100 books like Riding on the Roar of the Crowd

By David Gowdey,

Here are 100 books that Riding on the Roar of the Crowd fans have personally recommended if you like Riding on the Roar of the Crowd. Shepherd is a community of 11,000+ authors and super readers sharing their favorite books with the world.

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Book cover of Wayne Gretzky's Ghost: And Other Tales from a Lifetime in Hockey

Tim Falconer Author Of Klondikers: Dawson City's Stanley Cup Challenge and How a Nation Fell in Love with Hockey

From my list on the game of hockey.

Why am I passionate about this?

I’ve been reading hockey books since I was a kid and could usually count on finding one under the Christmas tree. I still keep many of those books from my childhood on the shelves in my office. Eventually, I was old enough to buy my own books, some of which are about hockey (and, lucky for me, I continue to receive hockey books as gifts on occasion). When I started to write books, I knew that someday I would write one about the game I love to play, watch and read about.

Tim's book list on the game of hockey

Tim Falconer Why did Tim love this book?

As a teenager, I read Roy MacGregor’s profiles of players such as Bryan Trottier, Borje Salming, and Bobby Clarke in The Canadian magazine and it made me want to become a writer. Since then, he’s written many great hockey books, including The Home Team, A Loonie for Luck and the Screech Owl series for young readers. Wayne Gretzky’s Ghost—the title refers to when MacGregor ghostwrote Gretzky’s newspaper column—is a collection of some of his best pieces from 1976 to 2011. Read them and I’m sure you’ll agree MacGregor is the game’s best writer.

By Roy MacGregor,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Wayne Gretzky's Ghost as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Roy MacGregor has been called "the best hockey writer in the country," and we finally have a collection of his very best hockey writing, revised and updated.

For nearly 40 years Roy MacGregor has brought hockey, our national sport, alive on the page. From tales of the game's greats (Guy Lafleur, Jean Beliveau, Marcel Dionne) to today's stars (Sidney Crosby, Alex Ovechkin, Daniel and Henrik Sedin), his magazine and newspaper coverage has revealed so much about these and so many other personalities, in moments of promise, victory and defeat. While many of these stories play out on the ice, some…


Book cover of Gross Misconduct: The Life of Spinner Spencer

Tim Falconer Author Of Klondikers: Dawson City's Stanley Cup Challenge and How a Nation Fell in Love with Hockey

From my list on the game of hockey.

Why am I passionate about this?

I’ve been reading hockey books since I was a kid and could usually count on finding one under the Christmas tree. I still keep many of those books from my childhood on the shelves in my office. Eventually, I was old enough to buy my own books, some of which are about hockey (and, lucky for me, I continue to receive hockey books as gifts on occasion). When I started to write books, I knew that someday I would write one about the game I love to play, watch and read about.

Tim's book list on the game of hockey

Tim Falconer Why did Tim love this book?

The night Brian Spencer first played for the Toronto Maple Leafs, his father was angry that the local TV station was airing another game. After driving to the station with a gun and forcing the staff to show the Leaf game, he died in a stand-off with the RCMP. “Spinner” played 553 NHL games, but life after hockey wasn’t easy. In 1988, a year after his acquittal on kidnapping and murder charges, he died from a gunshot during a drug-related robbery in Florida. O’Malley is an excellent journalist and this is a powerfully told story of a tragic life. 

By Martin O’Malley,

Why should I read it?

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

What is this book about?

310 pages of excellent text, with many great photos. The roller-coaster story of a life so gripping that it reads like fiction. From remote British Columbia to West Palm Beach, from $100,000 a year to drifter, from a tense murder trial to Spenser's own violent murder. First Edition.


Book cover of The Game

Jason Wilson and Richard M. Reid Author Of Famous for a Time: Forgotten Giants of Canadian Sport

From my list on the impact of sport on social history.

Why are we passionate about this?

Between the two of us, we have written over a dozen books and won numerous prizes. Wilson, when not writing critically-acclaimed music or explaining how to catch a haggis, has received the Ontario Historical Association’s Joseph Brant Award for King Alpha’s Song in a Strange Land. Reid, who wisely passed up the chance of a law career in order to play an extra year of soccer, received the C. P. Stacey Award for African Canadians in Union Blue. Both writers believe that sports offer a valuable lens by which to examine a society’s core values.

Jason's book list on the impact of sport on social history

Jason Wilson and Richard M. Reid Why did Jason love this book?

