BOOK NERD Book Review: The Runner’s Guide to the Meaning of Life by Amby Burfoot

I consider myself to be a MAJOR book nerd!  So much so that I want to get a shirt made that says it, and you can believe I will be rocking that shirt to school!! J My students would get a kick out of that! 

I have been a reader my whole life.  Some of my favorite memories from childhood revolve around book.  One of my favorite memories is when my step-dad used to take me to a bookstore every time he came to visit…and would give me allowance money to spend on my favorite book every time.  Another favorite memory is when I used to get in trouble and my mother’s version of punishment was throwing my favorite books, the ones that I used to read over and over, in the trash!!  Honestly, that was more devastating to me than getting grounded would have been!  The best part about it was that my aunt used to secretly dig the books out of the trash and save them for me, and then give them back to me later when I wasn’t in trouble anymore.  LOL! 

I have been seriously getting back into reading in the last year.  One of the best parts about teaching 5^th graders is that their Young Adult novels are awesome and just as entertaining for me as for them!  Some of my favorite Young Adult novels that I have read recently were: The Hunger Games series, Pictures of Hollis Woods, Bud, Not Buddy, City of Ember, The Shadow Children series, and The Moon series.

I also do some grown-up reading, though!  And for Christmas, my friend Rachel gave me a couple of books, one of them being the one that I am reviewing today. 

Leti’s BOOK NERD Book Review
Novel	The Runner’s Guide to the Meaning of Life “What 35 years of running has taught me about winning, losing, happiness, humility, and the human heart”
Author	Amby Burfoot Executive Editor of “Runner’s World” Magazine and Winner of the 1968 Boston Marathon
Genre	Sports/Running
Rating (out of 5 stars)	*****/***** (5 out of 5 stars)

The book is divided into “lessons” instead of chapters, and has a few “insights” sprinkled in, including a collection of words of inspiration and an essential reading list for runners.  As a runner (still feels weird to call myself that after all these years), I made connections to this book on a deep level, and even book marked, with sticky notes, all of my favorite quotes.  These quotes are what I’ll share with you here today.

One of my favorite things about this book is that it really uses running as a metaphor for life, as demonstrated by this quote from the book:

I especially love “Lesson Eight: Losing.”  This chapter is all about how losing is a part of life and how we can use it to propel us forward instead of holding us back.

Another great lesson in this book is from “Lesson Nine: Materialism,” which states that we we really need in life we already have.  I really liked this quote from that chapter:

I like what the author says about Goals, and really like this quote from that Lesson:

Finally, I love what the author says about Winning:

 

…and the importance of listening to yourself, which I think is something we all struggle with from time to time.

Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book!  It inspired me to start running again, which I had stopped doing consistently throughout most of the winter.  Reading this book helped me find my “running mojo”, and shortly after I read it I started really running again.  I just finished reading this book for the second time, it is THAT helpful, and I feel confident about recommending it to you as a MUST READ book.   

 What are your must-read books?  Are there any books that you recommend I read a.s.a.p?