Must Read: Books that show another side to sport

Every Wednesday on the 5 Live Late Show we find out about some of the best books around.

This week Katy Guest, commissioning editor from publishing company Unbound, brings us her top six books that show another side to sport.

Have you read any of these books or have a favourite to recommend? Comment below...

Mud, Maul, Mascara: How I Led My Country, and Lived to Tell the Tale By Catherine Spencer

"I love this book, it's so important to me because it's one of the books I wanted to become a publisher for.

"Before [this job] I worked as a literary editor and every publisher I met, I told them they needed to commission this book and some were very sniffy about it.

"One even said to me 'we once published a sports book by a woman and it didn't sell, so we can't do that again'. So I became a publisher so I could publish this book.

"It's a sports memoir about being at the top of your game, captaining England in a rugby World Cup, winning almost everything she played in. They were an incredible team, but unlike the men's team, they weren't paid for their jobs.

"Most of the women on the team had full time jobs as well as training as hard and caring as much as the men. 

"The book is about sport, leadership and the importance of a team as well as being about women, body image and what it's like to play in a sport that's not associated with femininity by some people.

"It starts with Catherine having just lost the World Cup final to New Zealand, which destroyed her for a while, she never thought she'd get over it. She did the post-match interviews on international TV then went home on her own, drank a cup of tea and cried - that was the end of her massive career in her early 30s."

How to Win: Rugby and Leadership from Twickenham to Tokyo by Sir Clive Woodward

"Sir Clive's first book was called Winning, and it was about how he led his team to win the 2003 World Cup, which was a great moment in English sport.

"How To Win is his second book and it ends with the 2019 World Cup, which didn't go quite so well. 

"The book is about teams, leadership and how ordinary, non-international sportspeople can take what he's learnt back to their own jobs and lives. Anybody who's managing anyone should read this book because it's really good.

"His most important lesson, I think, is the windows and mirrors lesson which is about looking through the window and praising your team when things go well, and looking in the mirror and criticising yourself when things don't go so well.

"When you get your team together and they believe in you and know you care about the things they care about, you can have the same goal and work towards the same outcome - and that's how he wins World Cups. Simple as that!"

Proud: My Autobiography by Gareth Thomas

"Welsh rugby player Gareth Thomas was a national hero, he lived and breathed rugby from a very young age.

"Proud starts off in a really dark place, he's gay and thought if he told anyone about his sexuality then he'd lose everything. He was married to a woman who he clearly loved very much, but he was miserable, suicidal and this book is the most amazing story of courage as he decided to come out as gay.

"He told his family and teammates, and the brilliant thing is how fundamentally his team had his back and supported him. Some weren't entirely surprised and some were shocked, but the team were behind him and it's about the meaning of solidarity.

"During that time he did get some really vicious homophobic abuse. There's a particular match at Castleford where the crowd were vile, but the support he got from those around him helped him thorough."

Mind Games by Annie Vernon

"Mind Games is a story about the psychological toll and reasoning behind elite sport.

"Annie Vernon was an Olympic rower, she was brilliant and at the top of her game when she won a silver medal in the 2008 Beijing Olympics. She was absolutely devastated, there's a photo I've seen of her and her teammates standing on the podium with their silver medals, crying their eyes out and it's absolutely heartbreaking.

"In the book, she explores exactly what it takes psychologically and mentally to be an elite sportsperson. She's interviewed dozens of athletes about their resilience, how they train physically and mentally.

"Obviously sport is a lot about how you train your body, but you also have to train your mind to have a single-minded focus."

Running Like a Girl by Alexandra Heminsley

"I'm recommending this book to myself because I need to read it again. Ten years ago this book helped me start running, but recently I've had a bit of a break so I need to read the book again to kick-start the habit!

"Alexandra Heminsley is the sort of person who never thought she was sporty, she's a beautiful woman but was never rake-thin and she talks about these women you see jogging around with bouncy, swishy ponytails and all the right gear on - she wasn't that kind of runner.

"The book isn't about running marathons, winning races or running to look good, it's about running to go places and see things, experience the world and be in your body."

Back From The Edge by Luke Sutton