PicoBlog

🏀 Dream: The Life and Legacy of Hakeem Olajuwon by Mirin Fader. I loved watching Hakeem as a kid and Fader’s bio of Giannis is fantastic so this promises to be great.

🏈 Out of the Darkness: The Magic and Mystery of Aaron Rodgers by Ian O'Connor. O’Connor’s biographies are always a must-read and whether you like or loathe Rodgers he’s undeniably a fascinating sportsman.

🤼 Macho Man: The Untamed, Unbelievable Life of Randy Savage by Jon Finkel. Can’t think of a better combo of subject and biographer than the WWF icon and the always entertaining and uplifting Finkel.

⚽ Played in Germany: A Footballing Journey Through a Nation's Soul by Kit Holden. I loved Holden’s first book on Union Berlin so very much looking forward to this one.

⚾ Charlie Hustle: The Rise and Fall of Pete Rose and the Last Glory Days of Baseball by Keith O’Brien

⚽ Narcoball: Love, Death and Football in Escobar's Colombia by David Arrowsmith. An exploration of Colombian club football during Escobar's rise and fall.

⚾ The Last of His Kind: Clayton Kershaw and the Burden of Greatness by Andy McCullough

🏀 The Real Hoosiers: Crispus Attucks High School, Oscar Robertson, and the Hidden History of Hoops by Jack McCallum. Everything McCallum writes is a must-read book.

⚽ Va-Va-Voom: The Modern History of French Football by Tom Williams. I’ll have to skip over the Henry handball chapter, but other than that this should be great!

🏀 Magic in the Air: The Myth, the Mystery, and the Soul of the Slam Dunk by Mike Sielski. I loved Sielski’s previous book on Kobe’s origins.

🚴 Angel of the Mountains: The Strange Case of Charly Gaul by Paul Maunder. Bio of the 1958 Tour de France winner who became a hermit after retiring from the sport.

🏏 Getting Out: The Ukrainian Cricket Team's Last Stand on the Front Lines of War by Jonathan Campion.

🎲💸Imitation Games: How the Gambling Industry Hijacked Sport in Britain (and Why the US Is Next) by Darragh McGee

🏎️ The Formula: How Rogues, Geniuses, and Speed Freaks Reengineered F1 into the World's Fastest-Growing Sport by Joshua Robinson and Jonathan Clegg. Big fan of Clegg and Robinson’s other two books on the Premier League and Messi v Ronaldo so this should be a must read.

⚽ Smart Money: The Fall and Rise of Brentford FC by Alex Duff. I loved Duff’s book on the business side of the Tour de France so seems like an ideal writer to look at one of the more fascinating teams in English football.

♟️ The Chess Revolution: How Artificial Intelligence and the Internet Brought A 1500-Year-Old Game to New Heights by Peter Doggers

🤼‍♂️The Six Pack: On the Open Road in Search of Wrestlemania by Brad Balukjian. I was a huge fan of Balukijan’s previous book The Wax Pack and he follows the same approach of tracking down former wrestlers based on which trading cards were in a pack.

🏈 The End of College Football by Nathan Kalman-Lamb and Derek Silva. Promises to be a comprehensive indictment of the harms produced by the college football system.

⚽ Inside the Hermit Kingdom: Football Stories from Stalinist Albania by Phil Harrison. Charts Albanian football during the Communist regime until political change came in 1991.

⚽ How to Win the Premier League: The Inside Story of Football’s Data Revolution by Ian Graham. Promises to be a fascinating book by former Liverpool data chief and hopefully the first real insider account of how data has been used by a major football club.

⚽ No Questions Asked: How Football Joined the Crypto Con by Martin Calladine. Very much looking forward to this one exploring the shameful promotion of crypto by footballers and teams.

Played in Germany: A Footballing Journey Through a Nation's Soul by Kit Holden. I loved Holden’s first book on Union Berlin so very much looking forward to this one.

The Life of Total Football: The Origins and Development of Football's Most Entertaining Philosophy by James Jackson

Narcoball: Love, Death and Football in Escobar's Colombia by David Arrowsmith. An exploration of Colombian club football during Escobar's rise and fall.

Va-Va-Voom: The Modern History of French Football by Tom Williams

How to Win the Premier League: The Inside Story of Football’s Data Revolution by Ian Graham. Promises to be a fascinating book by former Liverpool data chief and hopefully the first real insider account of how data has been used by a major football club.

Smart Money: The Fall and Rise of Brentford FC by Alex Duff. I loved Duff’s book on the business side of the Tour de France so seems like an ideal writer to look at one of the more fascinating teams in English football.

Inside the Hermit Kingdom: Football Stories from Stalinist Albania by Phil Harrison. Charts Albanian football during the Communist regime until political change came in 1991.

