Books, Books, Books, Everywhere Books

Not to get all Simmons-y on you here, but we love sports books. Our shelf is full of them, and since we took this job, we've been poring through a ton of them. Here's a roundup of all book-related business around these parts. This sounds like a promotional post, but we swear it isn't (mostly):

• We just finished Mark Lamster's book "Spalding's World Tour," and it's about 174 percent more entertaining than we would have thought. Usually books about baseball history make our eyes glaze over. Not this one. • Kevin Kaduk's book "Wrigleyworld" is about spending a year living next to Wrigley Field, which is actually somewhat different than everyone we went to college, really. It's a fun read and is also the first book we've ever been asked to write a blurb for, which, we don't care what you say, made us swoon. • Everybody's favorite early-morning ESPN riser, Dan Shanoff, is hosting his own reading series in New York City, which kicks off tomorrow. Readers include Will Blythe and Sam Walker, proving he's swiping people from this site, yeah. We'll be there. • OK, this one is self-promotional: The official Deadspin fiancee's book "Family And Other Accidents" is released today, and no offense to everyone else, but it's the best book we've mentioned here. And, uh, there's a scene where a couple guys watch an Indians game, so it kind of has sports. • Oh, and everyone should of course read "Game Of Shadows." But you know that. Sorry, TseTse; facts are facts, our friend.