport or of cycling in the US. So don't use this as a reference or for those hard core cycling historians.

A great book with lots of photos and interesting stories about the sixdays. A whole new approach compared to what we know about sixdays-racing in Europe. It's great for me to find photos of the French rider Alfred Letourneur who made fame and fortune in the States rather than staying in France. A must for every six-days fan!!!!!

There was a time, not really long ago, when American bicycle racers were the most highly paid athletes in the country. In the 1980's we dropped our jaws when Greg Lemond signed a contract that paid him a million dollars over 3 years. Yet even today, the total price of a Pro Tour team won't get you a major-league pitcher with a good fastball.

Back in the early 1920's things were very different. Babe Ruth was paid the then princely sum of $20,000 a year but six-day bicycle racer Frank Kramer made more. Movie stars would crowd into smokey indoor tracks and offer primes as high a $1,000 to goad racers into driving themselves ever harder as sold-out bleachers screamed with excitement. The great boxer Jack Dempsey's promoter was stunned to learn that the attendance of six-day races averaged 100,000 paying customers. At least one successful six-day racer paid cash for a house.

Now largely forgotten, there was a circuit of velodromes that went across America, stretching from Los Angeles and Salt Lake City to Newark and New York City. The racers who competed on the wooden boards of the era were an elite, highly paid group of athletes who could take on the best in the world and beat them. Among the Europeans who traveled to the U.S. to race on our tracks were Tour de France winners Petit-Breton and Octave Lapize and Italian greats Giuseppe Olmo, Alfredo Binda and Costante Girardengo. As with road racing today, Australians seemed to be natural six-day racers and the list of Aussies who did well is long, including one of the greatest of all, Alf Goullet.

A modern Tour de France rider covers about 3,500 kilometers (2,200 miles) over 3 weeks. In 1914 the six-day team of Alf Goullet and Alfred Grenda raced the Madison Square Garden Six-Day and set a record that still stands, 2,759.2 miles in 142 hours. These men were magnificent sportsmen and their accomplishments were prodigious.

Great writers, including Ernest Hemingway, James Thurber and Damon Runyon, were drawn to the 1920s track scene and wrote about it. In 1925 President Calvin Coolidge invited the team of Jimmy Walthour, Jr and Freddie Spencer to the White House because he wanted to meet the two cyclists whom he said competed with him for newspaper headlines.

I ask the reader to stop for a minute. Have you ever heard of these men, the Armstrongs and Lemonds of our grandfather's time? Like so much of early and mid-twentieth century Americana, this spectacular part of our past is slowly getting wiped out of our collective memory. It shouldn't be so.

Nye's visually stunning book, The Six Day Races: America's Jazz-Age Sport is an irresistible scrapbook of those exciting years when bicycle racing had a firm grip on the American imagination. Pictures of dapper men in bowler hats and starched collars watching speeding racers steam around banked velodromes instantly conjure up another time. There's Petit-Breton, winner of the Tour de France, who competed at Madison Square Garden in 1903 and 1904. Another turn of the century picture shows a young man proudly standing with a bike that rather resembles one of Graeme Obree's record machines. Is there anything new in the world? Eddie Cantor, May Pickford, Douglas Fairbanks, George Burns, Gracie Allen and Jimmy Durante went to the races and Nye has pictures of them that capture the mixture of sport and glamour that the Sixes represented.

Perhaps the image that most powerfully conveys bicycle racing's place in the 1920s is one photograph from 1925 showing eight athletes, called the "Kings of Sport", who were invited to a banquet at the Waldorf-Astoria hotel in New York. Most of the names will be familiar: Babe Ruth, boxer Gene Tunney, swimmer and future movie star Johnny Weissmuller, hockey star Bill Cook, Wimbledon champion Bill Tilden and golfing great Bobby Jones. Sitting with the other sporting giants, as equals, are cyclists Freddie Spencer and Charlie Winter.

Accompanying the hundreds of photographs is an excellent text. Perhaps no man knows more about American cycling than Mr. Nye. An earlier book of his, Hearts of Lions was more than the best history of American cycling ever written, Nye performed an important service by interviewing many of the great legends of America's golden age of racing, several just before they passed away. In The Six Day Bicycle Races Nye puts that knowledge to good use, guiding the reader from American track racing's origins in the late 19th century through its bloom of prosperity and its slow decline with the onset of the depression.

