Booking Through Thursday - August 14

You, um, may have noticed that the Olympics are going on right now, so that’s the genesis of this week’s question, in two parts:

First:

• Do you or have you ever read books about the Olympics? About sports in general?
• Fictional ones? Or non-fiction? Or both?

And, Second:

• Do you consider yourself a sports fan?
• Because, of course, if you’re a rabid fan and read about sports constantly, there’s a logic there; if you hate sports and never read anything sports-related, that, too … but you don’t have to love sports to enjoy a good sports story.
• (Or a good sports movie, for that matter. Feel free to expand this into a discussion about “Friday Night Lights” or “The Natural” or whatever…)

(For the record, I am not a sports fan at all, but I’ll watch almost any Olympics event, have indeed read books about the Olympics–and strongly recommend The Second Mark, which yes, is about Figure Skating, but was a fantastic story and particularly enthralling in its view into life as an athlete in China, so no sneering at the sport, okay? The book was fascinating. I’ve also read a history of the 1896 Olympics (there’s  also a good mini-series which just came out on DVD).)

Don’t forget to leave a link to your actual response (so people don’t have to go searching for it) in the comments—or if you prefer, leave your answers in the comments themselves!

You'll have to bear with me these days, our internet connection is intermittent, and until it is fixed I have very little time to update my blog!

I have never read any books about the Olympics, or specific Olympians. I have never been particularly interested in reading books about sports, either fiction or non-fiction. With the exception of extreme sports, like rock-climbing, diving, abseiling, or climbing Mt. Everest. 

However, I do like to watch sports. If we lived in a perfect world, with 100-hour days, I would watch more sporting events, like basketball, ice skating, soccer (futbol), and rugby, to name a few. But we don't, and I have other interests--like reading and cooking, and getting outdoors to hike, bike, or swim--that I enjoy more. I do love to watch tennis' Grand Slam tournaments, since I was a tennis player myself. I love watching both the Summer and Winter Olympics and the World Cup. Sometimes I tune into the Commonwealth Games. I never watch football or cricket, and I only enjoy watching a baseball game in person.