Other books that might interest you

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  Sherpa Hospitality as a Cure for...

  Mark Horrell

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  The heroic story of how Sherpas stood up and took control of their destiny 
  Ever since Europeans started exploring the world’s highest mountains and trying to reach their summits in the early 20th century, Sherpas have been an integral part of mountaineering expeditions to the Himalayas. In this anthology curated from his popular Footsteps on the Mountain blog, Mark Horrell explores the evolution of Sherpa mountaineers, from the porters of early expeditions to the superstar climbers of the present day. 
  Writing with trademark warmth and humour, he starts by bringing to life the Sherpa characters of the early days, describing their customs and superstitions, and putting their contributions and achievements into context. 
  In the deeply personal second section of the book, he covers some of the conflicts of the 21st century, when a series of high-profile controversies highlighted the tensions between Sherpas and western climbers on Everest. He was a witness to a devastating avalanche in the Khumbu Icefall that killed 16 Nepali mountain workers and led to a labour dispute, and he describes the events that followed from a commercial client’s perspective. 
  In the final section of the book, he brings the story up to date and looks to the future, as Sherpas have moved out of the limelight of westerners, running successful mountaineering expedition companies and becoming celebrated climbers in their own right.

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  Comeback

  Dave Dravecky, Tim Stafford

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  An MLB All-Star’s true story of losing an arm to cancer—and finding strength through his faith—gives “new depth and meaning to the word comeback” (The New York Times).   In one of the most memorable moments of Major League Baseball, Dave Dravecky of the San Francisco Giants pitched a winning game less than a year after undergoing cancer surgery on his pitching arm. But his comeback was short-lived. Just five days after his winning game, Dravecky broke his arm—and would later lose it entirely as the cancer returned.   Dravecky’s true comeback would come later, as a bestselling author and inspirational speaker offering strength, hope, and comfort inspired by Christian teachings and his own experience with suffering and loss. This book recounts the thrilling details of Dravecky’s two comebacks—from his early baseball career and brief return to the pitching mound to his ultimate triumph over adversity through unflagging determination and deep faith.   “Dave Dravecky was young, popular, celebrated and at the height of his powers when life threw him a curveball he never could have imagined. . . . There is an inspirational tone to the book, as well as the wit and flavor common to baseball, when Mr. Dravecky gives anecdotes about teammates and managers and offers a few insider’s tips about the sport.” —The New York Times   “This is first a baseball book: details of his career are provided; the description of the comeback victory over the Reds is particularly effective. The other story here is one of a battle with cancer. It will be excellent reading for others battling the disease. Dravecky finds much of his strength in his religious beliefs, and the work is also a testimonial to that faith.” —Library Journal  

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  Football for a Buck - The Crazy...

  Jeff Pearlman

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  The United States Football League was the last football league to not merely challenge the mighty NFL but also to cause it to collectively shudder. It spanned three seasons, featured as many as eighteen teams, secured multiple television deals, drew millions of fans, and launched the careers of legends—but then it died beneath the weight of a particularly egotistical and bombastic owner, a New York businessman named Donald Trump. In Football for a Buck, Jeff Pearlman draws on more than four hundred interviews to unearth all the salty, untold stories of one of the craziest sports entities to have ever captivated America. From 1980s drug excess to some of the most enthralling and revolutionary football ever seen, Pearlman transports listeners back in time to this crazy, boozy, audacious era of the game. He shows how fortunes were made and lost and how, thirty years ago, Trump was a scoundrel and a spoiler. This is sports as high entertainment—and a cautionary tale of the dangers of ego and excess.

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  Cycling King Alfred's Way - A...

  Julia Goodfellow-Smith

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  ‘A wonderfully inspiring story … an education in every part of preparing for this epic ride’ 
  Guy Kesteven, author of the Cycling UK King Alfred’s Way guidebook and creator of www.pedallingpast.com 
  What’s it really like to cycle King Alfred’s Way? Is it a piece of cake, or rather harder than that? 
  Julia Goodfellow-Smith was a non-cyclist just six weeks before she and her mountain biking friend Alison set off on this epic 350km route around southern England. Follow Julia’s sometimes bumpy journey from cycling novice to riding King Alfred’s Way itself. 
  In Cycling King Alfred’s Way: A Piece of Cake? you’ll discover what each section of the route is like to cycle, as well as strategies to:Plan your adventure.Make cycling more comfortable.Reach the top of hills without stopping or pushing.Carry on when things get tough.Stay healthy. 
  Whether you’re an experienced cycle tourer or rookie like Julia, learn from her mistakes – and her successes – to make your next bikepacking adventure the best possible success.

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  Foul Ball

  Jim Bouton

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  With his trademark wit and distinctive voice, legendary Ball Four author Jim Bouton recounts his battle against local elites' efforts to replace Wahconah Park, one of the oldest parks in the United States, against the wishes and votes of local citizens. But Foul Ball is more than just a lively romp about saving an old ballpark near Bouton's home in Massachusetts. In a detailed diary—his first since Ball Four—Bouton takes us along on his wild ride into the teeth of corporate malfeasance, anti-democratic processes, the tyranny of a one-newspaper town, and the real reason why the good old boys wanted to build a new stadium. For the first time in two decades, enjoy Foul Ball as never before with freshly edited content and a new foreword from Jim Bouton's wife, Paula.c

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  Love Game - A History of Tennis...

  Elizabeth Wilson

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  A journey through the history, culture, and mystique of tennis from “an original and provocative mind” (The Wall Street Journal). 
   
  If you’ve watched Rafael Nadal spin a forehand at 4000 rpm, Maria Sharapova arabesque out of a serve, Serena Williams utterly destroy a short ball, or Roger Federer touch a volley into an impossibly angled winner, you know how exciting tennis can be. This book reveals the long history and unique culture behind the sport. With a penchant for tennis’s inherent drama, historian Elizabeth Wilson finds its core: a psychological face-off between flamboyant personalities navigating the ebbs and flows of fortune in the confines of a 78 x 36–foot box—whether of clay, grass, or DecoTurf. 
   
  Walking the finely kempt lawns of Victorian England, she shows how tennis’s early role as a social pastime that included both men and women—and thus, lots of sexual tension—set it apart from most other sports and their dominant masculine appeal. Even today, when power and endurance are more important than ever, tennis still demands that the body behave gracefully and with finesse. In this way, Wilson shows, tennis has retained the vibrant spectacle of human drama and beauty that have always made it special, not just to sports fans but to popular culture. 
   
  Telling the stories of all the greats, from the Renshaw brothers to Novak Djokovic, and of all the advances, from wooden racquets to network television schedules, Wilson offers a tennis book like no other, keeping the court square in our sights as history is illuminated around it. 
   
  “A sporting history unlike any I’ve read—one that, in its sophistication and thoughtfulness, shows up the hollowness of most other accounts.” —Observer

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