Don't believe me that February is a great time to read a sports book? Even though the weather outside is dismal, lots of great sports happens in February! With the NFL playoffs, the latter half of the NBA and NHL seasons, the 2022 Winter Olympics, and the first spring training games of the MLB February really does have a lot to offer. Hunker down inside your warm house with some of these recent sports books.
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Where tomorrows aren't promised : a memoir
by Carmelo Anthony The iconic NBA All-Star presents this raw and inspirational memoir about growing up in the housing projects of Red Hook, Brooklyn and West Baltimore’s Murphy Homes (a.k.a. the Murder Homes) where he pushed past lethal odds to survive and thrive. |
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Across the river : life, death, and football in an American city
by Kent Babb The story of a high school football team from an impoverished New Orleans neighborhood and their head coach’s efforts to keep the teenagers on his team alive amidst an epidemic of gun violence. s |
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Sidecountry : tales of death and life from the back roads of sports
by John Branch Breathtaking tales of climbers and hunters, runners and racers, winners and losers by the Pulitzer Prize-winning reporter. New York Times reporter John Branch's riveting, humane features on ordinary people doing extraordinary things at the edges of the sporting world have won nearly every major journalism prize. Sidecountry gathers the best of Branch's work for the first time, including classic pieces like "Snow Fall," about skiers caught in an avalanche in Washington State, and "Dawn Wall," about rock climbers trying to scale Yosemite's famed El Capitan. In other articles, Branch introduces people whose dedication and decency transcend their sporting lives, including a revered football coach rebuilding his tornado-devastated town in Iowa and a girls' basketball team in Tennessee who play on, despite never winning a game. The book culminates with his moving personal pieces, including "The Girl in the No. 8 Jersey," about a mother killed in the Las Vegas shooting whose daughter happens to play on Branch's daughter's soccer team. |
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There and Back : Photographs from the Edge
by Jimmy Chin Captured from over 20 years of cutting-edge expeditions on all seven continents, the Academy Award-winning director of Free Solo and National Geographic photographer presents stunning images in death-defying situations that are sure to inspire wonder and awe. |
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Sidelined : sports, culture, and being a woman in America
by Julie DiCaro The award-winning sports radio host and co-creator of the Peabody-winning #MoreThanMean viral video draws on extensive research and first-person interviews in an examination of women’s rights and issues as reflected by the biases, systemic bullying and exploitations of professional sports. |
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Our team : the epic story of four men and the World Series that changed baseball
by Luke Epplin The riveting story of four men-Larry Doby, Bill Veeck, Bob Feller, and Satchel Paige-whose improbable union on the Cleveland Indians in the late 1940s would shape the immediate postwar era of Major League Baseball and beyond. In July 1947, not even three months after Jackie Robinson debuted on the Brooklyn Dodgers, snapping the color line that had segregated Major League Baseball, Larry Doby would follow in his footsteps on the Cleveland Indians. Though Doby, as the second Black player in the majors, would struggle during his first summer in Cleveland, his subsequent turnaround in 1948 from benchwarmer to superstar sparked one of the wildest and most meaningful seasons in baseball history. In intimate, absorbing detail, Our Team traces the story of the integration of the Cleveland Indians and their quest for a World Series title through four key participants: Bill Veeck, an eccentric and visionary owner adept at exploding fireworks on and off the field; Larry Doby, a soft-spoken, hard-hitting pioneer whose major-league breakthrough shattered stereotypes that so much of white America held about Black ballplayers; Bob Feller, a pitching prodigy from the Iowa cornfields who set the template for the athlete as businessman; and Satchel Paige, a legendary pitcher from the Negro Leagues whose belated entry into the majors whipped baseball fans across the country into a frenzy. Together, as the backbone of a team that epitomized the postwar American spirit in all its hopes and contradictions, these four men would captivate the nation by storming to the World Series--all the while rewriting the rules of what was possible in sports. |
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Giannis : the improbable rise of an NBA MVP
by Mirin Fader The incredible story of the NBA star, who rose from poverty in Athens, Greece, to super-stardom in America with the Milwaukee Bucks and how he has evolved into a devoted father, brother, son, teammate and global icon. |
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We want Bama : a season of hope and the making of Nick Saban's "Ultimate Team"
