We're rolling out a new Acorn feature this month where our sportswriters recommend four books for anyone who's in dire need of a good read.

It's a feature we will run at the beginning- or in this case the very end- of each month. Hopefully you can enjoy a few of these books as much as we did.

"Bringing Down The House: The Inside Story of Six

M.I.T. Students Who Took

Vegas for Millions"

Author: Ben Mezrich

Amazon.com price: $10.20

Apparently gambling is now officially an American sport, at least according to ESPN's seemingly endless poker tournament coverage. While "Bringing Down the House" doesn't focus on poker- it's based on a group of M.I.T. students who worked over the nation's casinos during the mid-1990s by counting cards in blackjack- the book's pulsepounding action can be Super Bowl-esque at times.

The story follows Kevin Lewis (an alias) and his rise from East Coast college student to professional card counter in a very short period of time. Working with a group of ultra-smart M.I.T. students/dropouts, the group develops innovative, team-concept counting methods and makes a boatload of cash in the process.

The M.I.T. students didn't create card counting- the basic hilow system had been written about for decades- they just found more lucrative ways to take advantage of the statistical nature of blackjack. And, really, nothing they did was illegal, but that didn't make them many friends in Las Vegas, Atlantic City or wherever else they gambled.

If you're going on a road trip to Vegas, this book, although a bit wordy at times, is a must-read.

"Hate Mail from Cheerleaders and Other Adventures

from the Life of Reilly"

Author: Rick Reilly

Amazon.com price: $17.13

No matter how little time they had, millions of "Sports Illustrated" fans never missed the back-page weekly column by Rick Reilly.

Reilly, who recently moved to ESPN after spending 22 years with SI, has put his 100 favorite pieces from the last seven years at SI in this anthology.

In this collection of columns, along with a new forward and postscripts, Reilly proves he's capable of writing about any topic while making it interesting.

In one column, the author evokes laughter with a story of how he took his 14-year-old son to a swimsuit shoot. In another, Reilly seeks sympathy from readers by telling a story of a father who has completed numerous marathons and triathlons with his disabled son.

Alternately sidesplitting and heartwarming, but always opinionated and provocative, "Hate Mail from Cheerleaders" is a collection of the best columns by the finest sportswriter in the nation.

"The GM: The Inside Story

of a Dream Job and the Nightmares that Go with It"

Author: Tom Callahan

Amazon.com price: $17.13

Before watching the New York Giants in Super Bowl XLII, read about how they got there.

In "The GM," author Tom Callahan gives readers a behindthe-scenes look at the Giants' 2006-07 season through the eyes of Ernie Accorsi, who was serving his final year as the general manager of the storied franchise.

In a world where most people don't know football beyond their fantasy team players, Callahan describes the often difficult daily tasks that go with assembling an NFL team in the league's toughest market, New York City.

In this book, Accorsi discusses how the Giants traded for quarterback Eli Manning in the 2004 draft, running back Tiki Barber's early retirement announced during the season, how close Tom Coughlin came to being fired and how close Bill Parcells came to coaching the Giants again.

Accorsi also goes into great detail on Giant players such as Michael Strahan, Plaxico Burress and Jeremy Shockey, who delivers one of the book's memorable lines when he asks the author, "Are you the dude that owns all those car-part stores?"

Much like he did with the 2006 bestseller "Johnny U," Callahan delivers a quality football book. If you want to know how the Giants put together a team that will lose to the New England Patriots, then this book is a must.

"Twelve Mighty Orphans:

The Inspiring True Story of the Mighty Mites Who Ruled

Texas Football"

Author: Jim Dent

Amazon.com price: $16.47

If the writers ever get back from their strike, "Twelve Mighty Orphans" is the first sports book that should be made into a movie.

Jim Dent, the author of "Junction Boys" has scored another hit with this new book that tells the story of the Masonic Home football team located in Texas during the Great Depression.

In a book that combines elements of "Hoosiers" and "Seabiscuit," Dent describes how the team went from playing with two rolled-up socks as a football to becoming one of the best squads in the state. They captured the hearts of thousands of Texas football fans in the process, and will capture yours, too.