Living through the Racket: How I Survived Leukemiaand Rediscovered My Self Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)I was lucky enough to have been given an advance copy of this book, and have since sung its praises to everyone I know. I am not a big tennis (or even sports) fan, but I am a sucker for a good story. Corina is a dynamic woman who has overcome much in her life and enjoyed great success. Yet I found her incredibly relatable; no matter what she was going through, be it leukemia treatments or a Wimbledon victory, I felt like I was right there with her. While women will relate to her journey to independence and sports fans will thrill at her depictions of being a pro tennis player, this book will inspire anyone who reads it. I highly recommend it.

Click Here to see more reviews about: Living through the Racket: How I Survived Leukemiaand Rediscovered My Self

She was 23 and at the height of her professional tennis career—a top-30 singles player, the #1 ranked doubles player in the world in 2000, and the winner of Grand Slam titles at both Wimbledon in 1999 with Lindsay Davenport, and the Australian Open Mixed doubles in 2001.
Then, in May 2001, Corina Morariu was diagnosed with an advanced form of acute myelogenous leukemia and found herself in the match of a lifetime. After a grueling regimen of chemotherapy, Corina returned to competitive tennis 16 months after her diagnosis. She was named the WTA Tour Comeback Player of the Year in 2002, but the effects of the leukemia lingered. On the court, she struggled to come to terms with the cancer and two subsequent shoulder surgeries that diminished her physical capabilities as a tennis player. Off the court, she struggled to redefine herself in the wake of her trauma.
In this honest, unsparing memoir, Corina opens up about what it's like to be an athlete diagnosed with cancer, and how her battle with leukemia changed her in every way. She reassessed everything: her devotion to tennis, her lifelong mission to be the perfect daughter, even her marriage. She took charge of her own life, often with devastating consequences to her and those she loved most.
In the end, leukemia gave this world-class athlete much more than it took away—the challenge to look deeper within herself, and the strength to change her life—and she reveals the extraordinary lessons she learned along the way. It is Corina's journey of self-discovery that will make her story incredibly poignant and uplifting to everyone who reads it—tennis player or not.
Leukemia brought Corina to the brink of death . . . but ultimately it saved her life.

Click here for more information about Living through the Racket: How I Survived Leukemiaand Rediscovered My Self

Read More...

Days of Grace Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)I met this gentleman briefly. We were travelling on "Southern Airlines" between Atlanta and Birmingham. Both the man and the airline are gone. He was gracious, a man of dignity. As his memoir unfolds one can't help but be inspired by his example of courage, discipline and responsibility. Many knew him as a great tennis champion, but the book reveals the man, a father, a husband, a social activist, a religious spiritual being. It is a poignant testament to a beautiful being. He died of aids contracted through a blood transfusion. Most touching is his letter to his daughter, in which he says," Don't be angry with me if I am not there in person, alive and well, when you need me......... whereever I am when you feel sick at heart and weary of ife, or when you stumble and fall and don't know if you can get up again, think of me. I will be watching and smiling and cheering you on." This is a man who mastered his destiny. The book contains beautiful photos shared by his wife, a gifted photographer. The book is a remarkable legacy to his family and to all who recognize greatness. Excellent and enjoyable reading.

Click Here to see more reviews about: Days of Grace

Click here for more information about Days of Grace

Read More...

The Rivals: Chris Evert vs. Martina Navratilova Their Epic Duels and Extraordinary Friendship Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)Martina Navratilova had the physical edge. As a child she was selected by the Communists as a potentially prize-winning athlete, based on bone structure and musculature. She was a fighting machine who quickly mastered any sport she was exposed to, and when she was willing to concentrate no one could beat her on Center Court. Chris Evert by contrast was all concentration. She didn't have the latent strength and pounding ability of her most famous rival, but she had a mental game that wouldn't quit. She knew how to be efficient with every shot, she was patient, she could come back to win slowly after initial defeat, and do it with a little-girl innocence that made her the press's darling.
Martina was the woman the press loved to hate. They hated her for saying she was a lesbian (others were but no one said so, and Billie Jean King famously tried to cover up her sexual history when confronted with a palimony suit). They hated her for looking mannish and acting like a bully against pretty girls like Chrissie and Tracey Austin. They hated her for her big mouth and her uncompromising kookiness.
No one suspected that Chrissie, as tall and dominant as Martina, was not all Pollyanna. She had her affairs, her rages, and her wild moments on tour. The women, thanks in large part to ground broken by Billie Jean, were superstars. They were as adored as many rock musicians. Chris had only to pen a short note on a napkin to land a date with Burt Reynolds, known in his heyday as a Hollywood sex machine. Martina was coached by a woman who had been a man, Renee Richards --- dated by the mercurial author Rita Mae Brown --- who put a bullet through her car windshield, and was followed by the secret police when she went on a world tour.
They were grand figures living in grand times. Martina appears in photographs beginning with her fluffy hair and youthful chubbiness and leading on to her militant bangs and sepulchrally thin look, all muscle and long bones. Chris never really changed. They were of similar height, blondish, handsome women. They both had a steely gaze and gave up not one point that they didn't have to. They paved the way for the ones who came after and lifted women's tennis off the fourth page of the sports section to the front page, with some notable appearances in the scandal sheets.
Johnette Howard, a sports columnist, has examined their lives in rich and believable detail, revealing the moments when each on separate occasions collapsed in tears after a match, when each had shocking love affairs, when each beat the other stroke by grueling stroke, and when both supported the other. No one but Chris could truly understand what Martina went through, and vice versa. They were, for a few bright years, all there was to watch.
--- Reviewed by Barbara Bamberger Scott

Click Here to see more reviews about: The Rivals: Chris Evert vs. Martina Navratilova Their Epic Duels and Extraordinary Friendship

Click here for more information about The Rivals: Chris Evert vs. Martina Navratilova Their Epic Duels and Extraordinary Friendship

Read More...