Book Riot's Read Harder Challenge discussion

Use this space to discuss books you're reading or that might fit the first Read Harder task.

Some posts which might be helpful:

http://bookriot.com/2014/06/23/world-...

http://bookriot.com/2016/06/22/books-...

http://bookriot.com/2016/07/28/gymnas...

http://bookriot.com/2016/08/18/footba...

http://bookriot.com/2016/12/05/100-mu...

So would Tigers and Devils or The Perfect Game or The Art of Fielding count for this?

Would "Wild: From Lost to Found on the Pacific Crest Trail" count for this task?

This is not really my genre but I am going to read Pat Conroy's My Losing Season.

For this one I might go withCounting Coup: A True Story of Basketball and Honor on the Little Big Horn.

Darn those Olympic tie-ins, I did that this year with Dvora Meyers' End of the Perfect 10 on the history of gymnastics scoring/judging. It's interesting, if very US focused. Probably needed to be two books or differently organized. Half is historical background and rest is "modern" changes/approaches.

Lisa wrote: "Would "Wild: From Lost to Found on the Pacific Crest Trail" count for this task?"

Not sure hiking is a sport.

I think I'll be reading Moneyball. I've heard really good things, and I'm not very into sports so I think framing the sport in finance and numbers will be interesting. Probably will try the audiobook.

Boys in the Boat would be good for this too!

Does You Will Know Me really count? It's on the Book Riot gymnastics list above. I'm not a sports fan, but I feel I could read a fiction novel centered in the world of a sport.

I was thinking of reading Abby Wambach's memoir Forward so I think I will see if that works

Lisa wrote: "Would "Wild: From Lost to Found on the Pacific Crest Trail" count for this task?"

As a librarian and bookseller I can tell you that this book is typically kept with memoirs & biographies, however other nonfiction books about hiking/mountaineering are in fact shelved in the sports sections (e.g. Into Thin Air).

So ultimately it is up to you, as this topic is pretty broad and doesn't exclude memoir or biographies. I say if it feels good to you as a pick for this category, go for it. If you're hesitant, keep exploring your options.

Thanks for the replies about Wild - I'll have to think about it since I'm not a sports fan

Veronica wrote: "Does You Will Know Me really count? It's on the Book Riot gymnastics list above. I'm not a sports fan, but I feel I could read a fiction novel centered in the world of a sport."

Definitely!

I was thinking of "The Sport of Kings," a novel released this year about horse racing. (On the phone; I'll add a link in a bit.)

But I highly recommend "Friday Night Lights" and "The Boys in the Boat."

. At the risk of being self-promoting, here's a link to my blog's section from my own reading challenge of 2016, which included two sports categories (one history, one ethnography): http://readinglisten.blogspot.com/201...

Would blind Side count? And if not anyone got any recommendations for a nonsporty person who doesn't mind tennis, snooker or horse eventing?

As a Tennessee Vol and someone who idolizes Pat Summitt, I'm excited to have something to push me to cross Sum It Up: 1,098 Victories, a Couple of Irrelevant Losses, and a Life in Perspective by Pat Summitt off my TBR list.

I also had an extra credit category in this group - read a novel about sports.
Some obvious and not obvious ones
Malamud, The Natural (baseball)
Jane Smiley, Horse Crazy
Chad Harbach, The Art of Fielding
what I wound up reading - Michael Chabon tries kid-lit/YA: Summerland (baseball/fantasy)
also kid/YA - RR Knudson, Zanbanger, Zanballer and Zanboomer - girls high school sports & second wave feminism. I loved these when I was ten.

I was looking through my to-be-read list and I found Away Games. I'm considering reading this but would it count?

I think I'm going to go for Chrissie Wellington's book A Life Without Limits: A World Champion's Journey. Chrissie is originally from a village about 15 miles from where I live now so there's some extra local interest.

I'm reading Running: A Love Story by Jen A. Miller.

For anyone who has not read Friday Night Lights: A Town, a Team, and a Dream I can not recommend it more heartily. I am not a sports person and this is a book that changed the way I view many things, and has stayed with me though I read it over 20 years ago.

Yair wrote: "I'm gonna go with the Art of Fielding. Since the plot mostly revolves around the sport. And even Amazon has it listed as a book about a sport."

Great book!

