Highly recommended

Sad but true—summer’s almost over. When autumn is in the air, I always get the feeling that it’s time to crack open the books. Here is a recommended reading list of books I’ve read in the past year that have edified and inspired me.

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One hundredth of a second

Michael Phelps didn’t seem like he was going to win as the swimmers came into the last 25 meters of the 100m butterfly final. Milorad Cavic had a healthy lead, Phelps was running out of room to catch him and the terrible Olympic announcer was screaming something about how exciting it all was.

I hadn’t been watching the Olympics at all since they started. I don’t have cable and usually rely entirely on DVDs from Netflix for my television consumption. I had caught some kayaking at a diner last week, but beyond that, I was following along through the covers of the New York Post.

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