Ken Dryden is a lawyer, a politician, and a gifted writer. He also happens to be one of the most important goaltenders in Canadian hockey history.

Armed with such lived experience and trained in a variety of disciplines as he has been, Dryden provided hockey with its central and perhaps most enduring literary work. Unlike some of our other choices, The Game is less about larger socio-cultural trends (though there is some of this, especially when he recounts his crucial role in the famous Summit Series against the Soviets in 1972), but rather more about the inner dynamics of a team and what it means to win or lose together in professional sport.

Dryden’s work is, yes, historical, but also highly philosophical; his unique position in goal gave him an ice-level perspective that few enjoy (his iconic stance, gloves atop stick, ever-observing play at the opposite end has already…

By Ken Dryden,

Why should I read it?

2 authors picked The Game as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Widely acknowledged as the best hockey book ever written and lauded by Sports Illustrated as one of the Top 10 Sports Books of All Time, The Game is a reflective and thought-provoking look at a life in hockey. Ken Dryden, the former Montreal Canadiens goalie and former president of the Toronto Maple Leafs, captures the essence of the sport and what it means to all hockey fans. He gives vivid and affectionate portraits of the characters—Guy Lafleur, Larry Robinson, Guy Lapointe, Serge Savard, and coach Scotty Bowman among them—who made the Canadiens of the 1970s one of the greatest hockey…


Book cover of Hockey Dreams: Memories of a Man Who Couldn't Play

Tim Falconer Author Of Klondikers: Dawson City's Stanley Cup Challenge and How a Nation Fell in Love with Hockey

From my list on the game of hockey.

Why am I passionate about this?

I’ve been reading hockey books since I was a kid and could usually count on finding one under the Christmas tree. I still keep many of those books from my childhood on the shelves in my office. Eventually, I was old enough to buy my own books, some of which are about hockey (and, lucky for me, I continue to receive hockey books as gifts on occasion). When I started to write books, I knew that someday I would write one about the game I love to play, watch and read about.

Tim's book list on the game of hockey

Tim Falconer Why did Tim love this book?

This book by an award-winning Canadian novelist mixes memoir and essay. The memoir is set in New Brunswick’s Miramichi region in 1961. Richards has no use of his left arm; his best friend is going blind due to diabetes. They are in their last year of playing hockey. Woven into that story are other memories—including of distasteful meetings with people who don’t like the sport—as well as his thoughts on the game and its place in the Canadian psyche. Hockey Dreams is highly personal, so it may not be for readers, but I loved it. 

By David Adams Richards,

Why should I read it?

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

What is this book about?

With a voice as Canadian as winter, David Adams Richards reflects on the place of hockey in the Canadian soul.

The lyrical narrative of Hockey Dreams flows from Richards' boyhood games on the Miramichi to heated debates with university professors who dare to back the wrong team. It examines the globalization of hockey, and how Canadians react to the threat of foreigners beating us at "our" game.

Part memoir, part essay on national identity, part hockey history, Hockey Dreams is a meditation by one of Canada's finest writers on the essence of the game that helps define our nation.


Book cover of Murder, Exit Stage Right

Yvonne Rediger Author Of Condo Crazy

From my list on discovering which type of mystery fits you.

Why am I passionate about this?

I've read mysteries of all types since I was young. Unfortunately for my publishers, I like to write in several different genres too. Everyone loves a mystery, a puzzle, sussing out the hidden. If you think you don’t like mysteries, then I think you just haven’t found your genre yet. Reading a mystery is like treasure hunting, we all want to find the gold. I love clever dialogue, characters you want to meet in real life, and accompany them while solving a mystery. All the books I have recommended have an overarching mystery element. I write like that too, also, one element links all my books regardless of genre. Happy treasure hunting!

Yvonne's book list on discovering which type of mystery fits you

Yvonne Rediger Why did Yvonne love this book?

In this cozy mystery Mable and Violet are fast friends and have odd adventures. I think everyone needs a partner in crime, so to speak. This is a series; each book has a different theme, which I like. This story is set in a theatre, a one-act play competition in small town Saskatchewan, Canada. From my experience in little theatre odd things do happen. Like in my writing, this story has humour, intrigue, and enduring friendship. The added bonus, a theatre critic who has it coming. I like figuring out who had the biggest axe to grind and what motives each character is hiding.

