Reading List

[CannonballRun]

Tym87,

It's good info, but for the money I think the TB books are a better value and provide all the theory I need, plus they have better laid out programming for a normal working person like myself, in my opinion.

[Geidi]

Recently finished Ultmate MMA Conditioning by Joel Jamieson. Good info overall, but more on the scientific side related to MMA conditioning. Essentially supports what is written in the TB books, but gives more behind the scenes info and may not be quite as easily digestible as the TB books in my opinion.

I'm glad you said that. I was debating since it is interesting, but the price tag was too high.

I'm currently reading The Stand for reasons unknown even to myself; it is very long. I'm

MMA Conditioning is a fantastic book and worth every penny, probably the best in it's class imo. But, it's more of an in-depth text on how to structure an 8-16 week fight camp rather than planning concurrent training in the long term. Let me put it this way, if I was a coach and had to prepare an 8 week fight camp, this would be my go to resource. It would be like reading a text on periodization by an Eastern Bloc sports scientist vs say a concrete program like 5/3/1. Heavier on the theory side for sure.

[grouchyjarhead]

Training-wise, I'm reading "Primal Endurance" by Mark Sisson. Some of it I knew already, some of it is quite interesting, and a good bit of it falls in line with TB protocols.

Outside of training, I just finished "Becoming a Barbarian" by Jack Donovan. Cannot recommend it and the prequel, "The Way of Men", highly enough.

[J-Madd]

Professional: Stump, Wandering in Darkness: Narrative and the Problem of Suffering
Professional: Brandom, From Empiricism to Expressivism
Fun: Burgess, A Clockwork Orange

[J-Madd]

First let me say that I love to read so this is broken up into 3 parts:
-I'm reading through Mike Boyle's New Functional Training for Sports. I find fitness stuff interesting even if I'm not looking to get away from TB.
-With my 2 boys (ages 10 and 8), I am reading through The Lord of the Rings. We've already read The Hobbit. My oldest loves fantasy stuff, and my youngest loves adventure, and LOTR has both. Also, while Tolkien said that he didn't write LOTR as a Christian allegory, there's plenty of opportunity for the boys and me to talk about our faith which is important in our family.
-As I said, my oldest loves fantasy but we are careful with what our kids read. So I'm reading ahead through the Percy Jackson series before letting him read it to make sure that it's something that I'm comfortable with him reading. Being geared towards older kids, it's a fast and entertaining read, and it's something light before bed.

I applaud this! We've made reading to my kids a big priority for our household, and it has rewarded in many ways. We have read Narnia, all the Tolkien stuff, all the Harry Potter books, the original Percy Jackson series (after the originals it takes a dive!), The Count of Monte Cristo, about a half-dozen Shakespeare plays, and a bunch more. Last summer my oldest son (he just turned 14) and I read 1984, Fahrenheit 451, and Brave New World, and the summer before that we finished Jeff Shaara most recent US Civil War series (those might work alright for read-aloud to your boys). We didn't read this aloud, but we worked through the books at the same time, and then spend our ride to our jujitsu class talking about them. Right now my wife is reading the kids Doer's All the Light We Cannot See, and they are loving it.

I bet your boys would really love The Count of Monte Cristo, but there are some parts you might need to head-off on your pre-read (I always stay a chapter ahead of what I'm reading to the kids). We have also had very good luck with Rosemary Sutcliff (Black Ships before Troy, The Wanderings of Odysseus, and The Eagle of the Nineth).

I have some subtle misgivings about the Percy Jackson books (nothing approaching a dealbreaker - we read the entire series - just some points you will want to make sure yo address in conversation), though the books are a lot fun. If you want to get your kids intrigued by classical myth, however, don't miss Sutcliff!

I'm sorry to ramble on so long, but I'm pretty about passionate this topic.

