I’ve been doing a lot of reading, lately and recently subscribed to GoodReads to keep track of my books. I’m totally hooked!
Among its many cool features, GoodReads let me create SmarterFitter bookshelf to keep track of all the books that make me wanna be, well, smarter and fitter. Classic favorites include David Swenson’s Ashtanga Yoga: The Practice Manual, Bob Anderson’s Book of Stretching, and Michael Pollen’s Omnivore’s Dilemma.
This little exercise brought to mind how much more I rely on the Internet for fitness information rather than books. That’s kind of crazy, don’t you think? Sure, there are plenty of dubious books out there, but I’m definitely up for expanding my horizons with some literature that has at least been subject to some form of peer review.
So help me out here folks: what are your favorite health and fitness books?
I’m up for anything, and I’m super++ up for any books on strength training (without use of machines or fancy equipment), nutrition, swimming and cycling. And of course, if YOU’VE had a book published, let’s here about it. I invite you to pimp you’re warez in the comments!
And if you’re a GoodReads user, feel free to add me as a contact. See you in the stacks!
So many great health-type books! A few that I really enjoy on my shelf, in no particular order:
“Real Food” by Nina Planck
“The World is Fat” by Barry Popkin
“Rethinking Thin” by Gina Kolata
“In Defense of Food” by Michael Pollan
“Mindless Eating” by Brian Wansink
“The Body Fat Solution” by Tom Venuto
“The Science of Good Food” by David Joachim and Andrew Schloss
Also, I love Leslie Goldman’s “Locker Room Diaries” and Shauna Reid’s “The Amazing Adventures of Diet Girl” 🙂
Wow Sagan, that’s a GREAT list… I added them all to my GoodReads http://www.goodreads.com/review/list/2074578?shelf=smarterfitter“ rel=”nofollow”>SmarterFitter shelf. I actually own In Defense of Food but haven’t gotten around to reading it yet. Tsk tsk.
You also remind me that there are loads of bloggers out there who have published books… I should do a little follow up feature on them and their books.
“The Everything Yoga Book” by Cynthia Worby
Janet, awesome suggestion. The two yoga books I have are simply guides to poses, but are probably more targeted towards people who’ve done yoga before, gone to a few classes, and now want a reference to the poses so they can develop a self practice at home. That book looks ideal for newbies. thanks for sharing!