100 Best Sports Books of All Time

Carol DweckYou would think that the relationship between training and skill would be utterly obvious in sports, but apparently it isn’t. (Source)

David PapineauIt’s a parable of the disinclination of people in general to base their practices on evidence, a parable for evidence-based policy in general. (Source)

Ed SmithThis is about a guy using econometrics to predict which baseball players will do better in advancing wins, a remarkable use of economic thinking. (Source)

Bill GatesThis memoir, by the co-founder of Nike, is a refreshingly honest reminder of what the path to business success really looks like: messy, precarious, and riddled with mistakes. I’ve met Knight a few times over the years. He’s super nice, but he’s also quiet and difficult to get to know. Here Knight opens up in a way few CEOs are willing to do. I don’t think Knight sets out to teach the reader... (Source)

Warren BuffettThe best book I read last year. Phil is... a gifted storyteller. (Source)

Andre AgassiI've known Phil Knight since I was a kid, but I didn't really know him until I opened this beautiful, startling, intimate book. And the same goes for Nike. I've worn the gear with pride, but I didn't realize the remarkable saga of innovation and survival and triumph that stood behind every swoosh. Candid, funny, suspenseful, literary - this is a memoir for people who love sport, but above all... (Source)

Ed StaffordAn honour to be asked to do an impromptu little talk tonight after #christophermcdougall. Great to see the big man in the flesh in the UK. #BornToRun was a book that definitely changed the path of my life. #legend @vivobarefoot #barefootrunning https://t.co/3QgVKZ0OQ4 (Source)

Turia PittIf [people are] interested in running, I give them [this book]. (Source)

Satya NadellaNadella calls this tale with a local Seattle connection—it involves an underdog University of Washington crew team and the 1936 Berlin Olympics—”A wonderful illustration of the importance of teamwork, which was a core part of my focus out of the gate as CEO. (Source)

Ryan HolidayAnother great narrative nonfiction out this year that I hope you’ll like is: The Boys in the Boat: Nine Americans and Their Epic Quest for Gold at the 1936 Berlin Olympics by Daniel James Brown. (Source)

Gail KellyMember of the Group of 30, and former CEO of Westpac will be spending her summer months reading a memoir, a novel and historical non-fiction. (Source)

Bill Gates[On Bill Gates's reading list in 2011.] (Source)

Yaro StarakI don’t just read business biographies. I’m a huge tennis fan, so I’ve read a lot of tennis biographies: John McEnroe, Pete Sampras, Andre Agassi, Scott Draper, Rod Laver. There’s so many I’ve read over the years, Jimmy Connors, great, I love it because I love reading the “behind the scenes” stories, the more “soap opera” aspect of tennis, I guess it’s a little bit like my soap opera sometimes. (Source)

Ian CasselSuch an amazing book https://t.co/IbVT7G9LDY (Source)

Malcolm GladwellLewis is the finest storyteller of our generation, and this is his best book. Supposedly about football (the title refers to the side of the field a quarterback is blind to), it’s actually an extraordinary story about love and redemption. (Source)

Scott KeyesOther than How To Win Friends And Influence People and Daily Rituals (for the reasons outlined above), I would recommend reading both Malcolm Gladwell’s collection, everything from Tipping Point to David & Goliath, and Michael Lewis’ as well, from Moneyball to The Blind Side. Irrespective of content, both are wonderful writers who use stories in effortless, compelling ways to make larger points.... (Source)

Nick LoperAngels and Demons was my favorite Dan Brown page-turner, but Ball Four by Jim Bouton is definitely worth a read if you're a baseball fan. (Source)

Joe PosnanskiThat’s exactly what it is. It’s a diary of a season. Jim Bouton was a wildly successful young player for the Yankees and then basically lost his arm, he got hurt. The book is about his attempt to come back. What makes it wonderful reading, and the reason I love it, is that it’s beautifully written and, again, there’s a great deal of humanity in it. There is certainly also a lot of shock-value in... (Source)

Ben ShapiroThe best baseball book. (Source)

Brian GrazerAbout the fragility of what it’s like to grow up as a young boy – 15, 16, 17 years old. (Source)

Peter KingFathers Day Book 1: “Beartown,” by Fredrik Backman. Terrific, disturbing speed-read about hockey’s grip on a small Swedish town, and how the addiction to the game warps good people. Sports are fun. Sports are not life. Great lessons here. Could not put this book down. (Source)

Eloisa JamesNot particularly. I’ve never gone to a professional football game, and I don’t see myself going to one in the near future. But I will follow a great writer anywhere – into sports, outer space, even the Bronx. (Source)

Julia EnthovenFor non-business, I’ve loved so many different books that it’s hard to pick a favorite. Recently, I’ve enjoyed The Art of Fielding and Americanah, and I love classics like A Farewell to Arms and Lord of the Flies. (Source)

Paul Kedrosky@fromedome @nkl Start with @DavidEpstein’s terrific book The Sports Gene. Great independently, but many academic references as well. (Source)

Gabriel CoarnaDavid Epstein's "The Sports Gene" made me decide to never tell a child that "if you really really want something, and you work really really hard, then you can achieve your dream" -- not when it comes to sports, at least. (Source)

