Beginning with a fascinating overview of the history of women in sport, Gemma Lumsdaine’s 50 Women in Sport is a timely reference book. It catalogues the rise of women’s sport, featuring many famous sportswomen including Paralympians across a diverse range of sports. It contains profiles of twenty-five women, notably the recently retired Serena Williams and our very own Cathy Freeman. It is accompanied by many colourful photographs and interesting information about various female champions. It captures the remarkable legacy of multiple women in sports from many nationalities and has a handy Index, making it a fine resource that will inspire all readers and sports fans alike. The interviews of women athletes like Meg Lanning are insightful and make this a four and a half star read rating. My thanks to Supernova Books and the author, for an uncorrected advanced reader copy for review purposes. As always, the opinions herein are totally my own and freely given.

GIRLS RUN THE WORLD!!!! I love this book!!! I loved reading about these amazing women & their accomplishments in sports and life.

This one has it all: sports, history, culture, and more. A fascinating look and overview of the women icons of sports, from the past to the present, that will have you inspired and feeling all of the girl power vibes. From portraits of female athletes on cave walls as early as the 4th Century, to Bethany Hamilton surfing, Serena and Venus dominating the courts, Alex Morgan on the soccer field, Simone Biles, and more, this one will allow you to know more about your fan favorites, and introduce you to some other top notch female athletes from around the world you may be less familiar with. Either way, this one will have you hitting the gym asap!

I love watching women in sports. I’ve spent years attending gymnastic meets at my university and have been to events at both winter and summer Olympics. Beyond that I’ve been glued to my tv for hours and hours of football (soccer) matches, olympics and other sporting events. But all that being said I was familiar with only a minority of athletes covered in this book. The book begins with a history of women coming into sporting competitions starting roughly in the mid 1800s. It then covers many of of the highest achievers in women’s athletics with brief bios. This includes recognizable names like Serena Williams, Jayne Torvill and Althea Gibson. Many others I didn’t know who hold the most medals for their events or were the first women ever to win medals for their countries. The last section contains interviews with over twenty previous athletes. There is one American, four from other countries and the rest are British. The book doesn’t claim it is covering the greatest 50 women in sports. It is informative and I learned about events and athletes that I was less familiar with. I liked that it included para athletes too. I would probably like it better if I was British or knew more of the athletes in the interview section. I did enjoy the photos most of which are in color. Thank you to NetGalley, Supernova Books and BookBuzz.net for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I will preface my review by saying I requested this title after recently reading a fictional sports book (tennis) with a strong female lead who was the best in the world at what she did and even performed better than the men, which was incredibly empowering, even if fictional. So I expected this to have the same feel based on the topic - and it delivered!

This book is a beautiful, sweeping tribute to past and present women’s accomplishments in sports. I enjoyed the diversity of the women, countries, sports, and disabilities featured, beginning all the way back to the women in sports pioneers of 1700- late 1990s. However, what I think is sorely lacking in this is my own favorite sports of weightlifting, an Olympic sport women dominate, and CrossFit, where all countries come together to determine who the “fittest woman on earth” is yearly. I’m not sure if this is by choice (I’d be willing to throw fists if anyone contests that either is a “sport”) or due to the geography this title is initially published in (the UK). They are both more closely followed in the United States, although many countries are represented in both sports.

At first glance, I thought the cover could be more exciting and better designed for a book but I decided I sort of like how it resembles an old fashioned magazine cover. I think the publisher should have taken more advantage of that look.

Thank you to Supernova Books, BookBuzz.net, and the author for a review copy of this title in exchange for an honest review!

Thank you, Supernova Books, for the advance reading copy.

I wasn’t expecting real pictures but I am truly surprised with the quality content and how it features each woman in different fields of sports.

Fun to read, inspirational and perfect for all age groups a definite recommendation.