Miscellaneous Books - Page 4

A Supremely Bad Idea: Three Mad Birders and Their Quest to See It All

Luke Dempsey

Amazon Price: $16.49 List Price: $24.99 Usually ships in 24 hours By: Bloomsbury USA Amazon Marketplace: 39 new & used starting at $14.50

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Subjects -> Entertainment -> Humor -> Sports
Subjects -> Outdoors & Nature -> Birdwatching -> General
Subjects -> Outdoors & Nature -> Birdwatching -> General AAS

Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 5 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

Editorial Review:

It was an epiphany: The moment two friends showed Luke Dempsey a small bird flitting around the bushes of his country garden, he fell madly in love. But did he really want to be a birder? Didn’t that mean he’d be forced to eat granola? And wear a man-pouch? Before he knew it, though, he was lost to birding mania. Early mornings in Central Park gave way to weekend mornings wandering around Pennsylvania, which morphed into weeklong trips to Texas, Arizona, Michigan, Florida—anywhere the birds were.A Supremely Bad Idea is one man’s account of an epic journey around America, all in search of the rarest and most beautiful birds the country has to offer. But the birds are only part of it. There are also his crazy companions, Don and Donna Graffiti, who obsess over Dempsey’s culinary limitations and watch in horror as an innocent comment in a store in Arizona almost turns into an international incident; as a trip through wild Florida turns into a series of (sometimes poetic) fisticuffs; and as he teeters at the summit of the Rocky Mountains, a displaced Brit falling in love all over again, this time with his adopted country.Both a paean to avian beauty and a memoir of the back roads of America, A Supremely Bad Idea is a supremely fun comic romp: an environmentally sound This Is Spinal Tap with binoculars.

Sports Illustrated: The Football Book

Amazon Price: $19.77 List Price: $29.95 Usually ships in 24 hours By: Sports Illustrated Amazon Marketplace: 48 new & used starting at $9.73

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Subjects -> Sports -> Football (American) -> General
Subjects -> Sports -> Football (American) -> General AAS
Subjects -> Sports -> Miscellaneous -> History of Sports

Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 21 Average rating: 5.0 of 5

Great Football Book for the non-diehard fan 5 out of 5 stars.
0 of 0 people found this review helpful.

I bought this book for my 17-yr old who is a visual thinker, not a strong reader, but I loved it too! There are some amazing photos in the book and lots of history of the game and some players. I got a strong sense of the traditions of the game and the excitement for the sport. I am a stronger football fan because of it! I also recommend the rest of this 'series' by Sports Illustrated, The Baseball Book and The Basketball Book.

Editorial Review:

On the heels of the successful Sports Illustrated 50th Anniversary Book comes a spectacular celebration of professional football that will be treasured by fans of America+s Game. With the same kind of unforgettable photographs and award-winning writing that made the SI+s 50th Anniversary Book a best-seller, this lavish coffee-table volume brings to life the bone-rattling action of NFL football and the extraordinary athletes who have made it America+s true national pastime. In 256 oversized pages, The Football Book commemorates the dynasties and the dominating players, the crucial plays and classic games, the personalities and performances that propelled the NFL during SI+s first 50 years of publication, from a marginal, ragtag league to the biggest game in town.

Beneath the Surface

Michael Phelps

Amazon Price: $12.89 List Price: $18.95 Usually ships in 24 hours By: Sports Publishing LLC Amazon Marketplace: 36 new & used starting at $6.77

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Subjects -> Health, Mind & Body -> Exercise & Fitness -> Swimming
Subjects -> Sports -> Biographies -> General
Subjects -> Sports -> Biographies -> General AAS

Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 16 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

Dreadful 1 out of 5 stars.
0 of 0 people found this review helpful.

Started swimming a bit and taking notice of athletes... this one is a bore. Boy starts swimming. Boy is great from the start. Boy gets gold.

Whoopty doo..

