The best books on figure skating (and it’s scandals)

Why am I passionate about this?

As a researcher, writer, and producer for ABC Sports, ESPN, NBC, and TNT, I first wrote two non-fiction books, Inside Figure Skating, and Sarah Hughes: Skating to the Stars (and this was before she won the Olympic Gold in 2002). With the Figure Skating Mystery series, I was finally able to tell all the juicy stories I couldn’t when I was working for television or writing non-fiction. It was very therapeutic. But I wasn’t just a writer of books about figure skating. I was a reader, too. I learned so much from the experts, especially those willing to admit how things really were, rather than how the sport would like to appear on the surface.


I wrote...

Figure Skating Mystery Series (5 Books in 1)

By Alina Adams,

Book cover of Figure Skating Mystery Series (5 Books in 1)

What is my book about?

What really happens behind the scenes of a figure skating competition - which the media doesn’t want you to see? Find out in The Figure Skating Mystery series, with professional skating videos by Ice Theatre of NY included as part of the story! Why just read about figure skating, when you can watch it, too? Written by a former researcher, writer, and producer for ABC Sports, ESPN, NBC, and TNT and based on true events. Can you guess who is supposed to be who?

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The books I picked & why

Book cover of Push Dick's Button: A Conversation on Skating from a Good Part of the Last Century--and a Little Tomfoolery

Alina Adams Why did I love this book?

Two-time Olympic Men’s Gold Medalist Dick Button is a genius. That’s it, full stop. I had the privilege of working with Dick both at ABC Sports and when I produced his Twitter commentary of the 2014 Olympics. Anything Dick Button has to say about figure skating, past, present, and future, you want to hear it. And read it. You don’t have to like it. You don’t have to agree with it. But you do have to hear it. If you consider yourself a true figure skating fan. And want anyone to take your opinions seriously.

By Dick Button,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Push Dick's Button as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Everything many of us know about figure skating, we learned from the man who’s been called the “Voice of Figure Skating.” Now Dick Button, the Emmy Award-winning skating commentator famous for his precise, passionate, opinionated rinkside analyses and for his historic career as a two-time Olympic gold medalist, five-time World Champion, and seven-time U.S. Champion (plus being the inadvertent inventor of the flying camel, the first to successfully land a double Axel in competition, and the first ever to do a triple jump) demystifies this art and sport beloved by millions.

In Push Dick’s Button, you'll learn about the difference…


Book cover of Inside Edge: A Revealing Journey into the Secret World of Figure Skating

Alina Adams Why did I love this book?

Brennan covered multiple different sports before turning her focus to figure skating. She came not as a fan, but as a reporter, which made Inside Edge a grittier and less insular take than usual. Yes, there are some technical and factual mistakes, as well as some wild leaps of logic. But this is the tough love book figure skating - and its fans - needed.

By Christine Brennan,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Inside Edge as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Stating that figure skating is as brutal and competitive as any athletic discipline, a reporter examines today's big stars, from Oksana Baiul to Elvis Stojko, and reveals the dark side of the sport. 50,000 first printing. Tour.


Book cover of Ice Castles

Alina Adams Why did I love this book?

The novelization of the 1978 movie (remade in 2010) is howlingly hilarious. The author has no understanding of how skating works - either competitively or, you know, physics. That’s what makes it such compelling reading. Also, in the movie, the characters tend to mumble. It helps to have read the book first to have a vague clue of what they’re saying.

By Leonore Fleischer,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Ice Castles as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Vintage movie tie-in paperback


Book cover of Apology

Alina Adams Why did I love this book?

There are plenty of skating autobiographies out there. There is only one by an author who performed with skates on his hands, does a headstand on the ice (no hands!), who protested his low score on a figure by quitting in the middle of the championship and retiring from competitive skating then and there. And who served two years in prison while maintaining his innocence. Everyone claims to be an original these days. Beacom did it first. And he explains why.

By Gary Beacom,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Apology as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

This unbelievable story of government corruption and usurpation will make you laugh and cry. Skating sensation and celebrity, Gary Breacom, tells the shocking story of is brush with government corruption and injustice. Gary's humorous account of his personal brush with the law is more than a story of psycholoical survival, it is a keeenly insightful first-hand assessment of a system gone terribly astray.

The shocking truth is -- it could happen to you!


Book cover of Life on the Edge

Alina Adams Why did I love this book?

Everyone who watches figure skating has, at one time, 'shipped' a pair or ice dance couple, or one singles skater with another. It's almost impossible to watch attractive, passionate people fling their bodies at each other and act out dramatic, romantic scenarios and not imagine what it might be like if they were a couple off the ice, too. Life on the Edge is the first book in the ongoing Edge series which does exactly that - with details! And then keeps the story going!

By Jennifer Comeaux,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Life on the Edge as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it. This book is for kids age 13, 14, 15, and 16.

What is this book about?

Nineteen-year-old Emily is new to pairs skating, but she and her partner Chris have a big dream-to be the first American team to win Olympic gold. Their young coach Sergei, who left Russia after a mysterious end to his skating career, believes they can break through and make history.

Emily and Chris are on track to be top contenders at the Winter Games. But when forbidden feelings spark between Emily and Sergei, broken trust and an unexpected enemy threaten to derail Emily's dreams of gold.


You might also like...

Ferry to Cooperation Island

By Carol Newman Cronin,

Book cover of Ferry to Cooperation Island

Carol Newman Cronin Author Of Ferry to Cooperation Island

New book alert!

Why am I passionate about this?

Author Sailor Olympian Editor New Englander Rum drinker

Carol's 3 favorite reads in 2023

What is my book about?

James Malloy is a ferry captain--or used to be, until he was unceremoniously fired and replaced by a "girl" named Courtney Farris. Now, instead of piloting Brenton Island’s daily lifeline to the glitzy docks of Newport, Rhode Island, James spends his days beached, bitter, and bored.

When he discovers a plan for a private golf course on wilderness sacred to his dying best friend, James is determined to stop such "improvements." But despite Brenton's nickname as "Cooperation Island," he's used to working solo. To keep historic trees and ocean shoreline open to all, he'll have to learn to cooperate with other islanders--including Captain Courtney, who might just morph from irritant to irresistible once James learns a secret that's been kept from him for years.

Ferry to Cooperation Island

By Carol Newman Cronin,

What is this book about?

Loner James Malloy is a ferry captain-or used to be, until he was unceremoniously fired and replaced by a girl named Courtney Farris. Now, instead of piloting Brenton Island's daily lifeline to the glitzy docks of Newport, Rhode Island, James spends his days beached, bitter, and bored.

When he discovers a private golf course staked out across wilderness sacred to his dying best friend, a Narragansett Indian, James is determined to stop such "improvements." But despite Brenton's nickname as "Cooperation Island," he's used to working solo. To keep rocky bluffs, historic trees, and ocean shoreline open to all, he'll have…


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