Fans pick 80 books like The Match

By Mark Frost,

Here are 80 books that The Match fans have personally recommended if you like The Match. Shepherd is a community of 12,000+ authors and super readers sharing their favorite books with the world.

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Book cover of Into Thin Air: A Personal Account of the Mount Everest Disaster

Jim Landwehr Author Of Dirty Shirt: A Boundary Waters Memoir

From my list on the trials and joys of outdoor adventure.

Why am I passionate about this?

I have been a lover of all things outdoors since I was a boy. After my father was killed at a young age, my brothers and I took his love for outdoor adventure and made it our own. Fully aware of all that can go wrong, my brothers and I went into our ventures with a keen sense of humor. Camping, fishing, and kayaking all come with their own challenges and requisite hilarious moments. It is these moments of adversity, and personal risk, that are sometimes lightened by a good dose of laughter and levity.

Jim's book list on the trials and joys of outdoor adventure

Jim Landwehr Why did Jim love this book?

This book takes the author on the ultimate high-altitude adventure, an attempt to summit the highest mountain on Earth.

It is a sobering account of the commercialization and false promises behind various mountaineering groups that pitch the summiting of the mountain to people rich enough to think they have the stamina to conquer it, but who really have no right being there in the first place.

Everest and the people who attempt to climb it have always intrigued me and this book was a stark reminder that it is a place to be revered and respected, or risk its wrath. 

By Jon Krakauer,

Why should I read it?

17 authors picked Into Thin Air as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

#1 NATIONAL BESTSELLER • The epic account of the storm on the summit of Mt. Everest that claimed five lives and left countless more—including Krakauer's—in guilt-ridden disarray. 

"A harrowing tale of the perils of high-altitude climbing, a story of bad luck and worse judgment and of heartbreaking heroism." —PEOPLE

A bank of clouds was assembling on the not-so-distant horizon, but journalist-mountaineer Jon Krakauer, standing on the summit of Mt. Everest, saw nothing that "suggested that a murderous storm was bearing down." He was wrong. 

By writing Into Thin Air, Krakauer may have hoped to exorcise some of his own demons…


Book cover of The Boys in the Boat: Nine Americans and Their Epic Quest for Gold at the 1936 Berlin Olympics

Bill Lynch Author Of Mekong Belle: Love's Impossible Choice

From my list on time travel on lonely roads.

Why am I passionate about this?

I grew up in a family of journalists. My great-grandfather, grand-aunt, and father were newspaper editors and master raconteurs. I followed in their footsteps, spending 50 years as a small-town newspaper editor. Among family, friends, and neighbors, I was expected to know the stories behind the headlines, and in so doing, I became a raconteur. In a good story, there is a fine line between fact and fiction. The novels I chose for a long road trip are as believable as the true stories I was told and ended up telling when it was my turn. It only takes asking “What if?” to cross the line from fact to fiction.

Bill's book list on time travel on lonely roads

Bill Lynch Why did Bill love this book?

I’d already bought the book when we decided to drive from our home in Sonoma, California, to visit friends who live in the San Juan Islands off the Washington Coast. I packed the book but also downloaded the Audible version. We started listening as we got on the road. I never opened the book.

It’s just a great story set in the time my parents were in high school and college. It was a world with which I was made familiar by their stories. The main character’s difficult early life resonates with anyone who has listened to the greatest generation talk about what it was like growing up during the Depression.

Yes, the action during the rowing was exciting, but I enjoyed the development of the characters, especially Joe Rantz, and his personal challenges and victories, more than all competition scenes.

By Daniel James Brown,

Why should I read it?

16 authors picked The Boys in the Boat as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

The #1 New York Times-bestselling story about the American Olympic rowing triumph in Nazi Germany-from the author of Facing the Mountain.

Soon to be a major motion picture directed by George Clooney

For readers of Unbroken, out of the depths of the Depression comes an irresistible story about beating the odds and finding hope in the most desperate of times-the improbable, intimate account of how nine working-class boys from the American West showed the world at the 1936 Olympics in Berlin what true grit really meant.