After reading the book, I still like to go back and thumb through a few pages here and there, imagining a band playing in the infield while the racers zoom around a short (10 laps to the mile) indoor track doing their flashy, dangerous work. Reggie McNamara crashed more than 1,500 times in a career of 108 six-days that covered about 135,000 miles. I wish I could have seen that brave, strong man race. Nye's book brings me as close as I can come to that dream.

This is a wonderful book written by the man who knows American racing best, filled with pictures that have the power to get any sports fan's heart thumping.
-Bill McGann, author of "The Story of the Tour de France"

This book captures the essence of track racing in America in it's glory days. It is informative and fun to read. The illustrations are great also!
My father raced in Chicago in this era and had many tales to tell, and Nye's book captures that same essence.

Another great book in the series. Brings up things one wouldn't necessarily have attended to in the beginning. Good for general driving, too.

If you are looking for books on racing driving techniques then at least start with books by Ross Bentley.I bought this book and book 1 and they are books that go together.

This book covers more detail and starts where book 1 left off.Things like computer racing/simulations games are good too.

I highly recommend this book and book 1 for anyone interested in racing.

As the author of "Go Ahead - Take the Wheel" which discusses how to begin racing, the Speed Secrets series is what I recommend to people as the next purchase in their racing libary. This book is written in a very friendly manner and does not get too bogged down in very technical discussions that might be challenging for a novice to racing. When looking at the various racing books I own, these always stand out. I guess that's why this is one of only a very few I recommended in the "Additional Resources" section of my book.

The first few chapters didn't tell you much in the way of coaching you to be better. I think 1/4 into the book, the information is very helpful in isolating and working the different components within a practice session towards driving faster (i.e. work on the entry speed, work on the driving line, work on traction sensing, etc...) I gave it 4 stars, because the book could have deleted the first few chapters.

In the second book of the Speed Secret Series, it goes in racing learning more in depth than the first book, it starts with preparing the racer to be a Complete Race Driver, it shows what racers should have, such as Racing Skills, Physical Skills, Career Skills, Marketing Skills, Mental Skills and Testing Skills.
Also it talks in depth about car preparing and learning new driving techniques and tricks.

All of Speed Secrets Books are well written and easy to be understood by new racers.

I recommend reading the first Speed Secrets Book, then practice the techniques in test days and real races, after the driver understand the book well, he should get the second book to learn more about racing gradually.

I loved this book. I kinda wish it was more about Ashley and Sean and less Kate and Tyler but it was amazing! I never would have guessed the ending. I did think it was sad that everyone sacrificed their lives to protect the family's secrets but I guess I can understand that. I would recommend this book to anyone.

This was a most intelligent and enthralling story; not only intriguing, but sensual as well. All characters were well-thought out and interesting. From the very first, when Tyler appears on the scene, the story and romance grabs you. There was one fascinating plot after another, and I found myself half-crazed to know the secrets, and to see how Tyler and Kate got together, along with Sean and Ashley. And to find out whose baby it was and what became of Jeremy. I have been reading romance/suspense for a number of years and Ms. Freethy has become an addition to list of my best authors.

Stormy relationships and a stormy sailing adventure combine to make this a better-than-average read. Barbara Freethy keeps you guessing about the big family secret and the ending is predictible but still fun. It's a great way to pass a summer afternoon at the beach or just curled up on the living room sofa.

If you want a love story wrapped up with some intrigue, SUMMER SECRETS is the book for you. All the while I was reading the book, I was trying to guess the secret ... and never could! The romance and mystery will keep you turning the pages as fast as you can. Great read.

I, for once, never disappointed with Barbara Freethy, ever since I purchased my first book of her (One True Love) few years ago. She is my favorite author when it comes to family stories. She always manages to write such beautiful, heartwarming, and also real family stories. The joy, the tears, the fears, the loyalty ... they are always there, knotted into one amazing story. She did it again with SUMMER SECRETS. Each character stands out with their own self. The sisters are uniquely different with one another but nevertheless, united with a strong bond called "family. The romance of course, is also beautiful. I love the chemistry between Tyler and Kate, also Ashley and Sean. I just wish Caroline will get her own man. This book is wonderful read ... if you don't know Barbara Freethy, you're missing such a talented author!