Feel-Good Reads That Capture the Spirit of Ted Lasso

abby offsides by Anna McCallie

Seeking a fresh start after leaving her cheating fiancé, Abby McIntyre makes a series of spontaneous decisions: She quits her job. She books a one-way flight to the UK. Newly arrived in Liverpool, she lands a job with the Mersey Football Club and meets Lachlan Ramsay, the recently recruited Scottish star midfielder. Both lonely in a new city, the pair bond quickly, and Abby finds it nearly impossible to deny their chemistry--despite the nagging guilt she feels about Lachlan's mysterious wife who didn't relocate with her husband. When Abby's housing falls through, Lachlan insists she move into his massive penthouse. As they spend almost every waking moment together, Abby wonders if it's possible that the world-famous footballer could be falling for her, too. But with her job and his marriage dependent on them staying firmly in the friend zone, can Abby risk being caught offside? Crackling with witty banter and palpable sexual tension, Abby Offsides is at once a smoldering, slow-burn romance and a nuanced exploration of one woman's journey to reclaim her own dreams and desires after years of living life on autopilot.

beep by David Wanczyk

Wanczyk illuminates the sport of blind baseball to show us a remarkable version of America’s pastime. With balls tricked out to squeal three times per second, and with bases that buzz, this game of baseball for the blind is both innovative and intense. And when the best beep baseball team in America, the Austin Blackhawks, takes on its international rival, Taiwan Homerun, no one’s thinking about disability. What we find are athletes playing their hearts out for a championship.

carrie soto is back by Taylor Jenkins Reid

An epic, fiercely motivational story about a retired, legendary tennis player who makes a monumental comeback at age 37 to reclaim her Grand Slam record. It beautifully explores the unbreakable bond between a father and daughter. Carrie Soto is fierce, and her determination to win at any cost has not made her popular. But by the time she retires from tennis, she is the best player the world has ever seen. She has shattered every record and claimed twenty Grand Slam titles. And if you ask Carrie, she is entitled to every one. She sacrificed nearly everything to become the best, with her father, Javier, as her coach. A former champion himself, Javier has trained her since the age of two. But six years after her retirement, Carrie finds herself sitting in the stands of the 1994 US Open, watching her record be taken from her by a brutal, stunning player named Nicki Chan. At thirty-seven years old, Carrie makes the monumental decision to come out of retirement and be coached by her father for one last year in an attempt to reclaim her record. Even if the sports media says that they never liked "the Battle-Axe" anyway. Even if her body doesn't move as fast as it did. And even if it means swallowing her pride to train with a man she once almost opened her heart to: Bowe Huntley. Like her, he has something to prove before he gives up the game forever.

the art of fielding by Chad Harbach

At Westish College, a small school on the shore of Lake Michigan, baseball star Henry Skrimshander seems destined for big league stardom. But when a routine throw goes disastrously off course, the fates of five people are upended. Henry's fight against self-doubt threatens to ruin his future. College president Guert Affenlight, a longtime bachelor, has fallen unexpectedly and helplessly in love. Owen Dunne, Henry's gay roommate and teammate, becomes caught up in a dangerous affair. Mike Schwartz, the Harpooners' team captain and Henry's best friend, realizes he has guided Henry's career at the expense of his own. And Pella Affenlight, Guert's daughter, returns to Westish after escaping an ill-fated marriage, determined to start a new life. As the season counts down to its climactic final game, these five are forced to confront their deepest hopes, anxieties, and secrets. In the process they forge new bonds, and help one another find their true paths. Written with boundless intelligence and filled with the tenderness of youth, The Art of Fielding is an expansive, warmhearted novel about ambition and its limits, about family and friendship and love, and about commitment -- to oneself and to others.

