100,000+ Books, Games & Puzzles in-stock πŸ‡³πŸ‡Ώ

New on the blog! πŸ‡―πŸ‡΅ Japanese Healing Fiction & β˜• The Perfect Winter Reads

Surf For Your Life

4.1 goodreads logo

Ratings/reviews counts are updated frequently.

Check link for latest rating.
( 429 ratings, 19 reviews)
Book Hero Magic crafted this summary to help describe this book. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! Summary
Surf For Your Life by Tim Baker and Mick Fanning is an inspiring biography that chronicles Mick Fanning's journey from a young surfer to a world champion. The book delves into his personal and professional life, highlighting the dedication, resilience, and passion that propelled him to the top of competitive surfing. It offers readers an inside look at the challenges and triumphs encountered along the way, making it an engaging read for sports enthusiasts and anyone interested in stories of perseverance.
Read More
Format: Paperback / softback
$2499
Elsewhere:
$2799
OVERNIGHT NZ-WIDE DELIVERY

Found a better price? Request a price match

Book Hero Magic created this recommendation. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! IS THIS YOUR NEXT READ?

This book may appeal to you if you're passionate about surfing, adventure, and personal growth. Co-written by a professional surfer, it offers an intimate glimpse into the highs and lows of a surfing champion's life, reflecting on themes of determination, resilience, and the pursuit of one's dreams. It's perfect for readers who enjoy inspiring life stories and the thrill of the ocean.

Book Hero thinking about your next read

Book Hero Magic formatted this description to make it easier to read. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! Description

Surf For Your Life by Tim Baker and Mick Fanning offers a profound glimpse into the extraordinary life of Mick Fanning. At just 28, Mick has experienced profound highs and challenging lows that most of us will never encounter.

How does it feel to lose a brother, win a world title, or suffer a severe injury like tearing your hamstring muscle off the bone? Imagine weaving through a long Superbank barrel or confronting waves at legendary surf spots such as Pipeline and Teahupo'o. Picture dealing with scoliosis so crippling that standing is a struggle. How about addressing the NSW State of Origin team, or bowling to cricket stars Matty Hayden and Dave Warner? And then there are humorous episodes, such as entering a Brazilian hotel bar clad in just a bikini, only to find the intended audience of friends has vanished, leaving a bewildered bartender in their place.

These experiences demonstrate that not all in life is strictly good or bad. Mick's path has been a tapestry of extremes, which makes his story compelling. His willingness to learn from his journey and use these experiences as motivation provides valuable lessons beyond surfing.

While young, Mick displays wisdom beyond his years and he's eager to share his insights with anyone interested in surfing, whether for competition or leisure. In Surf For Your Life, Mick candidly recounts his life through stories that are humorous, sensitive, and thoughtful, often self-deprecating. He shares intimate personal lessons and practical advice on surfing techniques, fitness, nutrition, board design, travel, competitive strategies, and maintaining mental clarity.

Mick's journey includes overcoming personal tragedy and injuries that threatened his career, culminating in his 2007 world surfing title. Acknowledged globally as the most focused and driven competitive surfer of his time, Mick's approach to surfing, sports psychology, and life offers fascinating insights and inspiration for all readers.

Book Hero Magic summarised reviews for this book. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! HOW HAS THIS BEEN REVIEWED?

Surf For Your Life by Tim Baker and Mick Fanning is widely praised for its insightful storytelling and engaging narrative style. Reviewers highlight Baker's exceptional writing skills, particularly in capturing the essence of surf culture and Fanning's impressive journey as a professional surfer. The biography delves deeply into the personal and professional experiences of its subject, resonating strongly with both surfing enthusiasts and those inspired by tales of resilience and passion.

Book Hero reading reviews

Book Details

INFORMATION

ISBN: 9781742750354

Publisher: Random House Australia

Format: Paperback / softback

Date Published: 01 July 2011

Country: Australia

Imprint: Ebury Australia

Audience: General / adult

DIMENSIONS

Spine width: 23.0mm

Width: 128.0mm

Height: 197.0mm

Weight: 280g

Pages: 384

About the Author

Tim Baker is a former editor of Tracks and Surfing Life magazines, and co-author of Bustin' Down the Door, the biography of surfing champion Wayne 'Rabbit' Bartholomew. He has also edited and contributed to an anthology of Australian surf writing, Waves - Great Stories From The Surf, and wrote High Surf, which profiles the world's most inspiring surfers and Occy, written with surfing legend Mark Occhilupo.

