I've been working in a bookstore for a little over a year now. More than any other book, people buy The Boys in the Boat because they'd read it and liked it so much they want to give it to friends.
 After reading it, I can see why. Yes, it's ostensibly sports book, but that's a minor part of it. (If it weren't, I wouldn't have read it; I dislike sports, never read about it and never watch sports on television.) It captures the 1930s so well that you think if you were suddenly transported to Seattle in 1934 you'd feel right at home.
 I generally prefer fiction to nonfiction, but The Boys in the Boat eclipses most of the fiction I've read over the past few years.
 Thinking of reading Grit? Save your time and read The Boys in the Boat instead.