Bring Me That Horizon: A Journey to the Soul of Portuguese Football by Miguel Lourenço Pereira

Rinascimento by Tom Underhill. A look at Napoli’s 22/23 season

The Thinkers’ Factory: How Italian Coaching Conquered The World by Karan Tejwani. A look at Italian coaching over the last century.

Kicking Off Around The World: 55 Stories From When Football Met Politics by Ramon Usall

The Africa Cup of Nations: The History of an Underappreciated Tournament by Ben Jackson

Go To War: How the ’80s Rocked Football by Jon Spurling

90+2: Last Minute Moments that Changed Football History by John Boland

Rebuilding Manchester United: The DNA and Future of the World's Greatest Football Club by Wayne Barton. A deep dive into what made Man Utd into such a successful club under Busby and Ferguson. Barton has published a staggering amount of great books on Utd’ past.

The Team that Could Have Been: The Rise and Fall of Crystal Palace's Team of the 80s by Stephen Brandt. I haven’t read much about Palace during this period so this promises to be pretty interesting. Malcolm Allison and Terry Venables didn’t know how to be boring!

It's Coming Home (Probably): England's Football Team and One Man's Many Years of Hurt by John McNicoll

Chaos, Controversy and THAT Kung Fu Kick by Rob Fletcher. A deep dive on the 94/95 Premier League season.

Data Game: The Story of Liverpool FC's Analytics Revolution by Josh Williams

Win or Else: Soviet Football in Moscow and Beyond, 1921–1985 by Larry E. Holmes. Explores the tensions between political ideology and the promotion of football in the Soviet Union.

O Jogo Bonito!: Brazil’s 1970 World Cup Samba Party by Gary Thacker. Thacker’s books are always entertaining reads.

Too Good to be Forgotten: Three Wise Men from Football’s Golden Era by Ben Dobson. A look at Clough, Robson and McMenemy during the 1975-1985 period.

We Were Really There: The Rebirth of Manchester City by David Bernstein with Tim Rich. Former City Chairman on his 5 years at the helm as City rebuilt after relegation to the third tier.

Tales of South American Football— Passion, Revolution and Glory by Jorge Knijnik

Los Leones: The Unique Story of Athletic Club Bilbao by Christopher Evans

Rise of a New Dynasty: FC Barcelona Femini's Emerging Legacy by Abdullah Abdullah

The Striker and the Clock: On Being in the Game by Georgia Cloepfil

Kit and Community by Matt Riley

The 1994 World Cup: Glory, Drama, Heat, and Legacy by Hyusein Arabadzhiez

Unico Grande Amore: AS Roma in the 21st century by Marc Lamberts

FC Barcelona: History, Politics and Identity edited by Jim O'Brien, Xavier Ginesta and Jordi de San Eugenio. An academic study of the famous Catalan club.

The story of Boca Juniors historic 1969 season under coach Alfredo di Stefano by renowned Xenieze historian Leandro Cordobez. No title yet.

España 82: A Hazy Shade of Summer by Stuart Horsfield

Where Legends Were Born: Melwood, the Complete Story by Arngrimur Baldursson and Carl Clemente. A look at Liverpool’s youth academy.

Mucky Boots: Triumphs, Trials and Tragedies of a Football Club Owner by Kevin McCabe with Peter Beeby. McCabe is the former owner and chairman of Sheffield United.

Double Acts: A Modern History of Tottenham Hotspur in Ten-and-a-Half Partnerships by Julie Welch

We’re Going To Wembley: Scotland’s Euro ‘96 journey by John Bleasdale and Neil Doherty

George Best Down Under by Lucas Gillard with contribution from Jason Goldsmith

The Unhappy Hero: A Revealing Insight into the Turbulent Life of Lars Elstrup, Danish Darling and Luton Town Saviour by Carsten Fog Hansen and Jens Rasmussen.

Liverpool Football Club Ruined My Life: Sixty Years of Supporting Everton by Robert Waterhouse

Manchester Corinthians: The Authorised History. The Story of a Pioneering Women’s Club. As told to Dr. Gary James by those who were there.

From Red to Read: The Story of Fergie's First Fledgling by Alan Tonge with Michael Garvey

Jimmy Armfield: The Authorised Biography by Roy Calley. Bio of the former England and Blackpool defender.

Lions in the Wilderness: England's Decade Of Decline by Clive Hetherington and Joe Hetherington

Sweeper Keeper: The Story of Tommy Lawrence, Scotland and Liverpool's Legendary Flying Pig by Peter Kenny Jones

Political Football: A Journey Through Supporter Activism in the UK by Neil Cowan

Heaven Up Here: The Story of Liverpool's 1981/82 League and League Cup Double by Mike Nevin

Legally Red by Maurice Watkins. Memoir from the former Man Utd lawyer and director.