It was an unlikely quest from the start. With a team composed of the…


Book cover of We Are the Ship: The Story of Negro League Baseball

Fred Bowen Author Of Off the Bench

From my list on picks by a kids’ sports book author.

Why am I passionate about this?

I grew up in a large (7 kids) sports-loving family in Massachusetts. I rooted for the Red Sox and Celtics and tried to win various “family championships” against my older siblings. I usually lost. I used those memories and my passion for sports when I started to write my sports books for kids ages 8-12 and my weekly kids’ sports column for The Washington Post from 2000 – 2023. All my books include sports history so I have been reading about sports and sports history my entire life. As I am often asked to recommend sports books, I have a list of almost forty sports books that I recommend. 

Fred's book list on picks by a kids’ sports book author

Fred Bowen Why did Fred love this book?

I thought I should include at least one kids’ sports book since I have written 28 of them.  But honestly, We Are the Ship by Kadir Nelson could be included in any list of great sports books.

Nelson is a talented artist who has illustrated dozens of children’s books and whose work has appeared in art galleries and on New Yorker magazine covers.

The art in We Are the Ship is wonderful but it is Nelson’s writing that is the surprise.  Adopting the voice of an aging baseball player who saw it all, Nelson tells the story of the Negro Leagues of the 1920s and 30s.

We Are the Ship is a magical combination of sports history, great art, and superb storytelling that will captivate any reader.  

I can give this book the greatest compliment I can give any children’s book: I wish had written it.

By Kadir Nelson,

Why should I read it?

2 authors picked We Are the Ship as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it. This book is for kids age 8, 9, 10, and 11.

What is this book about?

In this New York Times bestselling classic, Caldecott Medal-winning artist Kadir Nelson tells the incredible story of baseball's unsung heroes -- perfect for celebrating the centennial anniversary of the Negro Leagues! Winner of the 2009 Coretta Scott King Author Award * Winner of the 2009 Sibert Medal

Featuring nearly fifty iconic oil paintings and a dramatic double-page fold-out, an award-winning narrative, a gorgeous design and rich backmatter, We Are the Ship is a sumptuous, oversize volume for all ages that no baseball fan should be without. Using an inviting first-person voice, Kadir Nelson shares the engaging story of Negro League…


Book cover of The Winning Touch in Golf: A Psychological Approach

Tom Dorsel Author Of Golf: The Mental Game: Thinking Your Way Around the Course

From my list on golf (with a nod given to the mental game).

Why am I passionate about this?

A golfer since age 10, and psychology student, then professor, since age 19, I have a combined 121 years of experience in becoming a golf psychologist. I’ll let you calculate how old I am! As the author of 3 books and over 100 mental instruction articles for Golf Magazine, Golf Digest, Golf Illustrated, and GolfWeek, I made 10 national TV appearances on Inside the PGA Tour. I also served Notre Dame as a sport psychology consultant. With psychology degrees from the Universities of Notre Dame, Kentucky, and New Mexico, and post-doctoral training at the University of California, Davis, Medical Center, I was a full-time college professor for 34 years, and served as President of the SC Psychological Association.

Tom's book list on golf (with a nod given to the mental game)

Tom Dorsel Why did Tom love this book?

The Winning Touch in Golf was the first sport psychology book that addressed golf. It was certainly the first such book that I read and it influenced the rest of my life. Indeed, I became a golf psychologist.

The book was written by a psychologist whom I found credible, not only because he had his Ph.D., but because he was also a member of Augusta National, the home of the fabled Masters Tournament. To me, that meant that he was not only a psychologist, but also a serious golfer.

I found the 53 brief “secrets” about the mental game, each “secret” consisting of only 3 or so pages with some graphics, were indeed brief and very easy to read. I was happy to find no psychological mumbo-jumbo, just interesting topics, astute observations, and practical suggestions for many common psychological situations in golf. Indeed, I modeled my own book on these…

By Peter Gordon Cranford,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked The Winning Touch in Golf as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

1961 HARDCOVER, PRENTICE-HALL, 172 PP, INDEX, 10"X7", ILLUSTRATED


Book cover of Golf in the Kingdom

Jayne Storey Author Of Connected Golf: Bridging the Gap between Practice and Performance

From my list on mind-body golf.