[grouchyjarhead]

Great Illustrated Classics are fantastic for kids if you can find them. I have younger boys but I've read them the stories from there and now they're reading them too, they love them. We home school and fortunately have made them into big readers already, just like my wife and I.

[J-Madd]

Gouchy -- That's a great series of books! Good for you and the kids. I'm sure you are having fun with your kids now, but it gets even better as they get older and they start to share your interests directly. This summer my oldest and I spent a lot time in the garage pumping iron and talking about Orwell. What could be better?

[NathanC77]

I've been on a meditation book kick lately. I read "10% Happier" by Dan Harris, which is sort of a journalistic account/memoir on meditation. I just finished "The Miracle of Mindfullness" by Thich Nhat Hanh. He's a Vietnamese monk and a Bhuddist, but it's mostly a simply written account of different aspects of meditation/mindfullness. I like it. I've got a couple more meditation books but I think I want a change of subject for whatever book I choose next. I'll sometimes start 4-5 books before finding one that fits my current mood.

[mikhou]

First let me say that I love to read so this is broken up into 3 parts:
-I'm reading through Mike Boyle's New Functional Training for Sports. I find fitness stuff interesting even if I'm not looking to get away from TB.
-With my 2 boys (ages 10 and 8), I am reading through The Lord of the Rings. We've already read The Hobbit. My oldest loves fantasy stuff, and my youngest loves adventure, and LOTR has both. Also, while Tolkien said that he didn't write LOTR as a Christian allegory, there's plenty of opportunity for the boys and me to talk about our faith which is important in our family.
-As I said, my oldest loves fantasy but we are careful with what our kids read. So I'm reading ahead through the Percy Jackson series before letting him read it to make sure that it's something that I'm comfortable with him reading. Being geared towards older kids, it's a fast and entertaining read, and it's something light before bed.

I applaud this! We've made reading to my kids a big priority for our household, and it has rewarded in many ways. We have read Narnia, all the Tolkien stuff, all the Harry Potter books, the original Percy Jackson series (after the originals it takes a dive!), The Count of Monte Cristo, about a half-dozen Shakespeare plays, and a bunch more. Last summer my oldest son (he just turned 14) and I read 1984, Fahrenheit 451, and Brave New World, and the summer before that we finished Jeff Shaara most recent US Civil War series (those might work alright for read-aloud to your boys). We didn't read this aloud, but we worked through the books at the same time, and then spend our ride to our jujitsu class talking about them. Right now my wife is reading the kids Doer's All the Light We Cannot See, and they are loving it.

I bet your boys would really love The Count of Monte Cristo, but there are some parts you might need to head-off on your pre-read (I always stay a chapter ahead of what I'm reading to the kids). We have also had very good luck with Rosemary Sutcliff (Black Ships before Troy, The Wanderings of Odysseus, and The Eagle of the Nineth).

I have some subtle misgivings about the Percy Jackson books (nothing approaching a dealbreaker - we read the entire series - just some points you will want to make sure yo address in conversation), though the books are a lot fun. If you want to get your kids intrigued by classical myth, however, don't miss Sutcliff!

I'm sorry to ramble on so long, but I'm pretty about passionate this topic.

J-Madd, grouchy, thanks for the suggestions. We'll definitely look into these. We have read the Narnia series among many others. A little known series that we loved was The Wingfeather Saga. It's a really fun read. Also, The Door Within and The Wilderking Trilogy. I'll definitely checkout the ones that you mentioned as well.

EDIT: Hey tguys, after posting the above, I wanted to mention something in the realm of full disclosure. The books above are not "Christian" books, but all of the authors are professing Christians. Therefore, elements of faith are seen in all of the books; although, the word "Christian" is never used in any of them. Even if we don't share the same faith, I hope that we can share a love of fiction.

[J-Madd]

I thanks Mikhou! We'll check those out. Have you done a Wrinkle in Time? We read that on a long car ride once. I love that book. I rember when my 4th grade teacher read that to us.