death of the soccer god by Dimitry Elias Léger

Gilbert Chevalier's life is a mid-century miracle: wealthy, handsome, beloved by every woman he meets, and blessed with incomparable talents on the soccer field. And it's all about to end. . . Gil's father makes him swear off the sport, to focus on his studies. When he leaves the bourgeois comforts of Port-au-Prince high society and moves to the dizzying, jazz-soaked streets of Harlem to attend Columbia University, the promise is broken. Scrimmaging in Central Park, he's spotted by the U.S. National Team's coach and is recruited to play for the Americans in the 1950 World Cup in Brazil. And then he flies too close to the sun. Gil's unraveling is the wild stuff of myth: a plea to God for salvation; secret messages smuggled across continents; lovers shuffled, scorned, and reclaimed; and journeys past the veil between our world and the afterlife. From the Caribbean to the States, to South America and back, Gil's adventures are lush and lurid, and delivered with a breathless, breakneck pace synonymous with the world's most popular sport.

relationship goals by Brittany Kelley

Ted Lasso meets How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days in this steamy sports romance about an infamous star soccer player who is forced to fake date a Hollywood starlet, only to develop real feelings for her-just as she learns he was pretending and vows to get even. Abigail Hunt's Hollywood dreams could best be described as slow burn...but she's about to graduate from TV sidekick to dramatic actor. When the esteemed director of her breakout role suggests she do a deep dive for her part by shadowing the head of a struggling pro soccer team, she jumps at the chance to prove she's ready. Getting asked out by notorious grump and gorgeous star player Luke Wolfe wasn't in the plan, but suddenly her research is getting a lot more hands-on. Their relationship quickly sets social media on fire, and Luke seems determined to prove he's more than his villainous reputation. But just when Abigail is happier than ever-her name in lights and her heart in good hands-the other cleat drops: Luke's been coerced into faking their relationship to improve the team's image. Furious, Abigail refuses to give Luke the satisfaction of dumping him-she decides to get even. Over the top dates, treating his games like fashion shows, and befriending the fan club he hates? Count her in. It's only a matter of time until she pushes the right buttons. She just didn't expect him to keep putting up with it-or to say I love you.

playing for pizza by John Grisham

After providing what is arguably the worst single performance in the history of the NFL, third-string quarterback Rick Dockery becomes a national laughingstock. Cut by the Cleveland Browns, and shunned by every other team, Rick insists that his agent find a team that does need him. Against enormous odds, Rick lands a job--as the starting quarterback for the Mighty Panthers . . . of Parma, Italy. The Parma Panthers desperately want a former NFL player--any former NFL player--at their helm. And now they've got Rick, who knows nothing about Parma (not even where it is) and doesn't speak a word of Italian. To say that Italy--the land of fine wines, extremely small cars, and football americano--holds a few surprises for Rick Dockery would be something of an understatement.

furia by Yamile Saied Méndez

In Rosario, Argentina, Camila Hassan lives a double life. At home, she is a careful daughter, living within her mother's narrow expectations, in her rising-soccer-star brother's shadow, and under the abusive rule of her short-tempered father. On the field, she is La Furia, a powerhouse of skill and talent. When her team qualifies for the South American tournament, Camila gets the chance to see just how far those talents can take her. In her wildest dreams, she'd get an athletic scholarship to a North American university. But the path ahead isn't easy. Her parents don't know about her passion. They wouldn't allow a girl to play fútbol--and she needs their permission to go any farther. And the boy she once loved is back in town. Since he left, Diego has become an international star, playing in Italy for the renowned team Juventus. Camila doesn't have time to be distracted by her feelings for him. Things aren't the same as when he left: she has her own passions and ambitions now, and La Furia cannot be denied. As her life becomes more complicated, Camila is forced to face her secrets and make her way in a world with no place for the dreams and ambition of a girl like her. Filled with authentic details and the textures of day-to-day life in Argentina, heart-soaring romance, and breathless action on the pitch, Furia is the story of a girl's journey to make her life her own.