Why am I passionate about this?

I’ve been fascinated by the link between golf and the Eastern arts since I heard the great Jack Nicklaus say that golf is played with the feet. This immediately struck a chord with me as my background spans over thirty years of Tai Chi training and I have understood from this art that all movement comes from the ground upwards. The early training of Nicklaus in fact echoes that of the ancient warriors who understood the link between intention and action, which is a very different approach to the modern way of over-thinking technique. The simplicity of flow cancels out the need to separate the golf swing into individual positions. 

Jayne's book list on mind-body golf

Jayne Storey Why did Jayne love this book?

This book is an absolute classic and should be in the library of every golfer who has ever touched those extraordinary moments we call the zone or flow. Murphy’s encounter with the enigmatic teacher Shivas Irons, has him questioning reality as he understands it with his logical mind. As their encounter unfolds, Murphy begins experiencing an opening of his perception to a deeper and more profound awareness of the forces and energies that can align to help create the perfect shot. This book shows how important it is to ‘get out of your own way’ and find your inner swing. 

By Michael Murphy,

Why should I read it?

3 authors picked Golf in the Kingdom as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

"...for golf's soul surfers, Golf in the Kingdom is holy scripture." -- Golf

A spiritual journey, a lush travelogue, a parable of sports and philosophy-John Updike called this unique novel "a golf classic if any exists in our day."

Paired with a mysterious teacher named Shivas Irons, Michael Murphy is led through a round of phenomenal golf, swept into a world where extraordinary powers are unleashed in a backswing governed by "true gravity." A night of adventure and revelation follows, and leads to a glimpse of Seamus MacDuff, the holy man who haunts a ravine off Burningbush's thirteenth fairway-the one…


Book cover of Harvey Penick's Little Red Book: Lessons and Teachings from a Lifetime in Golf

Tom Dorsel Author Of Golf: The Mental Game: Thinking Your Way Around the Course

From my list on golf (with a nod given to the mental game).

Why am I passionate about this?

A golfer since age 10, and psychology student, then professor, since age 19, I have a combined 121 years of experience in becoming a golf psychologist. I’ll let you calculate how old I am! As the author of 3 books and over 100 mental instruction articles for Golf Magazine, Golf Digest, Golf Illustrated, and GolfWeek, I made 10 national TV appearances on Inside the PGA Tour. I also served Notre Dame as a sport psychology consultant. With psychology degrees from the Universities of Notre Dame, Kentucky, and New Mexico, and post-doctoral training at the University of California, Davis, Medical Center, I was a full-time college professor for 34 years, and served as President of the SC Psychological Association.

Tom's book list on golf (with a nod given to the mental game)

Tom Dorsel Why did Tom love this book?

The reason I like this book is the same reason I like any other book on golf — it is simple, basic, understandable — no psychobabble and no crazy swing gymnastics. I mean you and I, average golfers, can understand this and immediately put Harvey’s thinking and suggestions to use.

An example: Harvey admonishes the player to “Take Dead Aim.” Sounds simple enough, but a lot of players don’t do it. They look at the pin, set up, and think they are aiming at it, but in reality, they are aiming at all kinds of strange places other than at the pin.

Jack Nicklaus concurs with Harvey when he says that our alignment (i.e., aiming at the pin) is 50 percent of the battle in hitting a good shot. I would add that if you are aimed wrong, you have to swing wrong to get the ball where it is…

By Harvey Penick,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Harvey Penick's Little Red Book as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

The twentieth anniversary edition of this classic work—the bestselling golf instruction book of all time and hailed as “the golfer's equivalent of The Elements of Style” (The New York Times)—includes a new introduction by a prominent golfer, twenty new illustrations, and never-before-published materials from the Penick family archives.

The most beloved golf book of all time, Harvey Penick’s Little Red Book has become required reading for all players and fans of the game, from beginners to seasoned pros.

