Mary's comments (member since Dec 01, 2008)

Mary's comments from the Chicks On Lit group.

Completely agree, training to run any distance is a process and you should use
knowledgeable resources to build a PLAN for yourself. For someone that hasn't run at all....coolrunning.com is great with a podcast you can download called "Couch to 5k in 12 weeks". I live in Portland....a real running town and Alberto Salizar is a local luminary for us runners. He is always warning everyone about
overtraining. A good running plan will include rest days, build days....short run days...you get the drift.

I also just joined a new group on good reads called "Run for Your Life"

I highly recommend Runners World: The Complete Guide to Running
It contains training programs for all levels as well as a general guide about the sport. I couldn't have done it without the resource books I used. Also, most cities have groups that train together, although I did it alone. That's not for everyone though. I had to do all of my own water drops by car on my big mileage days!

It's definitely a process building up your runs gradually. The running schedules will help you train smart and not injure yourself by overtraining.

Thought everyone might like to see and possibly comment on the Award list for each category announced yesterday. Some familiar names and some not so familiar - which is why these award lists can be so interesting. Also I like them because they underline the gamble (small and big) publishing houses take every year, anticipating our interest and the general pulse of the country. Thank goodness we have lots to choose from still with all that's going on! Congratulations to all of the authors who won - it is a career-making honor for them.

FICTION
Olive Kitteridge by Elizabeth Strout


GENERAL NONFICTION

Slavery by Another Name by Douglas A. Blackmon

HISTORY

The Hemingses of Monticello by Annette Gordon-Reed

BIOGRAPHY

American Lion by Jon Meacham

POETRY

Shadow of Sirius by S.W. Merwin

DRAMA

Ruined by Lynn Nottage

I ran the New York Marathon with my twin sister 7 years ago. She lived at the time in NY and I was in Oregon as I still am. We trained on our own and she finished 10 minutes ahead of me. I finished 4:45:49 and was really proud of it having only trained alone here. I recommend hill training....we have a lot of them in Portland and that really helped. I swim now because my knees won't take it anymore....so ladies train with care and have fun and make sure you replace your shoes often. I miss my runs but I love to swim. I swim at least 4 times a week now 2000 yards.

Eudora Welty reading her own "The Optimists Daughter" It is AMAZING

I just bought Vampire Academy for my granddaughter. She told me she was going to re-read the twilight series. While I have been known to reread Jane Austen I'm not a big one for rereads.....so I suggested a book series with the vampire thingee going on but something completely different otherwise. Please don't hate me Twilight fans!

Brittany, I loved Memoirs of a Geisha...

Wonderful balance of story and cultural history.

I love so many of your choices.

May I add "The Optimist's Daughter" by Eudora Welty as a fine addition to the list.
A Pulitzer Prize Winner, if you can get your hands on the audio read by Eudora herself you will listen and cry. Beautifully written, I couldn't help but wonder at the hidden richness of my own life.

One of my most embarrassing bookstore moments was before we had our Chuck
Palahniuk signing....Yea and Chuck is cute... I was chatting him up in the back room. I'd carefully planned to have chocolate brownies and coffee because I know he likes that before a signing. He was telling me some story about how he had 3 people faint because of the gross story he told at his last event. I had a suddense sense of there being a little draft but restrained from the urge to grope with my hand....as I walked away from CP I looked down and saw my zipper was undone and my red panties were there for the world to see. Such a goof.

Welcome to the group Allison!

Kristie Faye - Thank you so much for the DVD of Bee Season! I haven't seen it....have't read it so am primed to watch it. I've set a popcorn date with myself friday night. This has been so much fun.

The Pat Conroy cookbook? I handn't heard of it but no-one writes about food like Pat Conroy! I'll have to check it out. Have you ever noticed you can gain weight reading Pat Conroy....he always makes me hungry!

Pam wrote: "I got a copy of "97 Ways to Make Your Dog Smile"! I love it - and I know that my pups will love it when I start trying out the suggestions in the book!

Thank you so much Mary!!"

Yay Pam! I know you love dogs so I thought you'd enjoy this little book. I really like the plastic cup trick where you have 3 upside down cups on the floor and hide a treat inside one...and mix em up and see your puppy can pick the right one!

This is a great thread. I have friends that use audible and swear by it. Not all books transfer well to audio but my favorites over the last year have been:
The Thirteenth Tale and Water for Elephants. Ideal listening conditions for me are during football season when my husband is gone for home games and I have a blissfully quiet house...time to do whatever project I want. It's all about your hands being free to do other things while you get to enjoy a book.
Audio is like Bluetooth to cell phones. (Except I don't use a blue tooth)

My to read list is very important to me. i never want to lose track of a book I want to read but I might not own right now. I keep things manageable that way. (KrisT - I also do the notebook thing at my work computer)

I find my challenge is to make sure books that come in my house stay foremost in my mind and that I go to those to read before I buy more. I am really bad about buying a book(s) that I really want to read and because I "own" it taking my time to get to it. Perfect example is Alias Grace. Bought the book when it first came out....Love Margaret Atwood, but because I own it and figure I'll get to it eventually it continues to gather dust on a shelf.

The other thing that kind of gripes me is that I often let the "hot discussion" or a new review dictate to me what I choose to read....I'll just clear my table off and go and buy another book with hardly a thought to the absolutely dead-on
good reads that I had planned on tackling next. Makes me kind of feel like a book slut.

KrisT wrote: "Welcome everyone!
Okay I just have to know how one reads a cookbook. I see in some reading challenges I have been in before that others have read and counted the pages of a cookbook. Does that mean..."

To count a cookbook I think you should have to read each page but I do think there is a wonderful category out there that is part memoir and part cookbook called "Cooking Narratives" and I just love a good cooking narrative!!! Nigella Lawson writes a mean one and I loved her How to Eat I think Julia Child's books are often a narrative rather than just recipes....

Years ago I used to use a tiny library out in the sticks where I lived....it was when I was writing and getting published too...so many of the books I needed were research and of course not at my little store front library but, I learned that almost anything could be transferred. It was amazing to me how quickly I could get my books. They were not bestsellers of course but I loved how helpful and nice the librarians there were.

Nowadays I buy my books because I have my own online bookstore and the temptation is too great when I can get them at cost and I discover new reads everyday. If anyone ever wants to check out it's http://www.boonebridgebooks.com . We love our business and just pour our hearts into it so thank you all of you that went to the effort to find us. You are all the best -

Hey Jo ...Good for you. and I like rock music while I work out... or a really good audio book...just doing something every day is going to make a difference! I've had some months where I've been completely stubborn with one excuse or the other.
My goal that has been working for me is to MOVE every day...
Today I added swimming to my workout regime.

I've wanted to swim for so long and even dreamed about it last night. I found a pool in the morning and did it....I wonder what I'll dream about tonight!!!!

You're right about posture...exercise makes such a difference about how we "carry ourselves"

Jo....that is fantastic...you've really achieved results. Do you listen to music while you work out or books on tape....what keeps your mind occupied?

Ooh Tera, I don't know what this is....can you explain?