52 Books in a Year: Week 12
Last week, I read Half Broke Horses, a true-life novel by Jeannette Walls. It was fabulous, as I knew it would be because the first book I read from Walls (her childhood memoir called The Glass Castle) I read in one sitting. Within reading the first few pages of both books, Walls captivates you with her incredible story-telling skills. Previously a MSNBC.com columnist, Walls knows how to craft a story, especially when the content is all about her family’s history. Half Broke Horses tells the tale of Lily Casey Smith, Walls’ grandmother. The novel is “Laura-Ingalls-Wilder-esque” in its unbelievable (but true!) accounts of living off the land, surviving tornadoes, draughts, and flash floods. I have two recommendations for you (of which you can thank me later for): 1) read both books, and 2) read them chronologically. Start with Half Broke Horses (featuring Wall’s grandmother) and finish with The Glass Castle (featuring Wall’s mother as well as herself). Let me know what you think, and I’ll chat with you in the comments below!
What else have I read during my yearlong reading project?
–> Week 1 –> Week 2 –> Week 3 –> Week 4 –> Week 5 –> Week 6 –> Week 7 –> Week 8
–> Week 9 –> Week 10 –> Week 11
Peter Chee
Living through natural disasters used to seem like it was something people described in books. With all the technology and early alerting systems it seemed to be even further unlikely that we’d really have to be harms way. Yet, recently it seems like it still happens unexpectedly. Do the stories make you feel like you’re in the pioneering days of America or feel like you’re actually there with that family?