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Off on holiday next week and looking for some light reading.
I'm usually a bit of an autobiography type reader with a slant towards sport.
I'm reading Chickenhawk right now, which is excellent. Lighter than it sounds from the synopsis and fits(ish) the autobiography genre.
50 shades of grey.
Go on you know you want to
Perfect holiday read. Kind of autobiography about a kind of sport person
https://www.amazon.com/Man-Behind-Shades-Pokers-Greatest/dp/0297849034.
For a light feel good bio, October sky by Homer H Hickam is a great read. I'd read it year's ago and enjoyed it very much, found it recently and it's in the to read again pile.
Cycling the Earth was an easy read. Also like the Bill Bryson stuff, A Walk in the Woods is kinda sporty.
One more croissant for the road by Felicity Clarke.
Cycling and food and occasionally rather humourous. For those who have ridden in France it's recognisable.
Also comes with recipes.
Definitely that one about that Italian-American runner in WW2. Brother used to cycle alongside him. What was it?
Zamperini was his name.
*Edit: Book = ‘Unbroken: A World War II Story of Survival, Resilience, and Redemption‘
Also take a look at the reviews for his co-written biography ‘Devil At My Heels’
Which holiday book would I recommend? A completely unrelated and perfect little novel called
‘A Short Gentleman’ by Jon Canter
Hilarious. Brilliantly written. Autobiographical/1st person fictional novel about a man born into the Conservative uppercrust family mold and his lacklustre attempts to escape into the unfolding excitement of the 1970s/1980s.
Prior to this I stopped reading for some reason for years, which as a previously avid reader was quite alarming. Someone loaned me the book a few years ago and I read the first, was instantly hooked, then devoured it with belly laughs. Highest praise I can muster. It cured me of not reading.
Short Ride on A Fast Machine.
It has everything,sex,drugs,owls and cycling.
If you like bike racing then Tim Krabbé's The Rider is an absolute classic. It's a novel, but I think it tells you more about bike racing than any autobiography I've ever read.
Life by Keith Richards. A pretty frank autobiography, warts and all. I had to google most of the substances he was ingesting, injecting etc
It's not the cheeriest read, but I loved H Is For Hawk - beautiful, moving, and falconry's a sport. 🙂
Too Much and Never Enough, the new book by Mary Trump is all at the same time; fascinating, awful, sleazy, and a nightmarish window on family dysfunction.
Perfect holiday reading
eyestwice, can you give me the name of your optician, I obviously need new spectacles with special coloured lenses.
Best thing I have read recently is Midnight in Chernobyl. I don't usually do non-fiction, and you kinda know the ending, but it was a total page-turner, even if you did see the TV series. Big recommend!
If you have a kindle this is 99p today
https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B002RI92PC/
A friend recently leant me As I Walked Out... and I loved it, thanks for the PSA! 🙂
I rate Racing Through The Dark by Davis Millar
Mainly because you keep thinking, "how can sports teams be this badly organised?". But well written and lots of useful insights
I enjoyed 'Step by Step' - sort of autobiography of Simon Reeve, the TV presenter and traveller. It's quite inspiring showing how he developed from delinquent teenager to travelling the world presenting TV series with lots of anecdotal stories of many of the situations he has found himself in.
Emily Chappell - what goes around. Great author, really engaging, and humorous. Story of her life as a bike courier in London.
I rate Racing Through The Dark by David Millar
Me too. I was on a cycling autobiography kick at that point; Tyler Hamilton's The Secret Race was also excellent
SHUNT book about james hunt very interesting
Eddie Jordan's book is a great read to.
Try Bryson or Tim Moore for more experience type books
Oh and jill homer artic glass is a good read about the irtrod race
The Damned United - I hate football but it's a good book
If you fancied a change from your usual then ‘a man walks into a pub’ by Pete Browne is a step away, but not too far. It could be described as a biography of pubs and beer.
The William Hill sports book of the year choices are always excellent. Here's the list.
How about some sports autobiographies then! 2010 and 2011's winners are both fantastic, the Robert Enke biography and Brian Moore autobiog. Both hefty in topic but also page turning sports books. Also, of course, Tyler Hamilton for jaw dropping cycling scandal.
Basically, anything on that list is great.
Edit: Add Michael Dunlop: Road Racer to your list. I knew nothing about the TT before this but loved it.
Sort of autobiographical. Not at all sport related. Enjoyed them all.
Mr nice.
Agent Zig Zag.
Ghost in the wires.
The William Hill sports book of the year choices are always excellent. Here’s the list.
Ooo, forgot about Barbarian Days (lovely book) and Hauser's outstanding Ali bio.
The Rise of the Robots, by MaRtin Ford , is armazing.
It's about bots and algorithms , displacing your human jobs .
Pretty thought provoking.
Very few opportunities will remain .
It's difficult for you to spot where they are operating ,as many branches yof our working and leisure lives are , for the want of a better word , infiltrated.
Even to the extent of inserting mistakes to appear more human.
It's worth a punt , if only to prepare for the inevitable.
Tim Moore ~ Gironimo.
Or any of his other cycling books.
Also, just read Why We Took the Car. Bloody brilliant coming of age book. A 21st century Catcher in the Rye.
I just bought The Outlaw Ocean yesterday and I'm struggling to put it down, five chapters in and it's absolutely fascinating. It's categorised as a guidebook, travel literature and true crime, written by a journalist who spent years at sea on numerous ships. The stories he tells cover a vast variety of events and issues that occur beyond the beaches, but I'm not going to give any spoilers.
https://www.theoutlawocean.com/the-outlaw-ocean/
Also, just read Why We Took the Car. Bloody brilliant coming of age book. A 21st century Catcher in the Rye.
Bought this of the back of this thread and finished it the other day. Excellent 👍
First Ball Not Out. A truestory of an amateur cricket club. Very entertaining read and paced just right for a holiday read.