Page Against the Machine Book Group (May 2025 Theme)

Check out this space for suggested titles of Page Against the Machine book group's current month's theme!

For May 2025, we're reading books pertaining to Sports! Any sport will do! The book doesn't have to specifically have a sport as the main topic or theme of the book...if a novel, e.g., simply has one scene dealing with a sport, that works! Essentially, if a sport is even remotely mentioned in the book, it works!

Updated April 1, 2025
P
Palos Verdes Library District
Drag items up and down to your preferred order then select the "Save Order" button.
The art of fielding : a novel
Harbach, Chad.
Paper Book
A disastrous error on the field sends five lives into a tailspin in this widely acclaimed tale about love, life, and baseball, praised by the New York Times as "wonderful...a novel that is every bit as entertaining as it is affecting." 
Back spin : a classic Myron Bolitar novel
Coben, Harlan
Paper Book
In this classic fourth novel from Harlan Coben's award-winning Myron Bolitar series, #1 New York Times bestselling author Harlan Coben proves again why he is one of today's must-read suspense authors - and why Myron Bolitar is one of the most singular and captivating heroes in crime fiction. This...
Beartown : a novel
Backman, Fredrik
Paper Book
"You'll love this engrossing novel." --People From the bestselling author of A Man Called Ove and Anxious People, Fredrik Backman captivates readers with a dazzling, profound novel about a small town with a big dream--and the price required to make it come...
Born to run : a hidden tribe, superathletes, and the greatest race the world has never seen
McDougall, Christopher
Paper Book
NATIONAL BESTSELLER * The astonishing and hugely entertaining story that completely changed the way we run. An epic adventure that began with one simple question: Why does my foot hurt? "Equal parts quest, physiology treatise, and running history.... The climactic race reads...
The boys in the boat : nine Americans and their epic quest for gold at the 1936 Berlin Olympics
Brown, Daniel James
Paper Book
For readers of Laura Hillenbrand's "Seabiscuit" and "Unbroken," the dramatic story of the American rowing team that stunned the world at Hitler's 1936 Berlin Olympics " "Daniel James Brown's robust book tells the story of the University of Washington's 1936 eight-oar crew and their epic quest...
The boys of summer
Kahn, Roger.
Paper Book
This is a book about some young men who learned to play baseball during the 1930s and 1940s in such places as Reading, Pennsylvania; Anderson, Indiana; Plainfield, New Jersey; Woonsocket, Rhode Island; and then went on to play for one of the most exciting professional teams that the major leagues...
Buried in the sky : the extraordinary story of the Sherpa climbers on K2's deadliest day
Zuckerman, Peter.
Paper Book
When Edmund Hillary first conquered Mt. Everest, Sherpa Tenzing Norgay was at his side. Indeed, for as long as Westerners have been climbing the Himalaya, Sherpas have been the unsung heroes in the background. In August 2008, when eleven climbers lost their lives on K2, the world's most dangerous...
Carrie Soto is back : a novel
Reid, Taylor Jenkins
Paper Book
#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER * "An epic adventure about a female athlete perhaps past her prime, brought back to the tennis court for one last grand slam" (Elle), from the author of Malibu Rising, Daisy Jones & The Six, and The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo
Fever pitch
Hornby, Nick.
Paper Book
"Whether you are interested in football or not, this is tears-running-down-your-face funny, read-bits-out-loud-to-complete-strangers funny, but also highly perceptive and honest about Hornby's obsession and the state of the game." --GQ A brilliant memoir from the beloved,...
Games people played : a global history of sports
Vamplew, Wray
Paper Book
Now in paperback, this first global history of sports offers all spectators and participants a reason to cheer--and to think.   Games People Played is, surprisingly, the first global history of sports. The book shows how sports have been practiced,...
Ghost
Reynolds, Jason
Paper Book
" A National Book Award Finalist for Young People's Literature. Nominated as one of America's best-loved novels by PBS's The Great American Read. Ghost wants to be the fastest sprinter on his elite middle school track team, but his past is...
Gold
Cleave, Chris.
Paper Book
Building on the tradition of Little Bee, Chris Cleave again writes with elegance, humor, and passion about friendship, marriage, parenthood, tragedy, and redemption. What would you sacrifice for the people you love? KATE AND ZOE met at nineteen when they both...
High dive
Lee, Jonathan
Paper Book
**Named a Best Book of the Year by the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, San Francisco Chronicle** "Devastating . . . Inspired . . . We make so many complex emotional investments in the lives of Lee's characters that it takes a monk's restraint...
How soccer explains the world : an unlikely theory of globalization
Foer, Franklin.
Paper Book
"An eccentric, fascinating exposé of a world most of us know nothing about." --The New York Times Book Review "An insightful, entertaining, brainiac sports road trip." --The Wall Street Journal "Foer's skills as a narrator are enviable. His...
The mighty Walzer : a novel
