A Self Isolation Reading List: 5 Sports Fiction Books You Should Read
Self isolated? Have some time to kill? Here are five incredible sports fiction books you can dive into. You can read them as e-books through the Chatham-Kent Public Library, or order them online through sites like Amazon and Indigo.
1. The Natural – By Bernard Malamud – As explained by Wikipedia, “The story follows Roy Hobbs, a baseball prodigy whose career is sidetracked when he is shot by a woman whose motivation remains mysterious. Most of the story concerns itself with his attempts to return to baseball later in life, when he plays for the fictional New York Knights with his legendary bat “Wonderboy.”
2. Beartown – By Fredrik Backman – A story about a small town in the forest with a big dream. Beartown lives and breathes hockey. Their Junior hockey team has the hopes and dreams of the entire community, which is failing, on their shoulders. What is the price of winning, and playing, and living, for this town?
3. The Art of Fielding – By Chad Harbach – Henry Skrimshander is a college baseball player destined for professional stardom, until a routine play upends the lives of five people. A page turning read, The Art of Fielding is as much about love, family, friends, and human ambition, as it is about a baseball season.
4. Indian Horse – By Richard Wagamese – This book follows Saul Indian Horse, a First Nations boy who survives the Indian residential school system and grows up to become a star ice hockey player. While hockey is woven through this novel, it is about so much more. A story of one of the most horrific periods in Canadian history, the struggle, and perseverance of Indigenous people, the survival of residential schools, and a lasting impact that still lives today.
5. King Leary – By Paul Quarrington – The winner of Canada Reads 2008, King Leary is the story of a once hockey hero, who is now living and retelling his story from a nursing home beside his roommate, an alcoholic ex-reporter. This book is perfect for any humour loving hockey fan.