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After reading some ‘serious’ books over the last 3 months I thought it might be nice for a change to read something a little light-hearted. Below are 5 books relating to Cycling, Soccer, American Football, Golf and Cricket all of which have a feel good factor about them. Well maybe not feel good but definitely good humoured.

The votes will be counted and released on Friday on the website. Apologies on the past few months as deadlines have been tight but it is my goal to be able to tell you the book before the start of the month in future.

Have a look at the books below, make sure to vote at the bottom of the page and leave a comment.

French Revolutions: Cycling the Tour de France by Tim Moore

French Revolutions: Cycling the Tour de France

Seduced by the speed and glamour of the biggest annual sporting event in the world, and determined to tackle the most fearsome physical challenge outside classical mythology, Moore, the ultimate amateur, attempts to complete all 3,630km of the 2000 Tour in the weeks before the professionals set off.

Battling it out with the old men on butchers’ bikes across the plains of Aquitaine and pursued by cattle over Europe’s second highest road, Moore soon finds himself resorting to narcotic assistance, systematic overeating and waxed legs before summoning a support vehicle staffed by cruelly sceptical family and friends. Accounts of his suffering and chicanery, and those encountered in the race’s epic history, are interwoven through a look at rural France busy tarting itself up for those 15 seconds of fame as the Tour careers through at 50kph. An heroic depiction of an inadequate man’s attempt to achieve the unachievable, Moore’s Tour is a tale of calorific excess, ludicrous clothing and intimate discomfort.

Football Manager Stole My Life: 20 Years of Beautiful Obsession by Iain Macintosh, Kenny Millar and Neil White

Football Manager Stole My Life: 20 Years of Beautiful Obsession by Iain Macintosh, Kenny Millar and Neil White

Football Manager Stole My Life lifts the lid on the cult of Football Manager (FM). It is an easy-to-read, highly illustrated, light-hearted guide to the game s lasting impact on popular culture. We hear from the gamers whose lives have been taken over by FM, a game cited in 35 divorce cases in the UK. There are interviews with the players who become world beaters in the game, but in real life never make the big leagues. The incredible scouting network of Sports Interactive is revealed. We speak to the men who make the game, and put an FM addict on the psychologist s couch to discover what 20 years as a virtual football manager has done to him.

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marty_footballbooks

I hope everyone is enjoying Tylor Hamilton and Daniel Coyle’s The Secret Race, I’m just over half way through and it’s pretty full on. A complete page turner. And it’s just in time for Lance Armstrong to enter the Oprah Winfey Thunder Dome! I hope to have my review up on Monday the 27th of January.

Moving on.

Below are a list of major sporting events happening next month. If anyone has any suggestions for other events and books then please leave a message in the comment area below. On Thursday the 24th I’ll put up the 5 nominated books for February. Then after you all vote, the chosen book will be revealed on Thursday the 31st.

super-bowl-tickets-XLVII

Super Bowl XLVII

By February 3rd, 2 teams will have reached the Super Bowl. At the moment there’s a handful of teams still playing. On Sunday 20th January San Francisco play at Atlanta and Baltimore play at New England.

NFL on ESPN

NFL.com

FIS Alpine World Ski Championships 2013, Nordic World Ski Championships 2013

To be honest I could write everything I know about Skiing on the back of a napkin. If there are any skiing enthusiasts out there, please fill us in. Especially about what we should be putting on the bookshelves.

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Welcome to The Podium: A Sports Book Club. Before I get stuck in, if you hadn’t worked it out already this this isn’t a betting website! It’s a bookclub.

January is a busy month for sports but I thought we should keep it pretty friendly and find a book everybody would be interested in reading. I’ve gone as safe as possible choosing American Football, Cricket, Cycling, Soccer and Tennis.

Below are January’s 5 books. Make sure to vote at the bottom of the page. The results will be revealed on the 7th. Hopefully that will give you enough time to go out and purchase the book and read it before the end of the month.

Resurrection: The Miracle Season That Saved Notre Dame by Jim Dent

Resurrection

Dent interviewed Parseghian as well as many of the surviving players and painstakingly researched the newspaper and national press coverage the team received during its Phoenix-like resurrection. The genuinely engaging game accounts—usually momentum killers in sports books—are peppered with specific player memories that add urgency and excitement…we have an inspirational underdog saga, humor, pathos, tragedy, and triumph. – Booklist

On January 7th 2013, Notre Dame could claim their first BSC National Championship since 1988 when they face 2011 and 2009 BCS National Championship Alabama Crimson Tide in Miami Gardens, Florida.

Resurrection by Jim Dent tells the story of Notre Dame in a completely different scenario to the current setup.

Back in the 1960s, Notre Dame’s football program was in shambles. For five straight years, from 1958 through 1963, the home of Knute Rockne and Frank Leahy could not produce one winning season. Plagued by a series of bad coaching choices, inept management, and a loss of institutional support, no one could be sure if the Fighting Irish would ever return to glory. When “Touchdown Jesus” was erected in 1964, it presided over a team so hopeless that the entire football program was on the brink of collapse. – Book Description, Amazon.com

Notre Dam Vs Alabama Crimson Tide – January 7th

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