Editorial Review:

Eight Olympic medals, including six gold and two bronze in Athens in 2004, Michael Phelps is the current holder of six world records, and seven gold medals at the 2007 World Aquatics Championships. Phelps is well on his way to his ambitious goal of "changing the sport of swimming." But despite Michael's pre-eminence in the pool, his story is not a swimming diary but a tale of adversities overcome and redemption through persistence. This new softcover edition contains a substantial update, as Phelps reflects on his life since his record-setting performance in Athens. The Olympic star reflects on his November 2004, DUI arrest. He recalls his experiences as a student at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor. Phelps also takes readers poolside for his record-setting 2007 performance in Australia and shares his thoughts heading into the 2008 Olympics in Beijing, China.

Sports Illustrated: Going Deep: 20 Classic Sports Stories

Gary Smith

Amazon Price: $17.79 List Price: $26.95 Usually ships in 24 hours By: Sports Illustrated Amazon Marketplace: 41 new & used starting at $14.51

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Subjects -> Sports -> Miscellaneous -> History of Sports
Subjects -> Sports -> General
Subjects -> Sports -> General AAS

Editorial Review:

Smith's stories have appeared in the annual "Best American Sports Writing" anthology series nine times over the course of the 16-edition series, the most of any contributor. Now comes "Sports Illustrated: Going Deep: 20 Classic Sports Stories" by Gary Smith, a collection of Smith's most powerful pieces. Handpicked by the author, these 20 stories showcase the richness of his reporting and the compassion of his craft. In "Shadow of a Nation" Smith depicts the struggle of Jonathan Takes Enemy, a young Crow Indian basketball player hoping to escape the reservation.In "Damned Yankee" Smith details the saga of John Malangone, the player who might have replaced Yogi Berra as the New York Yankees catcher until a terrible secret from his childhood unravelled his career. In "Blindsided by History" Smith tells the tale of the racial grenade flung in the laps of America's best schoolboy team in 1957 and the absurd solution that segregationists cobbled together to preserve two Arkansas traditions: Friday night football and racial separation. This 384 page anthology - highlighted by four national Magazine Award winners and a foreword by the author - is rich with heart and humanity.

We Might As Well Win: On the Road to Success with the Mastermind Behind a Record-Setting Eight Tour de France Victories

Johan Bruyneel, Bill Strickland

Amazon Price: $16.50 List Price: $25.00 Usually ships in 24 hours By: Houghton Mifflin Amazon Marketplace: 50 new & used starting at $12.50

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Subjects -> Sports -> Individual Sports -> Cycling -> General
Subjects -> Sports -> Individual Sports -> Cycling -> General AAS
Subjects -> Sports -> Miscellaneous -> Sports Psychology

Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 22 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Editorial Review:

On the tour and inside the mind of Johan Bruyneel, the winningest team leader in cycling history and the mastermind behind the success of the world's most celebrated champion, Lance Armstrong

Johan Bruyneel knows what it takes to win. In 1998, this calculating Belgian and former professional cyclist looked a struggling rider and cancer survivor in the eye and said, "Look, if we're going to ride the Tour, we might as well win." In that powerful phrase a dynasty was born. With Bruyneel as his team director, Lance Armstrong seized a record seven straight Tour de France victories. In the meantime, Bruyneel innovated the sport of cycling and went on to prove he could win without his superstar -- in 2007 he took the Tour de France title with a young new team and a lot of nerve, sealing his place in sports history forever.

We Might as Well Win takes readers behind the scenes of this amazing nine-year journey through the Alps and the Pyrenees, revealing a radical recipe for winning that readers can adapt from the bike to the boardroom to life. We witness Bruyneel's near-death crash and comeback as a rider. We are privy to the many ways he and Armstrong outsmarted their opponents. We listen in on the team's race radios to hear the secret strategies that inspire greatness from a disparate team. We learn how to make sure "not winning" isn't the same as "losing" as Bruyneel struggles to prove himself -- post-Armstrong -- with new riders, new strategies, and skeptics around every corner.

