Rennie @ What’s Nonfiction is Week 3’s host:
Be The Expert/Ask the Expert/Become the Expert: Three ways to join in this week! You can either share 3 or more books on a single topic that you have read and can recommend (be the expert), you can put the call out for good nonfiction on a specific topic that you have been dying to read (ask the expert), or you can create your own list of books on a topic that you’d like to read (become the expert).
I’m going for all three this week! My subject? Sports! People who knew me in high school or college would probably be surprised to find that I’ve become a player of a sport and a fan of sports.
Three books I’ve read and would recommend:
- A Sense of Where You Are: Bill Bradley at Princeton by John McPhee – The other book about a sport I’ve read by John McPhee (aside from this year’s Levels of the Game).
- Moneyball: The Art of Winning an Unfair Game by Michael Lewis – I love that sports books are usually about a story but also about a system. Here I learned about baseball and also about the Oakland A’s.
- The Blind Side by Michael Lewis – I didn’t remember that both Moneyball and The Blind Side were both by Michael Lewis. Obviously, he’s a stand-out in this genre.
Three books I want to read (and all are available at the library right now!):
- Ultimate Glory: Frisbee, Obsession, and My Wild Youth by David Gessner – This is the sport I play, but I haven’t read this book yet!
- Dust Bowl Girls: The Inspiring Story of the Team That Barnstormed Its Way to Basketball Glory by Lydia Reeder – Ladies and the history of basketball (probably my favorite sport to watch)? Yes, please!
- Soccer in Sun and Shadow by Eduardo Galeano (trans. Mark Fried) – This one is cheating a little. I’ve read the first few chapters of this book for a Sport & Society class I’m currently taking.
And finally, I’d like some recommendations. I’m especially looking for sports book by women, or sports books for younger readers. Anyone read anything that should go on my TBR?
Simple Tricks & Nonsense 
It’s been years since I’ve read anything sport -related I must admit, however, I don’t know if you have ever seen an Australian Football League (AFL) game, but Roar by Samantha Lane is a popular read.
I’ve seen a smidge of AFL. Roar looks awesome!
I’m not anywhere near a sports book expert but here are a few I’ve read and loved:
The Boys in the Boat: Nine Americans and Their Epic Quest for Gold at the 1936 Berlin Olympics; The Last Shot: City Streets, Basketball Dreams; and
Seabiscuit: An American Legend. For younger readers, I’ve loved: Let’s Dance! by Valerie Bolling; Lives of the Athletes: Thrills, Spills; Wild Girl: How to Have Incredible Outdoor Adventures; and Dragon Hoops.
Thank you for the recommendations! I just went and checked out Dragon Hoops. Potential Christmas present for my basketball hungry nephew!
I LOVED the Dust Bowl Girls and have recommended it several times. It shattered my opinion of Babe Diedrickson though–and the new novel Fast Girls built on that, too.
I really liked Moneyball, but I have to admit that I’m drawn to it more for the stats than the sports! I’ve read and enjoyed a few books on sports, but more despite the fact that they’re about sports than because of it 🙂