“Mistakes don’t mean you’re not good enough. It means you’re evolving.”
From the Maracanã to the MCG to Madison Square Garden, sports bring the world together in a unique way. Few other things have such power to unite. From the excitement of each event and the dramatic storylines that come from winning and losing, sports biographies and books have become one of the best ways of reliving some of the most iconic plays and seeing them from new perspectives. They have also become inspiring resources outside the ring or pitch, teaching readers about the power of perseverance and resilience for getting to the top and achieving goals. Whether it be behind-the-scenes looks at the hidden details and histories or insight from the remarkable athletes competing at the top of the game, 2023 once again produced some gold medal-worthy reads. Join us at What We Reading as we present the best sports books from 2023!
What It Takes: The Inspiring Journey Of Sarina Wiegman And The Lionesses’ Rise To Success – Sarina Wiegman
Sarina Wiegman kicks off our list of the best sports books from 2023, chronicling her passion for football and ascent to the top of her coaching world in her biography, What It Takes. Having led both the Netherlands and England to historic victories, few in the beautiful game have as lauded a reputation as Wiegman.
What It Takes’ pioneering approach to leadership, mentorship, and performance management is condensed into one absorbing read. The book is a window into her philosophies both on and off the pitch and how a relentless pursuit for excellence led her to overcome painful defeats and oversee incredible wins. One of the most prominent advocates for women in sport, Wiegman outlines her inclusive approach to the future of football where everyone, regardless of gender, has an equal chance to shine.
How To Change Your Life: Five Steps To Achieving High Performance – Jake Humphrey And Damian Hughes
Jake Humphrey and Damian Hughes are the two hosts of the acclaimed High Performance podcast, a show that delves into the mentalities, motivations, and mechanics that go into maintaining high performance. How To Change Your Life, the pair’s 2023 sports book, condenses all of their key lessons and insights into one invaluable read. It offers strategies for maximizing potential by exploring the driving forces behind remarkable individuals.
Drawing on the interviews hosted with record-setting Olympians, billionaire founders ranging from Pippa Grange, Tyson Fury, Matthew McConaughey, Toto Wolff, and Bear Grylls and so many more, the pair’s cutting-edge research demonstrates how surprisingly simple tools mean it is never too late to change your life.
Coffee First, Then The World: One Woman’s Record-Breaking Pedal Around The Planet – Jenny Graham
Coffee First, Then the World is a stunning sports memoir from 2023 by Jenny Graham, documenting her extraordinary solo lap of the planet by bike. In 2018, the amateur cyclist left her home in Scotland to become the fastest woman to cycle around the world. Four months on, she was at the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin, having smashed the record by nearly three weeks.
Delivered with her iconic wit and honesty, Jenny lifts the lid on her adventure around the world, taking readers on a journey spanning four continents, sixteen countries, 18,000 miles, and 124 days. Tight on both time and money and facing incredible mental and physical challenges, Coffee First, Then the World is an inspiring book on the joys of adventure, embracing new cultures, and connecting with other people.
Bazball: The Inside Story Of A Test Cricket Revolution – Nick Hoult And Lawrence Booth
Named a Times, Guardian, and Waterstones Best Sports Book of 2023, Bazball is the story of one of the most exhilarating revolutions in cricket history. Having come into the summer of 2022 with one win in seventeen, authors Nick Hoult and Lawrence Booth explain how England’s Test team became cricket’s most talked-about phenomenon.
Driven by new head coach Brendon McCullum and captain Ben Stokes, the English cricket team breathed new life into an ailing format of the sport, winning eleven out of their first thirteen matches before taking on the old enemy Australia in a thrilling 2023 Ashes series. Told through interviews with the leading protagonists and insights from their views on the boundary ropes, Hoult and Booth do a stellar job of capturing all the action and exploring how Bazball swept through the dressing room and reversed a team’s fortunes.
Around The World In 80 Minutes: In Search Of Rugby Greatness – Robert Kitson
One of the most essential sports books from 2023 for all rugby fans, Robert Kitson takes readers on an entertaining and perceptive journey into the sport around the world in Around the World in 80 Minutes.