Whether mounting a difficult climb, or managing a team of thirty riders and forty support staff from a miniature car hurtling along narrow European roads, or looking a future legend in the eye and willing him to believe, Bruyneel is, and has always been, the consummate winner. Readers will relish this inside tour.

A Champion's Mind: Lessons from a Life in Tennis

Pete Sampras, Peter Bodo

Amazon Price: $16.47 List Price: $24.95 Usually ships in 24 hours By: Crown Amazon Marketplace: 45 new & used starting at $13.00

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Subjects -> Sports -> Biographies -> General
Subjects -> Sports -> Biographies -> General AAS
Subjects -> Sports -> Miscellaneous -> Sports Psychology

Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 26 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Editorial Review:

Pete Sampras is arguably the greatest tennis player ever, a man whose hard-nosed work ethic led to an unprecedented number one world ranking for 286 weeks, and whose prodigious talent made possible a record-setting fourteen Grand Slam titles. While his more vocal rivals sometimes grabbed the headlines, Pete always preferred to let his racket do the talking.

Until now.

In A Champion’s Mind, the tennis great who so often exhibited visible discomfort with letting people “inside his head” finally opens up. An athletic prodigy, Pete resolved from his earliest playing days never to let anything get in the way of his love for the game. But while this single-minded determination led to tennis domination, success didn’t come without a price. The constant pressure of competing on the world’s biggest stage—in the unblinking eye of a media machine hungry for more than mere athletic greatness—took its toll.

Here for the first time Pete speaks freely about what it was like to possess what he calls “the Gift.” He writes about the personal trials he faced—including the death of a longtime coach and confidant—and the struggles he gutted his way through while being seemingly on top of the world. Among the book’s most riveting scenes are an early devastating loss to Stefan Edberg that led Pete to make a monastic commitment to delivering on his natural talent; a grueling, four-hour-plus match against Alex Corretja during which Pete became seriously ill; fierce on-court battles with rival and friend Andre Agassi; and the triumphant last match of Pete’s career at the finals of the 2002 U.S. Open.

In A Champion’s Mind, one of the most revered, successful, and intensely private players in the history of tennis offers an intimate look at the life of an elite athlete.

Cars (Disney/ Pixar)

Amazon Price: $7.99 List Price: $7.99 Usually ships in 24 hours By: TokyoPop Amazon Marketplace: 46 new & used starting at $0.01

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Subjects -> Children's Books -> Ages 4-8 -> General
Subjects -> Children's Books -> Ages 4-8 -> General AAS
Subjects -> Children's Books -> Literature -> Popular Culture

Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 10 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Keeps my 5 year "reading" in bed! 5 out of 5 stars.
3 of 4 people found this review helpful.

My 5 year old just loves these Look & Find it books and these are perfect for him. He loves "reading" in bed at night with these books and the new Cars one is his new favorite!

Vroom! Vroom! 5 out of 5 stars.
2 of 2 people found this review helpful.

This is a great look and find book that both boys and girls will enjoy. Young readers will love reliving the story of the movie, and the illustrations are wonderful. It's hard to believe that cars can have such wonderful expressions!

There are hours of fun to be found in this book with Lightning McQueen and all the "folks" in Radiator Springs!

Editorial Review:

Lightning McQueen is a hotshot rookie racecar, driven to win the coveted Piston Cup Championship. But on the way to the race, Lightning's impatience causes him to get separated from his driver. In his struggle to find the interstate, Lightning tears through the forgotten Route 66 town of Radiator Springs, demolishing its main street in the process. With the race just days away, Lightning is arrested and forced to slow down for the first time in his life. As he gets to know the town's offbeat residents, he learns the importance of teamwork and friendship--and discovers that life is about the journey, not the finish line.

Uncle John's Bathroom Reader Plunges into Music (Uncle John's Bathroom Reader)

Bathroom Readers' Institute

Amazon Price: $12.21 List Price: $17.95 Usually ships in 24 hours By: Portable Press Amazon Marketplace: 49 new & used starting at $8.99

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Subjects -> Entertainment -> Humor -> General
Subjects -> Entertainment -> Humor -> General AAS

Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 9 Average rating: 5.0 of 5

Fun Read 5 out of 5 stars.
0 of 0 people found this review helpful.

