Tag: reading

Book 4 of 2026

~ Phil Lengthorn ~ Leave a comment

‘Mudlarking’ by Lara Maiklem

Not really my find of book – but it was recommended and was actually physically given to me – so I gave it a go.

The author likes to go up and down the River Thames foreshore finding stuff, or Mudlarking, as it has come to be called.

The book was ok.

It follows her experience of mudlarking, interspersed with lots of historical stuff.

There’s also a ‘Mudlarking 2’ – I’m not going to bother.

Book 3 of 2026 ðŸ“š

~ Phil Lengthorn ~ Leave a comment

‘And So I Run’ by Jamie Doward.

A running book – first one of the year.

I wasn’t really enjoying this book too much at the start, it was a bit depressing and a bit repetitive. The simplified summary is the author is trying to run a sub-3 hour marathon. Although it is much more than that, it follows his journey as he uses running as an escape from life, his guilt, his grief, his despair, finding a way through a life that is unravelling.

He talks a lot about his life and about life and ‘shameless posturing of our global leaders when everything is going to shit’ and how they have a ‘complete lack of empathy for normal people, a collective failure to act in an era of existential crisis’. Which, of course, I couldn’t agree more.

But about running, he also says:

These days I run to feel powerful in an era when it is all too easy to feel powerless. I run because I believe running is a supreme of of defiance, a refusal to obey norms and conventions. To run is to fight.

The Books of 2023 ðŸ“š

~ Phil Lengthorn ~ Leave a comment

The challenge for this year was to read 30 books – two more than last year.

The number of books I read? 30.

Nice.

The stats…

The books…

Quite a selection in the end.

My favourites of the year, all getting 4 stars:

‘Where the Crawdads Sing‘ – slightly late to the party – loved it.

‘A Walk from the Wild Edge’ – my favourite non-fiction of the year.

‘Eleanor and Park’ – favourite teenage fiction of the year.

‘The Hike’ – classic thriller – really liked it.

‘The Daves Next Door’ – my favourite Will Carver of the year – love all his novels.

#project365 #19

~ Phil Lengthorn ~ Leave a comment

I had a choice for today’s picture. It could have been a photo of this morning’s experiences of attending Parkrun as a spectator, or a photo of a lovely evening at the sister-in-law’s. It was neither.

I forgot.

So you get the book I am currently reading.

Running and stuff….

~ Phil Lengthorn ~ 1 Comment

Just an 8-miler this morning, according to my training plan it should have been 13! Doh!

Although I ran 13 miles last Sunday and 12 miles a couple of weeks before so I thought with just two weeks until the Peterborough Half I'd take it easy a bit. It was a lovely morning and didn't really want to spoil it by going hell for leather* chasing a particular pace. I'm confident of completing the race, just need to decide whether or not I'm going to try to beat my PB. I'm going to crack on with the training schedule, throw in a couple of fast 6-milers and see where we're at.

This morning's run did throw up some interesting observations:

  • The amazingly fast walking man – he was walking his dog and going at such a pace I had trouble overtaking him.
  • I nearly killed off an elderly couple – it would seem that didn't hear me approaching and my cheery 'morning' nearly brought on a heart attack.
  • Caused a bit of commotion at the ponds – some fishermen didn't appreciate the dog jumping in the pond and scaring off the fish.

In other news…..

Currently reading 'The Cry' by Helen Fitzgerald, great book about a baby that goes missing in Australia. A dark psychological thriller with a gripping moral dilemma at its heart. Well worth a read!

And finally….

Off to see the fantastic Frank Hamilton in Cambridge tonight….lovely jubbly….

* This is not a phrase I use very often and just wanted to point out that I do actually run in running shoes not some great pair of leather clad boots.