The Best Seat in the House: Stories from the NHL--Inside the Room, on the Iceand on the Bench


Jamie McLennan - 2012
    Sort of. As the back-up for several legendary goalies, he saw everything - except much playing time. In this book, McLennan looks back on his career, from breaking into the NHL, to working with the legends, to life on the road and in the league.

Blood, Sweat and McAteer: A Footballer's Story


Jason McAteer - 2016
    But for eleven-year-old Jason McAteer, growing up in the shadow of Liverpool FC, football became the dream. After signing with Bolton Wanderers at the age of twenty-one, the call to the international scene followed with the Republic of Ireland and, soon after, to his beloved Liverpool FC. The dream had become a reality. From his time with the Irish World Cup squad of 1994 to those tumultuous days in Saipan in 2002; on through his decision to leave Liverpool for Blackburn Rovers; his move to Sunderland, and the depression he fell into after finishing his professional career with Tranmere Rovers, Jason McAteer looks back with characteristic honesty and humour on his life - the jokes, the matches, and the personalities.This is the real Jason McAteer: a little bit bruised, a little bit battered. But still fighting.

El Macca


Steve McManaman - 2004
    Soon the ex-Liverpool star was playing alongside Ronaldo, Figo, Zidane and Beckham. It was an astonishing turnaround for a club that had been struggling to live up to its enormous reputation, and Steve was there to witness the most intense and interesting period of its development -- winning the league and two European Cups along the way. Written with the DAILY TELEGRAPH's Sarah Edworthy, who contributes her own insights through original interviews with the key players at Madrid, EL MACCA is not just a highly entertaining memoir of four years at the biggest club in Europe. Thoughtful and candid, it is also a fascinating insight into the process of playing -- and succeeding -- overseas.

Pepe: My Autobiography


Pepe Reina - 2011
    The Reds' goalkeeper has established himself as one of the big stars at Anfield and worn the captain's armband in the absence of Kop legends Steven Gerrard and Jamie Carragher.Pepe: My Autobiography is the fascinating personal account of his rise to the top of the game. From winning the FA Cup, European Championship and World Cup, to the agony of a Champions League final defeat and surviving the off-pitch drama that tore one of the country’s greatest football clubs apart.Pepe has witnessed first-hand the rise and fall of Rafa Benitez's Spanish revolution at Anfield and he gives his revealing insight on some amazing Kop glory nights as well as the controversial departures of compatriots Xabi Alonso and Fernando Torres. He also speaks openly about the ill-fated reign of Roy Hodgson and the events that forced him to consider his Reds future before the arrival of new American owners and Kenny Dalglish’s celebrated return. Pepe paints a colourful portrait of his legendary Spanish team-mates and reveals how bittersweet experiences suffered by his goalkeeper father provided him with the personal inspiration to succeed. Away from the pitch, Pepe is a real family man who feels at home in Liverpool, and someone who likes to enjoy every day to the full.

Jim Brown Out of Bounds


Jim Brown - 1989
    

Dog Days: A Year with Olive and Mabel


Andrew Cotter - 2021
    With normal work cancelled or scaled back for so long, it has been a time to take stock and share experiences – both the everyday and the decidedly odd. Here Andrew takes a sharply observed and often hilarious walk through the strangest of days for all of us, reflecting on how precious our time really is, especially the time we have with our dogs.Beautiful, comical, endlessly optimistic and eternally hungry Olive, Mabel (and Andrew) have padded around from the Cheltenham Literary Festival to 60 Minutes Australia, from their living room studio with ABC News Breakfast to an appearance on Good Morning America, and from obscurity to excited whispers of “Is that really Olive & Mabel?” wherever they go. Not to mention the lucrative merchandise and advertising deals that were turned down by the dozen, and the odd phone call from Hollywood.Through it all, Olive and Mabel have always done exactly what they do best, being themselves and being there for Andrew – and for all of us who have loved watching their brilliant videos and following their progress online. If you’re a fan of Olive, Mabel and Andrew, this funny, touching and extraordinary account of a year like no other is an unmissable treat.

An Embarrassment of Critch's: Immature Stories from My Grown-Up Life


Mark Critch - 2021
    Since, he's found increasing opportunities to take his show on the road. In An Embarrassment of Critch's, the star of CBC's This Hour Has 22 Minutes revisits some of his career's--and the country's--biggest moments, revealing all the things you might not know happened along the way: A wishful rumour spread by Mark's father results in his big break; two bottles of Scotch nearly get him kicked out of a secret Canadian airbase in the United Arab Emirates; and for anyone wondering how to get an interview with the Prime Minister and Bono (yes, that Bono) on the same evening, Critch might recommend a journey to the 2003 Liberal Convention.Critch's top-secret access to all of the funniest behind-the-scenes moments involve many of the charismatic and notorious politicians we love to see blush, including fearless leaders Justin Trudeau, Stephen Harper, Paul Martin, and Jean Chr�tien, celebrities such as Pamela Anderson and Robin Williams, and other colourful figures he's met over years of pulling off daring skits at home and abroad. Remember when MP Carolyn Parrish took her boot to George W. Bush's head in an interview? Or when Critch asked Justin Trudeau where the best place to smoke pot on Parliament Hill was before pulling out a joint for them to share? There's more to each of those stories than you know. Though Critch has spent years crisscrossing the country--and the globe--with the explicit aim of causing trouble everywhere he goes, like the best journeys, this one takes him right back home.

