Here are 100 books that The Grand Slam fans have personally recommended if you like
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Golf has been part of my life almost since I can remember. I started as a caddie at a local country club and did that through college. I earned a college scholarship called the Evans Scholarship—named for the great amateur golfer Charles “Chick’’ Evans—and then somehow went into a sportswriting career that has included covering golf for various publications, including ESPN and Sports Illustrated. Needless to say, I love the game, and reading about it and exploring other voices is a big part of my growth. While I’ve never played the game with much success, the pursuit continues.
Bamberger is a terrific golf writer and what made me love this book is the fact that it’s a 30th-anniversary edition! Michael wrote this book in the early 1990s when golf—and the golf world—was in a far different place. Think about it: this was before Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson.
It is Michael’s own story and is one I found myself living through his words: giving up his job and his apartment, going on a European sojourn with his new wife to experience caddying, and meeting some of the world’s best players.
I had read this book before, and it enthralled me reading it once again.
One of the greatest and most beloved golf books ever written is triumphantly back in print, with 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 return to the 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…
A moving story of love, betrayal, and the enduring power of hope in the face of darkness.
German pianist Hedda Schlagel's world collapsed when her fiancé, Fritz, vanished after being sent to an enemy alien camp in the United States during the Great War. Fifteen years later, in 1932, Hedda…
Golf has been part of my life almost since I can remember. I started as a caddie at a local country club and did that through college. I earned a college scholarship called the Evans Scholarship—named for the great amateur golfer Charles “Chick’’ Evans—and then somehow went into a sportswriting career that has included covering golf for various publications, including ESPN and Sports Illustrated. Needless to say, I love the game, and reading about it and exploring other voices is a big part of my growth. While I’ve never played the game with much success, the pursuit continues.
In my own way, I lived this book. As a writer for Sports Illustrated, I chronicled the early beginnings of LIV Golf, the tension it brought to the PGA Tour, the defections of some of its top players to this upstart league that was paying huge sums and leading to disruption that still exists.
I appreciate the way Shipnuck handled this story. There is no agenda. He was critical of both sides, yet fair to both sides, trying to understand the motives. I appreciate this because the issue has been so toxic and so polarizing. It is a terrific read to understand where we are in the world of golf today.
Alan Shipnuck, the New York Times bestselling author of Phil, returns with a major new work of insider reporting on the battle for the soul of professional golf between the PGA Tour and the Saudi-funded LIV Golf League.
Over the past two years, professional golf has been at war, and Alan Shipnuck is our most trusted correspondent. Following closely on the heels of his New York Times bestselling sensation, Phil, Shipnuck turns to LIV Golf's controversial - and belligerent - storming of the professional golf world.
In LIV and Let Die, Shipnuck delivers the inside story in real time, with…
Golf has been part of my life almost since I can remember. I started as a caddie at a local country club and did that through college. I earned a college scholarship called the Evans Scholarship—named for the great amateur golfer Charles “Chick’’ Evans—and then somehow went into a sportswriting career that has included covering golf for various publications, including ESPN and Sports Illustrated. Needless to say, I love the game, and reading about it and exploring other voices is a big part of my growth. While I’ve never played the game with much success, the pursuit continues.
As you might have deduced, I love Michael Bamberger books. This one had me enthralled because it took me down a path I did not envision.
He introduced me to three characters in the game I might not have otherwise come upon. Instead of the top players in the game, he focused on those who love the game in their own way, and while their stories – another golf writer, an old friend, a woman who overcame incredible odds in her home country – are not well known, they are nonetheless fascinating.
After a lifetime of writing about the professional sport, Michael Bamberger, "the poet laureate of golf" (GOLF magazine), delivers an exhilarating love letter to the amateur game as it's played-and lived-by the rest of us.
Over Michael Bamberger's celebrated writing career, he has written a handful of books and hundreds of Sports Illustrated stories about professional golf and those who play it-that is, the .001 percent. Now, Bamberger trains his eye on the rest of us. In his most personal book yet, Bamberger takes the lid off a game that is both quasi-religious and a nonstop party, posing an age-old…
Sine, a professor of creative writing, accompanies Sam, a neuroscientist, on a conference trip to a Hotel Castle. Sam wants to present a new device, the "monitor." Sine hopes to recover from tending to her mother who just passed away.
When they arrive, Sine is in a dream-like state. Real…
Golf has been part of my life almost since I can remember. I started as a caddie at a local country club and did that through college. I earned a college scholarship called the Evans Scholarship—named for the great amateur golfer Charles “Chick’’ Evans—and then somehow went into a sportswriting career that has included covering golf for various publications, including ESPN and Sports Illustrated. Needless to say, I love the game, and reading about it and exploring other voices is a big part of my growth. While I’ve never played the game with much success, the pursuit continues.
I have a recurring dream about living in St. Andrews. Sean Zak did so for a summer, and it was glorious.
To get to spend time at the Home of Golf is special, something I’ve done on several occasions. But always as part of work and never for an extended period of time. Zak lived there for months and brings to life all the things about the ancient town that are special beyond the golf.
