Now Pitching Bob Feller (1990) Bob Feller with Bill Gilbert

 This is the autobiography of the great Bob Feller, rocket arm pitcher from the 1930's to 1950's.  He looks back on his life many years after his career ends and reflects on the game then, changes, and the game at the time he wrote. You would say he is one of those Greatest Generation guys. It's a good read.

Clemente: The Grace and Passion of Baseball's Last Hero (2006) by David Maraniss

This is a biography of the great Pirate by David Maraniss, the same author who wrote the biography of Presidents Obama and Clinton.  As in the other ones, you get a good feel for the times in which Clemente lived.  Also the circumstances of the plane crash are interesting.  There's more to it than just the plane went down.  This is a good read.

Albion's Seed: Four British Folkways in America by David Hackett Fischer (1989)

 It took me about 6 mos to polish off this one, it was the major reading accomplishment of 2021.  The author talks about the 4 different groups of British settlers in the American colonies- Puritans, Virginians, Quakers and Borderers/ Scots Irish- and their impact on the development of the US all the way to the present.  I permanently changed the way I think about US history. 

Game of Shadows: Barry Bonds, BALCO, and the Steroids Scandal that Rocked Professional Sports b7 Mark Fainaru-Wada and Lance Williams (2006)

 This was another excellent goodwill purchase.  It tells the story of how the track stars, baseball players and other athletes broke a bunch of records in the 1990's and 2000's with steroids and then how they got caught.  It's an entertaining story and there's a lesson in it.

Darryl Strawberry and the Boys of Crenshaw by Michael Sokolove (2004)

 This was a goodwill pickup.  It was great.  Writing was good. Subject- Darryl Strawberry's 1979 Crenshaw High baseball team- was great.  Why was that team so good?  What are they up to now?  Why hasn't Crenshaw High had a team to rival that one since? Not all of the questions are answered but they are all explored.  read it!

I'm Keith Hernandez: A Memoir (2018)

Autobiography of the great lefty contact hitter of the  Cardinals and Mets in the 1970's and 1980's.  Lots of good insight about baseball and a nice flavor of the times.

Fire on the Mountain 1988 by Terry Bisson

 This is a science fiction novel based on the following premise: John Brown succeeds in starting a slave revolt. It's an interesting premise and he takes it in a suprising direction.  It's definitely worth the read.