A book about or involving a sport?

[Composteleana]

Mumsnetters I need your help. Last year I took part in the ultimate popsugar reading challenge over on goodreads (the name is offputting but there’s some thought provoking prompts and lots of recommendations over there if you’re interested) and am going to attempt it again this year because I like the way it makes me try books I wouldn’t normally.

This prompt however - a book about or involving a sport - is seriously troubling me. Every single sport ever invented could fall off the face of the Earth and it would make precious little difference to my life, except I’d lose my two evenings with sole charge of the tv remote if DP couldn’t play football. I will watch some athletics, the odd game of tennis and even a smidge of football if pressed, but I don’t care for it in my fiction. I always find the big match/race/fight scene of a film that is supposed to be the climax to be rather tedious, and I’ve even less interest in reading descriptions of them - I even skipped the quidditch sections in Harry Potter.

So are there any books you’ve read that are about sport but not really? Anything you could recommend me that involves sport but doesn’t focus on it exclusively or give blow by blow accounts of various matches/games etc. I like literary type fiction really, but am not adverse to a bit of trash now and then. I could do a non fiction book if it had a social/historical focus rather than being a straight history of x team or y sport. Or maybe a really good biography of a sporting figure that also had a fascinating life outside sport?

Everything being recommended on the goodreads group seems to be pretty USA focused, I was thinking if I must read about sport I’d rather avoid baseball etc, though why I think it’ll make a difference I don’t know. I’ve read both Fever Pitch by Nick Hornby and (the infinitely superior ) Polo by Jilly Cooper many moons ago so if it comes to it a reread of one of those might have to do.

So please can you recommend anything that involves sport but would still be of interest to the non- fan, or failing that something that is at least very short?

The Singles Game by Lauren Weisberger. Chick lit that happens to feature a tennis player.

I second Leap In and Wild.

Game Of Polo with a Headless Goat

A female journalist travels through Asia in search of obscure traditional sports, like camel wrestling, bull racing and Turkish oil wrestling finding out a lot about culture and traditions as she goes. Well written and fascinating. I don’t like much sport, but I loved this.

Hello, OP here with name change as I just fancied a change!

Thanks again for all the recommendations- from absolutely dreading this prompt I now have quite a few additions to my ‘to read’ list. @jedenfalls that sounds just my cup of tea!

One autobiography that stands out for me is 'Breaking the Surface' by Greg Louganis, the US diver. It tells the story of his diving career but also about dealing with being gay and HIV+.

Lots of great sports autobiographies around even if you're not that interested in sport.

Playing the Moldovans at Tennis by Tony Hawks is also quite entertaining.

The Boys in the Boat by Daniel James Brown. Fascinating read about the US men’s 8 which went to the 1934 Olympics. It particularly focuses on Joe Rantz, but all the members overcame a huge amount of adversity and were a group of scrappy underdogs who went on to win gold, beating a heavily favoured and far better resourced German team.

I second the recommendation of Andre Agassi's autobiography. Loved it!

Oh and playing the Moldovans' at Tennis. Loved this too

Late to this, but how about The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner by Alan Sillitoe?

Running with the Kenyans by Adharand Finn is a great read.

He moved to Kenya with his young family to train alongside the Kenyans.

Would second The Boys in the Boat as recommended above. I don't like sports books much, but this was fascinating.

@Mominatrix and @OCSockOrphanage

(Name changed) OP here to say thank you for recommending The Boys in the Boat which I have just finished and absolutely loved.

Only took me 7 months to get round to reading it

There’s were so many good recommendations on this thread that I’m much keener to try now!

Does anyone walking count? I loved, loved, loved, loved Robert Macfarlane's The Old Ways. It's not sport really, but he does walk a lot.

Tami Hoag has two excellent crime novels set in Florida's seasonal equestrian training and competition scene, Dark Horse and Alibi Man. Tami Hoag is an accomplished dressage rider herself, so there's a nice authenticity to the setting.

I'm quite fond of early Dick Francis - there's a lot of interesting stuff about being a steeplechase jockey. Dick Francis was a champion jockey himself, so again, he's writing from his own experience.

Harlan Coben's early Myron Bolitar thrillers were set around sport, mostly basketball.

Oops. Zombie thread. Still, do read The Old Ways, it's fab.

So glad you liked The Boys in the Boat. (Have name-changed).

If you like horses, I'd agree that Dick Francis writes excellent crime novels set in racing. His best (IMVHO) is Reflex which is interesting about photography too, and sees a character accept change rather than staying static in their familiar territory. I like Straight for much the same reason.

The Art Of Racing in the rain. A wannabe racing driver. Except it isn't about that really. You will weep.

To the people who like mountaineering there is an Archer book about the first person to (possibly) conquer Everest. Subject doesn't interest me remotely and I still found it fascinating.

Following!

Running like a girl, by Alexandra Hemingsly I think. It's about a girl who is really lazy and unfit, who decides to run the London marathon

I read Running like a girl thought it was great fun, also really enjoyed Haruki Murakami What I talk about When I talk about running. There are some great martial arts memoirs like Angry White Pyjamas too.

I also enjoyed the Jeffrey Archer book MIP suggests, and no I can't remember the name. I enjoyed it because George Mallory's first love became a novelist (Ann Bridge) whose work I have loved since I was a teenager. She was, in her youth, a serious climber. She married a diplomat, went to China, and many other countries afterwards and wrote about it all.

I see I have been beaten to The Boys in the Boat by several pp.

very good-true story and fascinating bit of history

Chris cleave really good easy read about Olympic cyclists it’s a fiction novel, I think it’s called Gold v good I thought, the cycling is reassuringly incidental