Not Hockey: Critical Essays on Canada’s Other Sport Literature edited by Angie Abdou and Jamie Dopp

Abdou, Angie, and Jamie Dopp (editors), Not Hockey: Critical Essays on Canada’s Other Sport Literature. Athabasca, Alberta: AU Press, 2023, 248 pages. Price: $37.99 Cdn. Reviewed by Lisa Timpf Street hockey games played while emulating the moves of one’s on-ice heroes, early-morning practices at the rink, and the tradition of watching Hockey Night in Canada are familiar …

Invisible No More: A Historical Novel by Scott Pitoniak and Rick Burton

Pitoniak, Scott and Burton, Rick. Invisible No More: A Historical Novel. Herndon, VA: Subplot Publishing, 2023. 319 pages. Price: Softcover $24.95. Ebook $9.99 Reviewed by Lisa Timpf In Invisible No More: A Historical Novel, authors Scott Pitoniak and Rick Burton relate the life story of Syracuse University athlete Wilmeth Sidat-Singh. In the late 1930s, Sidat-Singh was “almost as celebrated as …

A Dugout to Peace by Gary Morgenstein

Morgenstein, Gary. A Dugout to Peace. (The Dark Depths, Book 3). Plymouth, MI: BHC Press, 2023. 552 pages. Price: Hardcover $34, Softcover $22.95, Ebook $9.99. Reviewed by Lisa Timpf In A Dugout to Peace, Gary Morgenstein delivers the third and final installment in his dystopian, baseball-themed Dark Depths trilogy. Fans of the earlier books will …

Ballists, Dead Beats, and Muffins: Inside Early Baseball in Illinois by Robert D Sampson

Sampson, Robert D. Ballists, Dead Beats, and Muffins: Inside Early Baseball in Illinois. Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 2023. 272 pp. Includes 18 black and white photos. End matter includes listing of Illinois baseball teams and players, 1865-70, notes, bibliography, index. Paperback $24.95.          Reviewed by Lisa Timpf  Though Shakespeare suggested that a rose by …

Soccer Grannies: The South African Women Who Inspire the World by Jean Duffy

Duffy, Jean. Soccer Grannies: The South African Women Who Inspire the World. New York: Rowman & Littlefield, 2023. xix + 264pp. Photos, Chapter Notes, Bibliography, Index, $34.00. Reviewed by Lisa Timpf Soccer Grannies: The South African Women Who Inspire the World is a non-fiction book that could just as well read as the script of a triumph-against-the-odds …

Game Misconduct: Hockey’s Toxic Culture and how to Fix it by Evan Moore and Jashvina Shah

Reviewed by Lisa Timpf Game Misconduct: Hockey’s Toxic Culture and How to Fix It by Evan Moore and Jashvina Shah takes a broad-ranging look at the sport of hockey as it intersects with a number of parameters, including racism, sexism, and homophobia. Though the authors are critical of many aspects of hockey’s culture, the book is …

A Mound Over Hell: Book 1 of the Dark Depths series by Sport by Gary Morgenstein

Morgenstein, Gary. A Mound Over Hell (Book 1 of the Dark Depths series). Plymouth, MI: BHC Press, 2018. pp. 520. Reviewed by Lisa Timpf In A Mound Over Hell, Book 1 of the Dark Depths series, Gary Morgenstein weaves together a story about baseball, politics, and a changed society while presenting an interesting and engaging cast of …