Hey! You’re here. Thank you!
I had every intention of doing an Ask a Bookseller newsletter this week. I even put out the call on my instagram for questions, and some folks submitted wonderful questions. But then I remembered…. WAIT. Back up a minute, sister. We have more important things at hand this week.
It’s the Final Four!!! I need to give the people what they want. And what they want, obviously, is weirdly specific book pairings that sort of make sense if you squint for each team in the 2025 NCAA Women’s Final Four.
This is my mantel, my mission, the nexus of my expertise.
Long story short, I’m back again with some basketball & book pairings that absolutely no one asked for. I love books. I love women’s basketball (read: basketball) and I’m here to yap about both.
If you submitted a question for Ask a Bookseller, I will be back with a vengeance next week with all the answers. Thank you for your patience while I complete this side quest.
Now on to the good stuff.
In this essay, I will pair each team in the Final Four with three books based purely on vibes, values, play style, ethos, and connections that make sense probably only to me.
UCONN HUSKIES
We’re starting off strong with my team, the team I picked to win it all, The Connecticut Huskies. I’ve been rooting for UCONN since the player who made me a basketball fan, Diana Taurasi, wore a UCONN jersey. It’s me and the huskies for life.
It should come as no surprise, therefore, that my first pairing for my team is my favorite novel of the year, a book of my life, a masterpiece for our times, The Emperor of Gladness by Ocean Vuong. This is not just a book I love - it is a deeply Connecticut novel. Set in a fictional town in the rural part of the state, The Emperor of Gladness centers the people and places that are often overlooked when people think of Connecticut. It’s a celebration and a love letter to a state people tend to forget about or mischaracterize. Finally, it is at its core an underdog story. Now you might be thinking, Rosamond say what you want but UCONN are not underdogs. But guess what?? UCONN is the only number two seed still dancing. So you know what I think we might just be the underdogs this year and I am embracing it. And no one writes underdogs like Ocean Vuong. Seriously, someone get Penguin Press on the horn because they need to send Paige Bueckers a copy of the new book.
Next up, I am pairing the Huskies with These Precious Days by Ann Patchett. Ann Patchett is a GOAT in the bookselling world never mind her deep backlist of critical successes and commercial bestsellers. These Precious Days is a collection only an established writer with name recognition and a legacy of success could write. She’s dancing from topic to topic writing about Tom Hanks and her dog and bookselling and kid’s books and her readers will follow wherever she leads. You know who else has a legacy of success and a freakishly devoted fan base?? The Connecticut Huskies, baby!
Finally, when I think about the Connecticut women’s basketball team, I think about this story about how the team supports their teammate Jana El-Alfy who is balancing playing in the tournament with observing Ramadan.
I love watching women’s basketball because of stories like this. I love the way teammates show up for each other on and off the court. You know where else I like stories of female friendship and complex relationships between women?? In the books I read!! I would argue that the greatest friendship novel of recent years is Another Brooklyn by Jacqueline Woodson. People sleep on this book and they shouldn’t. People sleep on the UCONN players other than Paige (and you know I love Paige) and they shouldn’t.
UCLA BRUINS
The UCLA women’s basketball team is playing in their first final four in program history this year. But that doesn’t necessarily make them underdogs. This team has some star connections on and off the court.
UCLA guard Kiki Rice is the niece of former national security advisor and Obama aide, Susan Rice. I learned from watching the Full Court Press documentary series on ESPN (I’m committed ya’ll) that Kiki’s father played pick up ball with Obama and Kiki used to tag along. For this reason, I’m pairing the Bruins with Tough Love: My Story of the Things Worth Fighting For by Susan Rice. For the record, this is not a book I want to read.
Next up, I think this team would benefit from really digging into their LA indentity and for this I recommend the quintessential LA novel, Play it As it Lays by well known basketball fan, Joan Didion.
Finally, I don’t think many people realize (It’s me. I didn’t realize.) that a Bruin is actually a bear. So I’m gonna go with…. Bear by Julia Phillips. I know, I am really good at this.
SOUTH CAROLINA GAMECOCKS
The defending champion South Carolina is back this year and some would say they are the favorite to go all the way. I might be a UCONN girl for life, but there is no coach I admire more than Dawn Staley. She is truly the GOAT. The first pick for the gamecocks is a book I would bet they’ve already read - Uncommon Favor: Basketball, North Philly, My Mother, and the Life Lessons I Learned From All Three by none other than Dawn Staley herself. This one comes out May 20th and I personally cannot wait.
Next up, let’s get into some classic South Carolina literature and I’m talking, of course, about the classic queer southern novel, Bastard Out of Carolina by Dorothy Allison. The Atlantic says this is one of the Great American Novels of the last 100 Years and it is set against the landscape of the lush, rich, harsh land of Greenville County, South Carolina.
Finally I’m dipping back into the deep backlist of one my favorite living writers, Jacqueline Woodson. For South Carolina, I recommend Woodson’s recent middle grade novel, Remember Us. It’s about basketball and community and the big questions that shape our lives. Dawn would love it.
TEXAS LONGHORNS
The University of Texas Women’s basketball team is back in the final four for the first time since 2003 and they have something to prove. I’ll be honest I don’t know much about the University of Texas but I know they are always saying “hook ‘em horns” or something (??) which is a reference to their longhorn mascot (??) and as such I gotta recommend Lonesome Dove by Larry McMurty, an epic novel about retired Texas rangers driving a herd of cattle from Texas to Montana. Now I’ll admit I haven’t read this book myself but my Dad loves it (hi, Dad!) and it’s kind of having a moment right now, not unlike Texas Women’s basketball!
Next up, I must give you my favorite Texas novel and that is the Great American Novel, Holes by Louis Sachar. You know what that book is all about? Underdogs fighting the power. Many believed that this Texas team did not have what it takes to make it to the Final Four and yet here we are. I know who Stanley Yelnats would be rooting for.
Finally I was moved by this post-game interview with Texas head coach, Vic Shaefer.
I know it’s cheesy, but this is exactly what I love about watching sports. The heart. You don’t make it to this point unless you love the game and the people playing beside you. That love is singular and complicated and it’s what it’s all about. You know what this reminds me of? One of my favorite books about love - Another Word for Love by Carvell Wallace. Much like my love for women’s basketball, this book is hard to characterize or explain succinctly. It’s a reimagining of what it means to love in this burning world. And really? Basketball is love.
Okay wow if you’ve read this far you are the true champion.
I love you.
May today give you some time to obsess about something you love.
Go sports!!
Love,
Rosamond
Oh, I love this! I remember when you did this last year and I was obsessed and I love it this year and I’m obsessed!
I am deceased. I love your love of basketball (and books), but BABE, this is your most unhinged pairings yet. We’ve got books (by unknown authors) that haven’t even been RELEASED yet. Who can fact check you?! NO ONE. Dunkin is usually a bit over-reactive but I embraced a similar look while reading this. Only you could create this and for that, I love it.