Sports & Recreation Audiobooks

The Formula: How Rogues, Geniuses, and Speed Freaks Reengineered F1 into the World's Fastest Growing

Wall Street Journal reporters and authors of The Club, Joshua Robinson and Jonathan Clegg tell the riveting saga of how Formula 1 broke through in America, detailing the eclectic culture of racing obsessives, glamorous settings, gearheads, engineering geniuses, dashing racers, and bitter rivalries that have made F1 the world’s fastest growing sport. For decades in America, car racing meant NASCAR, and to a lesser extent IndyCar, with Formula 1—the wealthiest racing league in the world—a distant third. Fast forward to 2023, and F1 has emerged at the front of the pack powered by a passionate yet nascent American fanbase. The F1 juggernaut has arrived, but this checkered flag was far from inevitable. In The Formula, Wall Street Journal reporters Joshua Robinson and Jonathan Clegg tell the epic story of how F1 saved itself from collapse and finally conquered America through guile, fearlessness, and above all, reinvention. With fast cars, big money, glamorous locales, and beautiful people as the backdrop, The Formula reveals how F1’s sudden arrival in the US was actually decades in the making, a product of the sport’s near-constant state of transformation and experimentation. Bringing unique insight and access to F1’s most storied teams and personalities—from Ferrari to Bernie Ecclestone to Christian Horner to Lewis Hamilton—The Formula offers a riveting portrait of the drivers, corporations, cars, rivalries, and audacious gambles that have shaped the sport for half a century. The end result is a high-octane history of how modern F1 racing came to be—the first book to tell the story of the outrageous successes and spectacular crashes that led F1 to this extraordinary yet precarious moment. More than just a sports story, The Formula is the tale of a disrupter that broke into the crowded American sports marketplace and claimed its place through cash, personality, and a new understanding of what a sport needs to be in the age of wall-to-wall entertainment.

Jonathan Clegg, Joshua Robinson (Author), TBD (Narrator)

Audiobook

The Dad Coach: How to Lead Kids to Succeed On and Off the Baseball Field

New York Times bestselling author Mike Matheny offers the definitive guide to coaching youth baseball and instilling positive values on and off the field. Before he became manager of the St. Louis Cardinals, Mike Matheny penned a strongly worded letter urging parents and coaches to view youth baseball not as a stepping stone to the Major Leagues, but as a guide to teaching children discipline, the value of hard work, and the virtue of humility. That letter quickly went viral and became the basis of the New York Times bestseller The Matheny Manifesto. Now, in The Dad Coach, Matheny puts his philosophy into action and provides a step-by-step template for coaches and parents to develop solid fundamentals and a strong sense of character in their players, including: - Age-specific drills and exercises to develop skills, along with practice plans to help young ballplayers improve - Game preparation and evaluation techniques to help coaches stay on track and keep kids engaged - Advice on making coaching a meaningful investment of time and experience Combining Matheny's coaching expertise with the storytelling abilities of bestselling author Jerry B. Jenkins, The Dad Coach is an engaging and essential resource for anyone, regardless of experience, who wants to coach their teams to success in baseball and life.

Jerry B. Jenkins, Mike Matheny (Author), TBD (Narrator)

Audiobook

Beyond Self-Defense: How to Say No, Set Boundaries, and Reclaim Your Agency--An empowering guide to

A feminist-forward guide to setting boundaries, assessing safety, and defusing violence by a six-time karate world champion-tools and skills to build confidence, fight back, and live life on your own terms. Disclaimer: this is not your average self-defense book. As educator, martial artist, movement analyst, somatic therapist, and rape crisis advocate Shihan Michelle explains, "Self-defense doesn't work to prevent assault; it's too late, you're in a fight." Instead, Michelle champions self-offense, a preventative personal protection strategy invested in defusing trouble before violence becomes necessary. Beyond Self-Defense empowers you to prevent and de-escalate violence without resorting to physical contact. Including personal stories, interactive practices, and reflective prompts, this practical, accessible, and timely handbook teaches you how to craft your own unique protection protocols. Topics include how to: - Use your body weight to fend off attacks - Recognize the emotional triggers of others before they escalate - Unlearn common biases about safety and vulnerability - Use space and time to get the upper hand and control situations before they become unsafe - Challenge patriarchal social standards and claim your voice-and your space The founder and lead instructor of Self Offense Services, Michelle is a sixth degree black belt in Full Contact karate who gives workshops in assault prevention, boundaries, listening, de-escalation, and bullying prevention. From TI 9781623179984 TR.

