Rating: 
Summary: Life is an Endurance Race
Review: I've never had cancer and I haven't been on a bike in 25 years, but I found many lessons in this book. I first watched the Tour in 2000 and was immediately fascinated by the tactics and teamwork involved. I thought it was a bike race with every individual out for himself and I couldn't understand the concept that you could win the Tour without winning the most stages. As the leader of a business team, this opened up an entirely new way of thinking about teamwork and winning. If there is one thing he and his team proved in the 2003 Tour, it's that all kinds of things can go wrong and you can have pretty spectacular failures on any given day, but a true warrior will use those things to get fired up and go on to win. I also related to the struggles Lance has had with trying to balance his life. That warrior side vrs the loving, caring side - the intense focus and long hours of training vrs the commitments he has to family, friends, cancer survivors and sponsors - the need to feel alive vrs the daily grind. That's the real endurance test and the hard part is that there never is a finish line. The surprise is that Lance seems like an ordinary guy, living an extraordinary life and that makes it seem possible for me to do the same.
Rating:
Summary: Moving and insightful follow up to the first book
Review: I loved the first book he wrote and this one is just as good! Lance Armstrong's books are honest and direct. He really tells it as he sees it with no nonsense. The first book chroncicles his humble childhood as the child of a teenage mother and the relationship he describes with his mother is moving and inspiring. The new book, Every Second Counts, is written mostly about his own children and his struggles to balance family life with his arduous training schedule and his Foundation, in addition to charity work and public appearances. I admire Lance Armstrong for being a seeker. He is not a person sitting on the sidelines. He is truly living his life with gusto and passion. He has his rough-edges, but all in all he is a seemingly warm, honest, real person with all of the complexities and complications that real people face. I wish him all the best and I hope he continues to write books in the future. I feel he has much to say and I like the way he says it!
Rating: 
Summary: Inspiring
Review: The continuing life of Lance Armstrong is almost mythical. For him to overcome latter stage cancer and go on to win 5 straight Tour de France races is unbelievable and an inspiration to anyone who rides (or walks on two legs). Writing in a straightforward typical first person voice, Lance actually waits until the end of the book to discuss his philosophy about bike riding itself and I believe it's the best part of the book. He's got a strong independent streak that is uniquely American. He has some resentment (and understandably so) towards the French officials who put him through countless drug tests, since they couldn't believe that someone recently on chemotherapy could still ride mountains like they were tiny little hills. As a result, he is the answer to the trivia question: 'Which athlete has been drug tested the most?'
He genuinely cares about people, cancer victims, his country, his family, and still has the time to train and be one of the greatest athletes of all time. Through it all, he's not even dogmatic except that you should believe in yourself. What a terrific story!
Rating:
Summary: Great Book!
Review: Holy cow, some of these reviews are pretty brutal. Don't be turned off by a few obviously bitter people. Lance puts a lot of thought and effort into this awesome book. It's an A+ on my list.
Rating:
Summary: Brilliant, Exciting, and Insightful Follow-up to 'the Bike'.
Review: This is a beautiful follow-up to Lance's first book (It's Not About the Bike). In this book, Lance shares what it is like for him as person who is also a "superstar bicyclist", "cancer survivor", and "cancer philanthropist". Though a young man in terms of age, Lance speaks with deep wisdom about what it means to live, how to feel alive, and dealing with life's non-life-threatening complexities. And then there are remarkable and thrilling stories about his Tour de France experiences. I loved reading this book! It is spectacular, especially in conjunction with his first book. Review by Evan Finer, author of "Effortless WellBeing"
Rating: 
Summary: Second place book
Review: First of all, I loved the first book "It's not about the bike." I received a copy of "Every Second Counts" for Christmas and finally got to reading it this week.
This book is the reciprocal of the first. The first book kept its somewhat episodic development well grounded in a central theme: I got sick, I got better and the experience changed me profoundly. This book doesn't have that creative gravity. It's episodic, period. Perhaps this non-focused style is intentionally or unintentionally reflective of Lance's real life. If a central theme runs through it at all, it is how someone can try to squeeze so much from every second of his entire life that he misses the forest for the leaves. One gets the impression from this book that it's all about the bike and cancer, that without the Tour and the team and friends who get sick, he would have no focus.
If you are interested in Lance, the rider, the book is a little thin in that department. The biking stories are moderately interesting, but underdeveloped.
Aesthetically, the book is lacking; emotionally, it left this reader less than inspired. Save the money; donate it to the LAF instead.
Rating:
Summary: It's not about the book...
Review: If every second counts for you, you should probably skip this book and read something a little more worthwhile. Unlike his previous book "It's not about the Bike" this book lacks the drama and general interest for the common reader. That being said if you are a cycling fan you can probably find some behind the scenes stuff here to be interesting, but basically this is a recap of Lance's racing since the 1999 Tour De France win. Which means if you are a cycling fan you already know everything in this book and if you are not a cycling fan you wont care what's in this book. Overall it is more less just another puff piece athletic biography that seems more interested in re-enforcing Lance's status as a sports hero than it does delving into one of the most fascinating sports figures of a generation.
