You may know from her earth-shattering entrance onto the ultramarathon scene in 2016,聽when she came out of nowhere and won first place, . In the two years since then, Gallagher has made a name for herself on the international ultrarunning circuit with multiple podium finishes, including a聽. For the Patagonia-, La Sportiva鈥, and Petzl-sponsored athlete, who聽frequently runs 80 miles per week, resting right is just as important as training.聽These are a few favorite books from her聽year鈥檚 reading.聽
'There There'聽by Tommy Orange ($17)

鈥淚 bought because the trail and climbing marketing manager at Patagonia, Justin Roth, recommended it. Boy, am I glad I did because it should be required reading for every American. It鈥檚 poignant and searing and I can鈥檛 stop thinking about it. A must-read novel about what聽it鈥檚 like for many urban Native Americans today.鈥
'贰诲耻肠补迟别诲'听by Tara Westover ($17)

鈥淢y mom and a college friend both recommended聽 to me. I read it in three days because it was so disturbingly captivating and mind-blowing that the author grew up in such an extreme environment and she鈥檚 basically my age. It worries me for all of the kids who don鈥檛 experience the eduction Westover was able to pursue by escaping the grip of her crazy parents. It鈥檚 worrisome even more so from a vaccination standpoint: those rural end-of-the-world, don鈥檛-believe-in-doctors communities are putting the rest of the human population at risk of contracting preventable聽fatal diseases (that鈥檚 not a focus of the book, just my two cents).鈥
'A Gentleman in Moscow'聽by Amor Towles ($19)

“I picked up because it鈥檚 been lauded by multiple friends and,聽again, my mom. It was entertaining and beautifully written, a perfect novel to read while tapering for a big race this past September鈥攁nd a decent education on early 20th-century Russia.鈥
'Call of the Reed Warbler'聽by Charles Massy ($17)

鈥淣one other than Yvon Chouinard told me to read back in April when I was visiting the Patagonia headquarters for a sales meeting. He could have told me to read a coloring book and I would have. Nonetheless, his fervor for the regenerative agriculture movement has been passed on to me because of this book. Regenerative agriculture is the future. By converting commercial farming methods to regenerative, topsoil-health-focused methods, farmers could literally save the world by continuing to feed everyone and sequestering carbon in healthy topsoil versus releasing carbon from聽dead soil as most commercial farms do today. This book is focused on the revolution in Australia. I鈥檒l admit, I鈥檓 only halfway through, but the intro suffices to get the point across: we need regenerative agriculture.鈥
'Men Without Women'聽by Haruki Murakami聽($12)

鈥淢y book club in Boulder is reading for October. I鈥檝e never read a Murakami novel and reading this collection makes me want to. It鈥檚 a collection of short stories about鈥攜ou guessed it鈥攎en without women. Even though I鈥檇 rather read short stories about women without men, this was a captivating second option. We鈥檒l discuss the stories in a few weeks and I鈥檓 curious to know who else would prefer a collection about women without men. I think the overall tone would be happier and more optimistic than this one.鈥