Shihan Michelle (Author), Zelda Gay (Narrator)

Audiobook

Elevate and Dominate: 21 Ways to Win On and Off the Field

Deion "Coach Prime" Sanders is one of the greatest motivators and inspirational leaders of all time—on the field, in business, with family, and in his community. Now, he delivers the ultimate playbook of inspiring personal stories, winning strategies, and the motivation required to help us "elevate and dominate" in all aspects of our lives. A natural-born leader, Deion Sanders demands and expects the best from himself and from those around him, never settling for anything less. Whether it's dealing with intense pressure, using the competition to his advantage, or navigating personal challenges—both physical and emotional—Sanders has conquered it all by applying the hard-earned principles he's learned throughout his life and career. The twenty-one inspirational ways to win here are based on the motivational stories and experiences of Sanders's incredible life, including being raised by a single mother who sacrificed and worked nonstop to support her family, being enshrined in the Pro Football Hall of Fame, earning his place as a head coach with a Division I football team, and being a dedicated father of five accomplished children. His inspirational messages reach far beyond the world of sports because they are based on deep faith, respect for himself and others, and an unflagging commitment to that which he believes in. They are designed to help anyone who is looking to improve the quality of their life, whether it be in business and leadership, relationships and partnership, or parenting and family. Through his unique and powerful lens, Coach Prime provides the direction, motivation, and action required for anyone to dominate and win at life.

Deion Sanders (Author), Deion Sanders (Narrator)

Audiobook

To the Linksland (30th Anniversary Edition)

A 30th anniversary edition of Michael Bamberger's widely beloved golf classic recounting his honeymoon adventures as a caddie in Europe—including a new introduction by Golf in the Kingdom author Michael Murphy, a new afterword, and never-before-seen photographs. Thirty years (and counting!) after publication, To the Linksland still enthralls readers who pick it up for the first time or who return to this timeless book for the sheer pleasure of it. In 1991, Michael Bamberger, a newspaper sportswriter, gave up his apartment, took a leave-of-absence from his job and his life, and, joined by his newlywed wife, set off to explore the wide world of golf. Bamberger's first step in this madcap golfing adventure was to become a caddie on the European golf tour. On it, and up close and personal, the author encountered the game's most dynamic players, including golf's greatest artist, Seve Ballesteros. Crisscrossing the Continent with his bride, Bamberger caddied for a true original, Peter Teravainen, a Yale-educated golfer with a workingman's spirit, capable of making brilliant, on-the-spot observations about the game. ("Good shots must come in groups of two.") Over the course of one unforgettable year, Bamberger caddied in the national championships of Portugal, France, Spain, Italy, Belgium, Ireland, and, finally, Scotland, golf's ancestral home. Once there, Bamberger fell under the spell of one of golf's great teachers and thinkers, Mr. John Stark. To the Linksland is the captivating memoir of Bamberger's golfing pilgrimage. From an all-night caddie bus on the back roads of southern Europe to Stark's secret six-hole course in the Scottish Highlands, Bamberger takes you on a journey into the heart of golf. To the Linksland is a lyrical tale of discovery. It is a classic. This thirtieth-anniversary edition is bookended with a new introduction by Michael Murphy and a new afterword by Bamberger. In between them are a trove of new photographs. Triumphantly back in print, To the Linksland is a "great book for your golfing soul" (Golf Monthly).