How Poetry Saved My Life: A Hustler's Memoir


Amber Dawn - 2013
    While the plot of the book was wildly imaginative, it was also based on the author's own experience as a sex worker in the 1990s and early 2000s, and on her coming out as lesbian.How Poetry Saved My Life, Amber Dawn's sophomore book, reveals an even more poignant and personal landscape—the terrain of sex work, queer identity, and survivor pride. This memoir, told in prose and poetry, offers a frank, multifaceted portrait of the author's experiences hustling the streets of Vancouver, and the how those years took away her self-esteem and nearly destroyed her; at the crux of this autobiographical narrative is the tender celebration of poetry and literature, that—as the title suggests—acted as a lifeline during her most pivotal moments.

Chasing Grace: What the Quarter Mile Has Taught Me about God and Life


Sanya Richards-Ross - 2017
    The fewer, the better.”Most people equate success with having more, but Sanya’s quest was always for less. She started running track as a little girl in Jamaica and began competing when she was only seven. At 31 she’s had a career’s worth of conditioning to run a 400-meter race in 50 seconds, hopefully 49, or even better, 48.When she started training with her coach, Clyde Hart, they divided her race into four phases: push, pace, position, poise, and with the inherent prayer. For years Sanya worked to hone every phase in practice so that when it came time to race, her body would respond as her mind instinctively transitioned from one phase to the next. As she got older and embraced a life that measures more than just a number on the time clock, she has realized the genius of this strategy for not just racing the 400 meters, but for living her best life.Sanya shares triumphant as well as heartbreaking stories as she reveals her journey to becoming a world-class runner. From her childhood in Jamaica to Athens, Beijing and London Olympics, readers will find themselves inspired by the unique insights she’s gained through her victories and losses, including her devastating injury during the 2016 Olympic Trials forcing career retirement just weeks before Rio. Sanya demonstrates how even this devastating loss brought her closer to the ultimate goal of becoming all God created her to be.”Sometimes you think you are chasing a gold medal, but that’s not what you are chasing. You’re racing to become the best version of yourself.”

Change Up: How to Make the Great Game of Baseball Even Better


Buck Martinez - 2016
    Currently the play-by-play announcer for the Toronto Blue Jays, Martinez has witnessed enormous change in the game he loves, as it has morphed from a grassroots pastime to big business. Not all of the change has been for the better, and today’s fans struggle to connect to their on-the-field heroes as loyalty to club and player wavers and free agency constantly changes the face of every team’s roster.In Change Up, Martinez offers his unique insights into how Major League Baseball might reconnect with its fanbase, how the clubs might train and prepare their players for their time in “The Show,” and how players might approach the sport in a time of sagging fan interest. Martinez isn’t shy with his opinions, whether they be on pitch count, how to develop players through the minor-league system, and even if there should be a minor-league system at all. Always entertaining, ever insightful, Martinez shares brilliant insights and inside pitches about summer’s favourite game.

A Season of Loss, a Lifetime of Forgiveness: The Dan Snyder and Dany Heatley Story


John Manasso - 2005
    That’s hardly the stuff that NHL careers are made of. But Snyder earned his spot on the NHL’s Atlanta Thrashers roster through sheer force of will and strength of character, even though scouts thought the odds were against him. Those who knew Snyder describe him as the kind of person others naturally gravitated towards. One of those people was Dany Heatley, college star, All-Star, and marked one of the nhl’s next great players. On September 29, 2003, while driving down a treacherous Atlanta road with Snyder, Heatley lost control of his car. Snyder was injured, and died in hospital six days later. The lives of his family, friends, and teammates changed forever, as they searched for meaning and healing. Meanwhile, authorities in Atlanta charged Heatley with vehicular homicide. Snyder’s family, however, took a path of forgiveness and reconciliation — a path that is ingrained in the Mennonite tradition from which they hail. While some might lash out against an easy target, the Snyders invited Heatley and his parents into their lives in an effort to make peace with their grief. This paperback edition contains an afterword by the Snyder family.