My hubby loves these readers. Since he is always breaking out in a song, we thought this would be the perfect gift! He loves it.

Editorial Review:

What do Franz Liszt, Louis Armstrong, Woody Guthrie, and Elvis Presley have in common? What’s the story on the birth of the banjo, the electric guitar, and the Stradivarius violin? Why did disco happen? Who are the punk princesses? These are just a few of the questions answered in this lively book. Filled with facts, trivia, and stories about the world’s musicians, instruments, songs, and more, this endlessly diverting "plunge" dips into the history of Motown, muzak, and marching bands; tells the secret stories behind the hits; explores legendary venues like the Grand Ole Opry, the Apollo, and the Fillmore; spots the rarely sighted “two-hit wonders”; describes the origins of karaoke, rap music, and the cha cha cha. In short, it includes all the music news that’s fit to print is here in a variety of formats — longer entries for extended sojourns and brief tidbits for shorter stays.

Sports Nutrition for Endurance Athletes

Monique Ryan

Amazon Price: $14.93 List Price: $21.95 Usually ships in 24 hours By: VeloPress Amazon Marketplace: 42 new & used starting at $13.44

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Subjects -> Health, Mind & Body -> Diets & Weight Loss -> Diets -> Weight Loss
Subjects -> Health, Mind & Body -> Exercise & Fitness -> General
Subjects -> Health, Mind & Body -> Exercise & Fitness -> General AAS

Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 31 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Editorial Review:

Endurance athletes regularly push their bodies to the limits with strenuous training regimens that demand smart nutrition. This book provides sound nutritional guidelines to boost athletic performance in triathlon, cycling, swimming, distance running, cross-country skiing, mountain biking, cyclo-cross, and adventure racing. First, Monique Ryan creates an excellent all-purpose sports diet. Based on the building blocks of a balanced diet — carbohydrates, proteins, fats, as well as fluid, vitamin, and mineral requirements — the diet forms the foundation of the endurance athlete's good health. Individual chapters then offer detailed nutritional advice for athletes training and competing in specific sports. Ryan offers healthy approaches to losing body fat and building muscle and clearly explains the different nutritional needs of training, racing, and recovery. Also included in this practical, easy-to-use guide are tips on meal planning, shopping lists, sample menus, advice for vegetarians, and a review of popular ergogenic aids.

Mind Gym : An Athlete's Guide to Inner Excellence

Gary Mack, David Casstevens

Amazon Price: $11.53 List Price: $16.95 Usually ships in 24 hours By: McGraw-Hill Amazon Marketplace: 57 new & used starting at $8.41

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Subjects -> Health, Mind & Body -> Exercise & Fitness -> Swimming
Subjects -> Health, Mind & Body -> Mental Health -> General
Subjects -> Health, Mind & Body -> Mental Health -> General AAS

Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 23 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Best one for athletes! 5 out of 5 stars.
4 of 4 people found this review helpful.

I have read several books on the mental game in sports and this is by far the best. I work with collegiate and professional athletes and recommend this so often that Gary Mack should send me a commission!!!

not what i expected 3 out of 5 stars.
1 of 1 people found this review helpful.

a solid read, but i was expecting a book that got more into the intricacies of sports psychology, but this book seems to focus more on your thinking off the court then on it.

Well-written and entertaining 4 out of 5 stars.
0 of 0 people found this review helpful.

If you want to read an inspiring book on the power of the mind in sports, then this book is for you. It is not too packed with information, but it underlines many of the important points in mental coaching. Great stories and examples make it an uplifting read. The only thing missing was a step-by-step instruction guide to mind management - practice makes perfect.

Editorial Review:

Drawing on his work with some of the top teams in professional sports, noted sport psychology consultant Gary Mack shares with you the same techniques and exercises he uses to help elite athletes build mental "muscle." These 40 accessible lessons and inspirational anecdotes will help you gain the "head edge" over the competition.