The Magic of the FA Cup!: More Than 150 Years of the World's Greatest Cup Competition by Bob Bond

One Shilling: The Football Programme Design Revolution of 1965-85 by Matthew Caldwell and Alan Dein

A Culture of Kits: The Definitive Guide to Classic Football Shirt Collecting by John Blair

Radicalised by FIFA: A Call to Activism by Prof Jean Williams

A League of Their Own: the greatest players of the A-League’s first 20 years by Shanen O’Brien.

Black Arsenal edited by Clive Nwonka and Matthew Harle. Collection of essays looking at the contribution of Black players to Arsenal and the broader impact on Black British popular culture.

Amoruso Lets it Run: Heart of Midlothian 1990-1998 by Scott McIntosh

Leeds United Memorabilia: A History of United Artefacts and Paraphernalia by Robert Endeacott and Neil Barker

A Football Fan’s Survival Guide by Mark Goldbridge. YouTuber turns author.

Charlie Hustle: The Rise and Fall of Pete Rose and the Last Glory Days of Baseball by Keith O’Brien

The Last of His Kind: Clayton Kershaw and the Burden of Greatness by Andy McCullough

Pretend the Ball Is Named Jim Crow: The Story of Josh Gibson by Dorian Hairston

The Enchanted Season by Lance Parrish and Tom Gage. The inside story of the Detroit Tigers 1984 season.

The Louisville Grays and the Myth of Baseball's First Great Scandal by Wendell Lloyd Jones

Shadows of Glory: Memorable and Offbeat World Series Stories and Dave Brown and Jeff Rodimer

Season of Shattered Dreams: Postwar Baseball, the Spokane Indians, and a Tragic Bus Crash That Changed Everything by Eric Vickrey

Team of Destiny: Walter Johnson, Clark Griffith, Bucky Harris, and the 1924 Washington Senators by Gary Sarnoff

Mike Donlin: A Rough and Rowdy Life from New York Baseball Idol to Stage and Screen by Steve Steinberg and Lyle Spatz. Bio of one of the first sports celebrities in the US.

Frank Chance's Diamond: The Baseball Journalism of Ring Lardner by Ron Rapoport

Baseball's Great Expectations: Candid Stories of Ballplayers Who Didn't Live Up to the Hype by Patrick Montgomery

Cardinal Dreams: The Legacy of Charlie Peete and a Life Cut Short by Danny Spewak

Schoolboy: The Untold Journey of a Yankees Hero by Waite Hoyt and Tim Manners. Posthumous memoir of Hoyt, based on his writings and interviews.

Baseball Heaven: Up Close and Personal, What It Was Really Like in the Major Leagues by Peter Golenbock

The Gas and Flame Men: Baseball and the Chemical Warfare Service during World War I by Jim Leeke

Under Jackie's Shadow: Voices of Black Minor Leaguers Baseball Left Behind by Mitchell Nathanson

Searching for Toothpick Sam: A Baseball Card Odyssey by Jamie Selko

Roberto Alomar: The Complicated Life and Legacy of a Baseball Hall of Famer by David Ostrowsky

The New York Game: Baseball and the Rise of a New City by Kevin Baker

Work, Fight, or Play Ball: How Bethlehem Steel Helped Baseball's Stars Avoid World War I by William Ecenbarger

The Fenway Effect: A Cultural History of the Boston Red Sox by David Krell

Big Cat: The Life of Baseball Hall of Famer Johnny Mize by Jerry Grillo

The Original Louisville Slugger: The Life and Times of Forgotten Baseball Legend Pete Browning by Tim Newby

Lion of the League: Bob Emslie and the Evolution of the Baseball Umpire by

Larry R. Gerlach. Bio of the former player and umpire whose career spanned the formative years of modern baseball.

Behind the Gold Glove by Dwight Evans and Erik Sherman. Memoir of the Red Sox Legend.

Don Drysdale: Up and In: The Life of a Dodgers Legend by Mark Whicker

Lose Yourself (a novel) by Vince Wetzel

Dream: The Life and Legacy of Hakeem Olajuwon by Mirin Fader

The Real Hoosiers: Crispus Attucks High School, Oscar Robertson, and the Hidden History of Hoops by Jack McCallum

Magic in the Air: The Myth, the Mystery, and the Soul of the Slam Dunk by Mike Sielski

Pipeline to the Pros: How D3, Small College Nobodies Rose to Rule the NBA by Ben Kaplan and Danny Parkins

Kingdom on Fire: Kareem, Wooden, Walton, and the Turbulent Days of the UCLA Basketball Dynasty by Scott Howard-Cooper

Strong Inside: Perry Wallace and the Collision of Race and Sports in the South by Andrew Maraniss

It's Hard for Me to Live with Me: A Memoir by Rex Chapman with Seth Davis

The Wizard of College Baseball: How Ron Fraser Elevated Miami and an Entire Sport to National Prominence by David Brauer

Hoop Atlas: Mapping the Remarkable Transformation of the Modern NBA by Kirk Goldsberry. Described as a visual feast by the publisher.