Michael Bamberger (Author), Michael Bamberger, TBD (Narrator)

Audiobook

Ruin: A Novel of Flyfishing in Bankruptcy

Frank is another dreamer whose life is suddenly burned to the ground. More a disillusioned literature PhD than an experienced financier, he had naively agreed to join his wife's inheritance with his own personal guarantee of a college friend's private equity partnership debt. The business implosion and subsequent bankruptcy took all their assets. Francy, an orphaned European heiress, now finds herself homeless, still married to pleasant, witty Frank-who had failed to protect them from disaster. The couple flees Manhattan to live at a desolate non-working Hudson Valley farm. Frank starts an artisanal brewery with a charismatic new eccentric friend. And, central to the heart of the story, he takes up fly fishing. Frank's perceptions on the water are fresh and acute, sometimes colored by his memory of the words of famous writers, now painfully ironic in his life's new context. And throughout, there is Francy's story. Now in exile, she re-approaches painting with new and darkly complex emotional energy. Her work's enigmatic intensity attracts a wealthy neighbor who offers Francy a show in his Manhattan gallery and that attracts a great deal of trouble indeed.

Leigh Seippel (Author), Andrew J. Andersen (Narrator)

Audiobook

The Half Bird

Brought to you by Penguin. Discover the incredible story of one woman's solo journey across the Bay of Biscay, into the Mediterranean, and the unexpected joy of solitude, self-discovery and resilience 'We have no idea how much resilience there is inside us until we have to draw on it. We learn that we grow through adversity only as we go through it. That we crave happiness like plants leaning toward the light' When Susan quit her job in London and set sail off the south coast of England on her beloved sailboat, Isean, she was unaware this spontaneous departure would lead to a three-year journey spanning several countries across the continent. With only the very basics on board, resourcefulness becomes an unexpected source of joy and contentment. The highs and lows of living in such an extreme way awakens a newfound appreciation for the beauty of her surroundings, for being safe - for just being alive. For all the physical and navigational challenges of her journey, the other side of her story reveals a more important change - an inner journey - that took place along the way. This wasn't merely a challenge, a mid-life adventure or gap-year career break; it was much gentler than that, but much greater too. She was seeking nothing less than an entirely different life, having left the land far behind to call the wild, unbiddable sea home. ©2024 Susan Smillie (P)2024 Penguin Audio

Susan Smillie (Author), Susan Smilie, Susan Smillie, TBD (Narrator)

Audiobook

The Athlete's Guide to Recovery: Rest, Relax, and Restore for Peak Performance (2nd Edition)

Recovery—physical and mental—is a red-hot topic, and the worlds of sports, technology, and commerce have all taken note. But which practices and devices really make a difference in recovery, and which should be avoided? What will truly maximize performance? In this second edition of The Athlete’s Guide to Recovery, endurance and recovery coach Sage Rountree, PhD, explains exactly how to get the most out of training by optimizing recovery time. She provides easy-to-follow and practical recovery tips, including the following: -How athletes can measure their own state of recovery; -What can go wrong when recovery is insufficient; -Proven techniques to enhance recovery and improve performance; -Evaluations of current tech devices; -Sample recovery plans for all types of training and competition. Emphasizing the fundamentals of sleep, nutrition, and stress management, this second edition features up-to-date research that has emerged to support the importance of these basic recovery strategies and includes a much-needed, careful look at new devices on the market. Whether self-coached, coached, or team-sport athletes, The Athlete’s Guide to Recovery provides listeners with an evidence-based approach to finding the right balance between stress and rest.

Sage Rountree (Author), Sage Rountree (Narrator)

Audiobook

Everest: The West Ridge

In 1963, Jim Whittaker became the first American to summit Everest via the South Col route. Roughly two weeks after Whittaker's achievement, Tom Hornbein and Willi Unsoeld, fellow American mountaineers on the same expedition, became the first climbers ever to summit the world's highest peak via the dangerous and forbidding West Ridge-a route on which only a handful of climbers have since succeeded. This special fiftieth anniversary edition reintroduces the adventure in a larger format by members of the expedition, including leader Norman G. Dyhrenfurth and team doctor Jim Lester. In addition to a new foreword by Jon Krakauer, this volume also features a new preface by Hornbein along with a series of prefaces he wrote for earlier editions, including the original from 1965.

