These themes will vary! It could be based off of some book mail I just received, pop culture, something personal to me, a headline from the news, a trend I noticed when I was buying books for my library system, etc. I hope you stick around to see all the themes and book recs I come up with!
Today’s Theme: She Knows Ball!
Here in Texas, football is LAW. And if you know me you know that I’m a for real die hard football fan. I’m talking I know the players, stats, what happens during the season and the off season, and all. Before I decided to become a librarian I wanted to be a sports reporter and I was closely following Pam Oliver, like I’m talking the whole 9. I’m not a fair weather fan. I love ALL sports. So seeing FINALLY seeing myself in Jazmyn and Duffy really touched something in me. Yes I know there’s a lot of sports romance books with women who know the game or they’re the trainer for the team or the publicist for that player or they’re a sports reporter or they’re the player, but it’s never explicitly said they’re FANS and will watch it or play it or whatever on their day off. Or you know, that watch the game, know the stats, etc. In Big Girl Blitz Jazmyn surprises Lamar with game facts, play calls, and more when they first meet! I loved their banter about the game, and the way she even knew exactly what he played! I felt so seen! [Big Girl Blitz is Adult and is out now! It is #3 in a series!]
In First and Forever I felt seen in Duffy for many of the same reasons. She got to meet one of her favorite players, and she knew how big his hands were, when he was drafted, the other players on the team, and she even held season tickets. But she was also awkward and felt like one of the guys and because of that didn’t understand why this huge guy liked her so much. That part made me especially feel seen because I thought for a long time that that’s what I was to my husband. But that’s a story for another time. Just know this fan felt seen in both of these reads and if you are looking for the same feeling, I hope you pick both of these up! [First and Forever is Adult and is out May 12th!]
Well, there you go! Here I’m just going to talk about why I grouped these two books together. I hope you enjoyed a look at this small part of the books. For a full synopsis of the book or to add it to your TBR, click the picture and it will take you to their Storygraph. The link on the caption will take you to it’s Goodreads.
FOR THE LOVE OF THE GAME!
These are more books from women in football. From those that know sports and bet on them, to those that coach or play, or even the fans that just found it because of Taylor or those that like it because they like looking at the players. We all count and it’s nice to be seen in these books all the time! (I just found out about When the Men Were Gone! It’s about the first woman to become a high school football coach in Texas. I never thought to look into if this person had a book, so it was pretty cool to see that we have it at the library. I checked it out IMMEDIATELY. I can’t wait to get some time to crack it open!)
My love for the Eagles runs deep! And long. That last picture of the player was when they came to play the Texans in my city in 2014! The player in that photo was Darren Sproles! I also have a pic of Brent Celek from that game. The blue tinted picture after that was once when we beat that team from Dallas and I had to tell my family to kiss my grits lol The picture with the book is right after Superbowl 59. The others were from last year when I went to Philly for a library conference. I was trying to take a tour of the Linc, but they weren’t doing them because of the World Cup. I was HURT HURT, but I did get to go look on the outside and in the team store where I bought all the things lol (Proud owner of a Saquon backwards hurdle pin smh lol Yes I was just buying shit LMAO) Since I FINALLY got to Philly, my dream now is a Linc game. Idk when or how, but I’m going to make it happen lol
What about you? Do you like football? Have you heard of either of these? Will you read them? Let me know in the comments!