How about The Throwback Special by Chris Bachelder ? Recently on the National Book award shortlist and about a group of men who gather to reenact a football play ...

What about Kwame Alexanders books? Either The Crossover or Booked? They´re about sports right?

For those of you into nonfiction & current events, Dan Washburn's The Forbidden Game: Golf and the Chinese Dream is a great, easy read about golf in the People's Republic of China--both from the point of view of people trying to play the sport, and capitalize off the sport market.

I wonder if The Little Communist Who Never Smiled counts for this?

I was thinking of reading Moneyball

I always thought I wasn't a sports fan until this year. My father was an avid St. Louis Cardinals fan his entire life and one of subjects he could discuss until a few days before his death was baseball, especially anything related to the Cardinals. We discussed baseball at his memorial and how baseball corresponds so closely to history, so if you like history you'll probably find something that corresponds with sports. I'll be reading David Halberstrom's October 1964 for this challenge. I couldn't really talk about baseball to my father, but I read One Summer: America, 1927 to him while I visited him this summer which has a great deal to do with baseball history.

For those who, like myself, are not big sports fans, remember it's just "sports". It doesn't have to be about the main ones like football, baseball, basketball etc.

My son's class learned all about the iditarod last year in school. He brought home Dogsledding and Extreme Sports: A nonfiction companion to Magic Tree House #54: Balto of the Blue Dawn from the school library.

I'm tempted to read that one as it would be a quick read, but in looking for the same subject, I think I'll read No End in Sight: My Life as a Blind Iditarod Racer

Priya wrote: "Boys in the Boat would be good for this too!"

OH! That's a great idea! Thanks for the suggestion :)

What about fictional sports like quidditch through the ages?

Veronica wrote: "Does You Will Know Me really count? It's on the Book Riot gymnastics list above. I'm not a sports fan, but I feel I could read a fiction novel centered in the world of a sport."

Good question- I just got this from BOMC and was thinking I would use it. I am so not into sports!

I was about to start What I Talk About When I Talk About Running by Haruki Murakami, but maybe I'll save it til January for this!

Just remembered I have had a copy of Seabiscuit lying around for years since the film. Think I'll put that on the pile for January and read it for this part of the challenge.

Thinking of going with The Crossover.

Just ordered a copy of "Down and Derby: The Insider's Guide to Roller Derby." It has 4.5 stars on Amazon.

Thinking of reading Val James's "Black Ice." I never found the time to read it this year.

Melissa wrote: "What about fictional sports like quidditch through the ages?"

I think that's perfectly acceptable! Great choice!

I'm thinking of going with Faithful: Two Diehard Boston Red Sox Fans Chronicle the Historic 2004 Season. I'm not super into sports but reading Stephen King and Stewart O'Nan's take on the Red Sox seems interesting!

(Plus I live in Boston so I feel like it's required that I read something about one of their teams haha)

I would love to find a good non-fiction (either memoir or journalistic) book about the equestrian world to meet this challenge. Any suggestions?

Penny wrote: "So would Tigers and Devils or The Perfect Game or The Art of Fielding count for this?"

I hope so for your sake The Art of Fielding is an amazing book!

I'm planning on reading Positively Fifth Street even though I question whether poker is really a sport!

Danielle wrote: "I'm thinking of going with Faithful: Two Diehard Boston Red Sox Fans Chronicle the Historic 2004 Season. I'm not super into sports but reading Stephen King and Stewart O'Nan's take on ..."

I'm near St. Louis, so that book is not even legal in my state, or at least it shouldn't be. :-) Instead, I've always wanted to read Three Nights in August: Strategy, Heartbreak, and Joy Inside the Mind of a Manager since that's about Tony LaRussa and the Cardinals, which still has more World Championships than the Red Sox. :-P

Michelle wrote: "Melissa wrote: "What about fictional sports like quidditch through the ages?"

I think that's perfectly acceptable! Great choice!"

I concur!

Bonnie wrote: "For anyone who has not read Friday Night Lights: A Town, a Team, and a Dream I can not recommend it more heartily. I am not a sports person and this is a book that changed the way I vi..."

I will likely go with this one. I know I have a copy here...somewhere....

I know the "rules" aren't strict but is the intent for this to be non-fiction?

Shawn wrote: "I know the "rules" aren't strict but is the intent for this to be non-fiction?"

No. There are one or two novels listed in the suggestions in the first post.