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Sports Illustrated — Top 100 Sports Books of All Time

Sports Illustrated's canonical sports books, as compiled on Goodreads.

93 books•Created by BookTribes Team•6/9/2026
Into Thin Air

Into Thin Air

Jon Krakauer

Seabiscuit

Seabiscuit

Laura Hillenbrand

Friday Night Lights

Friday Night Lights

H. G. Bissinger

Shoeless Joe

Shoeless Joe

W. P. Kinsella

The Boys of Summer

The Boys of Summer

Roger Kahn

Ball Four

Ball Four

Jim Bouton

A River Runs Through It and Other Stories

A River Runs Through It and Other Stories

Norman Maclean

The New Bill James Historical Baseball Abstract

The New Bill James Historical Baseball Abstract

Bill James

Secretariat

Secretariat

William Nack

Fever Pitch

Fever Pitch

Nick Hornby

The Sweet Science

The Sweet Science

A. J. Liebling

Heaven is a Playground

Heaven is a Playground

Rick Telander

The Breaks of the Game

The Breaks of the Game

David Halberstam

The Natural

The Natural

Bernard Malamud

The Golf Omnibus

The Golf Omnibus

Pelham Grenville Wodehouse

A False Spring

A False Spring

Pat Jordan

Foul!

Foul!

Dave Wolf

Laughing in the Hills: A Season at the Racetrack

Laughing in the Hills: A Season at the Racetrack

Bill Barich

Eight Men Out

Eight Men Out

Eliot Asinof

The Glory of Their Times

The Glory of Their Times

Lawrence S. Ritter

Only the Ball was White

Only the Ball was White

Robert Peterson

Soccer in Sun and Shadow

Soccer in Sun and Shadow

Eduardo Galeano

They Call Me Coach

They Call Me Coach

John Wooden, Jack Tobin

Harvey Penick's Little Red Book

Harvey Penick's Little Red Book

Harvey Penick

The Fight

The Fight

Norman Mailer

The Complete Book of Running

The Complete Book of Running

James F. Fixx

The Tumult and the Shouting

The Tumult and the Shouting

Grantland Rice

Farewell to Sport

Farewell to Sport

Paul Gallico

You Know Me Al

You Know Me Al

Ring Lardner

A Season on the Brink

A Season on the Brink

John Feinstein

Beer and Circus

Beer and Circus

Murray Sperber

Semi-tough

Semi-tough

Dan Jenkins

Paper Lion

Paper Lion

George Plimpton

The Game

The Game

Ken Dryden

Road Swing

Road Swing

Steve Rushin

Loose Balls

Loose Balls

Terry Pluto

Levels of the Game

Levels of the Game

John McPhee

The Summer Game

The Summer Game

Roger Angell

The Long Season

The Long Season

Jim Brosnan

Instant Replay

Instant Replay

Jerry Kramer

Everybody's All-American

Everybody's All-American

Frank Deford

Fat City

Fat City

Leonard Gardner

The City Game

The City Game

Pete Axthelm

North Dallas Forty

North Dallas Forty

Peter Gent

When Pride Still Mattered

When Pride Still Mattered

David Maraniss

Babe

Babe

Robert Creamer

About Three Bricks Shy...And the Load Filled Up

About Three Bricks Shy...And the Load Filled Up

Roy Blount, Jr.

A Fan's Notes

A Fan's Notes

Frederick Exley

Joe DiMaggio

Joe DiMaggio

Richard Ben Cramer

The Game They Played

The Game They Played

Stanley Cohen

Veeck As In Wreck

Veeck As In Wreck

Bill Veeck, Ed Linn

Ben Hogan's Five Lessons

Ben Hogan's Five Lessons

Ben Hogan, Herbert Warren Wind

The Worst Journey in the World

The Worst Journey in the World

Apsley Cherry-Garrard

Beyond a Boundary

Beyond a Boundary

Cyril Lionel Robert James

Life on the Run

Life on the Run

Bill Bradley

The Red Smith Reader

The Red Smith Reader

Red Smith

An Outside Chance

An Outside Chance

Thomas McGuane

The Unforgettable Season

The Unforgettable Season

G. H. Fleming

The Celebrant

The Celebrant

Eric Rolfe Greenberg

End Zone

End Zone

Don DeLillo

Baseball's Great Experiment

Baseball's Great Experiment

Jules Tygiel

Dollar Sign on the Muscle

Dollar Sign on the Muscle

Kevin Kerrane

The Bronx Zoo

The Bronx Zoo

Sparky Lyle, Peter Golenbock

The Professional

The Professional

W. C. Heinz

The Baseball Encyclopedia

The Baseball Encyclopedia

David Prebenna, Macmillan Publishing Company Staff, MacMillan Books, Macmillan Publishing

A Savage Business

A Savage Business

Richard Hoffer

Among The Thugs

Among The Thugs

Bill Buford

The Lords of the Realm

The Lords of the Realm

John Helyar

Days of Grace

Days of Grace

Arthur Ashe, Arnold Rampersad

Out of Their League

Out of Their League

Dave Meggyesy

Golf Dreams

Golf Dreams

John Updike

In These Girls, Hope Is a Muscle

In These Girls, Hope Is a Muscle

Madeleine Blais

Cosell

Cosell

Howard Cosell

Down the Fairway

Down the Fairway

Robert T. Jones, Jr., Bobby Jones, Oscar Bane Keeler

Big Game, Small World

Big Game, Small World

Alexander Wolff

The Last Shot

The Last Shot

Darcy Frey

Arnold

Arnold

Arnold Schwarzenegger, Douglas Kent Hall

Out of the Bunker and Into the Trees; Or, The Secret of High-tension Golf

Out of the Bunker and Into the Trees; Or, The Secret of High-tension Golf

Rex Lardner

Whatever Happened to Gorgeous George?

Whatever Happened to Gorgeous George?

Joe Jares

Annapurna

Annapurna

Maurice Herzog

The Great American Novel

The Great American Novel

Philip Roth

The Story of American Golf

The Story of American Golf

Herbert Warren Wind

Inside Edge: A Revealing Journey Into the Secret World of Figure Skating

Inside Edge: A Revealing Journey Into the Secret World of Figure Skating

Christine Brennan

Muhammad Ali: His Life and Times

Muhammad Ali: His Life and Times

Thomas Hauser

Can't Anybody Here Play This Game?

Can't Anybody Here Play This Game?

Jimmy Breslin, Bill Veeck

Joy of Sports, Revised

Joy of Sports, Revised

Michael Novak

Golf in the Kingdom

Golf in the Kingdom

Michael Murphy

Game Misconduct

Game Misconduct

Russ Conway

The Harder They Fall

The Harder They Fall

Budd Schulberg

SportsWorld

SportsWorld

Robert Lipsyte

The Bingo Long Traveling All-Stars and Motor Kings

The Bingo Long Traveling All-Stars and Motor Kings

William Brashler

The Miracle of Castel di Sangro

The Miracle of Castel di Sangro

Joe McGinniss

Little Girls in Pretty Boxes

Little Girls in Pretty Boxes

Joan Ryan