Thomas Hornbein (Author), Tom Beyer (Narrator)

Audiobook

Baseball Heaven: Up Close and Personal, What It Was Really Like in the Major Leagues

A behind-the-scenes look at baseball history, as told through timeless interviews with major leaguers For fifty years, bestselling author Peter Golenbock has been interviewing some of the most fascinating figures in baseball. Their conversations are a journey back in time to the days of Ruth and Gehrig, Gehringer and Greenberg, Robinson and Reese, and Howard and Mantle, as they reflect on the sport's greatest moments and biggest issues. In Baseball Heaven, Golenbock brings together for the first time the most historic and captivating of these conversations. The stories range from Elden Auker remembering the day Lou Gehrig told him he was sick to Albert Happy Chandler reflecting on his decision to allow Jackie Robinson into the big leagues, from Ralph Branca discussing the home run he gave up that cost the Dodgers the pennant to Del Webb talking about why he hired Casey Stengel and why he fired him. Baseball Heaven is baseball history at its very best. It pulls back the curtain on the major leagues to reveal inside stories, intimate reminiscences, and the friendships and rivalries that make baseball America's Game.

Peter Golenbock (Author), Danny Campbell (Narrator)

Audiobook

Outofshapeworthlessloser: A Memoir of Figure Skating, F*cking Up, and Figuring It Out

In this explosive tell-all memoir, an Olympic figure skater reveals her battle to survive mental illness, eating disorders, and the self-destructive voice inside that she calls "outofshapeworthlessloser." When Gracie Gold stepped onto center stage (or ice, rather) as America's sweetheart at the 2014 Sochi Olympics, she instantly became the face of America's most beloved winter sport. Beautiful, blonde, Midwestern, and media-trained, she was suddenly being written up everywhere from The New Yorker to Teen Vogue to People and baking cookies with Taylor Swift. But little did the public know what Gold was facing when the cameras were off. In 2017, she entered treatment for what was publicly announced as an eating disorder and anxiety treatment but was, in reality, suicidal ideation. While Gold's public star was rising, her private life was falling apart: Cracks within her family were widening, her bulimia was getting worse, and she became a survivor of sexual assault. The pressure of training for years with demanding coaches and growing up in a household that accepted nothing less than gold had finally taken its toll. Now Gold reveals the exclusive and harrowing story of her struggles in and out of the pressure-packed world of elite figure skating: the battles with her family, her coaches, the powers-that-be at her federation, and her deteriorating mental health. Told with unflinching honesty and stirring defiance, Outofshapeworthlessloser is not only a forceful reckoning from a world-class athlete but also an intimate account of surviving as a young woman in a society that rewards appearances more than anything and demands perfection at all costs.

Gracie Gold (Author), Gracie Gold (Narrator)

Audiobook

The Darkest White: A Mountain Legend and the Avalanche That Took Him

From Eric Blehm, the bestselling author of The Last Season and Fearless, comes an extraordinary new book in the vein of Into the Wild, the story of the legendary snowboarder Craig Kelly and his death in the 2003 Durrand Glacier Avalanche—a devastating and controversial tragedy that claimed the lives of seven people. On January 20, 2003, a thunderous crack rang out and a 100-foot-wide tide of snow barreled down the Northern Selkirk Mountains in British Columbia, Canada. More than a dozen skiers and snowboarders were thrust down the mountain, buried beneath several tons of rock-hard snow and ice in the Durrand Glacier Avalanche. A heroic search and rescue ensued. Among those buried was Craig Kelly—“the Michael Jordan of snowboarding”—a man who had propelled the sport into the mainstream before walking away from competitions, to rekindle his passion in the untamed alpine wilds of North America The Darkest White is the story of Craig Kelly’s life, a heartbreaking but extraordinary and inspiring odyssey of a latchkey kid whose athletic prowess and innovations would revolutionize winter sports, take him around the globe, and push him into ever more extreme environments that would ultimately take his life. It is also a definitive, immersive account of snowboarding and the cultural movement that exploded around it, growing the sport from minor Gen X cult hobby to Olympic centerpiece and a billion-dollar business full of feuds and rivalries. Finally, The Darkest White is a mesmerizing, cautionary portrait of the mountains, of the allure and the glory they offer, and of the avalanches they unleash with unforgiving fury.

Eric Blehm (Author), Dan Bittner (Narrator)

Audiobook