Once A Runner

Author: Parker, John L., Jr.
Edition: Author's rev. ed.
Publication info: Tallahassee, Fla. : Cedarwinds Pub. Co., c1990 (2002 printing).
ISBN: 0915297019
ISBN: 9780915297016
Description: 248 p. ; 22 cm.
Subject: Running--Fiction.

Once a Runner is the best running book I have ever read. Unlike training guides or running stories that spend far too much time explaining the beauty of running and trying to introduce people to the wonders of jogging around, Once A Runner really goes into the life and mind of a runner (though the book uses fictional characters, they are easily recognizable and realistic). It describes the dedication, hard work, and goofiness that is required to be successful and what makes runners a very unique, though cetainly interesting breed. The story itself, of a young college-aged runner and his quest to run the fastest mile he could while in school and after he got kicked out, is extremely well paced and smootly written, just as a good race. It is a fantastic book and I would highly recommend it for beginners, enthusiasts, or someone who just needs a little motivation.

Run

Author: Patchett, Ann.
Edition: 1st ed.
Publication info: New York : HarperCollins Publishers, 2007.
ISBN: 9780061340635 (acid-free paper)

"Since their mother's death, Tip and Teddy Doyle have been raised by their loving, possessive, and ambitious father. As the former mayor of Boston, Bernard Doyle wants to see his sons in politics, a dream the boys have never shared. But when an argument in a blinding New England snowstorm inadvertently causes an accident that involves a stranger and her child, all Bernard Doyle cares about is his ability to keep his children - all his children - safe." "Set over a period of twenty-four hours, Run takes us from the Museum of Comparative Zoology at Harvard to a home for retired Catholic priests in downtown Boston. It shows us how worlds of privilege and poverty can coexist only blocks apart from each other, and how family can include people you've never even met. Ann Patchett illustrates the humanity that connects disparate lives, weaving several stories into one narrative. Run is ultimately a novel about secrets, duty, responsibility, and the lengths we will go to protect our children."--BOOK JACKET.

Once Upon A Time On The Banks

Author: Pelletier, Cathie.
Publication info: New York : Viking, 1989.
ISBN: 0670827762
Description: xvi, 368 p. ; 25 cm.

It is April 1969, in Mattagash, Maine (the setting for Pelletier's first novel, The Funeral Makers ), and the residents of the small, inbred community are slowly emerging from their cabin fever after five months of snow. This irreverent and bawdy novel tracks the town's most boisterous citizens as they become aware of the social event of the year: the unlikely marriage of Amy Joy Lawler, descendant of Mattagash's Protestant founder, to Jean-Claude Cloutier, Catholic, with an unacceptable French Canadian background. The crafty residents of northern Maine approach the wedding with varying goals. To bankrupt (and randy) motel owner Albert Pinkham, it's a chance to fill his cash register. To the Ivy family, wealthy relatives from Portland, it occasions a family reunion and a time to cement strained relationships. To the huge and larcenous Gifford clan, it presents a chance to steal out-of-state hubcaps and filch wedding gifts. On the day of the wedding a volatile mixture of Maine's finest and most tacky families meets in church--with astonishing results. In spite of the novel's raucous tone, it is apparent that Pelletier views her feisty Mainers with deep affection. Copyright 1989 Cahners Business Information, Inc.