If it fits on a bookshelf, it fits here.

Amazon keeps changing the way they report, so that will be mirrored here. Sometimes there will be rankings of Kindle and audio-books on baseball, other times, not.

A reminder: The Amazon rankings are updated every hour, so these lists might not be 100 percent accurate by the time you read them (or even by the time I finish posting them). But close enough for government work, as the saying goes (see my piece on “Why Amazon’s search engine sucks“).

In addition, occasionally the powers-that-be over there try to pull a fast one by including a book in a category in which it should not be listed (in my opinion). For example, The Book of Why: The New Science of Cause and Effect has appeared on Amazon’s BBS list. “Why” is a good question. There might be a smattering of the national pastime in it, but not enough to make it a baseball book per se (again, IMO).

Finally, adults only here. That is, no books for younger readers (i.e., 12 and under). Also no “adult” adult books (romance/erotic fiction that features baseball as a theme although goodness knows there are a bunch of those out there).

So, with all that said…

The links under the authors’ names will take you to the Bookshelf Conversations I had with them. An asterisk denotes a book making its debut on the BBS list. And a “Ω” means it’s an award winner, almost always in the print version.

PRINT

1. The Cloudbuster Nine: The Untold Story of Ted Williams and the Baseball Team That Helped Win World War II, by Anne R. Keene (my Bookshelf review here)
2. Crossroads: A Memoir in Baseball and Life, by Dusty Baker (look for my review on Bookreporter.com in the weeks ahead)
3. Why We Love Baseball: A History in 50 Moments, by Joe Posnanski (my review on Bookreporter)
4. The Wingmen: The Unlikely, Unusual, Unbreakable Friendship Between John Glenn and Ted Williams, by Adam Lazarus
5. Nolan: The Singular Life of an American Original, by Tim Brown (my review on Bookreporter)
6. The Ultimate New York Yankees Trivia Book: A Collection of Amazing Trivia Quizzes and Fun Facts for Die-Hard Yankees Fans!, by Ray Walker
7. The First All-Star Game: Babe Ruth, FDR and America at the Crossroads, by Randall Sullivan
8. The Bosses of the Bronx: The Endless Drama of the Yankees Under the House of Steinbrenner, by Mike Vaccaro (my review on Bookreporter, as part of a feature on 2026 baseball titles)
9. The Last Manager: How Earl Weaver Tricked, Tormented, and Reinvented Baseball, by John W. Miller. (My review on Bookreporter) Ω
10. The Ultimate Los Angeles Dodgers Trivia Book: A Collection of Amazing Trivia Quizzes and Fun Facts for Die-Hard Dodgers Fans!, by Ray Walker

KINDLE

1. The Machine: A Hot Team, a Legendary Season, and a Heart-stopping World Series: The Story of the 1975 Cincinnati Reds, by Posnanski (my review on Bookreporter, as part of a World Series feature in 2009)

AUDIO BOOKS

1. Moneyball (narrated by Scott Brick)
2. The Bad Guys Won: A Season of Brawling, Boozing, Bimbo Chasing, and Championship Baseball with Straw, Doc, Mookie, Nails, the Kid, and the Rest of the 1986 Mets, the Rowdiest Team Ever to Put on a New York Uniform – and Maybe the Best, by Jeff Pearlman (narrated by the author)

Not much in the way of non-print editions this week; I wonder why? Also, has it come to this that two trivia books are in the top ten during the season? I can understand after the World Series is over, but come on. There are so many other topics to discover during the summer. Save the trivia for the cold weather. Just sayin’. (Then again, people just aren’t reading books as much these days, at least according to this CBS/YouGov poll.

Another bizarre though crossed my mind: Looking at the title of Posnanski’s book about the Reds, he uses the term “heart-stopping.” No doubt it was truly exciting, but the morbid in me wonders exactly how many viewers had their heart stopped during that Fall Classic?

Still not in the Amazon top ten? 501 Baseball Books Fans Must Read before They Die. FYI, as of this posting it ranks 2,552,727 in books overall; last time, 2,284,308.  Hank Greenberg in 1938: Hatred and Home Runs in the Shadow of War ranks 2,988,556;  last time, 2,792,355.

Shameless self-promotion: if you’re looking for some good baseball reading during this down time, why not pick up a copy of 501? It’s like the dictionary; it has the other books in it, which reminds me of one of my favorite lines from one of my favorite shows.

BUT…

Some exciting news (now we’ll see who’s paying attention and reading down this far).

Necessity is the mother of invention. Thanks to emergency surgery in which I said goodbye to a recalcitrant gallbladder, I have a couple off months for recuperation during which time I will be working on a revision of 501.

The new version will include all the original stuff but as you know if you’re a baseball reading fool, there have been a lot of great books published since 501 came out a dozen years ago. So since this isn’t a ranking where one title might be pushed off the list, the new material will appear as an added chapter.

A reminder: There’s an Excel “checklist” of the books list in 501. If you’re interested in keeping track of how many you have read or own, drop me a line.

If you have read either of my books, thanks, hope you enjoyed it, and please consider writing an Amazon review; it’s never too late.

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