Good Reads?

 

Jane is reading: The God of Animals by Aryn Kyle

Not only a book centered in horses, a GOOD book centered in horses. Totally loving it.  I got the book in audio book form as a gift. I don’t want to get out of my car.

Slammerkin by Emma Donahue

I can’t believe this is the same author that wrote Room. To be able to write such disparate books so believable, beautifully, and maintain such different styles is remarkable.  She is a writer’s writer: the actual writing reflects the book, its time, and its characters.  I would never have guessed they were written by the same person.

Fall of Giants by Ken Follett Another tour de force.  Loved it.

World Without End by Ken Follet:  (1,000 pages of don’t-want-to-put-it down, is exactly what I needed for a week packed in ice.)  It was worth overcoming my resistance to visiting a realistic depiction of the 1300′s.

I had a lot of resistance.  It’s not romanticized.  It’s England in the 1300′s exactly as one might expect.  Brutal and terrifying, but he manages to create universally identifiable characters, humans, with qualities (good and bad) whose very realism makes the book entirely believable and compelling.  He captures the differences in culture that would naturally exist with shorter life spans and no dentistry.  It’s an epic work, but reads like a thriller.

Room by Emma Donahue

An astounding work.  So real it’s terrifying.  A vivid portrayal of multiple realities. Beautifully written.

The Wave: In Pursuit of the Rogues, Freaks and Giants of the Ocean by Susan Casey (Because of this book, I now understand the draw of cross country eventing.)

Cover of The Story of Edgar Sawtelle: A Novel

The Story of Edgar Sawtelle by David Wroblewski  4 horseshoses.  An awesome must read for horse/animal lovers.  (It’s not about horses, it’s about connection, communication, the soundless voice, and shared heart.)

True Blue by David Baldacci  3 horseshoes

Ford County Stories by John Grisham (entertaining)

The Best of Times by Penny Vincenzi  (not awed, not bored)

Day After Night by Anita Diamant  (I felt this was a very important read, historically, and it held my interest)

South of Broad by Pat Conroy

The Smoke Jumper by Nicholas Evans

Any books you want to share?  Do you have favorite ‘horse’ books; either novels or training advice?

I’m going to knock off the reviews.  If it’s up here, I liked it.  Keep in mind that I get as excited about a Hershey bar as I do about handmade chocolates from Paris or Belgium.  You might be looking at a Hershey Bar, or it might be a Dark  Chocolate Covered Candied Lime Peel that would send you to the moon.

The Girl Who Kicked the Hornets Nest by Stieg Larsson 4 horsehose

The Girl Who Played with Fire by Stieg Larsson  Thank heavens a continuation of the first novel, I had to know!  4 horse shoes

The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson  (original, compelling, page turner: hang in there if you’re not Swedish, who is who gets clearer.)  Lisbeth Salander is one of my favorite characters EVER.   4 horse shoes

Animals Make Us Human by Temple Grandin 4 horseshoes

The Given Day by Dennis Lehane

Shutter Island by Dennis Lehane  Four Horseshoes Read it.  Wonderfully written, outstandingly original. Like Cormac Mccarthy’s The Road, it’s a book that I will never forget.

Look Again by Lisa Scottoline

Jesus by Deepak Chopra  (interesting)

Hard Laughter by Anne Lamott: A wonderful portrait of a certain era, in a certain part of California, inhabited by many of the people Jane knew vaguely in College.  Read her other books first.  And definitely don’t let your kids get their hands on Hard Laughter.  Put an old cookbook dust jacket on it.  Can’t rate it.  I’ve seen too much of the reality.

House Rules by Jodi Picoult: Four Horseshoes, absolutely brilliant.  A must.

Last Night in Twisted River by John Irving

The Dome: by Stephen King

Until now, I haven’t been able to read more than a couple of paragraphs of a Stephen King novel, they freak me out too much.  Life is scary enough to me, without adding horrors.  Shaun swore up and down this was not a horror book, and one of the best books she’s ever read.  So I gave it a try.  I very nearly put it down after the first chapter or so, due to some gruesome set-up type stuff.  In the end, it is a fascinating read, and he is an awesome writer.  It is definitely pedal-to-the-metal.  Once you get through the first few chapters, plan on not being able to set it down.  I had the sense he didn’t care about his characters, which bothered me tremendously, but also ties into the plot.  Whether this was deliberate or not, I don’t know, but it works.

Official Book Club Selection: A Memoir According to Kathy Griffin by Kathy Griffin I have to admit, I thought it was funny, but I kind of didn’t get the tone…is she being mean?  Ironic?  Sarcastic?  I happened to catch her stand-up act on the comedy channel, and was an instant convert.  It all clicked, and I understood.  Her warmth didn’t come through as much in the book as it does in person.  I ended up loving it, and became a Kathy Griffin fan!

Push (retitled “Precious”) by Sapphire: Four Horseshoes

Hurry Down Sunshine by Michael Greenberg

The Scarpetta Factor by Patricia Cornwell

Oxygen by Carol Cassella (Another Four Horse Shoes Emotionally realistic in the most shocking way.)

