It’s time for another guilty confession…one of which I’m more embarrassed about than normal. Ready for it? Here goes…
The last time I read a book for fun was a year ago, and before that, probably a couple of years (this does not count running or cooking books!).
As a kid I voraciously devoured anything I could get my hands on (whatever happened to The Boxcar Children?). But now I’m singin’ a different tune. My excuses for such a deplorable reading record?
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I’m a busy gal and any free time I have, I choose to spend it with Chicken Face, my family and friends.
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My reading time consists of blogs, online articles, magazines and newspapers.
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My family thinks I may be slightly narcoleptic. I can literally sleep anywhere – give me a book and it usually aids the process.
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I prefer going to the movies (but who doesn’t?!).
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And no, I have never read the Twilight series, the Harry Potter series, The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo series, the Something Borrowed series, or anything of the sort.
However, after the wedding I want this track record to change. So, I’m going to make a good Amazon purchase and would love your recos. Oh, but here’s the deal: Unless it is AMAZING or a brainless beach read, I prefer non-fiction. So here are a few of my initial picks:
I’d love to hear what you think I should read for the following categories:
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The best inspirational running book you’ve read – Help bring back that mojo!
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The best training running book you’ve read – I’ll share my favs in a later post.
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The book that you learned the most from – anything! I’m interested!
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What to read for on the honeymoon – I’ve always felt weird that people bring books on vacations. Vacations are for enjoying what’s around you, not to get lost in a book! HOWEVER, it’s a long flight so I think I’ll bring something along.
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What to read while commuting – I’d like to have something easy that I can go in and out easily for those times when I don’t get a seat on Bart.
Thanks for your help and happy running!
Hi Page!
Have you read What I Talk About When I Talk About Running, by Murakami? I really liked it, was a quick read. I tend to hit nonfiction hard when I do read (No sequels for me, no vampires or whatever it is. I tend to knit in all my “spare” time, which means I knit mainly while on the T in Boston, ha). But I just read The Glass Castle and adored it. If you like memoirs, see about it.
Other memoirs I’ve loved recently: Foreskin’s Lament, Dry, Everything is wrong with me.
I’ve very interested in perfumes and the art of making scents, so I loved The Scent Trail. It was so beautifully written and very informative. Also, watching Big Love had sparked a lot of interest on my part into polygamy (history, all of it), so I went through a huge polygamy book phase. I learned a lot!
Currently reading: Zeitoun. It’s a biography about a first hand count of a family affected by Hurricane Katrina. I love Dave Eggers a LOT. Have you read A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius? One of my favorites. Now I want to re-read it.
I’d read Starbucked by Taylor Clark instead of Onward!
I just finished Kelly Cutrone’s two books, “If You Have to Cry, Go Outside” and “Normal Gets You Nowhere.” I found the first one incredibly inspiring, the target audience is people our age, and her advice is very much tell-it-like-it is. Happy reading!
We are almost exactly the same person when it comes to books! I also loooved The Boxcar Children. I wanted to BE them.
I’m also trying to get back into reading and am currently reading The Omnivore’s Dilemma. It’s a very good read. I’d suggest Pollan’s In Defense of Food if you enjoy The Omnivore’s Dilemma. I’ve heard great things about The Wilder Life, and it’s next on my list.
As far as running books go, I don’t have many suggestions, but I remember checking out a book by Amby Burfoot and really enjoying it. I think it was on the basics of running, and it helped me a lot when I was training for my first 10k.
The most inspirational running book I’ve read is Ron Daws’ Running Your Best but it is out of print and difficult to find. It is part training book too but a little hard to follow, I prefer to use Jack Daniels’ Running Formula.
I fell into the same routine of not reading for pleasure during my Bachelor’s and then Master’s programs. This new routine has lingered unfortunately. Just got a Kindle, so am hoping that that inspires me. Enjoy!
Dude, I mocked everyone who recommended the Twilight series to me.. until I read it. I read the first book STRAIGHT on a long flight. Like I never put it down. I couldn’t read the series fast enough! I’ve heard the same thing about Harry Potter but dont want to lose a piece of my life to another obsession. :oP I’m reading the Dragon Tattoo books right now and think they’re good, but not great. Def no TWILIGHT!! ;o) If you’re looking for an inspriational book I last read the Zappos story “Delivering Happiness”. Its sooo good! If you want to skim my quick reviews of the books I read last year, they’re here: http://monikaruns.blogspot.com/2010/12/2010-year-in-books.html
Oooh, the Boxcar Children!! I loved those! And so many, many others. I have the same dilemma, though I love books — blogs and twitter and facebook and the internet take up too much time! I finished two books on my recent vacation and felt so much better; definitely something I’m going to prioritize.
