March as 'Mostly Mets Reading Month' is the new 'March Madness' starting with fantastic 'Faith and Fear in Flushing'

Veteran education writers know that the real “March Madness” has nothing to do with basketball, but rather the wild and crazy stunts principals will do to challenge their students to read books during March, which has assumed the title of “Reading Month.”

I've escaped the duties of writing about principals banished to the roof or having their heads shaved, though those events were always fun photos.

But that doesn't mean we can turn our focus away from reading during this special time. As usual, we do things a little differently here. The month is rebranded "March is Mostly Mets Reading Month" and we need to celebrate!

Each day of the month, we’ll highlight a wonderful book – in addition to the R40 Countdown, bad postcards and adventures of a traveling gnome.

One caveat: I tend to favor non-fiction. 

Actually, my pleasure reading is fairly limited to non-fiction about the Mets and presidents. I did read, and enjoyed, the Harry Potter books and my daughter made me read all three Hunger Games books before I was allowed to see the first movie.

But the Mets-presidents section of the bookshelf has many good stories, and you can feel free to share some of your favorites. It's also possible we will divert to non-presidential, non-Mets books of some kind on some days. Anything is possible.

Let’s start with an obvious classic:

March 2: “Faith and Fear in Flushing” by Greg W. Prince

Published in 2009

Greg is one half of the writing duo that fills the blog of the same name, and it’s a daily visit for Mets fans who like their baseball with heart and who don’t need an hourly fix of Dillon Gee trade rumors or Matt Harvey elbow updates, not that there’s anything wrong with that.

Greg’s a fellow Long Island native who tells his personal story of following a team we all know and love through its numerous ups and extended downs. Greg explains how our lives are not centered around the baseball team, but that the Mets are right there with us like a beloved relative who is prone to breaking our heart, making the good times shine so much more brightly.

A person who doesn't know a thing about baseball could still enjoy this story and a fan of the sport – and especially this team – will appreciate the bond that we all share with the Mets, and with our fellow Mets fans.

Plus, Greg might be the nicest guy ever.