Women Sport Memoir

Louise Minchin went from presenting BBC Breakfast to competing for the GB Triathlon Team. Driven to bring more attention to female stories, she embarks on adventures with trailblazing women who are breaking down barriers, smashing records and challenging stereotypes in the world of sports and endurance. Join Louise on a roller coaster of highs and lows in this celebration of courageous women and a moving reminder of the power of the female spirit.

Set against a backdrop of social change during the 1970s, State is a compelling first-person account of what it was like to live through both traditional gender discrimination in sports and the joy of the very first days of equality - or at least the closest that one high school girls’ basketball team ever came to it.

Iona lives to compete. She represented Great Britain in speed skiing and rode on the Irish Equestrian Team. Driven by a desire to find herself, a rebellious and slightly wild Iona harnessed her sporting abilities to find purpose, hope, and meaning. But even after many successes and failures, Iona realized that having everything she dreamed of still left her feeling broken and empty.

You're about to discover the incredibly inspirational story of UFC superstar Ronda Rousey. If you're reading this then, you must be a fan of Ronda, like so many others. As a fan, you must wonder how this woman is so talented and want to know more about her. Ronda is considered one of the greatest MMA fighters in the world and it's been an honor to be able to watch her compete throughout her young career.

Being a stable lass is probably one of the hardest jobs in the country, and yet for Gemma Hogg it is the most rewarding. She works in the beautiful Yorkshire market town of Middleham, and if her colleagues are occasionally challenging, then the horses are downright astonishing. Now, in Stable Lass, she takes us into the closed world of a top racing yard, from the elation of having several winners in one day to the almost indescribable grief of losing a horse.

Unmoored by a failed marriage and disconnected from her high-octane life in the city, Diane Cardwell finds herself staring at a small group of surfers coasting through mellow waves toward shore—and senses something shift. Rockaway is the riveting, joyful story of one woman’s reinvention—beginning with Cardwell taking the A train to Rockaway, a neglected spit of land dangling off New York City into the Atlantic Ocean.

Nives Meroi è un'alpinista che ha cominciato una gara appassionante: in competizione con una spagnola, vorrebbe diventare la prima donna a conquistare tutti e quattordici gli Ottomila del mondo. Adesso è a quota dodici. Nives scala con suo marito e con un giovane fotografo, senza portatori d'alta quota, senza usare ossigeno. Il loro rapporto con la montagna è di assoluta purezza. Erri De Luca, anch'egli arrampicatore appassionato, è amico di Nives e la segue da tempo nelle sue imprese.

Confessions of a Timid Rider is a memoir detailing one woman's insights into being an anxiety-ridden but passionate equestrian. After returning to riding as a mother, she is determined to follow her dreams despite the fear she is somehow lacking in talent or ability. An in-depth look into the heart and head of a returning adult equestrian and mother, this message is not limited only to those with horse experience.

Who was Alice Marble? In her public life, she was the biggest tennis star of the pre-war era, a household name like Joe DiMaggio and Joe Louis. She was famous for overcoming serious illness to win the biggest tournaments, including Wimbledon. She was also a fashion designer and trendsetter, a contributor to a pioneering new comic called Wonder Woman - and friend to the biggest names in Hollywood and society, like Carole Lombard and Clark Gable, William Randolph Hearst and Marion Davies, and members of families named Bloomingdale, Loew, and du Pont.

Unlike the stories of most visible division I college athletes, Amanda Ottaway’s story has more in common with those of the 80 percent of college athletes who are never seen on TV. The Rebounders follows the college career of an average NCAA Division I women’s basketball player in the 21st century. It begins with the recruiting process when Ottaway is an eager, naive teenager and ending when she’s a more contemplative 20-something alumna.

Donna Deegan was only months from realizing her dream of launching the nation's first national breast cancer marathon when she was diagnosed with the disease for the third time. While still committed to the race, Deegan began searching for answers beyond the conventional. As she opened one door, it led to the next. What started as a quest for a cure became a physical and spiritual rebirth. Deegan takes us along on her journey with great candor and humor.

Janet Messineo knew from the get-go that she wanted to become a great fisherman. She knew she was as capable as any man of catching and landing a huge fish. It took years - and many terrifying nights along on the beach in complete darkness, in search of a huge creature to pull out of the sea - for her to prove to herself and to the male-dominated fishing community that she could make her dream real. Casting into the Light is a book about following one’s dreams and about the quiet reckoning with self in the long hours of darkness at the water’s edge.

At 31, Tricia Downing was in the best shape of her life. In the summer of 2000, Tricia, an avid cyclist, drove across the country for what amounted to 18 races in 23 days. She returned from her adventure to a fresh start: a new job awaited her, and determined to make the next summer the year she would make her mark on the world of cycling, she began a rigorous training strategy. But on September 17, 2000, Tricia Downing's life took a detour. While training on her bicycle, Tricia collided with a car that turned directly in her path, and instantly became paralyzed from the chest down.

Virtually every big name in wrestling in the second half of the 20th Century crossed paths with "Ms. Christine," as she was known to most. If they followed her rules, Christine "Teeny" Jarrett probably taught them a thing or two about staying out of trouble and saving money for a rainy day. If they got out of line, they likely faced The Grip. Over the course of her 50-year career in wrestling, Teeny worked her way from selling tickets in the back of a Nashville, Tennessee shoe store to running a network of towns for Nick Gulas and Roy Welch...

Born to parents who were landless agricultural labour in the state of Manipur in Northeast India, Mary's story is one of relentless struggle and unflagging passion for the sport of boxing. A childhood of hard labour prepared her body for the sport just as well as any fitness training might have. Her own will and aggression carried her through the minefield of politics that any sport in India is. Nimble of foot and pulling no punches, the boxing ring was Mary's dominion.

These days, swimming may seem like the most egalitarian of pastimes, open to anyone with a swimsuit - but this wasn't always the case. In the 19th century, swimming was exclusively the domain of men, and access to pools was a luxury limited by class. Women were (barely) allowed to swim in the sea, as long as no men were around, but even into the 20th century they could be arrested and fined if they dared dive into a lake. It wasn't until the 1930s that women were finally granted equal access.

With self-deprecation and surprising wit, Marla reveals what it's like to see the world through her eyes, how it feels to grow up "disabled" in a society where expectations are often based on perceived abilities, and what it means to compete at the world-class level despite the fact that - quite literally, for her - there is no finish line.

A love story and an inspirational tale of recovery and self-discovery, Marie Tillman opens up for the first time about her marriage to ex-NFL star Pat Tillman, and her journey to rebuild her life after his death. In 2003, Pat Tillman, serving in the US Army, hastily wrote a "just in case" letter to his wife, Marie. When he returned on leave before his departure to Afghanistan, he placed the letter on top of their bedroom dresser. In the days following his death, it was Pat's letter that kept her going.

Women's basketball coach Sylvia Hatchell walks listeners through her bout with acute myeloid leukemia at age 61, one of the most serious forms of cancer for a woman of her age. Throughout the book, Hatchell discusses the factors that helped her remain positive and continue to fight, no matter what unfolded in her treatments. Her story challenges listeners to examine how they are using their hearts and minds in the eye of the storm, inspiring all to keep fighting and press on instead of sinking into despair or negativity.

Normality is so over-rated. Boat life is better. In her debut memoir Narrow Margins, Marie Browne saved her family from financial ruin by moving her long-suffering husband, three children, and a dog on to a houseboat called Happy Go Lucky in search of a less stressful, alternative way of life. Now in Narrow Minds the family find themselves sucked back into normality, they’re pretty much back where they started: horrible house, no boat, and the kids are beginning to threaten mutiny.