Any person who has ever daydreamed about traveling the world to conquer her personal goals and passions will love Amy's chronicle. From the first chapter to the last page, I felt as if I was reliving my own past surf travels. A sense of freedom, overcoming fears, discovering new cultures, dealing with love, the exciting, unexplainable feeling of riding a wave -- this is what Chasing Waves is all about. Like a big, smooth wave peeling towards everybody who loves a good story, Chasing Waves takes you along on the surf-obsessed walkabout you've always dreamed of, but never had a chance to do. The people, the places, the loves, the losses, and the aching curiosity about one's own destiny and motivations-it's all rendered here in strong, fresh prose. This beautiful, worthy book has a place in every surf-literature home library, and is doubtless just the beginning of a great writer's career. With love and respect for the ocean, Chasing Waves captures the soul of surfing and the search for adventure from a female perspective. Amy Waeschle has written a beautiful book that will make you laugh, make you cry, and make you go seek out a surfboard and the nearest ocean. Lyrical, heartfelt, and flat out entertaining, this book is one wave that you must catch. I also have spent much of my life dreaming of bikinis, boards, and green waves; hence, I followed a very similar quest to Amy's, that of becoming an efficient and competent surfer. Her book left me in stitches! Enjoy it as an armchair adventure read, and marvel at how conquering our fears makes us stronger, more confident people in every day life. I was lost in these tales of the failures, successes, and passions of a surfing life. Truthfully funny and warmhearted, Chasing Waves is about a surfing odyssey of which most of us can only dream. It's inspiring to know that it can become a reality! Chasing Waves is the first book I've read that actually gives the reader a realistic look at what it feels like to be a surfer. Amy Waeschle cuts through all the clichés about surfing to reveal an amazing life journey by a bold yet cautious woman who decides to dedicate her life to this exhilarating sport. (Who else could explain why surfer's crave waves like women crave chocolate?) Her writing is so vivid that I feel as if I just traveled to places like Fiji and Costa Rica; I can almost feel the mud on my feet and smell the salt in my hair. After reading this book, surfing will no longer feel like such a mystery to the non-surfer. Pack this book on your next adventure!