We All Live In a Perry Groves World: My Story


Perry Groves - 2006
    Perry Groves spent over a decade in the footballing spotlight. Sometimes he was at the top, often he was at the bottom and that's half the reason the fans loved him so much--and still do. This is the most truthful and hilarious book about professional football you will ever read. Perry Groves was the first signing by the legendary Arsenal manager George Graham, and that unmistakeable figure with his Tin-Tin haircut and cheeky grin was a player in one of the Gunners' greatest sides. Now he has decided to tell all about his rollercoaster years of booze binges, girl-chasing and gambling sprees. He's a nonstop fund of of hilarious anecdotes, recounting top-flight games played with a hangover, 125 mph motorway chases with international stars, visits to a brothel with an England World Cup hero and revealing how one drunken escapade ended with a group of internationals beting questioned over an attempted murder charge. This is a unique chance to find out what top-flight footballers really get up to off the field and how they behave when the dressing room door is closed.

Canada


Mike Myers - 2016
    But as he says: "no description of me is truly complete without saying I'm a Canadian." He has often winked and nodded to Canada in his outrageously accomplished body of work, but now he turns the spotlight full-beam on his homeland.His hilarious and heartfelt new book is part memoir, part history and pure entertainment. It is Mike Myers' funny and thoughtful analysis of what makes Canada Canada, Canadians Canadians and what being Canadian has always meant to him. His relationship with his home and native land continues to deepen and grow, he says. In fact, American friends have actually accused him of "enjoying" being Canadian and he's happy to plead guilty as charged.A true patriot who happens to be an expatriate, Myers is in a unique position to explore Canada from within and without. With this, his first book, Mike brings his love for Canada to the fore at a time when the country is once again looking ahead with hope and national pride. "Canada" is a wholly subjective account of Mike's Canadian experience. Mike writes, "Some might say, 'Why didn't you include this or that?' I say there are 35 million stories waiting to be told in this country, and my book is only one of them."This beautifully designed book is illustrated in colour (and "not" color) throughout, and its visual treasures include personal photographs and Canadiana from the author's own collection. Published in the lead-up to the 2017 sesquicentennial, this is Mike Myers' birthday gift to his fellow Canadians. Or as he puts it: "In 1967, Canada turned one hundred.Canadians all across the country made Centennial projects.This book is my Centennial Project. I'm handing it in a little late.... Sorry."

You Negotiate Like a Girl: Reflections on a Career in the National Football League


Amy Trask - 2016
    Former NFL team executive Amy Trask has held many titles during her career – including chief executive, analyst, and author – but this nickname is what she is first and foremost known by to Raiders fans. Trask joined the Raiders as an intern during law school after the team moved from Oakland to Los Angeles – the position the result of a cold call she made to the team. From there, she worked her way up through the ranks of the organization, to the post she would eventually hold as chief executive. Along the way, Trask worked extremely closely with the late Al Davis, a man who treated her and others on his team without regard to gender, race, and age. Trask may have been the highest-ranking female executive in the NFL during her tenure with the Raiders, but in You Negotiate Like a Girl: Reflections on a Career in the National Football League, she shares how she found success by operating without regard to gender. Replete with insider tales about being part of the Raiders' front office, behind the closed doors of NFL owners meetings, and Davis himself, Trask's book is a must-read not only for football fans, but anyone who wants to succeed in business.

The Bus: My Life in and out of a Helmet


Jerome Bettis - 2007
    Super Bowl champion; six time Pro Bowler; NFL Comeback Player of the Year; NFL Man of the Year; fifth all-time leading rusher in the NFL; future Hall of Famer; now NBC Sports commentator.You may think you know Jerome Bettis, but you don’t. In The Bus, Jerome Bettis tells his full, unvarnished story for the first time--from his sometimes troubled childhood in inner-city Detroit to his difficult transition at Notre Dame, to a pro coach who almost caused him to quit the game, to a trade for the ages that resulted in ten glorious seasons with the Pittsburgh Steelers.As a chunky child wearing glasses, Jerome’s only sports-related aspiration was to become a professional bowler. But growing up in one of the roughest neighborhoods in Detroit, he eventually found his escape on the high school football field, thanks to the devotion of hard-working parents, a concerned coach, and his prodigious talent. He arrived at Notre Dame as one of the nation’s best prep players, but despite his incredible performances, he never stopped worrying that he would somehow blow his chance to make good. Drafted and later discarded by the Los Angeles Rams, it was in the football-obsessed city of Pittsburgh that Jerome found his home and became a legend. The Bus captures the sweetness and honesty of Bettis, but also details the jaw-dropping, violent nature of the game he loved, the mind-boggling injuries he endured, and the cut-throat NFL business tactics he overcame and later mastered. Through it all, Jerome was also a loving son, an adoring father, and the ultimate teammate and mentor. The Bus not only takes you under the helmet, but inside the huddle, the locker room, the practice field, the negotiating table, the owner’s office, and the Super Bowl sideline. You’ll learn how Bettis became The Bus, how he helped engineer the greatest trade in Steelers history, how he almost cost Pittsburgh a conference championship, and how sweet it was to win—finally—one for the thumb.