I especially enjoyed the backstories, the people of the town, the explanation of links golf, all of it. He shows a nice curiosity, an American seeking answers in a foreign country that I felt particularly enlightening.
A compelling journey through the heart and soul of golf, bringing the sport's history and the current state of the game to life
When Sean Zak arrived in St. Andrews, Scotland-the mecca of golf-he was determined to spend his summer in search of the game's true essence.
He found it everywhere-in the dirt, firm and proper, a sandy soil that you don't see in America. He found it in the people who inherited the game from their grandparents, who inherited it from their grandparents. He found it in the structures that prop up the game-cheap memberships and "private courses" that…
I started writing about golf years ago… I went from freelancing to working for Golfweek and pretty soon had a career! I thought I had a brilliant idea: a series of mysteries with a golf theme! Then I learned there were about 267 other golf mysteries already out there, starting with Dame Agatha’s Murder on the Links! Oops. I eventually wrote seven Hacker novels, finally getting my golf-writer-turned-sleuth through all four majors. I also published a historical novel set in Scotland (sorry, no golf) and just launched the new Swamp Yankee Mystery series, set in a small Rhode Island town remarkably similar to the one I live in!
J. Michael Veron is a trial lawyer and avid golfer who has written a trilogy of legal thrillers (he’s been called the John Grisham of golf) that all have a strong golf theme. The Greatest Player was the first, featuring a summer intern at an Atlanta law firm who finds an old file of correspondence between the legendary Bobby Jones (who was, when not winning most of the golf tournaments between 1920 and 1930, when he retired from tournament golf, an Atlanta attorney) and a fictional teen-aged golf prodigy named Beau Stedman.
There’s a murder mystery and a court case and a lot of golf from the Golden Age of the sport.
When Charley Hunter goes to work as a summer intern at a prestigious Atlanta law firm, he has no idea that his passion for golf will come into play on the job. Stumbling onto a yellowed file containing correspondence between Beau Stedman, an astonishingly talented teenage golfer, and the legendary Bobby Jones (once a partner at the firm), Hunter finds himself embroiled in a decades-old murder case–and searching for an invisible champion who won nearly all his matches with the masters.
As Hunter unravels the facts of Stedman’s case, his hunger for the truth is matched only by his deepening…
I started writing about golf years ago… I went from freelancing to working for Golfweek and pretty soon had a career! I thought I had a brilliant idea: a series of mysteries with a golf theme! Then I learned there were about 267 other golf mysteries already out there, starting with Dame Agatha’s Murder on the Links! Oops. I eventually wrote seven Hacker novels, finally getting my golf-writer-turned-sleuth through all four majors. I also published a historical novel set in Scotland (sorry, no golf) and just launched the new Swamp Yankee Mystery series, set in a small Rhode Island town remarkably similar to the one I live in!
Dan Jenkins (1928-2019) was a quintessential sportswriter who wrote for newspapers in his native Texas as well as for Sports Illustrated and many others. In 1974, he published this ribald classic about the pro golf tours, starring Kenny Lee Puckett, a down on his luck pro who has more luck getting in trouble with the ladies than he does making tough putts.
If you don’t laugh while reading this book, then you need a humor transplant.
The legendary golf novel, rereleased in a special edition with a new foreword by the author.
Don Imus said it best: "Dan Jenkins is a comic genius." And nowhere is that genius more evident than in Dead Solid Perfect, his uproarious 1974 novel about life on the PGA Tour. To some, Kenny Lee Puckett, the star of Jenkins's ribald saga, is a more important figure in the history of golf than Bobby Jones himself.
In an age of splendor, a heretic king strips Egypt bare—forcing his queen to quell rebellion and plunging his children into a conspiracy against the crown.
Salvation in the Sun follows Nefertiti as she ascends the throne beside Pharaoh Amenhotep—soon to become Akhenaten—just as he declares war on Egypt’s ancient…
I have been known to read a book a day, and I read widely: all the classics, mystery and suspense, science fiction, future fiction, and fantasy. My favorite novels in any genre take me to a place or time far away. My favorite characters are like hobbits; they are caught up in big adventures but fun to have a beer with and don’t take themselves too seriously. And all the protagonists in the novels I have chosen are women, because women my age have spent enough time reading about men who have adventures.
This Agatha Christie doesn’t feature her famous Hercule Poirot or Miss Marple. Instead, it introduces a likable young couple, Bobby and Frankie, who fall into adventure by accident.
This book has the best one-line denouement of all mystery novels. It is a line that will give you chills when you read it. (Or re-read it. This mystery is so good that I have reread it many times in my life, and I get chills each time.)
One question ties the whole mystery together. As a mystery writer, I wish I could find that turning point question for each of my novels. But, alas, Agatha Christie was the queen.
When a man plunges down a cliff, two adventurous friends decide to find his killer...
While playing an erratic round of golf, Bobby Jones slices his ball over the edge of a cliff. His ball is lost, but on the rocks below he finds the crumpled body of a dying man. With his final breath the man opens his eyes and says, 'Why didn't they ask Evans?'