By Joan Havelange,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Murder, Exit Stage Right as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Murder is a hard act to follow. All the drama does not take place on the stage at the Glenhaven Drama Festival. A collection of amateur actors with big egos land in Mabel Havelock’s hometown. And Mabel’s acting debut is not the only thing on her mind. Mysterious accidents and sabotage are plaguing the festival.

Mabel and her best friend Violet Ficher are determined to ferret out the culprit. The problem is why? Who has anything to gain? And why did Sherman have to die?


Book cover of Skating Over Thin Ice

Lorna Schultz Nicholson Author Of When You Least Expect It

From my list on determination and perseverance.

Why am I passionate about this?

As a child I loved to read and write but I also loved sports. I played every sport I could, and races and games fueled me. My mother called me the “joiner.” Teams create bonds and friendships and I’m still in touch with former teammates. This gives me inspiration to write human interactions. Determination and perseverance are part of being an athlete and I write about strong characters who want to succeed but often meet obstacles along the way. I honestly believe that my sports background has helped me survive publishing, because both are full of highs and lows. Please, enjoy my recommended list because they’re books with heart.

Lorna's book list on determination and perseverance

Lorna Schultz Nicholson Why did Lorna love this book?

This is such a beautifully written book that combines art and sport, two of my passions. Imogene is a piano prodigy and there wasn’t one moment in the book where I didn’t root for her. The teen love story between her and the suspended hockey player is so believable and not like typical teen romance novels. I liked that Mills didn’t sugarcoat the work that goes into being successful at something. The book was real and honest which made the ending completely realistic. 

By Jean Mills,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Skating Over Thin Ice as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it. This book is for kids age 12, 13, 14, and 15.

What is this book about?

Imogen St. Pierre is a musical prodigy, a classical pianist touring Canada and abroad in a trio with her father and grandfather. Though clearly accomplished she is also painfully awkward socially, getting lost in the music even after it's over.

Imogen's in the final year in a private boarding school where she meets a boy of the same age, Nathan McCormick, who turns out to be the Next great hockey player. Nathan however has recently been penalized for a vicious fight in an international tournament. Imogen and Nathan don't exactly become an item, but there's an elusive special quality to…


Book cover of The Deal

Eve M. Riley Author Of The Refusal

From my list on the best sex scenes of all time.

Why am I passionate about this?

What makes a good sex scene for you? Long and drawn out, fast and furious or an unusual location? Perhaps the interesting use of accessories is your jam. And that’s before we get to angry sex, makeup sex, unexpected sex, or sex with the fear of discovery. I’ve loved steamy romance novels for as long as I can remember, and when I look for books with sex scenes, I have high expectations. I’m a fan of something unusual. Not tacky or totally unrealistic, just something surprising and interesting. But have all the best ideas been written? No way. I’m a firm believer that the best is yet to come.

Eve's book list on the best sex scenes of all time

Eve M. Riley Why did Eve love this book?

This is the first book in a great hockey romance series. Bad-boy college hockey player Garrett is in desperate need of tutoring. After relentlessly pestering classmate Hannah, she finally agrees to tutor him. But, despite his playboy reputation, Hannah seems immune to his charms. She’s crushing on another guy, and Garrett hatches a plan to help Hannah reel him in: He’ll date her to elevate her social status and make the guy jealous. Except Garrett is getting increasingly interested in Hannah himself.

I love books where one kiss changes everything, and this is a great slow-burn of a book, with lots of banter and an unlikely friendship leading to a beautiful relationship. It’s fun and sexy with just the right amount of seriousness.

By Elle Kennedy,

Why should I read it?

2 authors picked The Deal as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

New York Times bestseller and TikTok sensation Elle Kennedy brings you the first in the sexy Off-Campus series that everyone is talking about.

She's about to make a deal with the college bad boy...

Hannah Wells has finally found someone who turns her on. But while she might be confident in every other area of her life, she's carting around a full set of baggage when it comes to sex and seduction. If she wants to get her crush's attention, she'll have to step out of her comfort zone and make him take notice...even if it means tutoring the annoying,…


Book cover of Slap Shot Science: A Curious Fan's Guide to Hockey

John Eric Goff Author Of Gold Medal Physics: The Science of Sports

From my list on combine sports and Science.

Why am I passionate about this?

As a boy, I wanted to play baseball professionally. But, alas, talent was not within me, and I became one of the few people in the world who chose physics as a career because something else was too hard. Part of my career as a scientist is learning new things; another part is teaching and, hopefully, imbuing students with a love of science. The sports science books here all taught me a great deal, and I have recommended them to several of my students. Sports can be an excellent vehicle for learning some science, and such learning about a sport one loves can make watching the sport even more fun.

