In January 2023, I launched a book club for people like me: runners who love to read running books. I announced it in High Country Running, a newspaper column I’ve coordinated for the Arizona Daily Sun newspaper since 2018.
Based on the strong preferences of the first dozen people who signed up, we plan to meet in person in Flagstaff, Arizona, and to discuss five books this year. A Zoom option is not being offered at this time.
We’ll meet in February to choose the books. Then, starting in March, we’ll meet every two months to discuss them.
I’m hoping we’ll not only read and talk about the same books, but suggest others we’ve liked, encourage each other to build reading time into our busy lives and who knows? Maybe we’ll even run loops at Buffalo Park together now and then. At least we know we’ll have a lot to talk about.
Books Under Consideration for 2023:
Note for book club members: I always recommend buying books locally or checking them out of the Flagstaff City-Coconino County Public Library. Our local shops, Bright Side Bookshop and Bookman’s, are happy to take care of our book-buying needs. Buying directly from the publisher is also a good strategy to help the writer’s bottom line.
Bart Yasso, Erin Strout, Runner’s World Race Everything: How to Conquer Any Race at Any Distance in Any Environment and Have Fun Doing It (how to)
Frank Shorter, My Marathon: Reflections on a Gold Medal Life (memoir)
Haruki Murakami, Philip Gabriel (Translator), What I Talk About When I Talk About Running (Japan/memoir/writing)
Christopher McDougall, Born to Run: A Hidden Tribe, Superathletes, and the Greatest Race the World Has Never Seen (adventure/health/science)
Lopez Lomong, Mark A. Tabb, Running for My Life: One Lost Boy’s Journey from the Killing Fields of Sudan to the Olympic Games (Olympics/memoir)
Des Linden, Choosing to Run (memoir)
András Kő, Laszlo Tabori, A Biography: The Legendary Story of the Great Hungarian Runner (biography)
Meb Keflezighi, Scott Douglas, Meb For Mortals: How to Run, Think, and Eat like a Champion Marathoner (how to/memoir)
Deena Kastor, “Let Your Mind Run” (memoir)
Dean Karnazes, The Road to Sparta : Retracing the Ancient Battle and Epic Run That Inspired the World’s Greatest Foot Race (history/memoir)
Scott Jurek, Eat and Run: My Unlikely Journey to Ultramarathon Greatness (food/memoir)
Bernd Heinrich, Why We Run (science/history/health)
Kara Goucher, Mary Pilon, The Longest Race: Inside the Secret World of Abuse, Doping, and Deception on Nike’s Elite Running Team (sports/topical)
Lauren Fleshman, Good for a Girl: A Woman Running in a Man’s World (memoir/topical)
Matt Fitzgerald, Ben Rosario, Running the Dream: One Summer Living, Training, and Racing with a Team of World-Class Runners Half My Age (memoir/Flagstaff)
Adharanand Finn, “The Rise of the Ultra Runners: A Journey to the Edge of Human Endurance” (journalism/memoir)
Scott Fauble, Ben Rosario, Inside a Marathon: An All-Access Pass to a Top-10 Finish at NYC (memoir)
Catra Corbett, Dan England, Reborn on the Run: My Journey from Addiction to Ultramarathons (adventure/memoir)
Amby Burfoot, The Runner’s Guide to the Meaning of Life: What 35 Years of Running Have Taught Me About Winning, Losing, Happiness, Humility, and the Human Heart (philosophy/self help)
Robin Arzón, Shut Up and Run: How to Get Up, Lace Up, and Sweat with Swagger (how to)
Kristin Armstrong, Mile Markers: The 26.2 Most Important Reasons Why Women Run (health/fitness)
Abdi Abdirahman, Abdi’s World: The Black Cactus on Life, Running, and Fun (Olympics/memoir)
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