Review of “My Home Team”

 I was interested in this book mainly because of the author and recognition of the name - but it turned out to be something more powerful. Here is my review of “My Home Team.”

Title/Author:

“My Home Team: A Sportswriter’s Life and the Redemptive Power of Small-Town Girls’ Basketball” by Dave Kindred

Rating: 

4 of 5 stars (very good)

Review: 

Dave Kindred was a well-known and respected sportswriter in the late 20th century with his work in Washington and Atlanta being his most read articles and columns. When he wanted to stop writing and spend more time with his beloved wife Cheryl in their home state of Illinois, that plan was waylaid- sort of. 

That is the main topic of this book - Kindred’s writing about the Morton Potters, a girl’s basketball team that was very successful and often reached the Final Four of their state championship. Kindred was asked to do so to keep the twin’s fans updated - and he would be paid in Milk Duds. This “assignment” turned into a great match as the Kindreds became as much a part of Potters basketball as the players, coaches and parents. 

After the first section of the book that is a recap of Dave Kindred’s writing career - Act I - the story of the Potters and the Kindreds relationship really takes off. This section - Act II - is a basketball junkie’s dream as Kindred writes about many of the Potters games in great detail. This part of the book is far into the minutiae of the games, which felt like it was a little too much. This is true even for a reader like me, who normally loves reading this level of detail on the game. Here is it was good - almost too good. 

Where the book shines, and will tug at the heart of even the most hardened reader, is Dave’s passages about his love for wife Cheryl. It took a tragic event for this to really stand out - Cheryl suffering a debilitating stroke. During this time, which included the worst of the COVID pandemic, Dave did his best work on this book. His devotion to his wife during his visits when Cheryl had good and bad days are clearly evident here. When Cheryl finally passed away, the love expressed by both Dave Kindred and the girls basketball team the Kindreds adopted was quite touching. 

I admit to have been ready to mark this as a DNF early in Act II, but I am glad I stuck with it as it’s a book that is very touching and a different typ of love story, heavy on the basketball.

I wish to thank Public Affairs for providing a review copy of the book via NetGalley. The opinions expressed in this review are strictly my own. 

Link:https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0BRJ633MM/ref=x_gr_bb_kindle?caller=Goodreads&tag=x_gr_bb_kindle-20 

Review of "No Place I Would Rather Be"

Followers of this blog know that one of my favorite authors is Roger Angell.  When I saw this book in the University of Nebraska Press catalog, I was very excited to read it and it is just as good as I had hoped.  Here is my review of "No Place I Would Rather Be"

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Title/Author:

“No Place I Would Rather Be: Roger Angell and a Life in Baseball Writing” by Joe Bonomo

 

Tags:

Baseball, biography, writing

 

Publish date:

May 1, 2019

Length:

232 pages

Rating: 

5 of 5 stars (outstanding)

Review:

One of the most acclaimed writers of baseball literature and essays is Roger Angell, who had a long writing career with the magazine The New Yorker.  When he began to write about baseball for the magazine, it launched a career filled with personal satisfaction, much praise and a litany of baseball writing for readers to devour. Angell’s career and life are portrayed in this excellent book by Joe Bonomo.

 

From the beginning, Bonomo emphasizes that this is NOT a biography. This is correct – while the book starts with a description of Angell’s childhood, early adult life and how he got his job at the magazine, the book is more of a sharing of Angell’s work and his thoughts about the game and his career.

 

Bonomo does a thorough job of covering all the major topics in baseball about which Angell wrote. Readers of this book will learn (if they doesn’t already know) about Angell’s love for both the Boston Red Sox AND the New York Mets.  It makes sense – the Red Sox because he grew up in New England and the Mets as he wrote about them since the franchise began in 1962. 

 

They will also see that Angell may have to adapt to some of the changes that the sport has undergone but he still holds the same opinions today, at age 99, that he did in his youth.  These cover a wide range of topics from televised games to expansion teams to expanded playoffs. However, just as Angell always does with his essays, Bonomo makes sure that the reader understands that at the heart of if all, baseball is still described as the best game in a manner only Angell can communicate.

 

Whether or not one has read any of Angell’s work, this book is one that every baseball fan will want to pick up to learn more about this man who brings to life in words the feelings and memories that fans of the game cherish forever.

 

I wish to thank University of Nebraska Press for providing a copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.

 

Book Format Read:
Hardcover

Buying Links:

https://www.nebraskapress.unl.edu/university-of-nebraska-press/9781496213259/

 

https://www.amazon.com/No-Place-Would-Rather-Be/dp/1496213254/ref=tmm_hrd_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=&sr=