Other books that might interest you

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  The Tree Climber’s Guide

  Jack Cooke

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  ‘After I finished this book I alarmed my family by going into the garden and climbing the apple tree.’ – Damian Whitworth, The Times 
  ‘One of the publishing sensations of the year … For anyone who has ever felt a little overwhelmed in a big city, or wanted to step out of the rat race for an hour or two, Jack Cooke will be something of an inspiration.’ – Robert Hardman, Daily Mail 
  A wonderful cocktail of engaging writing, beautiful illustration and heartfelt appreciation for the natural world. An essential oddity for any book collection. 
  In this charming, witty and exquisitely illustrated companion, Jack Cooke explores the city through its canopy; teetering on the edge of an oak’s branches, scurrying up a Scots pine, spying views from the treetops that few have ever had the chance to see. He takes us through the parks, over the canals and rivers and into secret gardens on his journey sometimes only ten foot above the street. 
  Part guidebook, part meditation on the consolations of nature, The Tree Climber’s Guide is as uniquely odd, alluring and motley as the trees themselves. It is a journey into the tangle of bark and branches that surround us all and a welcome reminder that the best things in life are free – they just sometimes require a step in the right direction. 
  The Tree Climber’s Guide is not just a book, it's a journey through the wilderness of the city, a recreation of the urban landscape that encourages healthy living and fitness. Cooke's travel through the forests of the city, his walks in the ecosystems and habitats above us, is a testament to the beauty of nature that exists in our everyday lives. 
  For fans of Ben Aitken (The Gran Tour), John Lewis-Stempel (The Wood), James Aldred (Goshawk Summer), Tina Brown (The Palace Papers), and Merlin Sheldrake (Entangled Life).

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  Dream Team - How Michael Magic...

  Jack McCallum

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  They were the Beatles of basketball, the Mercury Seven in sneakers. In Dream Team, acclaimed sports journalist Jack McCallum delivers the untold story of the greatest team ever assembled: the 1992 U.S. Olympic men's basketball team that captivated the world, kindled the hoop dreams of countless children around the planet, and remade the NBA into a global sensation. As a senior staff writer for Sports Illustrated, McCallum enjoyed a courtside seat for the most exciting basketball spectacle on earth, covering the Dream Team from its inception to the gold medal ceremony in Barcelona. For the duration of the Olympics, he lived with, golfed with, and—most important—drank with some of the greatest players of the NBA's Golden Age: Magic Johnson, the ebullient showman who shrugged off his recent diagnosis of HIV to become the team's unquestioned captain and leader; Michael Jordan, the transcendent talent at the height of his powers as a player—and a marketing juggernaut; and Charles Barkley, the outspoken iconoclast whose utterances on and off the court threatened to ignite an international incident. Presiding over the entire traveling circus was the Dream Team's beloved coach, Chuck Daly, whose laissez faire approach proved instrumental in getting the most out of such disparate personalities and superstars such as Larry Bird, Patrick Ewing, and Scottie Pippen. Drawing on fresh interviews with the players, McCallum provides the definitive account of the Dream Team phenomenon. He offers a behind-the-scenes look at the controversial selection process. He takes us inside the team's Olympic suites for late-night card games and bull sessions where the players debate both the finer points of basketball and their respective places in the NBA pantheon. And he narrates a riveting possession-by-possession account of the legendary July 1992 intrasquad scrimmage that pitted the Dream Teamers against one another in what may have been the greatest pickup game—and the greatest exhibition of trash talk—in history. In the twenty years since the Dream Team first captivated the world's attention, its mystique has only grown—and so has its influence. The NBA is now flush with international stars, many of them inspired by the exuberant spirit of '92. Dream Team vividly re-creates the moment when a once-in-a-millennium group of athletes came together, outperformed the hype, and changed the future of sports—one perfectly executed fast break at a time.

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  Surfcasters Snapper and Scandal...

  GJ PHilip

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  It's 1972 and 12 year old GJ Philip lives most of the time on the wharves of Wellington NZ, afraid to go home where his schizophrenic father rules with an iron fist. But GJ carves a life of sorts from the rough and tumble world of pubs and railway stations in New Zealand's Capital City, selling fish and sleeping in railway carriages, part of a band of Naenae street urchins that find shelter on the public transport network. 
  GJ joins the Wellington Surfcasting and Angling Club to find acceptance in society and recognition among his fishing peers, but things aren't always as simple as they seem.

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  Game of Edges - The Analytics...

  Bruce Schoenfeld

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  The story of how a new generation of tech-savvy franchise owners is reshaping every aspect of professional sports.In the last two decades, innovation, data analysis, and technology have driven a tectonic shift in the sports business. Game of Edges is the story of how sports franchises evolved, on and off the field, from raggedly run small businesses into some of the most systematically productive companies around.In today’s game, everyone from the owners to the marketing staff is using information—data—to give their team an edge. For analysts, an edge is their currency. Figuring out that bunting hurts your offense? That’s an edge. So is discovering metrics that can predict the career arc of your free agent shooting guard. Or combing through a decade of ticket-buying data to target persuadable fans.These small, incremental steps move a sports franchise from merely ordinary to the leading edge. Franchises today are more than just sports; they integrate a whole suite of other businesses—television and digital content, gambling and real estate, fashion and apparel, entertainment, catering and concessions, and much more. But an optimized franchise can’t afford to be sentimental. Teams must do what the numbers say, reducing the element of chance, limiting those random moments of athletic heroism that make sports thrilling to watch. Optimization also means the franchise’s main goal isn’t championships anymore; it’s keepingyou, the viewer, engaged with the product.Drawing on extensive interviews with franchise owners, general managers, executives, and players, Bruce Schoenfeld introduces dynamic leaders who are radically reimagining the operations of these decades-old teams—and producing mind-boggling valuations. He joins the architects of the Golden State Warriors dynasty for an exclusive reception before tip-off. He stands among the faithful at Anfield, watching Liverpool’s analytics guru assess a prized midfielder. And he watches the president of the Chicago Cubs break ground on a new DraftKings gambling parlor at Wrigley Field, not ten miles from the site of the original Black Sox betting scandal. Essential reading for anyone interested in sports, business, or technology, Game of Edges explores a world where winning the game is only the beginning.

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  Fishing Lessons - Insights Fun...

  Paul Quinnett

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  With honesty, wit and erudition, the acclaimed author of Pavlov’s Trout delves into the philosophical lessons learned from a lifetime of fishing. 
   
  Despite its title, Fishing Lessons will not show readers how to fish. In fact, you don't even have to like to fish to enjoy and appreciate the latest book from renowned psychologist, fisherman, and essayist Paul Quinnett. Fishing Lessons is a rich mix of anecdotes, observations, essays, short stories, one-liners, and personal revelations from Quinnett's rich life and fishing journals.  
   
  In his straightforward style, Quinnett rounds out the trilogy that began with Pavlov's Trout and Darwin's Bass, the first books ever written on the psychology of fishing. This time he tackles the philosophy of fishing—a philosophy of enjoying life. Over the course of its pages, Fishing Lessons provides satisfying essays that won't so much teach you about fishing as they will teach you about yourself.

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  Diversions in Sicily

  Henry Festing Jones

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  Samuel Butler's biographer dedicates his urbane account of the culture and entertainments of rural Sicily to the unborn son of his guide to them. (Summary by R. S. Steinberg)

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