If you want to drive a few miles, you’re more than welcome to come peruse and borrow from the 200+ books on my shelves. Meanwhile, here are my suggestions, though I’ll probably think of more:
1. Kathrine Switzer’s autobiography. She changed women’s running forever by taking on Boston and nearly being shoved out of the race by the race director. (I have it.)
2. I have a few and have skimmed most training books available in bookstores. I’m currently a fan of not having a concrete plan, though, so I don’t have much advice on this one.
3. I’ve learned a lot from books, and the Anne of Green Gables author is still my inspiration after all these years. A non-fiction genetics book also changed my life (strange, I know).
4. Around the World in 80 Dates (I have it). Fun, light reading with the travel and romance themes, and it’s not fiction.
5. Maybe a collection of articles/stories? That way you can finish one and not forget where you were the next time.
I wish I could “dislike” some of the comments on this post. 🙂 Here are 5+ for you to sink your teeth into…
1. Hunger Games Trilogy
2. Girl with a Dragon Tattoo Trilogy
3. Eric Clapton
4. Patty Boyd
5. TWLIGHT (come on, Team Jacob)
You’ve probably already read it, but I loved “Born to Run.”
bossypants is next on my list!
recently i read the help and i’m working my way through the girl with the dragon tattoo series. loving them all so far!
The best inspirational running book you’ve read – I haven’t read it, but everyone seems to swear by Born to Run
The best training running book you’ve read –Advanced Marathoning by Pete Pfitzinger – finally got me that BQ!
The book that you learned the most from – hmmmm, well I learned a lot about swimming from “Total Immersion” by Terry Laughlin. And I learned about the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina from “Zeitoun” by Dave Eggers
What to read for on the honeymoon – I read David Sedaris books on long flights, but you have to be OK with the evil looks you get when you laugh out loud
What to read while commuting – not sure!
I’m totally going to stalk this post because I’m always looking for more book ideas!
Secrets of a former fat girl, how a girl got healthy, stopped making excuses, and lost 80 pounds and kept it off.50/50 Dean Karnazas runs 50 marathon s in50 days
Chelsea Handler books.
I just finished Unbroken by Laura Hillenbrand (who wrote Seabiscuit) and would recommend it. If you like non-fiction I think you’ll enjoy it. It’s about a runner who was trying to break the 4 minute mile and aiming for the 1940 Olympics before they were cancelled because of WWII. He enlists in the army and has a pretty incredible war/survival story.
Unbroken is GREAT! So is Devil in the White City!
1. I’m going to have to echo Layla and vote for Marathon Woman, Kathrine Switzer’s autobiography which is inspirational on so many levels. Her tireless work to get women’s running recognized and to get the women’s marathon into the Olympics will make you so glad we were born when we were, but also her personal journey to train for the marathon and become increasingly better and faster, finally breaking 3hrs will have you itching to get out on a long run.
2. I own a ton of training books, but my current favorite is Matt Fitzgerald’s Brain Training for Runners. It’s pretty dense but I like the focus on supplementary exercises and mental cues to help with your running form.
3. The Omnivore’s Dilemma is probably the book I’ve learned the most from in recent memory. A definite must read that will spawn a whole new reading list (including everything that Michael Pollan and Mark Bittman have written).
4. Since you like non-fiction, I’d have to recommend Michael Ruhlman’s books, particularly Walk on Water, House, and his series on the CIA (Making of a Chef, Soul of a Chef, Reach of a Chef). He gets thoroughly inside the professions he writes about, and I really enjoy his writing style.
5. Kristen Armstrong’s book Mile Markers might be perfect for commuting. It’s a collection of shorter pieces (many born of blog posts!). I also love “Alone in the Kitchen with an Eggplant” which is a great collection of essays about what people eat when they eat alone. My friends and I call it “single girl food.”
Great post/question! I’ve just rededicated myself to library trips because I realized I was doing all my reading in front of a computer screen and I missed books 🙂
Definitely Tina Fey’s Bossy Pants!!
Also really good is Your Voice in My Head- Elizabeth Gilbert, she is an amazingly accomplished writer at such a young and its powerful memoir of the curse and gift of mental illness. Probably one of the best written books I have read in a while.
Also good is Furious Love, which is about Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton’s epic and crazy love story. A great read.
