We may have received complimentary copies and/or review access to any books, products, and/or other visual or audio media mentioned below. Any and all opinions expressed here are our own.
Books: Athlete and Activist: 28 Stars Who Changed the Game & Unapologetic Love Story
Today, we are recommend Athlete and Activist: 28 Stars Who Changed the Game by Jules Boykoff, Alex Davis et al. While for some athletes it's enough to excel at sports, others use the platform their athletic prowess provides to draw attention to issues that need addressing and to try and make the world a better, more equitable place. This book profiles 28 such athletes.
The book is extremely thorough and delves deeply into each athlete's background, including details regarding how their background and/or abilities led them to their sport, their athletic achievements, and the causes they support and how they do so. It is divided into four sections. The first covers athletic barrier breakers who exposed deeply ingrained inequities in a sport just by being a part of it. These include Jim Thorpe and Althea Gibson. The second covers athletes who refused to be silent and participated in protests, boycotts, or flat-out refused to perform to foment change. Muhammad Ali and Billie Jean King are among them. The third section covers athletes who refused to accept the status quo and harnessed their social power and engagement to try and bring about change; among them are Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Serena Williams. The fourth group covers leaders on the activism front who have ascended to a higher level of activism even at the cost of their own athletic career if necessary. These include Maya Moore, who literally left her sport to help get an innocent man exonerated of a crime, and Colin Kaepernick, who was ostracized by the football establishment for refusing to stand for the national anthem.
We admire people with great athletic talent even though, at least to some degree, that talent is just a matter of luck of the draw. However, people who use that God-given talent to try to promote the greater good are even more worthy of our admiration. If you want to read about people like that, you will want to read this book.
Today, we recommend Unapologetic Love Story by Elle MacNichol. Raina, an autistic woman herself, has blown up as the host of a podcast for autistic women. Tom Branimir, an investigative journalist, is sure there is more to Raina than meets the eye and is determined to find out the truth, but he quickly finds himself falling for her.
This book is both an engaging entertainment and a humbling lesson. It dispels many negative stereotypes people hold about autism without being too preachy and also offers a compelling story with an enjoyable plot and interesting characters. Raina is a strong, brave, self-sufficient, and admirable character. She doesn't suffer from autism. It is just part of who she is, and she deals with what she must in the best way she can.
Tom is sweet and has a tremendous heart. He is so wonderfully accepting of Raina for exactly who she is. He is never quite the hateful character he is implied to be, and the book is not really a true enemies-to-lovers story. The two main characters never really hate each other. She distrusts him because of his reputation as "the King of Cancel Culture, and he never really hates her at all.
The relationships between Raina and her best friend, Pepper, and her sister, Solana, are also quite touching. Pepper is tough as nails on the outside with a surprisingly soft, sensitive inside. She is fiercely protective of Raina; at times she is even too fiercely protective, and her distrust of Tom lasts much longer than Raina's. Raina's sister Solana is extremely loyal and always there for her. Raina's strong relationships reflect her open-hearteness and acceptance of herself and others.
Tom's friends Seb and Odette, on the other hand, are absolutely horrible human beings. They are not loyal to each other nor to him. The superficiality of their friendship shows that Tom is not as open and accepting of himself as he is of Raina, nor is he as open and truthful to others about himself. He needs to learn to be so to grow and become a better person.
The book moves along satisfyingly. Even the third-act conflict, although absolutely heartbreaking, makes sense within the story and doesn't seem unnecessary or manufactured for formulaic purposes. It makes the resolution even sweeter. All in all, this is just a lovely, heartwarming story.
Movie: Isolation
Today we are talking about Isolation. This is a slow-moving film whose plot never really makes complete sense. However, if you enjoy violent dystopian films that are light on plot, you may enjoy it.
And that's our view. Athlete and Activist: 28 Stars Who Changed the Game published today. Unapologetic Love Story will be published next Thursday, October 13, 2026. Isolation is available for digital purchase or rental.
Tune in tomorrow for Where-To-Wednesday.
Any images used in this post are our own except for film images. Film images were sent by publicists, artists, and/or PR firms. Concerns regarding image usage can be addressed here.
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