Books by Kevin Nelson

Wheels of Change

From Zero to 600 m.p.h., The Amazing Story of California and the Automobile
Buy it now:
$24.95

Wheels of Change: From Zero to 600 M.P.H., The Amazing Story of California and the Automobile, by Kevin Nelson, is now available. Published by Heyday Books and the California Historical Society Press, it can be ordered through this website, your local bookstore, Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and other outlets.

Full of the romance and adventure and freedom and history of cars, Wheels of Change tells the extraordinary story of automobiles in California from the late 1890s to the mid-1960s. But it is far more than just a history of cars in California. It is about young people and the passions of youth and how these passions find expression through cars.

As Kevin Nelson writes in the Introduction (excerpted below), "Save for electricity and possibly the computer, no modern invention has changed our lives so fully as the automobile. Cars were new technology at the birth of the 20th century and as is so often the case with new technology, teenagers embraced it."

Operation Bullpen

The Inside Story of the Biggest Forgery Ring in American History
Buy it now:
$18.95

Operation Bullpen: The Inside Story of the Biggest Forgery Ring in American History is the amazing true story of the high-flying national forgery ring that forged the autographs of sports stars and celebrities and ripped off American consumers for more than $100 million, before being busted by a dramatic three-year FBI undercover investigation.

Now optioned by Hollywood and under development to be a movie, Operation Bullpen has won rave reviews from readers, critics and collectors. The New York Daily News called it "a terrific account of how a pot-smoking master forger and his friends made $100 million selling fake autographs before they were busted by the FBI." The Oakland Tribune described it as "fascinating. Remarkable. It's either the sports book or the crime book of the year. Either way, it's a movie crying to be made." Yet another reviewer said it "reads like a John Grisham legal thriller, with the good guys and bad guys playing a cat-and mouse game of unprecedented scope in the world of big-money autographs."

The Golden Game

The Story of California Baseball
Buy it now:
$24.95

"Kevin Nelson's The Golden Game is the rare baseball book that transcends its regional emphasis to earn a place on the shelf of anyone who loves the game."
—San Francisco Chronicle

The Golden Game: The Story of California Baseball, by Kevin Nelson, was named one of the top ten books of the year by the San Francisco Chronicle, National Public Radio, and many others. It was featured on NBC's Today Show as one of the must-read books of the summer, and named as a national finalist for the prestigious Seymour Prize, awarded annually to the best baseball book of the year.

"Nelson's wholly charming and endearing book," writes the Los Angeles Times, "allows us to see baseball as a kind of benchmark for the birth and growth of California over the last century and a half." Sports Illustrated, Publishers Weekly,  Sacramento Bee, California Journal, Long Beach Press Telegram, Oakland Tribune, and Foreword Magazine all joined this chorus of praise.

The Runner's Book of Daily Inspiration

A Year of Motivation, Revelation, and Instruction
Buy it now:
$14.95

Now in its ninth printing and translated into international editions, The Runner's Book of Daily Inspiration: A Year of Motivation, Revelation and Instruction, by Kevin Nelson, has become a classic motivational book for runners. Here is what one reader/runner said about it:

"The Runner's Book of Daily Inspiration is most likely the best investment I have ever made. Last year, I made a resolution to get in shape, eat healthy, and basically be a fit person inside and out. This is not a very easy resolution to fulfill, as I soon found out. It was my plan to run at least three times a week and supplement it with another form of aerobic exercise. Very quickly, I lost my motivation and was not living up to my expectations. I came upon this book soon afterwards, and tried to regain my motivation. After restarting my exercise program along with reading this book, I am now running every day of the week, rain or shine, hot or cold, I run through it all, all due to this very book. If you buy one book in your life, buy Catcher in the Rye. But if you buy two, buy this one too!"

The Everything-Father-to-Be Book

A Survival Guide for Men
Buy it now:
$14.95

Kevin Nelson has just finished up revisions, updates and added new features for the second edition of The Everything Father-to-Be Book: A Survival Guide for Men.

Published originally in 2004, Nelson's survival guide for new fathers and fathers-to-be has proven to be so popular that Adams Media, the publisher, is issuing a new and revised version of the book in 2010.

The second edition of The Everything Father-to-Be Book will contain all the features of the first, plus new material for adoptive parents, more advice on money and jobs in a tough economy, updates on health, environmental and emotional issues, and more coping strategies for Dads and Moms in those wild weeks after the newborn comes home. In addition, there are more than 30 “Parent to Parent” sidebars—practical tips for new fathers-to-be from parents who have been in the childhood trenches and really know what they’re talking about.