Book Review of Ghost Trails by Jill Homer

This week I finished reading “Ghost Trails – Journeys Through a Lifetime” which is a book recently written by Jill Homer.

Overview:

"Ghost Trails" is the true story of Jill Homer and her unlikely route to and on one of the most difficult winter bicycle races in the world, the 350-mile Iditarod Trail Invitational in Alaska. Through her struggles and intimate confrontations with her fears and weaknesses, she discovers the surprising destination of her life's trails.

My thoughts:

I’ve been following Jill’s blog for quite some time now and when I read her overview of her participation in the 2008 Iditarod Trail Invitational I was riveted to it. I couldn’t believe the suffering and learning that she went through to complete this race. I was so impressed with it that I made Jenny sit down and I read it to her as well. Needless to say, when I found out that she had written a book about her 2008 race experience I couldn’t wipe the grin off of my face.

I’m not much of a reader but once I started reading this book I seriously considered taking a sick day from work so I could sit down and finish it because I just couldn’t put it down. If it wasn’t for a pressing project at work I would have done just that. So, as an alternative I put off training and stayed up late for a number of nights until I finally finished it up. I have to say, it was worth it.

Even though I knew Jill finished the race the book was very suspenseful. This book takes you through the highs, lows, injuries, struggles and elation of the race. If you’ve ever completed an endurance event you’ll be able to relate to all of these emotions only Jill’s were intensified 100 times over. As I read the book I found myself cheering for her to keep going and cringing for her when she faced almost insurmountable obstacles.

Books of this nature tend to be just travel logs but Ghost Trails had a lot more to offer. Every other chapter told a story from Jill’s life which in some way gave her experiences to lean on for the Iditarod Trail Invitational. Admittedly, this switching from the race to supporting stories was confusing at first once I got into the rhythm of the book it tended to fit right in.

Conclusion:

If you enjoy non-fiction books about endurance sports you’ll love this book. This is a great first effort from Jill Homer. If you’re like me you’ll love this book and have a hard time putting it down which may be to the dismay of your spouse.

If you’re interesting in picking up this book you can order it through the following website.