Curled Up With a Good Book and a Cup of Tea

Thirty-three-year-old Shea Rigsby has dedicated her entire life to her hometown and its college football team.  In Walker, Texas, the team is everything and it is no different to Shea.  Her best friend is the daughter of Walker’s legendary head coach, Clive Carr, and she works in the university athletic department, ensuring her life revolves around football. But when Walker loses its matriarch, Clive’s wife Connie, the upcoming season takes on greater meaning.  As Shea’s comfortable world is changed forever, she begins to explore if there is more for her beyond Walker.  But she soon discovers that the people and things she has placed her trust in aren’t what they seem.  And when feelings surface that she knows will change things forever, she has to decide if she will finally follow her heart. The One and Only is Emily Giffin’s latest novel, a story about finding your passion and what means the most to you in life.   I have been such a fan of...

2014 is a difficult year for Montreal Expos fans.  It’s the 20th anniversary of the strike that hurt baseball in Montreal, and the 10th anniversary of the year the team left the city for Washington, DC.  But it doesn’t mean that the Expos aren’t still beloved by people across the country, and the rumours that Major League Baseball will come back to the city aren't going anywhere. I grew up on the Montreal Expos.  To this day I still find it strange to watch baseball on television without French commentary.  The Expos logo factored heavily in my childhood wardrobe and I could find my way to the stadium on the Metro long before I could find the way to my hometown team on the subway.  So when I saw the book Up, Up, and Away: The Kid, the Hawk, Rock, Vladi, Pedro, le Grand Orange, Youppi!, the Crazy Business of Baseball, and the Ill-fated but Unforgettable Montreal Expos by Jonah Keri, I knew it was going to be a grand slam. Every so often a new book abo...

Kate Argall and Zoe Castle have been friends and rivals since they met at the age of nineteen when they made the national program in track cycling.  At the age of thirty-two they are now facing the biggest, and last, race of their lives - the 2012 Olympics in their home country.   Zoe has won gold at the past two Olympics games and she cannot fathom what will happen if she doesn't win a third.  Kate has missed the last two Olympic games because of the demands of motherhood, Athens in 2004 after her daughter was born and and Beijing in 2008 after her daughter was diagnosed with the leukemia that almost killed her. Each woman has the drive and desire to win the gold medal.  But each woman has off the track trials that are pulling their attention in a different direction.  And when the Olympic committee makes the decision that only one woman can race at the Games, Zoe and Kate's friendship will be put to its biggest test. Gold , by Chris Cleave, is ...

The World Cup is drawing to a close in South Africa, but long after it is done soccer will remain a fixture on streets, beaches and pitches throughout Africa. In Africa United , journalist Steve Bloomfield travels through thirteen African countries meeting players, fans, rebel leaders and politicians to explore the role that soccer has had in shaping the continent. This book is a wonderful balance of the story of Africa and the role soccer has had on the continent. It easily tells the history of thirteen countries and gives readers an understanding of how the countries came to be where they are today. Readers will be amazed to see just how closely the game of soccer is linked with politics. It is far from being just a game played by kids on the local pitch. Soccer has helped to not only bring countries together but to stoke conflict, prop up authoritarian regimes and even end wars. This is a great book. Steve Bloomfield has access to many people and places of Africa that m...

The World Cup has begun and around the world people are glued to their television sets, cheering for their favourite team and enjoying what is known as the beautiful game. In The World Is a Ball: The Joy, Madness and Meaning of Soccer, John Doyle examines the global appeal of soccer and how the realities of life are played out on the pitch. The book is written from Doyle's perspective as a journalist covering recent major soccer tournaments. Though he is a television critic, soccer was influential in his life starting as a young boy growing up in Ireland. But then his Canadian newspaper sends him to cover the World Cup in 2002 and from there he begins his account of exciting games, crazy fans, and the grip that soccer has on the world. Doyle not only covers the tournaments and games in-depth, but he takes you behind the scenes, introducing you to fans, players, journalists, taxi drivers and everyone who is touched by soccer fever. If you are a die-hard soccer fan and you h...