Run the World

Run the World: My 3,500-Mile Journey Through Running Cultures Around the Globe
by Becky Wade
Published: August 2016

Rice grad Becky Wade takes the year after college to explore and learn from running cultures around the globe. Making pit stops in England, Ethiopia, Australia, Japan (among others) she becomes fully immersed in a variety of running communities and brings the reader along for the ride. I especially loved the tidbits of history that litter each new adventure: this book is as informative about the global histories of running as a sport as it is about different methods and strategies for training.

5 out of 5 stars: Really fun read. Even though I will never be an elite athlete, it still offers inspiration for setting goals and bettering oneself with exercise.

What I Talk About When I Talk About Running

What I Talk About When I Talk About Running
by Haruki Murakami, translated by Philip Gabriel
Published: August 2009

Interesting to hear Murakami's voice in a nonfiction, autobiography setting. While nonrunners can still appreciate this collection of anecdotes and musings, they will definitely strike a much more resonant chord with those people who are constantly pushing their bodies limits in a repetitive, mechanical way. Or people who have ever tried to write a novel.

4 out of 5 stars: Autobiographies do a great deal to humanize our idols.