It’s a great time to be a sports fan, with the World Cup and championships determined in both the NHL and the NBA.
Traci Thomas, host of “The Stacks” podcast, has gotten caught up in the sports fever. She and host Scott Tong talk about some good sports reads.
Book recommendations from Scott Tong
- “Soccernomics: (2026 World Cup Edition): Why European Men and American Women Usually Win—and American Men Don’t (Yet)” by Simon Kuper and Stefan Szymanski
- “Fever Pitch” by Nick Hornby
- “The Breaks of the Game” by David Halberstam
Book recommendations from Traci Thomas
SOCCER
- “We Are the World (Cup): A Personal History of the World’s Greatest Sporting Event – Soccer’s Triumphs, Heartbreaks, and the Passion That Unites Fans Worldwide” by Roger Bennett
- “Fear and Loathing in La Liga: Barcelona, Real Madrid, and the World’s Greatest Sports Rivalry” by Sid Lowe
- “How Soccer Explains the World: An Unlikely Theory of Globalization” by Franklin Foer
- “Among the Thugs (Vintage Departures)” by Bill Buford
- “The Girls of Summer: The U.S. Women’s Soccer Team and How It Changed the World” by Jere Longman
- “Masters of Modern Soccer: How the World’s Best Play the Twenty-First-Century Game” by Grant Wahl
- “Godwin” by Joseph O’Neill (Fiction)
- “Death of the Soccer God” by Dimitry Elias Léger (Fiction)
BASKETBALL
- “Blood in the Garden: The Flagrant History of the 1990s New York Knicks“by Chris Herring
- “The Sixth Man: A Memoir” by Andre Iguodala
- “Heartland: A Forgotten Place, an Impossible Dream, and the Miracle of Larry Bird” by Keith O’Brien
- “Dream Team: How Michael, Magic, Larry, Charles, and the Greatest Team of All Time Changed the Game of Basketball Forever” by Jack McCallum
- “There’s Always This Year: On Basketball and Ascension” by Hanif Abdurraqib
- “Basketball (and other Things): A Collection of Questions Asked, Answered, Illustrated” by Shea Serrano
BASEBALL
- “Charlie Hustle: The Rise and Fall of Pete Rose, and the Last Glory Days of Baseball” by Keith O’Brien
- “Crossroads: A Memoir in Baseball and Life” by Dusty Baker
- “The Natural” by Bernard Malamud (Fiction)
HOCKEY
- “The Boys of Winter: The Untold Story of a Coach, a Dream, and the 1980 U.S. Olympic Hockey Team” by Wayne Coffey
- “Heated Rivalry” series by Rachel Reid (Fiction)
OTHER SPORTS
- “Unbroken: A World War II Story of Survival, Resilience, and Redemption” by Laura Hillenbrand
- “Friday Night Lights: A Town, a Team, and a Dream” by H. B. Bissinger
- “Welcome to the Terrordome: The Pain, Politics and Promise of Sports” by Dave Zirin
- “Little Girls in Pretty Boxes: The Making and Breaking of Elite Gymnasts and Figure Skaters” by Joan Ryan
- “The Other Olympians: Fascism, Queerness, and the Making of Modern Sports” by Michael Waters
- “The Tennis Partner: A Doctor’s Story of Friendship and Loss” by Abraham Verghese
- “The Favorites” by Layne Fargo (Fiction)
- “Headshot” by Rita Bullwinkle (Fiction)
This article was originally published on WBUR.org.
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