Fiction horse books

[poltroon]

[QUOTE=Batteries Included;3533376]
I just finished “God of the Animals” by Aryn Kyle
BY FAR THE BEST BOOK I HAVE EVER READ EVER!

I just graduated high school and I learned to dislike reading quite a bit from all that english work…
Someone lent me this book last year and one lazy summer day this year I read it-- all in one day. SO GOOD.

I’m reading Sara Gruen’s “Water for Elephants” now. About half way through, its pretty good! This reading thing isn’t too bad.[/QUOTE]

It’s all about finding the right books. I bet you’d enjoy Judy Reene Singer’s books (Horseplay and Still Life with Elephant), anything by Jean Slaughter Doty, Fly By Night by KM Peyton, and lots of the other suggestions here. Sometimes I think english teachers delight in assigning books that no one would want to read voluntarily. :lol:

[SarahandSam]

[QUOTE=poltroon;3533630]
Sometimes I think english teachers delight in assigning books that no one would want to read voluntarily. :lol:[/QUOTE]

Noooo, it’s because we English teachers simply don’t understand why anyone wouldn’t want to read a book we love so much. I read books going “Man, I want all my kids to read this one…” And I have never taught “Lord of the Flies” because I haaaaaated it in high school. d;

[copper1]

I thought “God of allAnimals” was one of the worst books I had ever read! I hated it and in fact, threw it in the garbage when I was done! The horse stuff was way too far fetched for me and the story line was way too depressing! I am not saying the writing was bad, just very inaccurate and again too depressing for me!

[Reynard_Ridge]

@SarahandSam;3533682

Noooo, it’s because we English teachers simply don’t understand why anyone wouldn’t want to read a book we love so much. I read books going “Man, I want all my kids to read this one…” And I have never taught “Lord of the Flies” because I haaaaaated it in high school. d;

And some stuff, you just age into. Dostoyevsky, Chekov, Tolstoy are best left for post-high school. Post college in my case. :lol: I loved Middlemarch, Vanity Fair and anything by Jane Austen - once I hit my 30s. Faukner is great once you’re old enough to understand what the fruitbat he’s talking about. Alas, James Joyce is beyond my wee brain. Forever. :winkgrin:

[anonymoustip]

anything by dick francis – Banker is my favorite. they all have have a horsey spin to them and are sooooo well written. check them out. you will not be disappointed!

[poltroon]

[QUOTE=SarahandSam;3533682]
Noooo, it’s because we English teachers simply don’t understand why anyone wouldn’t want to read a book we love so much. I read books going “Man, I want all my kids to read this one…” And I have never taught “Lord of the Flies” because I haaaaaated it in high school. d;[/QUOTE]

Because of a strange hiccup in my schooling, I had to do that $#%$# book THREE TIMES. Once, because I foolishly picked it off a list for a project. Then, because it was part of the curriculum in a class that I effectively had to repeat. Gahhhh!

I think Reynard Ridge is right that some literature you age into. Even if you can read the words and follow the language, sometimes it’s just too far past one’s own experience as a teen.

I have always been a reader, but the most effective class for me in high school used a lot of short stories - 80-100 pages. What was nice was that we got more practice going over more different pieces, and they had a succinctness to them that made them much easier to read for both the fluent fast readers and for the less so.

I have come to appreciate that one factor of great literature and good writing is its page-turning properties - ie, if the reader has to struggle to decipher the metaphor and the reading feels labored, that’s not a sign of good writing. I’ve also come to appreciate how audiences have changed over time, and thus what makes a ‘page-turner’ has changed over time. I took a class in college, Survey of Drama, that was derided as easy credits because there were no essays, only quizzes to prove you did the reading. We read a play a week for a year, in chronological order from the first known plays. That gave me a lot of depth of understanding of how conventions in writing came and went. Today’s kids seeing “Jaws” would find it to be ‘such a cliche’ not realizing that “Jaws” is the SOURCE of all that cliche!

Finally, as my standard warning to all English teachers: never encourage a horse lover to read Steinbeck’s “The Red Pony” if you ever, ever want them to read Steinbeck again. In 4th freaking grade, when I was 9, the teacher suggested it, you know, because it was on The List and at my reading level but it was about horses.

[poltroon]

I was trying to gather information about books by Jane McIlvaine McClary to enter at ponydom, but other than A Portion for Foxes, I have not been able to find descriptions. Can anyone help me with:

Cammie’s Choice
Cammie’s Challenge
Cammie’s Cousin
Maggie Royal (is this a horse book?)
The Sea Sprite (is this a horse book?)

[thatmoody]

The Red Pony ruined me for Steinbeck, as well. As an English teacher (college level) I don’t teach a lot of literature, simple because I’m a tech writing professor! But I had the chance to teach an advanced expository writing course this semester, and I’m so glad that I did. I had forgotten how much fun it was to teach and to read stories :D.

I usually don’t read until the summer because during the semester I’m too busy with my courses, but this list is getting bookmarked for sure!

[WldnHrseCrzy03]

I have read quite a few of the books already mentioned. A couple that weren’t mentioned that are VERY good are:

Cut Throat by Lyndon Stacey

Remember Summer by Elizabeth Lowell

[equest]

Jean Slaughter Doty’s books were the best! As a horse crazy kid, I checked them out from the library again and again…

[SarahandSam]

[QUOTE=poltroon;3534149]

Finally, as my standard warning to all English teachers: never encourage a horse lover to read Steinbeck’s “The Red Pony” if you ever, ever want them to read Steinbeck again. In 4th freaking grade, when I was 9, the teacher suggested it, you know, because it was on The List and at my reading level but it was about horses.[/QUOTE]

Amen. I read it around the same grade, and was absolutely furious at Steinbeck.