Joe PosnanskiI don’t think there’s any question that The Boys of Summer has always been larger than a baseball book. On the surface, at least, it’s about the 1952, 1953 Brooklyn Dodgers – their triumphs and their inevitable failings. They were good enough to get to the World Series, but not good enough to win. But they were a great team, and Jackie Robinson is a prominent part both of the story of the book,... (Source)

David PapineauSporting fandom is very interesting philosophically: it’s a case of partiality, partisanship, valuing something when you can see that what you value isn’t going to be valued by other people. (Source)

Simon KuperNick Hornby doesn’t revel in, ‘Oh I’m such a football geek, isn’t that funny?’ He treats it as something suspect. (Source)

David BaddielIn about 1990 there was this sea change in the way people expressed themselves about football – more emotionally. Nick’s book sets the stall out for that. (Source)

Simon Smith@Mrs_E_J_C @kwamealexander Completely, it’s a fantastic book. (Source)

Dave CousinsWritten in free-verse, there’s some great bits of humour in there, and again this isn’t just a story about football. (Source)

Andrei MarkovitsContrary to the common view in Britain and Europe that this term comprises prima facie evidence of yet another American bastardisation of a European cultural icon, the term is not an American invention at all… (Source)

Bill ColeBob Rotella is probably currently the most famous sports psychologist out there, still active. It’s very easy reading and it has the ring of truth because he’s in the trenches every single day, and has a huge amount of credibility. (Source)

Ryan Holiday50 plus years old, this is a story that more than stands the test of time. Sir Ernest Shackleton makes his daring attempt to cross Antarctic continent but his crew and boat are trapped in the ice flows. What follows are 600 days of harrowing survival, first from the elements, then from hunger, then from the sea as he makes a daring attempt in a small lifeboat to reach land 650 miles away, then... (Source)

Scott BelskyI think that there are some biographies, the Doris Kearns Goodwin type stuff, the Walter Isaacson classic biographies. I recently read Shackleton’s Endurance story. [...] Which, obviously, relates to my thinking these days, which is just a phenomenal story. And there’s so many interesting leadership lessons of counterintuitive things that he did that help you understand difficult decisions that... (Source)

Mark MosesTruly inspiring story of determination, grit and beating all odds. (Source)

Brian KoppelmanThe single best distillation of the kind of focus, commitment, and sense of mission it takes to become a great artist. (Source)

Anant JainOn the non-business side of things, “What I Talk about When I Talk About Running” by Haruki Murakami is my recent favorite. I’m a long distance runner and I was extremely delighted to find out that one of the top fiction writers in the world draws a huge chunk of his inspiration from long distance running. In this book, Murakami beautifully connects running to writing, which are two skills close... (Source)

Rkun @ Tokyo@krkdnz @perepereden I've read that one since it's a classic, great book 👍 (Source)

Bill ColeGallwey was the first author to detail practical, in-the-trenches sports psychology techniques. He wasn’t really a theory guy or a data guy or a research guy, but practical techniques—his books are loaded with those. (Source)

Dave ElitchIt had a huge effect. (Source)

Richard BransonToday is World Book Day, a wonderful opportunity to address this #ChallengeRichard sent in by Mike Gonzalez of New Jersey: Make a list of your top 65 books to read in a lifetime. (Source)

Katie Phang@AshaRangappa_ @yashar It’s an amazing book! (Source)

Holger Seimeval(ez_write_tag([[250,250],'theceolibrary_com-large-mobile-banner-2','ezslot_6',164,'0','1'])); When it comes to adventure stories, I love Into Thin Air. (Source)

Simon Smith@BrianFloca @Martin_Impey @BTeckentrup @opifan64 @Cmdr_Hadfield @jamescarterpoet @ProfAstroCat @LittleTigerUK The new version is fantastic. (So was the older version to be fair) it’s a great book. (Source)

Norman Ornstein@davidmaraniss When Pride Still Mattered , his biography of Vince Lombardi, a great book. https://t.co/n3CkewBHNV (Source)

Nancy GoldstoneI found the narrative honest and riveting. The author used the journey through the hiking trail to work out her problems. (Source)

Dan StemkoskiJust finished “The Secret Race” by @Ty_Hamilton + Daniel Coyle, knowing only the bare minimum about professional bike racing and the scandals of the past. Just an awesome and amazing book. Couldn’t put it down. (Source)

Malcolm GladwellFor reasons I cannot explain, David Epstein manages to make me thoroughly enjoy the experience of being told that everything I thought about something was wrong. I loved Range. (Source)

Susan CainIt’s a joy to spend hours in the company of a writer as gifted as David Epstein. And the joy is all the greater when that writer shares so much crucial and revelatory information about performance, success, and education. (Source)

Kobe BryantThis book looks at how an emphasis on specialization can actually hamper our ability to really excel at something. It aligns with what I try to do when I am coaching, in my stories, and what we’re doing with Mamba Sports Academy — create all-around athletes who can think critically and make assessments in real time to enhance their play rather than rely only on a narrow set of skills. (Source)

Bill ColeHe talks about greatness, and how to learn it from other people: to look around your sport world, the coaches and athletes at every level, Olympic, pro, national, local, and notice what you like or admire in those people. He says, if you can notice some of these elements, that must mean you have some of those elements in yourself, that you could develop. That’s a big message he sends. (Source)

Katrín DavíðsdóttirIt got me focusing on giving my absolute best in any given situation without the pressure of constantly stacking myself up to others. (Source)