Book review of "A to Z of Men and Women who excelled in sports"
Book Reviews

Book review of “A to Z of Men and Women who excelled in sports” authored by Sitharaam Jayakumar

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Today, the book I have reviewed is by a dear friend and a fantastic writer. He is a third-time author and unlike the last two times, when he chose to write thriller based fiction, this time his book is on real-life stories of eminent sports figures. I have read and reviewed both of his books published earlier. And here comes the review of his third book, “A to Z of Men and Women who excelled in sports”.

Author: Sitharaam Jayakumar
Genre: Sports
Rating 4.5/5

Plot:

As the name indicates, this book is an ode to 26 legendary sportspersons from various sports who showcased their amazing talent and won millions of hearts. The author has carefully picked wonderful personalities across all sports, age groups and generations and has shared some really interesting information about each one of them. The cover page is simple, attractive and goes well with the theme of the book.

Summary:

If you are a sports lover, this is the perfect book for you and even if you are not, the book still has a lot to offer you as it is an inspirational read. The wise selection of sportspersons and the excellent way of presenting their details in a storytelling manner makes this book a treat to read. The author has done some deep research about each and every sportsman/woman he has written about.

He has shared information not only about the sports journey, rewards, accolades, and controversies, but has also thrown light on the childhood, family background, growing up years, education, previous jobs before getting into sports, and other challenges in life, of the sportspersons described.

You would read about almost all sports ranging from Cricket to Hockey, Tennis to Badminton, Chess to Gymnastics, Football to Boxing, and so on. This was an entertaining book for me as I discovered so many unknown facts about my favorite players who had made it to the author’s list. To name a few – Lionel Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo, Shoaib Akhtar, Vishwanathan Anand, and of course the master blaster Sachin Tendulkar. (Without his mention, can any sportsbook be complete?)

The author is a feminist and this is quite evident from his choice of players as he has included many women too. The pride of our nation, Dipa Karmakar, Mary Kom, PV Sindhu, Saina Nehwal have all made it to this book and it was an absolute delight to read about their inspiring journey.

Another reason for my liking this book

is that I learned about many players for the first time. I loved reading about the twisted genius of chess – Bobby Fischer, Indian fame – Gundappa Vishwanath, highly skilled tennis player – Chris Evert, evergreen all-rounder, Sir Ian Botham and many more. I was amazed to read about the talent we have across the globe in the sports world. People faced and overcame challenges and reached the zenith of their lives. The author has beautifully highlighted the attributes and qualities of all the players.

Another important event the author has highlighted in this book is Body Line. He has mentioned about the challenge batsmen had to face playing fast bowlers without any protective gear like helmets, arm pads, knee pads, and such during the early days of cricket. There is a chapter on Body Line where he has talked about the Shoaib Akhtar and Bret Lee of yesteryears, “Harold Larwood”. Without making it a spoiler, I would like to end the review here so that you can download and read the book to know more about this terrific player.

It was hard to pick just one celebrity star from this book but still, I chose one. He is a charmer who never fails to amaze me on the field and after reading the long list of awards he has to his credit, mentioned in this book, he tops my favorites list now. I am talking about the Portuguese Footballer, Cristiano Ronaldo.

Availability:

This book has been written as a part of Blogchatter e-book carnival and is available for free download for a limited time. You can grab your copy here

So, this was my honest book review of “A to Z of Men and Women who excelled in sports” written as part of Blogchatter Book Review Program. Hope you will enjoy reading this book too.

 

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