I definitely also agree about aging into certain authors… guess I wouldn’t love Jane Austen so much if I hadn’t read her as an adult who could appreciate all the nuances. And I love 1984 every time I read it now, but didn’t find it as chilling as a high school student… I might even like Lord of the Flies now but am not willing to attempt it. d;

[Reynard_Ridge]

@poltroon;3534149

Finally, as my standard warning to all English teachers: never encourage a horse lover to read Steinbeck’s “The Red Pony” if you ever, ever want them to read Steinbeck again. In 4th freaking grade, when I was 9, the teacher suggested it, you know, because it was on The List and at my reading level but it was about horses.

Took me 30 years to be able to pick up Grapes of Wrath. :no:

[Batteries_Included]

[QUOTE=Reynard Ridge;3535160]
Took me 30 years to be able to pick up Grapes of Wrath. :no:[/QUOTE]

My crazy english teach jr year in High School had us read, write a 6 page paper and take a test on the Grapes of Wrath in 3 weeks…
but still for some reason my fav english teach throughout school?!

[SarahandSam]

[QUOTE=Batteries Included;3535504]
My crazy english teach jr year in High School had us read, write a 6 page paper and take a test on the Grapes of Wrath in 3 weeks…
but still for some reason my fav english teach throughout school?![/QUOTE]

Dear God. I wish I could do that with my kids; it took us a whole semester to make it through To Kill A Mockingbird… I didn’t even put Grapes of Wrath on my order list this year because I figured we didn’t have four months to devote to it. ): I don’t think kids today read nearly as much as we did, and I’m embarrassingly young to be saying that. Sigh.

[pines4equines]

Hay

Okay horse crazy book fans…My friend has a little bookstore called Blue Ribbon Books, she does not have a web site. She goes to all the big tradeshows, mainly west of the Mississippi, because she is based out of CO.

Anyway, she has every horse book you can imagine, from ficton to non. I see her in Denver every year and give her my credit card and say load me up on horse novels. I don’t even ask her anymore what she is giving me.

She is honest about the quality of the novel and asks what you’re interested in. She is currently traveling but do call her: 719-541-3157. Tell her June sent you…

I’m still working on the books I bought in January. And, she usually has some sort of deal like buy 5 books and get the 6th or something. You might even see her at some of the horse events. Her name is Robbee Huseth of Blue Ribbon Books and a nicer person you’ll never meet. She has so many repeat customers, which makes it incredibly interesting to be in her booth at shows!!

I’m currently reading a schmaltzy novel called Ride a Dark Horse. She did warn me…But I had to have it.

Have fun and read on!!!

[poltroon]

[QUOTE=Reynard Ridge;3535160]
Took me 30 years to be able to pick up Grapes of Wrath. :no:[/QUOTE]

Why do they even have The Red Pony on school reading lists? His other stuff is a much better introduction.

[Angel_Undercover]

[QUOTE=Batteries Included;3535504]
My crazy english teach jr year in High School had us read, write a 6 page paper and take a test on the Grapes of Wrath in 3 weeks…
but still for some reason my fav english teach throughout school?![/QUOTE]

I did that too in my writer’s craft class… I actually really like The Grapes of Wrath. I also was scarred by The Red Pony when I was 8 or 9.

[phoebetrainer]

For those who like the books for young / teenagers, try Tamora Pierce, especially the Protector of the Small series. Everyone that I’ve introduced to her books has raved about them. Not fully horsey, but horses are involved.

[Indy-lou]

I read every horse-related book in our library as a young girl. If there was even a mention of a horse, I read it. This included every “Misty of Chincoteague” and “Black Stallion” series book there was. Then there was “Spurs for Susanna” and “Ride like the Wind” (I think Wesley Dennis illustrated a majority of these books that were available through the Scholastic reader series that we ordered paperback books from in our schools) Another memorable one was the story of the Godolphin Arabian “King of the Wind” who was called “Sham” in the book … “and the thin brown horse-boy who loved him”…, also illustrated by Wesley Dennis. Did any of you ever read the biography of Man O’ War? It was awesome, and I remembered his pedigree and the qualities of his dam forevermore. As an adult, Jane Smiley rules for me. You must read “Horse Heaven” and “A year at the Races”. One of her earlier books even before “A Thousand Acres” was “Barn Blind”. She has also some short stories for Practical Horseman: “Mr. T’s Heart” and “The year of Living Dangerously” (about riding three year olds) come to mind. I love Jane Smiley. Thank you Jane! The biography of Seabiscuit was also well written. All of these books are about horses, but the one book that completely undid me as a young girl was “The Yearling” by Marjorie Kinnan Ross (I think I have that name right) where the young boy Jody raises the orphan fawn “Flag” and then has to shoot him. I sobbed so uncontrollably throughout the night and into the next day that my mother came and took the book away from me, but it was too late: I was scarred for life… There was also the “Red Pony” and “Black Beauty” two books that I cannot read again to this day, though there is some comfort in knowing that Black Beauty was really written as a protest against the way horses were treated in England at that time …“who broke your knees, Beauty?” Oh my God, I must talk about this in therapy…

[grayarabpony]

I like the kiddie stuff for horses too: Misty of Chintoteague and King of the Wind by Marguerite Henry are great. If you don’t shed at least one tear at the end of the second one there’s something wrong with you. :sadsmile:

I LOVE Ralph Moody’s Come On Seabiscuit and Walter Farley’s Man o’ War.

Another hater of The Red Pony here.