hope week two of june is wonderful for everyone – lots of summer reading going on here…

“eat and run” by scott jurek – the title is self-explanatory – most of the book is about scott’s tremendous work running – and then at the end of every chapter, there’s a vegan(ish) recipe – hence, eat and run – his journey is amazing though – he’s had to battle some dark moments – and his willingness to pull through and keep going is what makes him an encouraging read

“from the heart” by laura bush – i had to wait on this one b/c 5,000 others were in front of me at the library when it first came out – now, it sits beside her husband’s book in columbiana – i didn’t remember/realize that she spent 10-ish years as a teacher/librarian – figured it was shorter than that – probably my favorite part of the book was her adult life teaching – i did enjoy the private tour of the white house – and how she recreated the post 9/11 environment – lots, i do, forget how tense that time period was

“running the rift” – new book at a library near you – i think it’s a translation – nevertheless, beautiful fictional account of a rwandan runner who’s caught in the midst of genocide during the mid ’90s – he, like most tutsi’s – lost everything – and the world had a hard time catching on – or even caring – about what was going on – reading the book gave me a better understanding of an event i didn’t know a lot about – and it reminded me again that it’s important to stop evil when you see it working (simple as that sounds, we live in an era where we like to leave people alone and not judge…)

“running for my life” by lopez lomong – oh, what a joy to read – what a blessing – what an ecouragement – lomong was abducted from his church in the sudan at age six, made a child soldier, escaped to kenya and lived on one meal a day in a refugee camp for 10 years, came to america, became a US citizen, carried the US flag and ran for the US in the 1500 meter race in ’08, looks to qualify in three weeks for this year’s olympic team – now works with world vision ministries to help south sudan – just an amazing story – an amazing person – and a book that encourages you to believe

so lots of books last week – even made it to season 2 of friday night lights re-runs – must return and continue to anticipate football

maf