The 2024 Olympic Games began this weekend in Paris, meaning “Bugler’s Dream” — the musical fanfare ABC and NBC have used for every Olympic telecast since 1968 — may already be an earworm you hear in your sleep.
If you hear it when visiting your favorite bookstore, good news: there are dozens of recent books about the Olympics and about Paris. Predictably, volunteers with the Tucson Festival of Books were happy to share some of their favorites:
“The Boys in the Boat” by Daniel James Brown features an almost-forgotten rowing team at the University of Washington during the Great Depression. Sons of shipyard workers, farmers and loggers came together to win a gold medal at the 1936 Olympic Games in Berlin. Released in 2013, the book stroked its way to the top of The New York Times bestseller list. It later became a bestselling paperback and — last December — a major motion picture produced by George Clooney. — Thea Chalow
“The Paris Novel” by Ruth Reichl is a mouth-watering adventure in Parisian food, art and fashion during the 1980s. Released in April, the story features Stella, whose grandmother has willed her a round-trip ticket to Paris. Reluctant at first, Stella eventually goes … and discovers a whole new world. A whole new Stella, as well. — Maria Parham
“Ali: A Life” by Jonathan Eig is an in-depth look at Muhammad Ali, whose remarkable career was bracketed by two trips to the Olympics. In 1960, he won a gold medal as a heavyweight boxer in Rome. In 1996, he lit the Olympic Torch during the opening ceremonies in Atlanta. — Jack Siry
“The Paris Library” by Janet Skeslien Charles is a love letter to Paris, books and intergenerational friendship. It features Odile Souchet, a librarian in the city’s American Library when the Nazis arrived in 1940. Her story comes to light years later, when she is befriended by a young neighbor in Montana. — Lori Reigel
“Path Lit by Lightning” by David Maraniss is a biography of Jim Thorpe, a Native American who for a time was considered the greatest athlete in the world. He certainly was in 1912. He won gold medals in the decathlon and pentathlon at the 1912 Stockholm Olympics. — David Nix
“Mistress of the Ritz” by Melanie Benjamin tells the story of an extraordinary American woman who worked with the French Resistance during World War II. Blanche Auzello and her husband Claude, the Ritz Hotel’s manager, were living the high life until the Nazis swept into Paris. Can she keep her many secrets safe while having to play hostess to the Nazis headquartered at the Hotel Ritz? — Pamela Treadwell-
Rubin
“Inaugural Ballers” by Andrew Maraniss is a young-adult look at the first U.S. Olympic women’s basketball team. Players such as Pat Head, Nancy Lieberman and Ann Meyers would later become legends, but they were virtually unknown at the time. Together they won gold medals at the 1976 Games in Montreal. That team and that tournament put women’s basketball on the map in the United States. — Kathy Short
“A Caribbean Heiress in Paris” is a romance novel from Adriana Herrera that features Luz Alana Heith-Benzan, a Dominican heiress who has been sent by her family to the Paris World Fair in 1887. The assignment: to expand her family’s rum business. The warning: do not under any circumstances fall in love. C’mon, it’s Paris! — Jessica Pryde
“Triumph” by Jeremy Schapp explores the many social and political implications of Jesse Owens’ triumph at the 1936 Games in Berlin. The son of an African-American sharecropper, Owens won four gold medals … a feat that discomfited millions both in Germany and the United States. — Dave Silver
“The Wildest Sun” by Asha Lemmie follows an aspiring Paris author on a search for her father … whom she believes is Ernest Hemingway. She travels to cities around the world to learn more about him, and herself. — Jeaiza Quinones Ivory
“The Paris Wife” by Paula McLain features Hadley Richardson, the first wife of Ernest Hemingway. After a whirlwind romance, the couple sails to Paris to join the fabled “Lost Generation” of artistic superstars there. This is Hadley’s side of the story, and readers will never experience “A Moveable Feast” the same way again. — Darrell Durham
“The Paris Architect” by Charles Belfoure is a gripping and emotionally charged work of historical fiction that exemplifies the Olympic spirit … in Paris. Badly in need of money in 1942, real-life architect Lucien Bernard accepts a commission to design a secret shelter for Jews hiding from the Nazis. Soon, the project isn’t about the money anymore. — Tricia Clapp
“All the Devils Are Here” by Louise Penny finds Armand Gamache, the chief inspector of Quebec, in Paris to visit his billionaire godfather. A strange key and a gruesome discovery lead Armand to uncover secrets his godfather has kept for decades. Clearly, there are devils hiding in the shadows in the City of Light. — Anne Gardner
The Olympic torch climbed to the top of the Eiffel Tower on Monday in a breathtaking moment ahead of the Paris 2024 games. The pole vaulter Renaud Lavillenie passed it on to the chef Frédéric Anton, who in turn handed it over to the judoka Clarisse Agbégnénou. High up the tower, they took in breathtaking views of Paris. Originally constructed as the centre-piece of the 1889 World's Fair, and to crown the centennial anniversary of the French Revolution, the Eiffel Tower was originally supposed to be a temporary structure but is still standing 135 years later. In addition to the Eiffel Tower trip, festivities organised by the City of Paris kept the capital swinging throughout the day! The torch will return to Paris on 26 July, the date of the Opening Ceremony.