banana ball by Jesse Cole

The heroes of this charming story are the Savannah Bananas, a goofball gang of athletes whose motto is, "Fans First. Entertain Always." At their helm is Cole, a baseball-loving Bostonian who went south to pitch in college but didn't quite have the right stuff to hit the majors. Regardless, he knew he was a "natural ham" and able entertainer, and he wasn't about to be kept out of the show. So he decided to pull together a squad that would do for baseball what the Harlem Globetrotters did for basketball. Seeking to change the game and make it move faster, he put a clock on the game to cap it at two hours, allowed batters to steal first, and counted it as an out if a fan caught a foul ball in the stands, among other tweaks. Cole has steadily grown the market for his version of baseball, drawing big crowds through traveling games as well as through the skillful use of social media. He was so successful with his vision that the Red Sox came calling for tips on how to liven up Fenway Park, and Cole had plenty of answers.

hail mary by Frankie De la Cretaz

In the early 1970s, a businessman had a brilliant idea: why not start a women's football league? It was conceived as a gimmick and a publicity stunt to capitalize on the popularity of Second Wave Feminism and the passage of Title IX. He recruited women across the country; much to his surprise, he learned that women really wanted to play, and play hard. Hail Mary is the story of the unlikely rise of the National Women's Football League and the players who loved a game that society told them they shouldn't be playing. In fourteen cities around the country, these athletes broke new barriers and showed adoring crowds what women were capable of physically. Thousands of people came to watch-perhaps to gawk at first-but then, in the end, to cheer. Hail Mary is a rollicking chronicle of fearless women-players on the Detroit Demons, the Toledo Troopers, the LA Dandelions, and more-bringing us into the stadiums where they broke records, the small-town bars where they were recruited, and the backrooms where the league was conceived, and where it ended. Hail Mary is a celebration of women athletes and their fight on and off the field, and a powerful story of the league that changed their lives and the course of women's sports.

the bromance book club by Lyssa Kay Adams

"Nashville Legends second baseman Gavin Scott's marriage is in major league trouble. He's recently discovered a humiliating secret: his wife Thea has always faked the Big O. When he loses his cool at the revelation, it's the final straw on their already strained relationship. Thea asks for a divorce, and Gavin realizes he's let his pride and fear get the better of him ... Distraught and desperate, Gavin finds help from an unlikely source: a secret romance book club made up of Nashville's top alpha men. With the help of their current read ... the guys coach Gavin on saving his marriage. But it'll take a lot more than flowery words and grand gestures for this hapless Romeo to find his inner hero and win back the trust of his wife.

first flight, final fall by C. W. Farnsworth

What do you do when you encounter the famous footballer voted "Sexiest Athlete Alive" three years running on a soccer field in Germany? If you're Saylor Scott, you challenge him to a shoot-out. And win. Saylor's goals have always involved the literal kind constructed from posts and netting. Her single-minded focus has cost her a lot, but it's also earned her recognition as the top female college player in the US. She doesn't get attached, she never gets distracted, and she could care less what anyone thinks of her. Meeting Adler Beck, the notorious player celebrated worldwide and coveted by women everywhere, challenges her indifference. But Saylor perfected the art of appearing unbothered a long time ago, and her scoring percentage is even higher off the pitch. Might as well add a gorgeous German to the tally. Because only a fool would fall for a superstar known for breaking hearts alongside records. And no one has ever accused Saylor Scott of being a fool.

finding the game by Gwendolyn Oxenham

Every country has a different term for it: In the United States, it's pickup. In Trinidad, it's taking a sweat. In Brazil, it's pelada (literally naked). It's the other side of soccer, played away from the bright lights and manicured fields--the game for anyone, anywhere. Gwendolyn Oxenham was a former college soccer star with visions of going pro. But when the women's professional soccer league folded, her career was over before it began. So she embarked on a different kind of adventure. In Finding the Game, Oxenham, with her boyfriend and two friends, scour the globe in search of pickup soccer: they bribe their way into a Bolivian prison, compete against women in hijab in Tehran, and bet shillings on a game with moonshine brewers in Kenya. Along the way, she discovers that the game, stripped down to its core, is the same no matter where it's played. An entertaining, heartfelt look at the soul of a sport, this book is proof that on the field and in life, some things need no translation.