Big Time: The History of Big Ten Basketball, 1972-1992 by Murry R. Nelson

The Grandfather of Black Basketball: The Life and Times of Dr. E. B. Henderson by Edwin Bancroft Henderson II

They Call Me Goose: My Life in Kentucky Basketball and Beyond by Jack Givens with Doug Brunk

Earl the Twirl: My Life in Basketball by Earl Cureton and Jake Uitti

Macho Man: The Untamed, Unbelievable Life of Randy Savage by Jon Finkel

The Formula: How Rogues, Geniuses, and Speed Freaks Reengineered F1 into the World's Fastest-Growing Sport by Joshua Robinson and Jonathan Clegg. Big fan of Clegg and Robinson’s other two books on the Premier League and Messi v Ronaldo so this should be a must read.

Imitation Games: How the Gambling Industry Hijacked Sport in Britain (and Why the US Is Next) by Darragh McGee

The Chess Revolution: How Artificial Intelligence and the Internet Brought A 1500-Year-Old Game to New Heights by Peter Doggers

The Six Pack: On the Open Road in Search of Wrestlemania by Brad Balukjian. I was a huge fan of Balukijan’s previous book The Wax Pack and he follows the same approach of tracking down former wrestlers based on which trading cards were in a pack.

Completely Mad: Tom McClean, John Fairfax, and the Epic of the Race to Row Solo Across the Atlantic by James R. Hansen

Outofshapeworthlessloser: A Memoir of Figure Skating, F*cking Up, and Figuring It Out by Gracie Gold

Andy Varipapa: Bowling's First Superstar by Glenn Gerstner

The Darkest White: A Mountain Legend and the Avalanche That Took Him by Eric Blehm. Bio of snowboarder Craig Kelly.

The Early Days of ESPN: 300 Daydreams and Nightmares by Peter Fox. Fox was one of the founders of the pioneering sports TV network.

The Black Widow by Jeanette Lee with Dana Benbow. Memoir of the billiards player so iconic she got her own 30 for 30 ESPN documentary.

Jim Thorpe: World's Greatest Athlete by Robert W. Wheeler

A Plague on All Your Sports: How Sport and the Pandemic Collided by Bill Ribbans and Mark Saggers

Seoul Ambition: The Story and Science of South Korea’s Hyper-Focused Athletes by Joel Cressman

Inside Out: A Story of Sport, Family and Self by Erin Phillips. Memoir by the women’s Aussie Rules (AFLW) player.

The Glory of '86: The Year Boston Ruled the Sports World by Tom Van Riper

Out of Left Field: A Sportswriter’s Last Word by Stan Isaacs

The Hamilton Notes by George Hamilton. A second memoir from the Irish sports broadcaster.

Resilient: The Untold Story of CrossFit's Greatest Comeback by Brooke Wells

Warming Up: How Climate Change is Changing Sports by Madeleine Orr

In a League of Her Own: Celebrating Female Firsts in Sports by Bonnie-Jill Laflin

The Burden of Sports: How and Why Athletes Struggle with Mental Health by John Weston Parry

Becky Lynch: The Man: Not Your Average Average Girl by Rebecca Quin

Ballyhoo!: The Roughhousers, Con Artists, and Wildmen Who Invented Professional Wrestling by Jon Langmead

Gold from Iron: A Humble Beginning, Olympic Dreams, and the Power in Getting Back Up by Nick Baumgartner with Jeff Seidel

Our Fight by Ronda Rousey. Another memoir from the UFC / WWE fighter

Growing Wings: The inside story of Red Bull Racing by Ben Hunt

How to Win a Grand Prix by Bernie Collins. Promises to lift the lid on how an F1 team really works.

Enzo Ferrari: The definitive biography of Enzo Ferrari by Luca Dal Monte

Speed Capital: Indianapolis Auto Racing and the Making of Modern America by Brian M. Ingrassia

F1 Confidential by Giles Richards

Turning The Tide by Michelle Ford with Craig Lord

Jockey Queen: Lillian Jenkinson Holder, Horse Racing’s Fearless Lady by Roger Peach

Unbound: Unforgettable True Stories from the World of Endurance Sports by Bill Donahue

Beyond the Game. A new series for 1st/2nd graders on athletes who have helped other people outside of sports by Andrew Maraniss.

Swimming Pretty: The Untold Story of Women in Water by Vicki Valosik

Sports Illustrated True Crime: Great Writing from the Pages of Sports Illustrated

A comic novel from Russ Bradburd about a football team that takes over the entire university

Rippa! (a novel) by P.J. Laverty