Olympics and sports book recommendations for your summer reading list

Have you been hooked on the Paris Olympics? Staying up late watching sports you’ve never heard of? Watching the athletes in awe and wondering how they got to where they are?

Even after the Olympics end, keep the excitement going with some books about Olympians and the Games themselves.

The Olympics are full of narratives, and as the saying goes, if you like the movie, the book might be even better. That’s what Traci Thomas thinks, at least. She’s the creator of “The Stacks” podcast and recommends books perfect for the Olympics enthusiast, from athletes’ memoirs to novels about the Games.

Thomas says her favorite part of this year’s Olympics was U.S. gymnast Simone Biles’ floor routine.

“She does this one gymnastics pass. She sticks the landing and then her whole face lights up,” Thomas says. “She finishes the routine. She comes off the thing and she knows she's won and it just gives chills. I'm so proud of her. I'm so inspired by her.”

Nonfiction

Fiction

Emiko Tamagawa produced and edited this interview for broadcast with Todd Mundt. Grace Griffin adapted it for the web.