Aiming to capture the ‘golden era’ of the sport between 1973 and 2023 Kitson uncovers the contrasting characters, colliding cultures, and trailblazing figures that have contributed to the sport’s global appeal. He also delves into the life after rugby for its most treasured players, its overall current appeal, and what the future looks like for it. Observant, thought-provoking, and thoroughly entertaining to read, Around the World in 80 Minutes is the perfect rugby book for anyone looking to discover what makes the sport so compelling, as well as for those already hooked by it.
Nowhere To Run: The Ridiculous Life Of A Semi-Professional Football Club Chairman – Jonathan Sayer
Most of the best 2023 sports books in this list explore the very elite competitors performing at the top of their respective fields. But in his biography Nowhere to Run, Jonathan Sayer takes readers through what life is like at the bottom of the sporting pyramid in a candid, funny, and heartwarming charting of his misadventures as the chairman of a semi-professional football side, Ashton United FC.
Battling to keep the club afloat and faced with a record number of games without a win, Jonathan contends with mutinies from fans, standoffs with the local council, and a striker who arrives on crutches, despite having passed a medical. From sinking his savings to growing rifts with his father, Nowhere to Run is an eye-opening look at the less glamorous side of the beautiful game that lifts the lid on life in the hot seat of a non-league club.
Check Out These Great Footballer Biographies
Surviving To Drive: A Year Inside Formula 1 – Guenther Steiner
Guenther Steiner is world-renowned as the energetic and occasionally foul-mouthed former team principal of the Formula 1 team, Haas F1. In between stealing the show of the sport’s hit Netflix series, Drive to Survive, Steiner found time to take readers behind the scenes of a year in the hot seat of a Formula 1 team principal in his 2023 book, Surviving to Drive.
Jam-packed full of twists and turns that reveal how things are always on the edge in modern motorsport, Steiner rides through the 2022 season following him and his team as they navigate the preparations, finances and hirings and firings that go on in one of the most competitive sports on the planet. Steiner’s distinct voice is a joy to read through and his insights help make this one of the most insightful Formula 1 books for understanding motorsports when the cameras are put away.
Unbreakable – Ronnie O’Sullivan
Ronnie O’Sullivan is arguably the most charismatic and defining snooker player of his generation. And his 2023 biography Unbreakable features all of the unapologetically honest and dazzling brilliance that has made him and his sport globally recognized.
Having emerged as a title-winning prodigy still as a teenager, O’Sullivan delves into how the highest of expectations and a challenging personal life catapulted him to excess and addiction. Even his moments of triumph were accompanied by periods of personal struggle. Yet, more than two decades on, Unbreakable demonstrates O’Sullivan’s obsession with delivering peak performance on the back of the resilience, revelations, and lessons he has learned along the way. Taking readers beyond his record-breaking achievements at the table, this snooker book shares the reality and brutality of overcoming obstacles and reaching maximum potential.
Broadly Speaking – Stuart Broad
Another one of the bestselling cricket books from 2023, Broadly Speaking is the autobiography by Sports Personality of the Year nominee, Stuart Broad. For seventeen years, he was one of English cricket’s most recognizable faces, integral to Ashes-winning teams and world-conquering sides.
However, Broadly Speaking lifts the lid on how much more there is to Stuart Broad than his records and achievements. Candid, entertaining, and brutally honest at times, this sports biography captures the moments from cricket that made Broad one of the most passionate and enigmatic characters in the game, and the moments of despair that nearly broke him. Above all else, Broadly Speaking is a testament to his unwavering belief in himself, his abilities, and his desire to become one of the greats.
Fearless: Adventures With Extraordinary Women – Louise Minchin
Fearless is one of the most empowering and inspiring 2023 sports books by Louise Minchin. In it, she invites readers to join her on seventeen exhilarating adventures across the world with women who smashed records, broke down barriers, and challenged stereotypes.
From freediving under the ice in the dark in Finland, cycle trips across Argentina to swimming the shark-infested waters from Alcatraz, Minchin aims to get to the heart of these remarkable female athletes by spending time right beside them as they push boundaries and defy expectations. The result is a stunning read that reminds readers of the bravery inside all of us, as well as how essential it is that women’s achievements continue to be celebrated.
Part-time reader, part-time rambler, and full-time Horror enthusiast, James has been writing for What We Reading since 2022. His earliest reading memories involved Historical Fiction, Fantasy and Horror tales, which he has continued to take with him to this day. James’ favourite books include The Last (Hanna Jameson), The Troop (Nick Cutter) and Chasing The Boogeyman (Richard Chizmar).
