Get in the Game!
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"Get in the Game and Read!" by joining our Summer Reading Program. Then take a look at one of these game-y tales.
by Karen D. Toonen - Adult Services Librarian, Naper Boulevard Library |
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 | Title: It's Not about the Bike: My Journey Back to Life Author: Armstrong, Lance Summary: Lance Armstrong thought his life was on the fast track to success as a cyclist when, at the age of 25, he discovered he had cancer. He compares his diagnosis to being run off the road by a truck while cycling, an experience about which he already knew all too much. |
 | Title: Running Man Author: Bachman, Richard Summary: Stephen King, writing as Richard Bachman, gives us a nightmarish glimpse of a modern day bread-and-circuses distraction created through a collaboration of the government and the entertainment industry. In 2025, Ben Richards finds himself in desperate need of money. The Network Game Building determines that he is in good physical health, anti-authoritarian, and antisocial; thus, he is a perfect candidate for their top selling show The Running Man. Given the current craze of reality TV, The Running Man seems newly fresh and foreboding. |
 | Title: Duel in the Sun: Alberto Salazar, Dick Beardsley, and America's greatest marathon Author: Brant, John Summary: The 1982 Boston Marathon became a duel between two American runners. But who would win? The celebrated champion Alberto Salazar or the underdog Dick Beardsley? Duel in the Sun thus becomes the story of the men, the marathon, and the lives those men are left to rebuild after the race is run. |
 | Title: Under Orders Author: Francis, Dick Summary: After loosing his left hand in an accident as a jockey, Sid Halley used his track connections to become a private detective. In the fourth Halley mystery, the series that started with Odds Against, he is confronted with three deaths in one afternoon. As a former steeplejockey, an Edgar Award winner, and the 1996 Mystery Writers of America's Grand Master, Frances knows both the worlds of horse racing and mystery writing. He is the master of combining horse racing with suspenseful mysteries to create a tale that will appeal to fans of both. |
 | Title: Hometown Legend Author: Jenkins, Jerry Summary: In 1988, after a sixteen-year winning streak, the Athens City Crusaders lost not only the state football championship but also their beloved quarterback. The combined tragedies tore the heart out of this southern town. Twelve years later, the town itself could soon die as business are forced to close their doors and residents move to greener pastures. But Cal Sawyer, owner of American Leather Football Company, which is the town's biggest employer, doesn't want to go down without a fight. With faith in God, and each other, maybe the town can save itself in this nostalgic, heartwarming tale of second chances. As Sawyer's gentle Southern voice tells the story, its easy to believe that it really doesn't matter if you win or lose, but it's how you play the game. |
 | Title: Too Far Author: Lupica, Mike Summary: Lupica's dramatic thriller incorporates basketball, small-town life, high school students, hazing, and murder. It is up to the press to see justice is done. Sam Perry, a high-school reporter, and Ben Mitchell, a self-exiled big-city reporter, have to take on the school, the town, and the local police to discover the truth. Lupica draws from his experiences as New York Daily News columnist and ESPN commentator to fill his mystery with accurate sports details and engaging sportswriting. He also holds a darken mirror to the face of modern journalism and news reporting. The ripped-from-the-headlines details and plot elements make this harrowing tale engaging and timely. |
 | Title: Once Around the Track Author: McCrumb, Sharyn Summary: Ever wonder where the female version of Viagra is? Sharon McCrumb has created Vagenya, which also becomes the sponsor of the first all female NASCAR crew. Only the Vagenya team's wheel-man is actually a man, and the women behind the southern, good-ole-boy Badger Jenkins are out to prove women belong in racing. First friendships and then even romance is created by the drive to win and the tension of the circuit. McCrumb's combination of strong female characters, wry humor, and NASCAR details are sure to entertain. Try Pamela Britton's NASCAR series, starting with Dangerous Curves, for more tales of love in the pits. |
 | Title: Lady Be Good Author: Phillips, Susan Elizabeth Summary: Texan Kenny Traveler has one goal: to stay out of trouble long enough to be reinstated by the PGA before his winning streak can run out. His penance : to play chaffeur to a friend of the PGA commissioner's wife, the prim and proper Lady Emma Wells-Finch. English Headmistress Emma also has one goal: to keep her school from closing, without having to marry the Duke of Beddington. Her method: to lose her virginity, and with it her acceptability, in a public and scandalous manner. The result: a Mary-Poppins look-a-like who tries to get the self-proclaimed laziest man alive to visit every dive while painting the town of Dallas red. The action of the main plot is mirrored in the story of Kenny's sister and her own romantic woes. Despite the landed titles added to the mix, Phillips, a Naperville native, has written a throughly contemporary romance filled with humorous plot twists and antics sure to entertain. |
 | Title: Blades of Glory: The True Story of a Young Team Bred to Win Author: Rosengren, John Summary: Although football may be America's game, hockey reigns supreme in Minnesota. Blades of Glory tells the story of the Bloomington Jefferson Jaguars 2000-2001 varsity hockey team. Rosengren presents all sides of the players lives, including academic, family, social, and personal issues. As the team wins and loses, Rosengren raises issues about sports and society that transcend Minnesota and reach into communities across the country, wherever kids plan and parents cheer them to victory. If you enjoy Blades of Glory, take a look at Friday Night Lights, by H. G. Bissinger, by about Texas high-school football or A Season on the Brink, by John Feinstein, about Indiana University basketball. |
 | Title: Empire Rising Author: Thomas, Kelly Summary: In 1930, as the Empire State Building is rising, Irish immigrant Michael Briody is torn between his the commitments of his past and the potential of his future. Briody supplements his income as a steelworker on the Empire State Building by boxing for money part-time. Kelly has created a true working-class hero in Briody as well as bringing the New York City of this era to life though his prose. Fans of E. L. Doctorow, Raymond Chandler, Michael Connolly, or Dashiell Hammett will all be well pleased with this action-packed love story revealed within an atmosphere of political corruption. |