Also by Mick Fanning

View all
  • All Heart
    Pre-order
    All Heart
    Haunting and inspirational, All Heart is the definitive memoir of one of Australia’s greatest sporting heroes: Mick Fanning. Mick Fanning is a three-time surfing world champion. But he’s also a true survivor who fought off a great white shark on live TV and battled to overcome heart-shattering grief following the tragic deaths of his three brothers. This deeply personal memoir...
    Paperback
    $3399
    Elsewhere:
    $4199
    Pre-order
    Out 29 Sep 2026

Also by Tim Baker

View all
  • Patting the Shark
    Patting the Shark is a surfer's journey learning to live well with cancer. Tim Baker was living the dream: a best-selling and award-winning surf writer with a beautiful family, a lifetime of exotic travel, and a home walking distance to quality waves. That all changed on 7 July 2015, when he was diagnosed, out of the blue, with stage 4,...
    Paperback
    $4000
    In Stock
    Ships Monday
  • The Game Master's Book of Legendary Locations
    When your players are travelling through the wilderness from Point A to Point B, here's the key to making that journey as intriguing and exciting as possible! As every GM knows, you can spend hours preparing an adventure, but rarely is any map filled in so completely that you can easily define what lies waiting in the wilds between where...
    Hardback
    $5299
    Available
    Ships in 4-6 weeks
  • The Rip Curl Story
    The Rip Curl Story is a remarkable tale of two young surfers - Doug 'Claw' Warbrick and Brian Singer - who pursued an audacious dream to make a living in pursuit of the ultimate ride. The brand they built, Rip Curl, not only satisfied their own surf wanderlust, but also inspired countless others, riding the wave of the global youth...
    Paperback
    $4000
    Available
    Ships in 4-6 weeks

