Leveling the Playing Field: Sports Non-Fiction

You're a pretty athletic bunch out there, Burqueños. You run and walk in the Duke City Marathon and the Run for the Zoo; some of you take part in one of our two roller derbies, Duke City or Albuquerque; you ski and snowboard; you cycle; you hike. Some of you take advantage of the many recreation opportunities city parks to have offer. There are many of you who, whether active yourselves or no, follow sports - maybe you just watched football on Thanksgiving. Or cheered for the Astros during the World Series. Or maybe you're looking forward to the next World Cup.

We just want to make sure you know that we have resources in the library catalog for you, too! And not just exercise and weight loss reads, either, though we certainly have plenty of those titles. Here's a smattering of sports non-fiction we hope you might find intriguing:

The Arm: Inside the Billion-Dollar Mystery of the Most Valuable Commodity in Sports by Jeff Passan

Coach Wooden and Me: Our 50-Year Friendship On and Off the Court by Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and David Fisher

Running With a Police Escort: Tales From the Back of the Pack by Jill Grunenwald [eBook]

Game Worn: Baseball Treasures From the Game's Greatest Heroes and Moments by Stephen Wong and Dave Grob

Epic Bike Rides of the World: Explore the Planet's Most Thrilling Cycling Routes

Dust Bowl Girls: The Inspiring Story of the Team That Barnstormed Its Way to Basketball Glory by Lydia Reeder

Crazy '08: How a Cast of Cranks, Rogues, Boneheads, and Magnates Created the Greatest Year in Baseball History by Cait Murphy

My Cubs: A Love Story by Scott Simon

Home and Away: Writing the Beautiful Game by Karl Ove Knausgaard and Fredrik Ekelund 

Wonder Girl: The Magnificent Sporting Life of Babe Didrikson Zaharias by Don Van Natta Jr.

Off Speed: Baseball, Pitching, and the Art of Deception by Terry McDermott

A Life Well Played: My Stories by Arnold Palmer

Unsportsmanlike Conduct: College Football and the Politics of Rape by Jessica Luther

Ways of Grace: Stories of Activism, Adversity, and How Sports Can Bring Us Together by James Blake

Women Who Tri: A Reluctant Athlete's Journey Into the Heart of America's Newest Obsession by Alicia DiFabio [eBook]

How Cycling Can Save the World by Peter Walker

Sting Like a Bee: Muhammad Ali vs. the United States of America, 1966-1971 by Leigh Montville