The Good Thief by Hannah Tinti  Four Horse Shoes

The Last Olympian by Rick Riordan

The Titan’s Curse by Rick Riordan

The Battle of the Labyrinth by Rick Riordan

The Sea of Monsters by Rick Riordan (young adult: this series is GREAT escape reading)

The Cure for Grief by Nellie Hermann

The Well and The Mine by Gin Phillips

Crooked Little Heart by Anne Lamott

Not Becoming My Mother by Ruth Reichel Three Horseshoes

Julie & Julia by Julie Powell 3.5 Horseshoes

there’s a (slight chance) i might be going to hell: a novel of sewer pipes, pageant queens, and big trouble by Laurie Notaro

Testimony by Anita Shreve  (This is a must read for anyone with kids above middle school, possibly together)  Four Horseshoes

Renegade Champion: The Unlikely Rise of Fitzrada by Richard Rust  (Important horse read, IMO, but you have to slog through the writing, tough to rate.)  Horseshoes: Important = 3.5, writing = 1.5.

The Adult Rider: A Practical Guide for First Time Equestrians and Adults Getting Back in the Saddle by Sarah Montague

Sara’s Key by Tatiana de Rosnay

The Hour I First Believed by Wally Lamb  Four Horseshoes

Firefly Lane by Kristin Hannah

The Age of Innocence by Edith Wharton

Lady Windermere’s Fan by Oscar Wilde

Still Alice by Lisa Genova  Four Horseshoes

House of Pomegranates by Oscar Wilde

Handle With Care by Jody Picoult

A Horse’s Tale by Mark Twain (A short story, really. Didn’t know it was gonna have such a terrible, but unfortunately realistic ending.)

The Black Iris by Alexandre Dumas  (Historically interesting re: the tulip mania that spread across Europe…um why is it not called The Black Tulip??)

The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas  Four Horseshoes

The Three Musketeers by Alexandre Dumas  Four Horseshoes

The 19th Wife by David Ebershoff  Four Horseshoes

Drenched in Light by Lisa Wingate

As it is in Heaven by Niall Williams

Traveling Mercies: some thoughts on faith by Anne Lamott

The Summer We Got Saved by Pat Cunningham Devoto

Sundays at Tiffany’s by James Patterson  Three Horseshoes

Faithless by Karen Slaughter

The Associate by John Grisham

The Hostage by W.E.B Griffin

Lost and Found by Carolyn Parkhurst

*Diary of a Wimpy Kid by Jeff Kinney

*Diary of a Wimpy Kid (#2) by Jeff Kinney

*Scorpia by Anthony Horowitz

*When Zachary Beaver Came to Town by Kimberly Willis Holt

*Read these with the kids: young adult fiction.  Wimpy Kid is worth any adult reading!

Revolutionary Road by Richard Yates

Very well written, and I can see why it’s been a sleeper.  I read it for the story, kept reading for the beautiful writing, and ultimately had to abandon it from sheer depression.  If this is truly the author’s take on 1950′s era love, marriage, and “being” someone, it makes me want to reach for a strait jacket.

The Road by Cormac Mccarthy  Four Horseshoes

Not my usual read: post apocalyptic father and son journey towards…the unknown…hope might be too strong a word.  Reminds me of The Sound and the Fury in its starkness and power.  Not a book I would tell anyone to read, it’s searing.  All I can say is it’s one of the best.  Ever.

A Thousand Splendid Suns  Four Horseshoes

by Khaled Hosseini

I loved The Kite Runner by the same author. I thought I’d probably like this.  It’s brilliant.  I found it a perfect (and needed) counterpoint to the book I’d recently finished: Bob Woodward’s The War Within. A Thousand Splendid Suns is  a sweeping, achingly human book about ordinary Afghans living through (some of) Afghanistan’s wars.  Spanning Soviet occupation, internal warlords, U.S. invasion, and including its own cultural conflict about a woman’s place in society, it is told through the eyes of two very different women whose lives are hurled together.  It is not a book about war.  It’s a book about life and it’s underpinning; love.  If you want to have a better understanding of the scope of people who make up Afghanistan and our commonality with each other, this is the book.

Eat, Pray, Love by Elisabeth Gilbert 3.5 Horseshoes

I’ve read it cover to cover 3 times, and now I’m browsing.  I don’t do that.  Read it.  It’s funny and insightful.

Scarpetta by Patricia Cornwell

If you aren’t familiar with this author, start at the beginning of her series so you can get to know the characters.  Her books are graphic thrillers, but it’s the characters that make me come back.  She has an extraordinary talent for creating difficult, complicated characters you alternately want to throttle and befriend.

Walking in Circles Before Lying Down by Merrill Markoe

Mansfield Park by Jane Austen

I confess, I’m an Austen nut.  It’s my understanding that most Austen-O-philes hate Mansfield Park.  Why?

If Dogs Could Talk: Exploring the Canine Mind by Vilmos Csanyi

Scientific and anecdotal based inquiry into how dogs think and how they behave.  I think I learned as much about people as I did about dogs.  Worth the read.