Ten top titles about running

At PopSugar Helen Carefoot tagged ten books "that tackle running as both a recreational pursuit and a necessity... stories that include running as the catalyst for finding love, building community, finding purpose and oneself, and carrying oneself to safety." One title on the list:

Slow Horses by Mick Herron

You may think of spies as glamorous, skilled professionals, but the spies that populate Mick Herron's "Slough House" series are the opposite: a motley crew of disgraced, dysfunctional agents who've been demoted and suffered some mess up or humiliation that placed them on the outs. But under the guidance of brilliant but curmudgeonly spy Jackson Lamb, they do somehow manage to save the UK repeatedly, despite committing bungling missteps along the way.

River Cartwright, a promising young agent, is constantly trying to prove himself. This means placing himself physically in harm's way, which includes him running all the time: through crowded public spaces to (try) to catch suspects, away when he breaks into high security spaces to gain intel, and even on jogs to clear his head.

Read about the other entries on the list.

Slow Horses is among Mike Lawson's political thrillers where the good guys don’t always win and Bernard Cornwell's six best books.

--Marshal Zeringue