Women’s sports have seen increased visibility in recent years, but despite record-breaking performances and sold out arenas, women’s sports are severely underfunded compared to men’s. Instead of addressing this, we’ve seen a flood of bills and news stories scapegoating trans and nonbinary athletes. As the Human Rights Campaign points out,
In the 15 states which have passed or have pending anti-transgender sports bills, and which had data included in the USA Today report, schools spent an additional $64 million on men’s than women’s sports – or approximately $0.70 on women’s sports for every $1 spent on men’s sports.
That’s why task #7 of the 2026 Read Harder Challenge is “Read a sports book by a woman, trans, or nonbinary writer.” There are a lot of people disguising their transphobia as “protecting women’s sports”—without actually listening to women athletes, addressing unequal funding, or even supporting their teams.
Meanwhile, the International Olympic Committee has just banned trans women and many intersex people from competing in the Olympic Games. Hundreds of human rights and scientific groups oppose the new sex testing requirements, calling it “a blunt and discriminatory response that is not supported by science and violates international human rights law.” It’s important to listen to trans, nonbinary, and intersex athletes’ experiences, and I hope we get a lot more books like this soon.
You might notice that this task is about “sports books” in general, not just nonfiction, so sports novels count, too. Below, I have four nonfiction recommendations, from memoirs to general nonfiction, as well as four fiction recommendations, from historical fiction to sports romance.
Fair Play: How Sports Shape the Gender Debates by Katie Barnes
Just as professional women athletes are starting to get a shot at the support and pay they deserve, their world is being rocked by political (AKA transphobic) debates about the inclusion of transgender athletes. Katie Barnes is a journalist who has been reporting on gender in sports and trans athletes for years. Their book Fair Play is an excellent, nuanced exploration of gender and trans identities within the world of sports, from the Olympics to youth leagues and everything in between. Barnes puts today’s hot topics into a historical context and considers the future of gender in sports. They do a fantastic job of shining a light on how nuanced these issues are, despite the fact that both sides try to oversimplify them, and providing thought-provoking suggestions for what a gender-inclusive world of sports might look like. —Susie Dumond
Coming Home by Brittney Griner with Michelle Burford
While Brittney Griner is an award winning WBNA player and Olympic gold medal winner, this compelling memoir is about a dark period in her life when she couldn’t play basketball. In February of 2022, Grinner traveled to Russia to play basketball during the WNBA offseason. Instead, she was arrested and imprisoned for mistakenly carrying medically prescribed hash oil. For the first time, she recounts what it was like to lose her freedom and become the first American woman sent to a Russian penal colony, and how she stayed strong and didn’t lose hope of getting home. —Liberty Hardy
All Access members, read on for six more sports books by women, trans, and nonbinary authors, including fiction and nonfiction titles.
The Girls: An All-American Town, a Predatory Doctor, and the Untold Story of the Gymnasts Who Brought Him Down by Abigail Pesta
Award-winning journalist Abigail Pesta covers the untold history of the girls who encountered Larry Nassar. For years before his sexual abuse came to light, he worked in a small-town gym in Michigan. The Girls is the story of the aspiring gymnasts who encountered Nassar as he honed his predatory practices in their all-American town. Pesta grants these survivors the space to share their untold stories. —Addison Rizer
OutOfShapeWorthlessLoser: A Memoir of Figure Skating, F*cking Up, and Figuring It Out by Gracie Gold
In this brutally honest memoir, Gracie Gold, one of America’s figure skating sweethearts, talks about how she was suffering in private while she was all smiles in public. Gold recounts her fight with disordered eating and suicidal ideation, and her recovery from sexual assault, while she spun on her skates as an American Olympian. It’s a sadly all-too-common story of the pressures of celebrity and competition sports, and Gold should be commended for her bravery. —Liberty Hardy
In a League of Her Own by Kaia Alderson
Do you know the name of the only woman inducted into the Baseball of Fame? Probably not. But you should. Effa Manley is an ambitious businesswoman in Harlem and an eager champion of civil rights. So when her husband buys up a baseball team for her to run, she’s not exactly thrilled about being thrust into this boy’s club. She’s able to whip them into shape, even so, leading them to the Negro Leagues Champions of 1946. But there are plenty of people who’d love to see this woman put back in her supposed place. Not that she’s about to let them. —Rachel Brittain
Check Please! Book 1: #Hockey by Ngozi Ukazu
This wholesome series centers on Eric, a young figure skating champ who decides to play for his university’s hockey team. Needless to say, he isn’t entirely prepared for the role, but with the help of his new team, he learns to deal with the physicality of hockey, all while developing a crush on the team captain. This book by a Nigerian American author, which immediately faced ban challenges, is a cozy story about friendship and positivity. —Leah Rachel von Essen
Backhanded Compliments by Katie Chandler
Tennis is just as much about reading your opponent as it is about playing them. When tennis star Juliette Ricci gets her matches for the Australian Open, she finds out she’s playing against the unreadable super-player, Luca Kacic. The universe must have a sense of humor because Luca sees a soulmate tattoo on Juliette’s wrist (soulmate marks, a great fanfic trope). From enemies to reluctant friends to something more, their tennis rivalry never fades. —Julia Rittenberg
The Prospects by KT Hoffman
In KT Hoffman’s The Prospects, readers meet Gene Ionescu, the first openly trans professional baseball player. Gene is finally hitting his stride on his minor league team, the Beaverton Beavers, when his biggest rival is traded to his team. But the electric tension between Gene and Luis slowly turns into the kind of chemistry that can help them win big time — on the field and off. It’s a joy-filled romance sure to have baseball fans and sport-hating readers cheering wholeheartedly for the Beavers. —Susie Dumond
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