Wednesday Book Review

Bless her little bookworm heart, Erin McCabe has been reviewing one book a week for us since HN first emerged from its virtual womb. And yet, she’s hardly made a dent in her to-read list. Can anyone help her whittle the thing down?

From Erin:

Book Review Endurance Test Fail

Last night, while desperately trying to finish reading Something Most Deadly so I could write a scintillating, revealing and amusing review (even if it was composed at 3 a.m.), a terrible thing happened.  No, I didn’t have to rush out to the barn to mix up Clue’s Colic Cocktail.  No, Sadie didn’t push through the fence trying to scratch her itchy, hive-y self.  And no, Lindy didn’t break the water pipe to the horse trough and drain the well.  In fact, this terrible event had nothing to do with my horses at all (what?!?).

I fell asleep.

It turns out this book-a-week reading schedule I’ve been trying to maintain is pretty grueling.  Which is to say, this is not a scintillating, revealing or amusing review of Something Most Deadly.  The fact that I fell asleep, Kindle on my chest, reading lamp burning into my shoulder, should also not reflect poorly on Something Most Deadly, a psychological thriller set in a dressage barn.  According to Kindle, I’m 32% of the way through the novel and still haven’t gotten to the thriller part (I have gotten to the stalker horse-girl tailing her Special Ops former crush, but that was in the first chapter), but I can see the thriller-ness lurking off in the distance.  Meanwhile (when I’m awake) I’m enjoying the ride getting there.

But wait!  I don’t want to half-review a 32% finished book.  So, next week I promise a full review of Something Most Deadly.  In the meanwhile, might I suggest that anyone who likes to read into the wee hours of the night while other family members may (or may not) be sleeping right nearby should probably invest in the Mighty Bright Light.  It clamps onto a book.  It clamps onto your Kindle.  It doubles as a flashlight when you can’t find one.  It’s surprisingly sturdy (mine spent time as a baby toy and lived to tell about it).  It’s really bright but you can direct said light exactly where you want it thanks to its flexible “neck.” It comes in GREEN (and other, less exciting colors). And, when you fall asleep and accidentally leave it on, it’s not nearly as annoying as when you fall asleep without turning your bedside lamp off.

And, finally, Horse Nation, I’d like to solicit your opinions.  Which of the following books on my mental “to read” list would you be most interested in me actually reviewing?  Or, which of the following books sounds least likely to put me to sleep?

Non-Fiction:

Finding My Distance:  A Year in the Life of a Three Day Eventer (Julia Wendell)

Chosen By A Horse (Susan Richards)

Renegade Champion:  The Unlikely Rise of Fitzrada (Richard R. Rust)

Horses Never Lie:  The Art of Passive Leadership (Mark Rashid)

How Good Riders Get Good:  Daily Choices that Lead to Success in Any Equestrian Sport (Denny Emerson)

Fiction:

A Good Horse (Jane Smiley)

The Dressage Chronicles (Karen McGoldrick)

Under Orders (Dick Francis)

Riders (Jilly Cooper)