Book Review: "This is Your Brain on Sports: The Science of the Underdog, the Value of Rivalry, and What We Can Learn From the Tshirt Cannon" by L. Jon Wertheim and Sam Sommers

I read this book awhile ago and I just couldn't get around to reviewing it. I don't know if that's something about my level of lazy or this book, but here we are so let's get started!

This book has several short chapters on a variety of topics, including why we root for underdogs (including the reasons why some athletes think that they are underdogs even though the aren't at all); why we want the tshirt from the tshirt cannon so bad that we will fall over a railing to  our near death for it; and just how much it is to have a professional athlete come to your bar mitzvah. 

A great quality of this book is that it is steeped in the science, but not in a hard to comprehend way. The authors site actually studies and talk to real doctors which makes me believe the things they say!

I have to say that I was a little bit surprised at myself that I picked up this book. I'm not overly invested in sports (I go to baseball games for the food, and I got weirdly wrapped in my fantasy football team this year, but I think I just enjoyed the smack talk at work) but I am always interested in how the brain works. And it turns out this book is even funny too! The authors have lovely senses of humor and aren't shy about pointing out some of the ridiculous things that athletes do.If you like psychology and sports you will love this book!

I was given this book in exchange for an honest review from Blogging for Books