[16] The Longest Race: Inside the Secret World of Abuse, Doping, and Deception on Nike’s Elite Running Team by Kara Goucher with Mary Pilon
Memoir/Sports, chose to read because of my interest in marathons, read on Kindle

Synopsis: Retired elite marathoner Kara Goucher tells her lifelong running story, with a heavy focus on her time spent with the Nike Oregon Project, and what a struggle it was to be true to herself while on the team, and after leaving it.

Review: Geesh, Kara Goucher has been through some sh*t. There are parts of this book that are really hard to read, but it’s important she shares her story so other athletes can read it and see what is NOT acceptable behavior, and that even though it’s hard to stand up for yourself, that you should trust your gut and (just?) do it.

Hmm, that wasn’t really a review! Ha! I liked getting a behind-the-scenes look into Kara’s life, even with the difficult parts. She was in a bad spotlight for many years for whistle-blowing the Nike Oregon Project Team, but the public never got the whole story – until now. I appreciate that she was willing to go back to these bad memories to share them with us. I feel like I have a better idea of who she is now.

Recommend? Yes, if you’re interested in running

[17] The Last Black Unicorn by Tiffany Haddish
Humor/Adult, coworker Malinda recommended it, listened to the audio version on Libby

Synopsis: Tiffany Haddish shares stories about her childhood, some of the men she’s dated, and how she got into comedy.

Review: Gah, Haddish has been through some crazy sh*t. It’s no wonder she turned to comedy to cope. Unfortunately, listening to all that family and relationship drama made me super anxious. The stories were meant to be funny, but mostly fell flat on me. There’s a portrayal of a disabled man that really set some people off on their Goodreads reviews. It bothered me too, but not enough to rate the book 1 star (I gave it 3 out of 5). I was disappointed there wasn’t more about her comedy and acting career – most of the book is family and dating stories.

Recommend? No

[18] A Touch of Jen by Beth Morgan
Fiction / Humorous / Black Humor, Heard about on The Popcast (Knox Greenlight), read on Kindle

Synopsis: Remy and Alicia are a miserable young couple obsessed with Remy’s ex-coworker, Jen, who has gotten social media famous. They talk about her all the time, dissecting everything she posts, and they even roleplay Jen fantasies. They randomly bump into Jen and she invites them on a surfing trip where they’re extremely out of place.

Review: Well this is a new experience – reading about characters that are so horrible, you love to hate them and see what ridiculous thing they’ll do or think next. The writing is brilliant at showing how terrible everyone is. The writing is brilliant, period. Morgan really builds the world Remy and Alicia live in, so you can imagine you are there, feeling secondhand embarrassment at how cringe they are.

All that being said, this book is completely wacky and not for everyone (but I don’t want to spoil why). But I enjoyed it.

Recommend? Maybe?

[DNF] Good for a Girl: A Woman Running in a Man’s World by Lauren Fleshman

I tried to read this running memoir but it was too interspersed with boringly presented facts and it really messed with the flow (and any enjoyment I might have) of reading so I’m returning it to the library.