Haunted by these words, Bobby and his vivacious companion, Frankie, set out to solve a mystery that will bring them into mortal danger...
Some of my earliest memories are of exploring megalithic sites such as Stonehenge. I guess I can blame my parents for making me a history buff, fascinated by ancient cultures, ancient religions and ancient mysteries. It’s no surprise then that I ended up a fan of mystery fiction. Most people would turn immediately to Dan Brown for this genre, but there are many excellent authors in this genre for fans to discover. I didn’t end up as a historian, but a scientist. So, when I began writing thrillers, I combined my scientific knowledge with my love of ancient mysteries. The result, The Bergamese Sect, is a religious conspiracy thriller masquerading as science fiction!
I may be uncommon in my likes and dislikes, but I’m a fan of carefully constructed prose. I prefer the challenge of interpretation, to be left without all the facts, to be enticed, teased, and misled. For me, author Simon Toyne does all this, and more. His Sancti trilogy begins with the epitome Sanctus. The plot, concerning an ancient secret passed down through generations of monks, is complex, sometimes disturbing, and always compelling. Toyne’s writing, for me, is both intelligent and dynamic, exactly how this genre should be done!
The bestselling thriller debut of 2011 - the apocalyptic conspiracy thriller that has set the world alight...
REVELATION OR DEVASTATION?
The certainties of the modern world are about to be blown apart by a three thousand year-old conspiracy nurtured by blood and lies ...
A man throws himself to his death from the oldest inhabited place on the face of the earth, a mountainous citadel in the historic Turkish city of Ruin. This is no ordinary suicide but a symbolic act. And thanks to the media, it is witnessed by the entire world.
I am a global executive coach, speaker, and author with over 30 years of diverse experience. My career includes serving as a retired Lieutenant Colonel in the U.S. Marine Corps and two decades as a global leadership coach. I have collaborated with new, emerging, and executive leaders across various industries in the U.S., China, Korea, Hong Kong, Singapore, Puerto Rico, Ireland, and the Netherlands. I believe that true leadership is built on a commitment to the mission, clear expectations, and the ability to improvise, adapt, and overcome any obstacle. I hold a Ph.D. in Organization and Leadership Development from the University of Minnesota.
In the audio version of Adam Grant’s book, he shares his fun-loving but highly researched perspectives on how we can appreciate the unique qualities of each individual with whom we interact and those who have been overlooked. He encourages us all to improve and provides several strategies to do just that.
“This brilliant book will shatter your assumptions about what it takes to improve and succeed. I wish I could go back in time and gift it to my younger self. It would’ve helped me find a more joyful path to progress.” —Serena Williams, 23-time Grand Slam singles tennis champion
The #1 New York Times bestselling author of Think Again illuminates how we can elevate ourselves and others to unexpected heights.
We live in a world that’s obsessed with talent. We celebrate gifted students in school, natural athletes in sports, and child prodigies in music. But…
Born the heir of a master woodcutter in a queendom defined by guilds and matrilineal inheritance, nonbinary Sorin can’t quite seem to find their place. At seventeen, an opportunity to attend an alchemical guild fair and secure an apprenticeship with the…
A golfer since age 10, and psychology student, then professor, since age 19, I have a combined 121 years of experience in becoming a golf psychologist. I’ll let you calculate how old I am! As the author of 3 books and over 100 mental instruction articles for Golf Magazine, Golf Digest, Golf Illustrated, and GolfWeek, I made 10 national TV appearances on Inside the PGA Tour. I also served Notre Dame as a sport psychology consultant. With psychology degrees from the Universities of Notre Dame, Kentucky, and New Mexico, and post-doctoral training at the University of California, Davis, Medical Center, I was a full-time college professor for 34 years, and served as President of the SC Psychological Association.
The reason I like this book is the same reason I like any other book on golf — it is simple, basic, understandable — no psychobabble and no crazy swing gymnastics. I mean you and I, average golfers, can understand this and immediately put Harvey’s thinking and suggestions to use.
An example: Harvey admonishes the player to “Take Dead Aim.” Sounds simple enough, but a lot of players don’t do it. They look at the pin, set up, and think they are aiming at it, but in reality, they are aiming at all kinds of strange places other than at the pin.
Jack Nicklaus concurs with Harvey when he says that our alignment (i.e., aiming at the pin) is 50 percent of the battle in hitting a good shot. I would add that if you are aimed wrong, you have to swing wrong to get the ball where it is…
The twentieth anniversary edition of this classic work—the bestselling golf instruction book of all time and hailed as “the golfer's equivalent of The Elements of Style” (The New York Times)—includes a new introduction by a prominent golfer, twenty new illustrations, and never-before-published materials from the Penick family archives.
The most beloved golf book of all time, Harvey Penick’s Little Red Book has become required reading for all players and fans of the game, from beginners to seasoned pros.
The legendary Harvey Penick, whom Sports Illustrated called the “Socrates of the golf world,” began his golfing career as a caddie in…