Rating:
Summary: Count your blessings by seconds
Review: I'm a huge fan of Lance and his accomplishments in spite of the seemingly impossible odds. That said, there is a bit of a bias in my perspective. I read this book during his record setting sixth TDF victory and at the beginning of a personally difficult time in my life. The title of the book seemed to have been magnified July 5th when after doing an afternoon ride I settled in for a few chapters. My cell phone rang and a relative informed me my uncle, an avid cyclist who at age 70 competed and won RAAM(Race Across America)in the masters team division had suddenly died. The life lessons in the title are reflected throughout the book. Other cyclists will especially relate to the bike stories, cancer victims and those who are affected by their loved ones suffering will find hope in the power of one survivors story. The life anecdotes, tales of the road with Carmichael, Hincapie, Heras and others, including the outrageous Robin Williams and reflections on life to the backdrop to one of the most difficult endurance events a human being can achieve are awesome. The shortcomings of Lance the human being make the achievements of overcoming cancer and winning the TDF even more real . This is an uplifting book, an easy read and a book about the power of the human spirit. Pick up this book, fight your own battles with dignity, support the Lance Armstrong Foundation(cancer research), wear your yellow bracelet proudly, crank a few miles and when you're out on the road you'll remember what Lance says about riding , "that it makes me feel alive" because every second really does count. This book is a good source of inspiration.
Rating: 
Summary: Six wins, Four homes, Three Kids, Two dogs, and Sheryl Crowe
Review: Even as a huge sports and cycling fan, I generally avoid sports biographies. Most of them are not very good and this one is middle of the peloton.
Armstrong seems to have not thought much about his recent experiences. He seems bewildered when asked several times about his spirituality and how it was impacted by his recovery. His hero is DNA guru Craig Ventner who tells him that heaven and hell only exist on earth. Armstong likes to leave the serious thinking to his ex-wife. At times, he almost slinks back into being a carefree adolescent with no sense of his legacy in sports or his responsibilities. He makes unannounced visits to New York City Firehouses after 9/11 and is amazed that everyone recognizes him and expects much of him.
When advising other cancer patients, he focuses only on technology and complete trust in one's physicians. To his credit he does everything possible for other cancer patients, especially working through his foundation.
Armstong barely addresses the end of his marriage (the relationship with the aging diva would come after this writing). He and his wife seem to struggle mightily with work-life issues that affect everyone. They should get easier when you have access to 24 hour nannies, cooks, coaches, assistants, and contractors, fitness clubs, and private jets.
He has a Hatfield and McCoy type relationship with the innocent people who drew the assignment to pick up his urine for anti-doping testing. Doping allegations in the French press lead to a full French government inquiry. Armstong's reaction to this insult (he is ultimately found innocent after a very long investigation) is to move his off-season base from France to Spain. We may not have heard the end of this issue now that long time team mate Tyler Hamilton is also being investigated.
Armstong did learn that there are no guarantees on anything and that one needs to get focused and motivated in order to reach a goal. Before cancer, he was regarded as a huge talent who never achieved anything mostly because he did not set goals and had no idea how to execute. Amazingly he returned from battling a cancer that had spread everywhere in his body, to a world class athlete who had not lost even 1% of his ability. His success in this regard is probably unparalleled in history.
There are several positives about this book. First it is very well written, with the skilled hand of Washington Post columnist Sally Jenkins evident throughout. On the editing side, it is not as strong. There is a lot of irrelevant material, with endless stories about foundation staffers, high school buddies, and what the USPS team does on off-days (mostly listen to ZZ Top and drink coffee). I can imagine Armstrong and Jenkins arguing about whether more stories of Texas beer drinking, swimming, and barbequing are really necessary.
Secondly, it does give some insight into how a team is built and the inner machinations of the great cycling races. We meet fascinating characters like team-mates Ekimov and Landis and see how the team is selected.
Rating:
Summary: Lance Armstrong is the Bono of Cycling.
Review: LA's second autobiography dovetails his first one very well. In "It's Not About the Bike," LA is this angry young man searching for self-worth. Along the way, he made millions, beat cancer, found his soulmate (so it seemed at the time ), and won the world's most prestigious cycling event, Tour de France. "Every Second Counts" recounts the 5 years since his first win of the Tour, and, in particularly, LA's juggling of his personal and professional lives. We get to see how he managed adult responsibilities such as fame, marriage, fatherhood, charity work and US Postal cycling team while he trained hard and won four more Tours. "Amazing" and "inspirational" best capture what's in those two books. Needlessly to say, it is a required reading for any aspiring endurance athlete.
I find it distasteful that people are being so critical of Lance because of the divorce and the quick hookup with his rock star girlfriend. Look at Hollywood film stars and pop singers. What's the average duration of their marriages? How many of wedding vows do they pretend to say? Do I need to name names? Look around you before you accuse Lance.
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