Long Distance Reading Club: Once a Runner and Daring Greatly

Photo from Oiselle but I have one of the bookmarks!

Back in September, Oiselle created the Long Distance Reading Club, the Oiselle book club. I love reading, so naturally, I joined in on the fun! Plus, it was easy: read the book and join a couple of Twitter chats to discuss it.

The first book was John L Parker Jr's Once a Runner. I didn't want to buy it but I found it at the Chicago Public Library. So, I finally got my library card and checked out my first book in years! It took me a long time to get into the book. Thanks to the first Twitter chat, I found out I wasn't the only one having this problem and that it got better as it went on. And, it did.

The story itself was pretty decent. It follows a few characters through their collegiate running days. I really enjoyed the book in the final few chapters but I struggled through at least the first half. I finally figured out why I was struggling. First, the author jumped between characters' points of view without making clear who's point of view it was. This drove me crazy! Second, there were a lot of scenes that had no impact on the main story and didn't need to be included. (I'm looking at you, athletic department hot tub scene.)

All in all, I'm glad I read the book. It gave me an inside look into the collegiate runner's life, albeit in the 1970s. There are now two additional books, a sequel and a prequel, which I may read someday...

For another review, check out my Oiselle teammate Leila's post.

Title: Once a Runner
Author: John L Parker, Jr
Genre: Sports fiction
Pages: 304 pages (according to Amazon)
Stars (Out of 5): **

The second book was Brené Brown's Daring Greatly: How the Courage to Be Vulnerable Transforms the Way We Live, Love, Parent, and Lead. The Chicago Public Library had lots of copies of this book but they all had really long waits. So, I bought this one for my Nook. It was the first time I've read a book like this and I really enjoyed it.

I highlighted a lot which I've never done on my Nook before. Here are a few of the passages I highlighted:

• Vulnerability sounds like truth and feels like courage. (page 38)
• When we were children, we used to think that when we were grown up we would no longer be vulnerable. But to grow up is to accept vulnerability. To be alive is to be vulnerable. - Madeleine L'Engle (page 42)
• Guilt = I did something bad. Shame = I am bad. (page 61)
• www.self-compassion.org (page 103) - I just did the Self-Compassion Test and did pretty well. I got an overall score of a 4.39 (on a scale of 1 to 5).
• In fact, more people die from prescription drug overdoses than from heroin, cocaine, and methamphetamine drug use combined. (page 107)
• "Daisy is a good girl who made a bad choice! We love her! We just don't love her choices!" (page 168)
• Wholehearted Parenting Manifesto (page 182)

This book was a really easy read. I loved the examples provided for each topic. This made it really hit home while I was reading it. The second-to-last bullet point above is when it really hit me. (This was the author's son after the author scolded Daisy, their dog.)

The first Oiselle Twitter chat was really interesting. The second one was supposed to be the Tuesday before Thanksgiving but it seemed to be forgotten. I'm hoping we'll still discuss the rest of the book...and then start another book!

Title: Daring Greatly: How the Courage to Be Vulnerable Transforms the Way We Live, Love, Parent, and Lead
Author: Brené Brown
Genre: Self-help, relationships
Pages: 230 pages (according to my Nook version)
Stars (Out of 5): *****