Also two classics I recently reread and fell in love with all over again, The Great Gatsby and Pride and Prejudice. They are so much more relevant and exceptional now then when I was forced to read them in high school. They are classics for a reason!
Gotta go with Cate and Allison for book recommendations – I bought both Born to Run and Unbroken, but haven’t read them yet. I hear they are both amazing reads. You might have motivated me to finally start reading them!
2. Best training book so far is Advanced Marathoning, just a lot of good info in it. I also Like Run Faster by Brad Hudson.
When I get busy, reading is the first of my hobbies to go. I loved reading the Dean karnazas books, espescially his first book marathon man. Just made me want to run. Next month for book club I have Hotel on the corner of bitter and sweet which I heard was good.
So I really loved the Perfect Mile, its about the men going for the sub four minute mile. Its really well written and so inspiring.
I read a lot of fiction which i find useful for planes and what not. Christopher Moore is really funny and i’ve torn through his books on planes. I like a couple he has about this girl who gets turned into a Vampire its nothing like Twilight, Its witty and funny Called You Suck and the sequel is Bite Me.
Also Tom Robbins is an amazing writer, really funny and witty not to serious Even Cowgirls gets the Blues is one of my all-time favorites.
Some other non fiction books that are great are Blink and Tipping Point by Malcom Gladwell.
You definitly MUST read The Art of Racing in The Rain!! It works for 3-5! SO good!
i love to read and i’ve been reading a lot more this year than ever before {like 1-4 books at a time, i guess probably because i’m currently unemployed and i have a lot of free/down time}. reading is one of my favorite hobbies 🙂
The best inspirational running book you’ve read – Ultramarathon Man by Dean Karnazes — I think this book was amazing and I’m looking forward to reading his new book, Run, soon. Also, What I Talk About When I Talk About Running by Murakami was a good read. I’ve heard great things about Born to Run and I hope to read it soon, its sitting on my book case waiting for me to start it 🙂
The best training running book you’ve read – Run Less, Run Faster — I am a big fan of the 3 day a week training/running plan due to the fact that I’m injury prone!
The book that you learned the most from – In Defense of Food by Michael Pollan and I highly recommend it 🙂
What to read for on the honeymoon & What to read while commuting – I recommend anything that is quick & easy to read. I especially like to read series books because I can usually breeze through them and then get to pick up the next one and continue on in the story line AND chicklit because they are quick reads. For me this includes The Twilight Series, Stieg Larsson’s Millennium Trilogy, Emily Giffin books, and anything by Dan Brown.
i have to second (or third?) unbroken, especially if you like non-fiction. it is hands down the best book i’ve read in years. has a running element to it, but is also historical and inspiring. absolutely FAN-FREAKING-TASTIC!
Seriously!! I loved the Boxcar Children!
I loved Twilight before the movies and I love all of Emily Giffin’s (Something Borrowed) books. If I can read a book without putting it down, I find the time. I can’t find the time often, but when I do, it’s definitely a guilty pleasure. I view reading books like watching movies – that’s how I read them – all the way through. If I’m not interested, I stop 🙂
Definitely read the Hunger Games trilogy. Its fiction, but its amazing and must be read. Good luck with your book list!
It has been great reading all the comments that people have on here for new books!
I will second The Perfect Mile – I forgot that I read it 2 years ago, it’s a great history of the pursuit of the 4 minute mile.
For an inspirational book – The Last Lecture is awesome. It is about a guy who had terminal cancer who gave his last lecture before he died. He talks about achieving your childhood dreams. Very inspirational. The actual lecture is on youtube and is an hour long, but is definitely worth watching.
I read more fiction than non-fiction, but here’s some non-fiction that I’ve either read or been recommended (and I have a Kindle so I read all the time!!):
“Unbroken” by Laura Hillenbrand- I haven’t read it yet myself but it’s been recommended by several friends.
“The Rise and Fall of the House of Zeus”- probably more interesting to me since I actually know some of the players in this one and grew up in the midst of most of it.
“In the Garden of Beasts”- again, haven’t read it yet, but my hubby has and said it was good.
ENJOY!
I love the book “Running with the Buffalos”…it’s about the Colorado XC team. “Unbroken” was also a good read.
The Something Borrowed series is definitely good for airplane reading….not dense at all, but entertaining.
Okay best training running book: Run Faster by brad hudson
Good honeymoon reading: The Help
I loved “I Am Charlotte Simmons” and also “The Secret Life of Bees”
(p.s. – I am so relieved that you also are not a “series” reader, I got to page 100 of the Dragon Tattoo book and quit, ugh.)