The legendary Harvey Penick, whom Sports Illustrated called the “Socrates of the golf world,” began his golfing career as a caddie in…


Book cover of Ernest Jones' Swing the Clubhead

Tom Dorsel Author Of Golf: The Mental Game: Thinking Your Way Around the Course

From my list on golf (with a nod given to the mental game).

Why am I passionate about this?

A golfer since age 10, and psychology student, then professor, since age 19, I have a combined 121 years of experience in becoming a golf psychologist. I’ll let you calculate how old I am! As the author of 3 books and over 100 mental instruction articles for Golf Magazine, Golf Digest, Golf Illustrated, and GolfWeek, I made 10 national TV appearances on Inside the PGA Tour. I also served Notre Dame as a sport psychology consultant. With psychology degrees from the Universities of Notre Dame, Kentucky, and New Mexico, and post-doctoral training at the University of California, Davis, Medical Center, I was a full-time college professor for 34 years, and served as President of the SC Psychological Association.

Tom's book list on golf (with a nod given to the mental game)

Tom Dorsel Why did Tom love this book?

When it comes to simplicity, I like that old pro Ernest Jones exemplifies one of the simplest and hard-to-argue-with swing keys you can employ: Simply feel and swing the clubhead! Now, of course, that is simple to say, and if it is enough for you, forget the book and just go out and do it. But, if you find it needs a little more explanation, read Jones’ book and see how he explains it.

What I found most intriguing about the book is Jones himself. As I remember it, he was a successful pro, went off to war, lost a leg, and came back and learned to swing the only way he could — on one leg. By balancing on one foot, he learned the importance of “swinging the clubhead,” as opposed to “hitting at the ball.” That is, the only way he could maintain his balance was to “swing…

By Ernest Jones,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Ernest Jones' Swing the Clubhead as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Ranked as the #1 golf instruction book of all-time by golflearning.com

The teachings of Ernest Jones are of a distant generation, yet no one with the possible exception of Percy Boomer, has such an influence on modern day golf instruction. Jones is quoted in countless magazine articles, and golf instruction books by well known players and teachers, including Jack Nicklaus, and Gary McCord. McCord, most well known for his humor in golf broadcasts, is a very intelligent and serious student of the golf swing. In his book Golf for Dummies, McCord lists Swing the Clubhead as one of his Top…


Book cover of Sports Illustrated: Fifty Years of Great Writing

Fred Bowen Author Of Off the Bench

From my list on picks by a kids’ sports book author.

Why am I passionate about this?

I grew up in a large (7 kids) sports-loving family in Massachusetts. I rooted for the Red Sox and Celtics and tried to win various “family championships” against my older siblings. I usually lost. I used those memories and my passion for sports when I started to write my sports books for kids ages 8-12 and my weekly kids’ sports column for The Washington Post from 2000 – 2023. All my books include sports history so I have been reading about sports and sports history my entire life. As I am often asked to recommend sports books, I have a list of almost forty sports books that I recommend. 

Fred's book list on picks by a kids’ sports book author

Fred Bowen Why did Fred love this book?

My fourth pick is not a book. It is an article that appeared in Sports Illustrated magazine on June 17, 1985 although it does appear in various anthologies of great sports writing.

In his heyday, Frank Deford was the king of the “take out piece,” the longer journalistic pieces that appeared in the back of magazines. The Boxer and the Blonde is his masterpiece.

It is the story of Billy Conn when the light heavyweight champion challenged Joe Louis for the heavyweight crown in the summer of 1941.  But it is also the story of Billy falling hard for the blonde – Mary Louise Smith.

Years ago, I handed a copy of The Boxer and the Blonde to my son Liam when he was complaining about his 8th grade English assignment (The Age of Innocence by Edith Wharton). An hour later Liam returned and declared, “Dad, this one…

By Sports Illustrated,

Why should I read it?

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

What is this book about?

For 50 years, "Sports Illustrated" has set the standard for sports writing and action photography. Now, for the culmination of the magazine's 50th Anniversary celebration, some of the finest writing and most memorable pictures from "Sports Illustrated's" archives have been collected in a lavish coffee-table book that will be treasured by the magazine's devoted readers for years to come. Along with the stunning photography, which includes everyone of the magazine's covers since its launch in 1954, and the great writing that has appeared in "Sports Illustrated's" pages, this 304-page book will also be packed full of facts and figures that…


Book cover of Extraordinary Golf: The Art of the Possible

Jayne Storey Author Of Connected Golf: Bridging the Gap between Practice and Performance

From my list on mind-body golf.