by Joe Goodman In this entertaining, sometimes shocking, chronicle of Nick Saban’s reign at Alabama, it is revealed how he created the most vaunted program in college football. 40,000 first printing. |
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A runner's high : My Life in Motion
by Dean Karnazes An iconic endurance runner shares the wisdom and lessons he’s learning from thirty years of running ultramarathons as well as his preparation to run the most difficult race of his life: the Western States 100. 75,000 fist printing. |
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All in : an autobiography
by Billie Jean King This autobiography from the tennis legend discusses not only her historic accomplishments on the court, but also her activism as a feminist and social justice fighter in the wake of her coming out as gay at age 51. |
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Cheated : the inside story of the Astros scandal and a colorful history of sign stealing
by Andy Martino This insider’s look at the 2019 cheating scandal tells the story of how the Houston Astros developed a pitch sign-stealing scheme that may have fueled their 2017 World Series win as well as the fallout from the scandal. |
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Tall men, short shorts : the 1969 NBA finals: Wilt, Russ, Lakers, Celtics, and a very young sports reporter
by Leigh Montville A New York Times bestselling author – and future sports writing legend – presents an exciting account of the 1969 NBA finals – one of the greatest upsets in basketball history. Illustrations. |
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The Big East : inside the most entertaining and influential conference in college basketball history
by Dana Pennett O'Neil Tells the story of the most powerful and entertaining league in college basketball history, from the formation of the league to the backstories of the people who shaped it, to inside the epic games and the players that sealed its relevance and laid the foundation for its eventual rebirth. |
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Bravey : chasing dreams, befriending pain, and other big ideas
by Alexi Pappas The award-winning writer, filmmaker and Olympic athlete describes her childhood embrace of female role models in the aftermath of her mother’s suicide, detailing the hard work, unrelenting resolve and private depression that challenged her own ambitions. Illustrations. |
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Raised a warrior : a memoir of soccer, grit, and leveling the playing field
by Susie Petruccelli A star athlete shares her account of triumph in the face of sexism, self-doubt, and injury, gives a global tour of the women's soccer world, and presents a call-to-action to secure equal pay and conditions. |
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Unguarded
by Scottie Pippen On the 30th anniversary of the Bulls’ first championship, the six-time NBA Champion, two-time Olympic gold medalist and Hall of Famer is finally giving fans a raw, matter-of-fact look into his life, and role within one of the greatest, most popular teams of all time. |
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Yoke : my yoga of self-acceptance
by Jessamyn Stanley The author of Every Body Yoga invites readers to find their own authentic “yoga of the everyday,” and learn to handle life’s toughest moments with the same flexibility, strength, grounding energy, and core awareness found in a headstand or Tadasana or cobra pose. |
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Shawn Thornton : fighting my way to the top
by Shawn Thornton Shawn Thornton was an unlikely NHL success, to say the least. The Oshawa, Ontario native was picked late in the OHL and later thought he was being pranked when the Toronto Maple Leafs called him to say he'd been selected in the seventh round of the 1997NHL draft. After years spent working and maturing in the AHL, Thornton would go on to play 14 seasons with the Chicago Blackhawks, Anaheim Ducks, Boston Bruins, and Florida Panthers, winning two Stanley Cups along the way. For the first time, in this candid memoir, Thornton opens up about his life in hockey and beyond, from his early days as an unrated prospect to the leadership lessons he learned in the minors, from the most difficult on-ice brawls to the ecstasy of reaching the sport's most celestial heights. |
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It's better to be feared : the New England Patriots dynasty and the pursuit of greatness
by Seth Wickersham With new reporting on Tom Brady's run to the Super Bowl with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. The explosive, long-awaited account of the making of the greatest dynasty in football history-from the acclaimed ESPN reporter who has been there from the very beginning. Over two unbelievable decades, the New England Patriots were not only the NFL's most dominant team, but also-and by far-the most secretive. How did they achieve and sustain greatness-and what were the costs? |
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The Kaepernick effect : taking a knee, changing the world
by Dave Zirin A veteran sportswriter interviews high school athletes, college athletes, pro athletes and others involved in the nationwide movement to "take a knee" in response to police brutality. |