all carry by Gene Wojciechowski

Joe is a golf reporter. He's missed more Father's Days than he cares to count because that's when he has to cover the US Open. But his son Buddy has counted every single one. Joe and Buddy's relationship is fractured at best. Then one day at a garage sale Buddy finds a woefully obsolete set of golf clubs that supposedly belonged to Jack Nicklaus and decides to give them to his father as an olive branch. When Joe takes the clubs out on a whim, he discovers something unbelievable: he's hitting 400 yards. No one hits the ball that far, not Tiger, not Nicklaus. Max "Hard Way" Mitchell knows golf perhaps better than anyone. He used to be one of the best caddies on the PGA Tour. But he was run out of town after sleeping with a golf pro's wife. Now he's the owner of a run-down driving range, his glory days slipping away. When Joe is laid-off, and Hardway realizes that with this magical set of golf clubs he is better than anyone on the tour, he convinces Joe to do the seemingly impossible--win the Masters as an amateur. And to do this they'll need each other. Told with a specificity that only comes from years of covering the sport, Gene Wojciechowski's fiction debut, All Carry, is a father/son/unlikely friendship/comeback story that will no doubt be a new classic.

the long game by Elena Armas

A disgraced soccer exec reluctantly enlists the help of a retired soccer star in coaching a children's team in this small-town love story in the vein of It Happened One Summer--from the New York Times bestselling author of The Spanish Love Deception.Adalyn Reyes has spent years perfecting her daily routine: wake up at dawn, drive to the Miami Flames FC offices, try her hardest to leave a mark, go home, and repeat. But her routine is disrupted when a video of her in an altercation with the team's mascot goes viral. Rather than fire her, the team's owner--who happens to be her father--sends Adalyn to middle-of-nowhere North Carolina, where she's tasked with turning around the struggling local soccer team, the Green Warriors, as a way to redeem herself. Her plans crumble upon discovering that the players wear tutus to practice (impractical), keep pet goats (messy), and are terrified of Adalyn (counterproductive), and are nine-year-old kids. To make things worse, also in town is Cameron Caldani, goalkeeping prodigy whose presence is somewhat of a mystery. Cam is the perfect candidate to help Adalyn, but after one very unfortunate first encounter involving a rooster, Cam's leg, and Adalyn's bumper, he's also set on running her out of town. But banishment is not an option for Adalyn. Not again. Helping this ragtag children's team is her road to redemption, and she is playing the long game. With or without Cam's help.

bring the noise by Raphael Honigstein

Jurgen Klopp's coaching career began in the German second tier at the unfashionable club of FSV Mainz 05, whom he steered into the highest playing tier for the first time in forty-one years. In 2008, he joined Borussia Dortmund, where he achieved back-to-back league titles and took the club to the UEFA Champions League final. He left Germany for one of the England's most challenging jobs: to manage Liverpool, a once-mighty club that had not managed sustained success since the 1980s. It was not a task for the fainthearted. Anfield, Liverpool's home, is a temple to flamboyant attacking soccer powered by passion. In Klopp, Liverpool finally found a manager who embodied the essence of the club. Klopp is dynamic, expressive, restless, driven-he feels every move and play, every tactical shift, every contact on the field. His eyes betray a wild ecstasy and agony as his team thrives or falls. His game plan demands relentless commitment-the famous gegenpress-and he is one of the great personal motivators in all sport.

high and out by Justin Weber

Jason Wagner has worked his whole entire life to have a chance at getting his name etched on the Stanley Cup. Being a hockey player is all he knows, it's all he's ever wanted to be, and for as long as he can remember, it's all he's been. Now almost thirty, he has just finished his last season on his NHL contract, and has yet to hoist Lord Stanley's Cup. His fear of being forced into an earlier than anticipated retirement briefly subsides when he signs a two-year, multimillion-dollar deal with a real contender. The events that follow take him in different directions that ultimately put him onto a new path of discovering who he really is and what he actually wants to be in life. It's a tough and gritty love story about change, family, and forgiveness.

Blog