I finished my second half-marathon yesterday. Please believe me when I tell you how improbable this is. I am not a natural at running. In fact I am ridiculous-looking and slow. But it is cheaper than therapy and has roughly the same effect on my mental health as anti-depressants (except that the side effects are easily counteracted with Advil), so I keep at it.

Nerds keep saying to me, “I’ve always wanted to do that, but it’s not for me.” Yes it is! You can do it! As some guidance, here are the two main things that made this half-marathon possible for me, things that nerds like:

1. NPR. I stopped listening to running mixes because they made me run weird and now I just stream WNYC when I run. I don’t necessarily listen to all of it, because part of the point of running is not thinking, for me. But I find it’s easier to tune out talking than music. NPR: the training runner’s soundtrack.

2. A standing desk. Look, I know this is one of the things the Internet won’t shut up about, and I apologize. But the fact of the matter is, I developed not a single foot or joint problem while training for this half-marathon, and I spent most of last year crippled by plantar fasciitis. I was at the standing desk for about six months before I started training for this, and it made all the difference. Sorry to be on the bandwagon. But get on it.

And for the required book recommendation: if you haven’t read Born to Run by Christopher McDougall, you must. (Even if you never want to run, it’s a great adventure story.) Quite aside from the barefoot running stuff, it’s inspiring because it removes running from the realm of special watches and Lululemon, and places it squarely at the reader’s feet, where it belongs. Leaving just you and the road and your nerdy little brain.

This week Erin and I led a open book discussion about Stitches by David Small, the first time a graphic novel was chosen for one of these public discussions, and we weren’t sure who to expect. To our surprise, it was primarily attended by some of our regular seniors, who LOVED the book. We had a fantastic discussion and I was really struck by their passion for the book, and how they talked about it, and also how they talked about how they were recommending it to other people.

And now converting seniors into graphic novel readers is one of my professional goals, so I have started working on a list of recommendations specifically for their interests, based on my extrapolations from our book group discussion. The standard best graphic novels for new readers list is not going to work here. Some of my takeaways from that discussion:

• They loved that it was a memoir and had no idea that comics like this existed. (See, we all mock the “comix aren’t for kidz anymore” trend pieces, but they exist for a reason.) So I’m looking for GNs that are non-fiction, memoir, or more serious fiction. Mature content is something to be aware of, but seniors are generally tougher readers than people give them credit for. (They’ve seen it all.)
  
• There were multiple comments about how the book wouldn’t have worked as a text-only work. This feeling was pretty important to them. It’s hard to define this in a GN, but you know when you see it. For practical purposes, I’ve started by looking at works with the same writer and artist, because those tend to have a more holistic feel.
• They loved the sequences without words. It was fascinating to hear that reading experience described by someone new to graphic novels.
• The size of the lettering is important. When I recommended readalikes and suggested Persepolis, one woman commented that she had tried it, but the lettering was too hard for her to read. She had glasses on and used a magnifier, but magnifiers aren’t designed for comics, so it just ended up being annoying.

Using those thoughts, here’s a preliminary list of recommendations:

1. The Name of the Game by Will Eisner. Really, anything by Eisner would work, but I think the family sagas in this one make it particularly apt.
2. Asterios Polyp by David Mazzucchelli. A great favorite of mine and as interesting for its art as its story, which adds to the appeal for new readers. Also, I’ve been thinking of it as a readalike to The Sense of An Ending by Julian Barnes, which is a hit with seniors.
3. Maus by Art Spiegelman. Well, it wouldn’t be a list of graphic novels if I didn’t include Maus, right? But I include here because one of the attendees recommended it to the group, and when she described it, everyone seemed intrigued. So I add it despite the tiny lettering.
4. Radioactive by Lauren Redniss. In addition to being a great biography, this book has an unusual layout that could be a good intro for readers still getting used to the form. Small lettering, but because it is in blocks similar to a text-only book page, it would be much easier to enlarge.
5. Gemma Bovary by Posy Simmonds. The plot of this book is very similar to many British novels that are popular with seniors, but Simmonds uses visual details to flesh it out in a way that couldn’t be done in a text-only book. Plus it has the literary cred of Madame Bovary backing it up.

So that is what I have for now. I want to keep building it. What would you add?