More from Biography & Memoir

View all
  • New Release
    Dogs, Boys and Other Things I've Cried About
    From the social media superstar behind @SimonSits, Isabel Klee--known for her heartwarming tales of dog rescue--comes an utterly winning memoir about a twentysomething woman's search for true love in New York City and the dogs who helped her find it. A Jersey girl by birth, Isabel Klee had always wanted to live in New York City. At age 20, she...
    Paperback
    $3299
    Elsewhere:
    $3999
    In Stock
    Ships Monday
  • Signed Copy
    New Release
    Stakes
    Read our interview with author Noelle McCarthy! A darkly funny, sparkling follow-up to the author’s bestselling memoirΒ Grand. You have to invite him in. You have to want the vampire’s badness in the house with you. Growing up in Catholic Ireland, Noelle McCarthy is captivated by Bram Stoker’sΒ Dracula. The vampire is a risk-free fantasy, a suave alternative to the fraught realities...
    Paperback
    $3199
    Elsewhere:
    $4000
    In Stock
    Ships Monday
  • New Release
    Famesick
    Chronicling the tumultuous decade between the premiere of Girls to her 2021 shotgunΒ wedding (minus the baby, because she has no uterus), Lena Dunham takes us through herΒ journey with her trademark mix of humor, unsparing honesty, and keen eye for detail. We peek behind the scenes - of her work, her family, her relationships, and her battle to reclaim her body...
    Paperback
    $3299
    Elsewhere:
    $3500
    In Stock
    Ships Monday
  • New Release
    Built for This
    Raised among strong women, butcher's benches, and hard ideas about what men are meant to be, Brad Poulter grows up knowing he's different long before he has the words for it. But in late '90s small-town New Zealand, 'different' isn't discussed, it's managed. Joining the Royal New Zealand Navy offers escape, certainty, and belonging. The rules are clear, the uniform...
    Paperback
    $3199
    Elsewhere:
    $3799
    In Stock
    Ships Monday
  • Even the Good Girls Will Cry
    Thanks to a thrown beer bottle and a fan letter to a P.O. box, Melissa Auf der Maur's first band scored an opening slot for the Smashing Pumpkins in her bohemian home town, Montreal. Sensing Melissa's talent, Billy Corgan recommended her to Courtney Love. Whisked from her local scene, Melissa joined Hole just after the deaths of Kurt Cobain and...
    Paperback
    $3199
    Elsewhere:
    $3999
    (1)
    In Stock
    Ships Monday
  • New Release
    An Ocean and a Day
    An utterly riveting, moving and poignant memoir of grief and loss that will speak to anyone who's ever lost someone they love. An Ocean and a Day is Hannah Richell's personal account of losing her husband, Matt, in a surfing accident on Tamarama beach in 2014. It is the story of the grief journey she travelled over the first two...
    Paperback
    $3199
    Elsewhere:
    $3799
    In Stock
    Ships Monday
  • A Place to Stand
    A Place to Stand by Clare Ward is a profound memoir that delves into the life of a country doctor living and working in the Hokianga Harbour area in the far north of Aotearoa New Zealand. This region is sparsely populated and poses numerous health challenges. This thoughtful account details Clare’s thirty-year career, highlighting the people she works with and...
    Hardback
    $3199
    Elsewhere:
    $3799
    Backorder
    Ships early August
  • New Release
    Rule of Lies
    Written with all the pace and energy of a John Grisham novel … An incredible true story and a great read! BILL BROWDER, author of Red Notice and Freezing Order An American lawyer’s brilliant, propulsive story of witnessing and playing a part in the transformation of Russia under Yeltsin and Putin. A true tale of fascinating personalities, criminal intrigue, harrowing...
    Paperback
    $2999
    Elsewhere:
    $3799
    (1)
    In Stock
    Ships Monday
  • New Release
    Rory
    TheΒ New York TimesΒ bestseller The #1Β Irish TimesΒ bestseller The definitive biography of Rory McIlroy, the most important, popular and confounding player of the post-Tiger era. Rory McIlroy contains multitudes. The child of a working-class family from a small town in a war-torn homeland now commutes to work in his own private jet and counts billionaires as confidants. He can overwhelm a golf...
    Paperback
    $3699
    Elsewhere:
    $4199
    In Stock
    Ships Monday
  • New Release
    Te Kaikaukau | The Swimmer
    Novelist, memoirist and playwright Witi Ihimaera – author of Pounamu, Pounamu and The Whale Rider – decided, at the age of eighty, to dive back into the water and spend a year full-time at Te Wānanga Takiura, immersing himself in his own language, in te reo Māori. This book tells the story of this kaikaukau, this swimmer, and his year...
    Paperback
    $3500
    Elsewhere:
    $4500
    In Stock
    Ships Monday
  • New Release
    This Is Me: A Reckoning
    This is a searingly honest and moving memoir from double Golden Globe-nominatedactress Hayden Panettiere. Hayden Panettiere has been in front of the camera since before she could talk. She roseto stardom typecasted as Hollywood's blonde girl next door. As a young celebrity,naysayers were certain she would crash and burn. Not one to disappoint, she did.Hayden Panettiere's irreverent memoir satisfies our...
    Paperback
    $3200
    Elsewhere:
    $3999
    (1)
    In Stock
    Ships Monday
  • New Release
    Beyond Life and Death
    From martial arts icon and global film star Jet Li comes a revelatory, profound and inspiring guide to self-mastery and spiritual wisdom, distilled into 10 essential life lessons. Martial arts legend and international movie star Jet Li distils 10 powerful insights from his iconic career, his personal life and philosophies, and his 30-year Buddhist practice. Jet Li's story defies legend....
    By Jet Li
    Paperback
    $3299
    Elsewhere:
    $4000
    In Stock
    Ships Monday

Why buy from us?

Book Hero is not a chain store or big box retailer. We're an independent 100% NZ-owned business on a mission to help more Kiwis rediscover a love of books and reading!

Service & Delivery

Service & Delivery

Our warehouse in Auckland holds over 80,000 books, toys, board games and puzzles in-stock so you're not waiting for your order to arrive from overseas.

Auckland Bookstore

Auckland Bookstore

We're primarily an online store, but for your convenience you can pick up your order for free from our bookstore, which is right next door to our warehouse in Hobsonville.

Our Gifting Service

Our Gifting Service

Books make wonderful thoughtful gifts and we're here to help with gift-wrapping and cards. We can even send your gift directly to your loved one.