John's book list on combine sports and Science

John Eric Goff Why did John love this book?

The publisher asked me to review this book before its publication. I had been a sports physicist for a few years, but I had never been that interested in ice hockey. Haché’s passion for the sport helped to change that. I thoroughly loved seeing physics applied to a sport that I had never played.

Learning about the science behind the various pieces of equipment was especially illuminating for me. I do not claim to be an avid ice hockey fan, but Haché’s love for the sport allowed me to go outside my comfort zone and have an exciting time with a book.

By Alain Hache,

Why should I read it?

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

What is this book about?

From the moment the first player steps onto the ice, every conceivable principle of science is in play. To understand hockey - fully understand it - Alain Hache argues that you must first learn how ice reacts to a passing blade, how the trajectory and aerodynamics of the puck affect its chances of getting into the net, how the tension on the stick transfers energy to the puck, and dozens of other details of the game. Slap Shot Science is an under-the-hood, behind-the-scenes, action-packed romp through special moments in the game as seen from the perspective of science and explained…


Book cover of Make It Sweet

Rachel Bowen Author Of Thin Lines

From my list on romance with a chaotic family and friend groups.

Why am I passionate about this?

I didn’t grow up with a close family, but I yearned for one. Which is why I gravitate towards books with a cast of characters who are family, or a found family. I also prefer romantic plots or subplots. Combining romance and amazing side characters that are close automatically hooks me. That’s why I always include these dynamics in the books I write. I write my books for my own entertainment and hope others who love romance with swoony leads and a fun cast of characters will find my book and enjoy it as much as I do. 

Rachel's book list on romance with a chaotic family and friend groups

Rachel Bowen Why did Rachel love this book?

I love stories where neither of the main characters are looking for love, and sometimes are actively avoiding it, and then bam they meet someone they click with and can’t help but fall.

This is one of those books. Both leads are using a sprawling estate as an escape from their pasts and from people in general. They fall in love with the help of a meddling grandmother, forced proximity, baking, and off-the-chart chemistry.

The fact they fight it, and try to deny it, makes it all the more satisfying when they finally give in. 

By Kristen Callihan,

Why should I read it?

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

What is this book about?

From New York Times bestselling author Kristen Callihan comes a charming, emotional romance about redefining dreams and discovering unlikely love along the way.

Life for Emma isn't good. The world knows her as Princess Anya on Dark Castle, but then her character gets the axe-literally. The cherry on top is finding her boyfriend in bed with another woman. She needs a break, and sanctuary comes in the form of Rosemont, a gorgeous estate in California promising rest and relaxation.

Then she meets the owner's equally gorgeous grandson, ex-hockey player and current recluse Lucian Osmond, and she sees her own pain…


Book cover of It Had to Be You

Carolyn Miller Author Of The Breakup Project

From my list on for romance-loving Christians.

Why am I passionate about this?

I’m a long-time lover of Christian romance, and now with over a dozen Christian historical romance books published, and a similar amount of Christian contemporary romances published or soon to be, I think I’m someone who has a true appreciation for romance that is soul-stirringly Christian, not just clean or sweet, but which contains truths that will inspire and encourage as well as entertain with swoon-worthy romance.

Carolyn's book list on for romance-loving Christians

Carolyn Miller Why did Carolyn love this book?

This is the second book in the Christiansen family series, but in my opinion, is one of the best. Why? It’s about a hockey player (hello!), and the over-committed sister of one of his teammates. This book explores things such as family obligations and unspoken expectations, discovering God’s purpose for your life, and learning to accept God’s grace. The use of Scripture is powerful and inspiring yet used so naturally that I’m sure readers will be encouraged as I was, and as for the romance – prepare for some swoon-worthy kisses!

By Susan May Warren,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked It Had to Be You as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Eden Christiansen never imagined her role as her younger brother Owen’s cheerleader would keep her on the sidelines of her own life. Sure, it feels good to be needed, but looking after the reckless NHL rookie leaves little time for Eden to focus on her own career. She dreamed of making a name for herself as a reporter, but is stuck writing obits―and starting to fear she doesn’t have the chops to land a major story. If only someone would step up to mentor Owen . . . but she knows better than to expect help from team veteran and…


5 book lists we think you will like!

Interested in ice hockey, Canada, and presidential biography?

Ice Hockey 16 books
Canada 449 books