There's a good book about chess called The Rookie. Fella in his 60s, I think, a retiring journalist who was decent at chess as a teen and plays it on and off decides to take the game seriously and properly improve his world ranking. Of course, he's a retiring journalist from the last of when journalism meant boozy lunches, and all his intentions to take the game seriously go out the window.
The reviews from the chess nerds on it are hilarious. They're all raging about how he says he wants to get better put never practices, never studies, wants to get quick fixes and tips from the top players (who he meets and talks to with his access,) and at most just wants to play a few games and be gifted wins. It's the complete opposite of all the serious athletes' books about how they worked hard and sacrificed and made it to the top. This fella does no work, sacrfices nothing and gets nowhere near the top. He basically spends the book's advance on going to international tournaments for a laugh and getting to meet top players.
Of course, because he's a journalist he can also actually write, and while it's an easy read it doesn't seem like it was written for 13 year olds like a lot of sports biographies. It definitely captures the talented amateur thing of semi-retired fellas who are decent at the game but don't have the focus and drive of the young lads, they have/had another life, a family, they have money and they're just trying to enjoy themselves.