Why am I passionate about this?

I’ve been fascinated by the link between golf and the Eastern arts since I heard the great Jack Nicklaus say that golf is played with the feet. This immediately struck a chord with me as my background spans over thirty years of Tai Chi training and I have understood from this art that all movement comes from the ground upwards. The early training of Nicklaus in fact echoes that of the ancient warriors who understood the link between intention and action, which is a very different approach to the modern way of over-thinking technique. The simplicity of flow cancels out the need to separate the golf swing into individual positions. 

Jayne's book list on mind-body golf

Jayne Storey Why did Jayne love this book?

This is a breakthrough book that allows golfers the opportunity to step away from all the mental and technical thinking and into something simpler that can help release a golfer’s inner talents and abilities. The now-famous ‘club-throwing exercise’ is Shoemaker’s answer to Tim Gallwey’s ‘bounce-hit’ exercise in tennis which helps take the emphasis off trying to get technique right and instead allows the body to move in a way that is natural and therefore repeatable, even under pressure. So many of my students have benefited from the drills and exercises and the whole mindset of this book which details the possibilities inherent every time you set up to the ball. 

By Fred Shoemaker, Pete Shoemaker,

Why should I read it?

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

What is this book about?

Most golfers approach the tee with a complex mental package: worries and judgments about their swing, the other person's swing, the course, the weather, looking good, looking bad. They think about what's wrong instead of what's possible, and this is what Extraordinary Golf teaches: the art of the possible. Drawing on his experience teaching both amateurs and professionals for more than fifteen years, in his clinics around the country, in his Golf in the Kingdom seminars at the Esalen Institute, and at his own School for Extraordinary Golf in California, Shoemaker shows how extraordinary golf can be coached, learned, and…


Book cover of Brown's Requiem

Steven Powell Author Of Love Me Fierce In Danger: The Life of James Ellroy

From my list on the king of LA noir James Ellroy.

Why am I passionate about this?

I have been fascinated by James Ellroy’s life and writing since I first discovered it as a lonely teenager on a rainswept family holiday. He went through dark times; the unsolved murder of his mother and his subsequent struggles with addiction. But how he overcame this to become one of America’s greatest writers is an inspiring story and has inspired me to get through my own personal turmoil. Indeed, many Ellroy readers will attest to how his life story and writing helped them overcome their struggles. Now as Ellroy’s biographer, I am continually drawn back to his work. Reading just a few pages allows me to contemplate what Ellroy calls ‘the Wonder’.

Steven's book list on the king of LA noir James Ellroy

Steven Powell Why did Steven love this book?

This was James Ellroy’s debut novel and has been all but forgotten compared to the masterpieces he later produced. But there is so much in this book that reveals why Ellroy was destined for greatness: strong plotting, vivid characters, electrifying prose. The plot involves a car repo man who takes on a private eye case for an oddball golf caddy. The plot owes a lot to Raymond Chandler, but it still feels original in Ellroy’s hands. Allow yourself to be swept away by it.

By James Ellroy,

Why should I read it?

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

What is this book about?

Beneath the slick, glittering surface of L.A., an underworld of depravity and wickedness reins. Fritz Brown is a part-time private eye and full-time repo-man who gets his kicks listening to classical music. But the waters get too deep for Brown when he takes a case from a cash-flashing golf caddy named Freddy “Fat Dog” Baker that puts him on the trail of his client’s sister and the older gentleman she’s run off with. But more suspicious than his sister, a classy cellist, is Fat Dog himself, who has a past more sordid than he lets on. Diving into a cesspool…


Book cover of Into Thin Air: A Personal Account of the Mount Everest Disaster
Book cover of The Boys in the Boat: Nine Americans and Their Epic Quest for Gold at the 1936 Berlin Olympics
Book cover of We Are the Ship: The Story of Negro League Baseball

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