What I Talk About When I Talk About Running is Haruki Murakami’s memoir on running. You get to peek into his life and learn about how he used to run a bar, smoked 60 cigarettes a day, started running at age 33, runs 6 days a week and completed 26 marathons and an ultramarathon. A few tidbits from the book that I’d like to remember are:

• The point is whether or not I improved over yesterday. In long-distance running the only opponent you have to beat is yourself, the way you used to be.
• Raymond Chandler once confessed that even if he didn’t write anything, he made sure he sad down at his desk every single day and concentrated.

Overall, I didn’t learn that much about Murakami, writing or running by reading this book. I would only recommend reading it if you’re a hardcore Murakami fan and interested in his running memoir.