Running and Reading (but mostly reading)

I have noticed there isn't much substance to my last few posts. I don't know if it is the lack of running or the fact that I keep writing on here after I get my girls to bed when my brain is trying to shut down. So I am going to attempt to add some substance, although it is admittedly not really running related (OK maybe a little at the end so feel free to skip ahead if you get bored by the end of the next paragraph).

So we all know I am not doing that well with my "run more" goal for 2010, but that is somewhat out of my control so I decided to focus on one of my other goals, to read more, which is going pretty well. There hasn't been more than a day between finishing one book and starting another so far. Yet that isn't quite as amazing when you consider I am only on book number three, but it is what it is. The two books I completed are:

1. Nineteen Minutes by Jodi Picoult (I have read several of her books and like how they make me think.)
2. That Old Cape Magic by Richard Russo (He won the Pulitzer Prize for Empire Falls. I enjoyed that book so decided to give this one a try. It wasn't as good.)

Book number three, with its 897 pages, is I Know This Much Is True by Wally Lamb. I'm not even 200 pages in yet. This book is a little older, but my to-read list is very long and keeps getting longer.

While just those three titles tell you a little about my reading habits, I will go into a little more detail because I'm sure you are dying to know. I have read a lot of Pulitzer Prize for Fiction winners; The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay by Michael Chabon is my favorite so far.

I have read and love the Harry Potter books. I haven't read and don't plan to read the Twilight books. Christopher Moore is one of my favorite authors. I also enjoy selected works by Stephen King. My brother has read everything King has written and guides me to the ones that are not going to give me nightmares. My favorite is Lisey's Story.

One book I could read over and over again is Love Walked In by Marisa de los Santos. The book that made me cry more than any other was The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold. I'm worried seeing the movie will ruin the book for me.

I am in a two person book club. The two people are my little brother and me. We are supposed to take turns choosing the books we read, but he probably chooses most of them. Some of our book club selections have been:

Shutter Island by Dennis Lehane
Lamb by Christopher Moore (and most of his other books)
The Spellman Files by Lisa Lutz
Hearts in Atlantis by Stephen King
The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafon
The History of Love by Nicole Krauss
A Long Way Down by Nick Hornby
The Bourne Trilogy by Robert Ludlum
Most of Dan Brown's books

I have read many, many, many of the classics. A lot of them were required reading in college (I have a degree in English), but probably just as many were read by choice. I have read Tolstoy's Anna Karenina and War and Peace twice each. And F. Scott Fitzgerald is one of my favorite writers. John Steinbeck? Not so much.

And since this is a running blog, I should mention the running books that are on my shelves. I read and recommend The Runner's Guide to the Meaning of Life by Amby Burfoot. It is an easy, entertaining read. I read about half of Bart Yasso's My Life on the Run. I stopped reading it when my marathon training was derailed. I am saving it as motivation when I am back in the thick of my training. And Dean Karnazes' 50/50 is near the top of my to-read list.

Last but not least, since I am a mom and spend a good deal of time reading to my girls, my favorite kids books are:

• Most of Sandra Boynton's. A few that stand out: The Going to Bed Book, Horns to Toes, Night-Night Little Pookie.
• The How Do Dinosaurs...? books by Jane Tolen & Mark Teague. The top two on my list: How Do Dinosaurs Say Goodnight? and How Do Dinosaurs Say I Love You?

I could write about what I read all night, including what I like about each book and why. But you didn't come to my running blog to read about things like this in the first place so I feel honored if you made it this far.

And since you're still here, let me know if you have found the secret to running and reading at the same time (on the treadmill of course). All I end up doing is reading the top line of the first page over and over and over.

In running news, tomorrow is my last 2 mile run if all goes well at PT on Friday. Then I'm up to three miles. I scheduled my appointment early Friday morning so I could make that my first three mile day.

Run happy!