Traverse 13 | Page 109

BOOK REVIEWS I Graeme Bell, a middle-aged white male from South Africa, takes us through the ‘Americas’ with his fam- ily aboard their Land Rover 130 and La Lucha; Overlanding The Americas is the result. Often politically incorrect, perhaps a little crude, Graeme has captured the essence of overlanding without being offensive, La Lucha is a great look at travelling from a ‘blokes’ point of view. What Graeme achieves is to say that perhaps we all need to lighten up, stop being offended by everything, and just enjoy the mo- ment. La Lucha - Overlanding The While titled Overlanding the Amer- Americas icas, La Lucha concentrates mostly Graeme Bell on the USA and although we’d like 2017 to have seen more about the other ISBN 978 0 6399257 0 7 ‘Americas’ it does provide a great insight into the USA from an outsid- E Boost Your Confidence Through Motorcycling Alisa Clickenger 2019 ISBN W Self help books? Really? Stating the bleeding obvious most generally come across as patronising and dull but not this little gem. Alisa Clickenger has managed to strip it back and explain how motor- cycling can help build confidence in not only riding but also your everyday life. Boost Your Confidence Through Motorcycling isn’t just a do this and do that type of text book to bettering your life it’s based on her own life experiences and how motorcycling was the thing that pulled her through a somewhat unhappy place. Boost Your Confidence Through Motorcycling is written by a female (obviously) for females but it needn’t be read that way, it’s a book that can help anyone; not just females, not just motorcyclists. At a little under 90 pages of text it’s TRAVERSE 109 er’s point of view and answers many questions. Graeme, through his beer and steak point of view and at a time when Donald Trump was rising to power, demonstrates that Americans can be an isolated lot, yet at the same time open to outsiders and generous of nature. La Lucha dispels many misconceptions, Graeme finds that how the media and Hollywood por- tray certain regions and people of the USA is often far from the truth. La Lucha, is not a motorcycle travel book however, it does prove that any- thing is possible if you have a dream and is a great inspiration to anyone who has doubts, you just need La Lucha … The fight … S an easy read that each chapter will leave you questioning, “why don’t I do that?” It’s a question that could well help many through everyday scenar- ios, especially when viewing failure as an opportunity to learn or experi- ence, or the need to belong or fit in. Throughout Boost Your Confidence Through Motorcycling, Alisa com- bines everyday life with motorcycling and directly links how one can ben- efit the other. She doesn’t profess to be an expert motorcycle rider, she’s someone who herself is always learn- ing, and that’s why this book works. It’s real. Regardless of your riding ability, your gender, your age, have a read of Boost Your Confidence Through Motorcycling. It’s worth it.