Jacobson, Howard.
Paper Book
From the beginning Oliver Walzer is a natural--at ping-pong. Even with his improvised bat (the Collins Classic edition of Dr. Jekyll and Mr Hyde) he can chop, flick, half-volley like a champion. At sex he is not a natural, being shy and frightened of women, but with tuition from Sheeny...
Munichs : a novel
Peace, David
Paper Book
One of The Week's Best novels of 2024 From the acclaimed author of The Damned Utd, a novel of tragedy and renewal, inspired by one of the greatest disasters in the history of sports. In 1958, Manchester United was flying high: the best-known soccer team in...
A natural : a novel
Raisin, Ross
Paper Book
From dreams of soccer glory to the realities of the minor leagues, the high-stakes world of English football comes to life in this vivid coming-of-age novel for fans of Nick Hornby and The Art of Fielding. After his unceremonious release from a Premier League academy at...
Open : an autobiography
Agassi, Andre
Paper Book
#1 NATIONAL BESTSELLER * Far more than a superb memoir about the highest levels of professional tennis, Open is the engrossing story of a remarkable life. * "Agassi's memoir is just as entrancing as his tennis game." --Time   "Honest in a way that such books...
The other Olympians : fascism, queerness, and the making of modern sports
Waters, Michael
Paper Book
Finalist for the 2024 Los Angeles Times Book Prize for History and the 2025 Mark Lynton History Prize. Named one of the Best Books of 2024 by The New Yorker, NPR and BookPage. "Michael Waters performs an Olympian act of storytelling, using the stories...
Playing for pizza
Grisham, John.
Paper Book
Rick Dockery was the third-string quarterback for the Cleveland Browns. In the AFC Championship game against Denver, to the surprise and dismay of virtually everyone, Rick actually got into the game. With a 17-point lead and just minutes to go, Rick provided what was arguably the worst single...
A prayer for Owen Meany : a novel
Irving, John
Paper Book
In the summer of 1953, two 11-year-old boys--best friends--are playing in a Little League baseball game in New Hampshire. One of the boys hits a foul ball that kills his best friend's mother. Owen Meany believes he didn't hit the ball by accident. He believes he is God's instrument. What happens to...
The prospects : a novel
Hoffman, KT
Paper Book
"A queer sports romance and a triumphant debut . . . a heartstring-pulling tale of two minor-league baseball rivals who realize they play much better together."--Elle, The Best (and Most Anticipated) Romance Books of 2024, So Far "I completely adored it."--Casey...
Rabbit, run
Updike, John.
Paper Book
Brilliant and poignant...By his compassion, clarity of insight and crystal-bright prose, he makes Rabbit's sorrow his and our own.THE WASHINGTON POSTHarry Angstrom was a star basketball player in high school and that was the best time of his life. Now in his mid-20s, his work is unfulfilling, his...
Rainmaker : superagent Hughes Norton and the money-grab explosion of golf from Tiger Woods to LIV and beyond
Norton, Hughes
Paper Book
A rollicking tell-all from golf super-agent, Hughes Norton, detailing everything from his life-changing work with Tiger Woods and Greg Norman to his thoughts on golf's current money-grab era. The ultimate read for fans of Alan Shipnuck, Bob Harig, and Michael Bamberger. When...
The rule book : a novel
Adams, Sarah
Paper Book
NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER * College exes break all the rules when they reunite years later in this enemies to lovers, second-chance romance, the companion novel to the TikTok sensation The Cheat Sheet--from the New York Times bestselling author of Practice Makes Perfect<...
The singles game : a novel
Weisberger, Lauren
Paper Book
The new novel from the New York Times bestselling author of The Devil Wears Prada and Revenge Wears Prada--a dishy tell-all about a beautiful tennis prodigy who, after changing coaches, suddenly makes headlines on and off the court. How far would you go to reach the...
Today we die a little! : the inimitable Emil Z
Askwith, Richard
Paper Book
"We are different, in essence, from other men. If you want to enjoy something, run 100 meters. If you want to experience something, run a marathon." -- Emil Zápek For a decade after the Second World War, Emil Zápek -- "the Czech locomotive" -- redefined the...
Under the wave at Waimea
Theroux, Paul
Paper Book
"Theroux's work is like no one else's." -Francine Prose, New York Times Book Review From legendary writer Paul Theroux comes an atmospheric novel following a big-wave surfer as he confronts aging, privilege, mortality, and whose lives we choose to remember. ...
We ride upon sticks
Barry, Quan
Paper Book
In the town of Danvers, Massachusetts, home of the original 1692 witch trials, the 1989 Danvers Falcons will do anything to make it to the state finals--even if it means tapping into some devilishly dark powers. Against a background of irresistible 1980s iconography, Quan Barry...
You will know me : a novel
Abbott, Megan E.
Paper Book
A "shocking and perfect" bestseller about family and ambition from the award-winning author of Dare Me and The Turnout (New York Times Book Review​). How far will you go to achieve a dream? That's the question a...

Library staff! You can create and contribute to lists. Contact your catalog administrator or log in here.