The Sports Bookshelf

THE SPORTS BOOKSHELF SPOTLIGHTS THE SHORTLISTS PART TWO -- BEST BIOGRAPHY The shortlists have been announced for the ninth British Sports Book Awards, organised by the National Sporting Club. The winners will be named at a ceremony at The Savoy Hotel on 9th May. The number of categories rises to 10 this year with the introduction of ‘best racing book’ and ‘best sports book retailer’ in addition to best biography and autobiography, best football, cricket and rugby books, best illustrated title, best new writer and best publicity campaign. After the awards are made, the winners in each category will be entered into a public vote to find the best overall sports book of the year -- a campaign that will be supported by booksellers throughout the country in the run up to Father's Day. The Sports Bookshelf  puts each nominated title under the spotlight, with links to selected reviews. Today’s spotlight is on the Best Biography award, for which the candidates are: Frankincense

Paul Gascoigne has been reliving some of the happier moments of his chequered football career for a new illustrated biography due out later this year. Published by Simon & Schuster, who have bought world rights to the book directly from the former Tottenham and England player, Glorious: My World, Football and Me will be published on October 13. According to the publishers, Glorious “will document the career of the football legend and provide an unrivalled insight into the player who was both brilliant and controversial but never less than supremely watchable." The book features photographs from Gascoigne's spells at Newcastle, Tottenham, Lazio and Rangers, as well as an England career that won him 57 caps but still did not do full justice to his talent as the most gifted English player of his time. Gascoigne said: "It’s been great working on this book. It has given me the opportunity to relive some amazing times, my favourite moments, plus a few dodgy ones, and I

THE SPORTS BOOKSHELF SPOTLIGHTS THE SHORTLISTS PART ONE -- BEST AUTOBIOGRAPHY The shortlists have been announced for the ninth British Sports Book Awards, organised by the National Sporting Club. The winners will be named at a ceremony at The Savoy Hotel on 9th May. The number of categories rises to 10 this year with the introduction of ‘best racing book’ and ‘best sports book retailer’ in addition to best biography and autobiography, best football, cricket and rugby books, best illustrated title, best new writer and best publicity campaign. After the awards are made, the winners in each category will be entered into a public vote to find the best overall sports book of the year -- a campaign that will be supported by booksellers throughout the country in the run up to Father's Day. The Sports Bookshelf puts each nomination under the spotlight, with links to selected reviews. Today’s spotlight is on the Best Autobiography award, for which the candidates are: Blood, Sweat

Harry Pearson’s first attempt to become a journalist foundered because his spelling was too poor but he never gave up his ambition and should be the example to whom frustrated budding writers refer when faced with a knockback. A quarter of a century or so later, Pearson has a popular column in The Guardian newspaper and books with his name on the cover now run into double figures, several titles having attracted much critical acclaim. This week added another line to an impressive record when the brilliantly titled Slipless in Settle , his ramble around the northern league cricket circuit, beat off strong competition to win the Cricket Society and MCC Book of the Year Award 2011, which carries a prize of £3,000. The roll call of past winners includes EW Swanton, JM Kilburn, David Frith, David Foot and, more recently, Scyld Berry and Gideon Haigh, so Pearson is in exalted company, at least in terms of cricket writers. Pearson said that the inspiration for the book came from his

There are many ways in which to publicise a book but it is fair to say that there are not many authors who would go as far -- not in the way he intends, at any rate -- as Robin Harvie. The 34-year-old writer, who works as an editor with publishers HarperCollins, is drawing attention to his book by running in Sunday‘s London Marathon…twice. At an hour when most of the 40,000 due to start in Greenwich Park will still be tucked up in bed, Harvie will be setting off from Big Ben and running the 26.2-mile course the wrong way round, arriving at the start line in time to turn round and do it again. Actually it is not only to secure a few plugs for his book.  He is also raising money for the mental health charity, Mind (sponsor him at justgiving.com/robin-harvie ). But it just happens that Why We Run , an already acclaimed explanation of an obsession with distance running that began with the London Marathon of 2000, is published this week. Harvie’s attempt to run double the distance mig

It can almost be taken as read that a new book with Simon Wilde’s name on the cover will be an outstanding addition to the year’s crop of sports titles. The Sunday Times cricket correspondent has been shortlisted three times for William Hill Sports Book of the Year with his portraits of Ranjitsinhji, of Shane Warne and his study of modern fast bowlers. Now Wilde has turned his attention to Sir Ian Botham with an examination of the life and times of the great all-rounder that coincides with the 30th anniversary of Botham’s astounding contribution to the 1981 Ashes series. His 149 not out to set up the incredible 500-1 upset at Headingley, his five wickets in 28 balls to win he Edgbaston Test from another seemingly impossible position -- these were the feats that created a national hero. But Wilde looks well beyond mere facts and figures. Ian Botham: The Power and the Glory describes how Botham’s arrival on the international coincided with the first big influx of commercial an

Wisden Cricketers' Almanack has broken with tradition by naming only four Cricketers of the Year in its 2011 edition, instead of the usual five. The editor, Scyld Berry, originally picked Five Cricketers of the Year as usual. However, allegations of corruption and the ICC’s independent tribunal made the choice of one of the five -- believed to be the young Pakistan fast bowler Mohammad Amir -- unsustainable. The player is not named in Wisden, but Berry said: “If he were exonerated, then it would be possible to reconsider the position. That's why I didn't pick anyone else instead. But as things stand, we don’t feel we can choose him. It’s all very sad.” Amir, 18, was suspended for five years in February for his part in an alleged spot-fixing conspiracy during the fourth Test against England at Lord's last August.  The teenager has protested his innocence and has appealed to the Court of Arbitration for Sport in Lausanne. This is the first time since 1926 – excluding

Busy ghostwriter Richard Gibson is putting the finishing touches to spinner Graeme Swann’s autobiography and is working with fast bowler Jimmy Anderson on another collection of memoirs from within England’s Ashes-winning dressing room. There should be no shortage of interest in either book, although they have a tough act to follow after Gibson’s successful collaboration with larger-than-life commentator David “Bumble” Lloyd, which is due out in paperback shortly after exceeding expectations in hardback sales. Start the Car: The World According to Bumble (HarperSport) has sold more than 32,000 copies at the last count, reflecting the affection in which the Sky Sports commentator and former England coach is held by the cricketing public. Lloyd’s humorous down-to-earth take on matters of cricket and beyond is part of his appeal as a broadcaster and Gibson, a former Press Association cricket reporter now working as a freelance sports writer, did a fine job transferring the Bumble wit t