While I found Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls to be well written and the story of her upbringing amazing, I was impressed even more so with Half Broke Horses. The authors ability to capture the characters and surroundings that took place a century ago is impressive. What is more impressive, yet understandable is that the passion seeps through on every page.

Half Broke Horses is not only the story of Jeannette Walls' grandmother but also explains more in detail where her mother, homeless Rosemary gets her strong personality and ability to survive in what some consider 'extreme circumstances'. One really gets to know the entire family and they are REMARKABLE.

It is not necessary to read Glass Castle prior to reading Half Broke Horses, but you will want to read both.

Both books are amazing reads. Having met Jeannette Walls, I can say she is strong and amazing so it comes as know surprise that I use the same adjectives to describe her books. 'Strong and Amazing'.

Author Jeanette Walls Thanks Indie Bookstores and discusses Half Broke Horses

My 2008 fiction pick of the year! Imagined and creative, born mute, speaking only in sign, Edgar Sawtelle leads an idyllic life on his family's farm in remote northern Wisconsin where they raise and train an extraordinary, intelligent breed of dogs. The Story of Edgar Sawtelle begins with Almondine, the family dogs' perspective on what he is experiencing when Edgar is born. Almondine senses immediately that that Edgar is mute, before even Edgar's parents become aware. While most of us pet owners readily fess up to having a special bond with our loyal k-9 friends, the bond between Edgar and Almondine is exceptional and amazing. One of the most lingering aspects of this well written novel is the pain that Edgar causes Almondine. Quite honestly, this fiction masterpiece is so well written that I must remind myself that is just that, fiction. It makes it easier for me still, to bare the pain that Almondine felt in Edgar's betrayal. However, Almondine is not the only one betrayed in this story. Betrayal is everywhere. The climax of the story is when Edgar finds his father dying and tries calling the operator on the phone for help. Edgar is mute and cannot make the words come out. He begins slamming the phone on the counter in the kitchen trying to call out for help the only way he knows how. Later Edgar's uncle moves in to not only help with breeding and training the dogs but he also makes the moves on his dead brothers wife. Hmmm...right, that went over real well with15 year old, coming of age Edgar Sawtelle. Right! All hell breaks loose at this point and Edgar leaves home. Does he come back? Well, read the book and find out what happens on his journey! It's anything but boring. Five stars on this one! Due out in paperback fall of 2009.

Wow! What an inspirational book! Why? Well... let's start at the end of the book with a quote from the "Afterword". "Their eyes...is a bold feminist novel, the first to be explicitly so in the Afro- American tradition." That was a sentence I had to read twice. I suppose to be born the year Zora Neale Hurston died - in the early sixties made me ponder what life must have been like to think that this title compared to more recent, modern titles is a feminist novel. This book was wonderful in that I was able to follow a young black woman's search for herself and a comfortable place in her world in what must have been the late 1800's or early 1900's. It was heartfelt. I laughed out loud, cried silently and applauded "Janie " the character in the book. Young Janie was married off at a young age and was miserable. She then ran off with an entrepreneur to start an "all black town". She lived miserable for the most part until finding the love of her life. Her new life was full of adventure, much laughter and tragedy When I consider that this book was first published in 1937 and then Zora Hurston was all but forgotten for nearly three decades lives me amazed. This was a very written book where the characters are descriptive and vivid. The narrative of the novel shifts from third to to a blend of first and third person. It took a number of pages until I could get into the rhythm of Creole, Southern Drawl and African American slang. I loved this book and will highly recommend it for years to come!