Monday Top Five: When Words Collide

When Words Collide 2014 is almost here! I'm starting the pre-festival workshops on Wednesday and I am solid conferencing through Sunday. That's right, five whole days devoted to all things writing. (I'm fanning myself right now.)

Giddy. Up.

Which brings me to this Monday's Top Five: When Words Collide. And as usual, in no particular order.

1) 5 solid days devoted to all things writing. There is something magical about a group of people coming together, ever. This group is coming together in the name of words. And I'm going to be there!!  And present. Be present. Soak it up!

2) Learning. Constantly. The more I write, the more I learn. That's one of the things I love about writing, it is a craft that you can work on a lifetime and still find new, dynamic, funky things to do with words and storytelling. I guess that's the same with musicians who have been making cool music for years. Never stop learning. Or stretching your artistic boundaries.

3) Celebrating achievements. There are always awesome announcements and a conference full of people to share in the good news of each other. It's pretty cool.

4) The pool. This conference is fabulous, but can be intense with the weekend-long sprint of everything that's going on. The pool keeps it real.

5) Laughing. Writers are fun. This is a happy crowd and I'm looking forward to lol'ing the WHOLE WEEKEND.

Happy When Words Collide 2014 week.

Monday Top Five: Running Books . . . looking for #4 and #5

I'm a random runner . . . maybe jogger is a better description. But I am interested. My running is spontaneous. I should go more often because I feel like gold after. Seriously, my whole body feels great, even achy muscles are singing yes, yes, yes. My writing flows better when I'm running more regularly, too. Running clears all the cobwebs out of my brain and body.

I don't do schedules or train, yet. Life might be easier if I did, but so far no dice. Gen X Aquarius anyone? But I have found a few running books that I have really resonated with. So for this Top Five blog entry I bring you my favorite running books and am asking for suggestions for #4 and #5.


Born to Run: A Hidden Tribe, Superathletes, and the Greatest Race the World Has Never Seen by Christopher McDougall
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This book gently, but effectively, takes your hand and leads you down a whole new way of life; trusting your body, trusting yourself, and invites you to move.


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To add to my original review, this is the book that started me running. I don't go as often or as far as I would like, yet, but this book got me me moving. Thank you.

Honey, Do You Need a Ride?: Confessions of a Fat Runner by Jennifer  Graham

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I first found this book in the library rather serendipitously . The only table left to work on was next to the running books. I looked up from my laptop and saw this awesome title. I had to pull it off the shelf. The cookie on the front charmed me further and I spent more time reading that afternoon than writing. When I got  to the part that inspired the title I laughed out loud. For anyone who has been scared to try running, try this book. Happy running.

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Eat and Run: My Unlikely Journey to Ultramarathon Greatness by Scott Jurek
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I am not an ultrarunner or a vegan. I'm more a spontaneous jogger who likes locally grown/sourced omnivore food. But I definitely enjoyed this book. It reminded me how amazing the human body is, how food is fuel and community depending how we treat it, and that life is as fulfilling and satisfying as we make it. The sport of ultrarunning sounds like a welcoming community of folks who happen to run long and hard. Cool. I'll stick to my wee runs for now, but a seed once planted can be darn inspiring.
Run on.


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Any suggestions for #4 and #5 of running books to read?

Happy Running, Happy Reading!

Time For Top Five!

I wondered what I should start my Time For Top Five blog series with. There are so many different things to choose from, anything from my top five favorite hiking trails to favorite beers to favorite books I read in English class.

My big opener? I chose university text books. That's right, folks, you read it correctly. I graduated a long time ago, but it was interesting which books had staying power for me. Besides, when was the last time (or any time) you saw a top five text book list that was for fun instead of required reading?

So without further ado, Sarah's Top Five: University Text Books (in no particular order)

1) Dilemmas of World Peace
2) Wheelocks Latin
3) Water, The Fate of Our Most Precious Resource
4) Ishmael
5) Fladmark's Guide to Archaeology Field Procedures

Dilemmas of War and Peace; Companion To Studies An Integrated Audio-Print Course by Dick Ringler
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This was the textbook for my Dilemmas of War and Peace class in my undergrad. I considered majoring in Political Science after taking this course from Dr. Leonard Gambrell. It was one of my favorite classes in university and top three for ones that made me think the most.


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Workbook for Wheelock's Latin by Paul T. Comeau
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Lord knows why I decided to take Latin in university. The two years of Spanish I had in high school were not particularly positive experiences. But something amazing happened in this language class. I studied. Outside of class. And I resonated with my prof's teaching style. A potent combination.


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Water: The Fate of Our Most Precious Resource by Marq de Villiers

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I'm counting this book as one of my favorite text books, although I read it after university, I was working at Brandon University when I read it. Over beers with my husband and one of his thesis advisor, it came out that this book was used as a text book. So I read text books for fun. Could be worse.

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Ishmael: An Adventure of the Mind and Spirit by Daniel Quinn
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This book was required reading in my World Religions course in my undergrad. Reminds me of that saying, a mind once opened can never be closed. Happy Reading indeed.


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I first came across Fladmark's A Guide to Basic Archaeological Field Procedures at my archeaology field school in 1997. It has been the go-to book on every archaeological crew I have ever worked on since. Every archaeologist I know, knows this book. It is the quintessential field guide to archaeology in Canada.








What are some of your favorite "text books?"