'cause "KISS" (Keep it simple, stoopid) can apply to the holidays, too...

So here's the annual "Books for your favorite women's basketball fan" list:

1) History. You knew I was going to start with that topic.

Skinny: A History of Basketball for Girls and Women: From Bloomers to Big Leagues (Lerner's Sports Legacy Series). It's hard to go wrong with this brief, but expansive, gallop across time.

Get the skinny: Full Court Quest: The Girls from Fort Shaw Indian School Basketball Champions of the World. This tale of the 1904 team invites you to dive deep into the rich roots of female Native American basketball players.

2) High School.

You like to read: These Girls, Hope is a Muscle. It's a classic. It's a must read. It's a good read. Get it.

You like to watch: Heart of the Game. Superb documentary.

3) Issues

Broad Strokes: Women and Sports in the United States: A Documentary Reader. Jean O'Reilly and Susan K. Cahn, editors.

"O'Reilly and Cahn have compiled an extrordinary historical anthology of women's sports in the U.S. Their inclusion of original documents from each era and careful selection of knowledgeable writers make this book an absorbing and authoritative read for anyone interested in women's journey toward sports equality." (Pat Griffin, Professor Emerita, University of Massachusetts, Amherst)

And a must read, especially for those who understand that it's not "just sports."

Hot buttons: The word "homophobia" is used a lot in when discussing the challenges faced by women's sports (as if it ain't a huge issue in men's sports....). But sometimes we think of it only as a reaction TO female athletes and forget the impact it has ON athletes and coaches.

Published 10 years ago, Pat Griffin's book Strong Women, Deep Closets: Lesbians and Homophobia in Sport is still a humbling education.

4) College

Classic: Raise the Roof (1998). Pat Summitt and Sally Jenkins. Chapter One: No Girls Allowed

I'm a forty-five-year-old woman with a controlling nature and crow's feet from squinting into the country sun, and it's just not like me to act the way I did. To be so free with my feelings, and to wear blue jeans, of all things. Ordinarily, I'm in charge. I wear a suit and a perpetual glare. I'm a coach, so I take the issue of control personally. I've always seen the movements of players on a basketball court as an extension of myself, like puppets on a string. Their failures were my fault, their successes my responsibility. I demanded that they act like Pat, and think like Pat. A row of little Patlings. So when, exactly did I let go? When did I decided to let this team run? And when did they start running me?

'nuff said.

Contemporary: Heart of a Husky Determination, Perseverance, and a Quest for a National Championship, (2008). Mel Thomas.

"In Heart of a Husky, Mel Thomas captures the essence of what it’s like to play for Geno Auriemma and the UConn Huskies. Mel has a wonderful sense of humor that runs all through her book. Many of the stories she tells about her coaches and teammates left me laughing out loud."
--- Diana Taurasi

5) Photo Essays

At the Rim: A Celebration of Women's Collegiate Basketball (1991).
This book is out of print, but you can find it used through Amazon etc. Worth the hunt. After Kodak's Hunter Low died, I spoke with the WBCA's Betty Jaynes, and part of the conversation touched on the process of putting this book together. Not only do the photos included cross all divisions, but they're all female photographers.

Want more options? Check out Kim's "Women's Basketball Reference Library."

PS: Ms. Voepel? Where be your collection of "Tales from the Hardcourts?"