Your Summer Reading Guide

Do you like to read? Do you like Penn State? Would you like to combine the two of them into a magical marriage of literary awesomeness? Well look no further, friend-o! The Emmy, Grammy, Oscar, and Tony winning moderators and authors at BSD have compiled a list of outstanding Penn State reading that is ribbed for his pleasure! Head to your local library, sign up for the free membership, and take these books home today! Or order them online, we don't care. The books, after the jump, including a hand-picked review/comment of each, expertly copied and pasted from Amazon.com!

Special hat tip to carolinaeasy for unknowingly preempting this post with his own. There was no collusion - we've been working on this for awhile, but since carolinaeasy's post has been so popular, we'll ride the wave. Plus, arguing over which books are better accomplishes two important goals: 1) it encourages everyone, the youth of America in particular, to read more, and 2) it ensures we're not talking about expansion.

In no particular order, and with no particular allegiance (BSD is not earning any royalties), the following is your summer reading list. There WILL be a test at the end of summer. Enjoy!

1) "The Perfect Season: How Penn State Came to Stop a Hurricane and Win a National Championship" by M.G. Missanelli

Drawing on interviews as well as his own recollections, the author relates the vivid story of one of the most triumphant seasons in the history of Penn State football. Anyone interested in college football, the Nittany Lions, or Joe Paterno’s legacy will find this book impossible to put down.

2) "Game Changers: The Greatest Plays in Penn State Football History" by Lou Prato

"I knew I was going to have to get in there--I sure wasn't going to coast in. All I saw was the goal line and green jerseys coming at me."
--Bobby Engram after his last-second touchdown catch to defeat Michigan State in 1995

"That's what you live for if you're a football player--goal-line stands like that."
--Dan Connor on the famous goal-line stand against Indiana in 2004

3) "No Ordinary Joe: The Biography of Joe Paterno" by Michael O'Brien

Author Michael O'Brien authoritatively paints the consummate Paterno portrait, the result of more than ten years of work that included 137 interviews and study of 150 previously published works. Paperback includes an epilogue that reviews the 1998 season in which Paterno won his landmark 300th career victory.

4) "The Lion in Autumn: A Season with Joe Paterno and Penn State Football" by Frank Fitzpatrick

While the title of this book may be overstated, its subtitle is certainly understated: veteran sports writer Fitzpatrick's account is more a biography of Paterno-and thus a biography of Penn State football as it is known today-related through the ups and downs of the 2004 season, the team's fourth consecutive losing season.

5) "Playing for Paterno: One Coach, Two Eras: a Father and Son's Recollections of Playing for JoePa" by Charlie Pittman, Tony Pittman, and Jae Bryson

Get an unprecedented look at one of the true icons in college football through the eyes of the only undefeated father-and-son starters in Penn State history. In Playing for Paterno, Charlie and Tony Pittman share two generations of perspective on Penn State's living legend, and explain how the lessons they learned from JoPa have helped them achieve success in the business world.

Now get to reading!! And don't forget, while only one Lou Prato book makes this list, anything with his name on the cover is per se a must read. The same goes for Joe Paterno-authored books.

Feel free to use the comments section for other books that are not mentioned here, even if they are not Penn State based (for example, RBR reviews an interesting-sounding book that fuels Notre Dame HATE).