BVBook Verdict

If you liked

Books like The boy's own book

Loved The boy's own book by William Clarke? Here are 10 books with a similar appeal — drawn mostly from sport, ranked by how confidently we'd recommend them next.

10 books · ranked

  1. 1

    Open

    Andre Agassi · 2009 · Sport

    A tennis champion's startlingly honest memoir, including how much he hated the game; one of the best sports books ever written.

  2. 2

    Peter Duck

    Arthur Michell Ransome · 1800 · Sport

    Peter Duck is the third book in the Swallows and Amazons series by Arthur Ransome. The Swallows and Amazons sail to Crab Island with Captain Flint and Peter Duck, an old sailor, to recover buried trea

  3. 3

    Hans Brinker

    Mary Mapes Dodge · 1874 · Sport

    First edition with Louis Rhead pictures ...1924... Harper & Brothers

  4. 4

    The heart of a goof

    P. G. Wodehouse · 1900 · Sport

    Humorous golf short stories by an acknowledged master of tickling the funny bone.

  5. 5

    Casey At the Bat

    Ernest Lawrence Thayer · 1901 · Sport

    A narrative poem about a celebrated baseball player who struck out in the crucial moment of a game.

  6. 6

    The Game

    Jack London · 1905 · Sport

    "On the eve of their wedding, twenty-year-old Jack Fleming arranges a secret ringside seat for his sweetheart to view her only rival: the "game." Through Genevieve's apprehensive eyes, we watch the pr

  7. 7

    Seabiscuit

    Laura Hillenbrand · 2001 · Sport

    An undersized horse lifts Depression-era America; a beautifully told underdog story.

  8. 8

    Friday Night Lights

    H.G. Bissinger · 1990 · Sport

    A season with a Texas high-school football team and the town that lives for it; a classic of reportage.

  9. 9

    Born to Run

    Christopher McDougall · 2009 · Sport

    Ultra-runners, a hidden tribe and the case that humans are built to run; infectious and fun.

  10. 10

    The Sports Gene

    David Epstein · 2013 · Sport

    Nature versus training in elite performance; a thoughtful, myth-busting look at talent.

Browse wider