Skip to main content

Granny Reads: Review of "Half-Broke Horses" by Jeannette Walsh


Half Broke Horses: A True-Life Novel



My rating: 5 of 5 stars


I motored through this well-written, tell-it-like-it-was memoirs ("true novel") of Jeannette Walls' maternal grandmother. I am not quite sure why I picked it up, except that I was in a compulsive reading state (allergies, fed up with FB), since my experience reading the memoir of Walls' own childhood, "Glass Castle" was the sort where I felt triggered and zoned-out after reading it.

Then I remembered how Walls had held her maternal grandmother up as the one safe and nurturing adult in her childhood. This was that story.

When you purchase this book and 3+ other books from Thrift Books, you can get credit for another book FREE-- It's part of the  #ShareBookLove program! Click here to check this out-- the book deals are real! 

Lily Casey grew up on a Texas ranch in the early 1900s-- she was her father's 'right hand' in many ways, and helped him with breaking horses for his carriage horse business. She was an all-round hard-working rancher as a child, and also had an active brilliant intelligence that helped her get ahead in the "3 Rs" and have a recognition early-on that she didn't have to be reliant upon an early marriage (as her mother said) to have a good life. She went about having an adventuresome, passionate, active, fun-loving time from the time she left home to be a school teacher in some far-off, remote place at age 15 through her eventual marriage to a man 20 years her senior until her years as the grandmother that Jeannette Walls looked up to.

One of the book cover reviewers suggested that this book was a Laura Ingall Wilders type of story, but for adults. I would agree with that, and how I loved that author's family adventure stories when I was a child.

I think you will enjoy this book as well if you were moved by The Glass Castle.

Jeanette Walls on Oprah:

View all my reviews

HOW BEING READ ALOUD TO SHAPED MY LIFE


Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Hello! I appreciate any comments you want to make to the post you have read. Go to the bottom of the page and click on COMMENTS. Choose how you want to comment: GOOGLE ACCOUNT is needed for everything except ANONYMOUS. If you do not have a Google account, please comment as ANONYMOUS but please let me know who you are by using some identifier such as *Mary from Regina* Thank you for the feedback!

-Popular This Month-

Vegan Sourdough Waffles

Great vegan sourdough waffles These waffles are super Thank you for your kind words and compassion my friends-- except for Ed's pain in his finger, all is well. And today is sunny and hopeful! May you each have a grand day today-- be blessed! Think healing. Think success. Think peace. Think happiness. *As a person thinks, so are they. Psalm 23:7* Today we had an accidental contact with the new stove that shattered the outer glass surface (exterior to the door glass), and a few minutes after attending to that-- with sweeping and phoning re the warranty, etc. (a runaround with AI and some call centre folks with some mutual not-understanding}-- I accidentally slammed Ed's finger while pushing in a drawer. Poor guy, his nail has already turned black. and yummy. Sourdough has probiotics in it, and a lovely flavor, although the pancakes will not have quite the healthy sour taste that bread has. 1. START WITH THE SOURDOUGH STARTER You need to have a cup of sourdough starter, whole whe
Post a Comment
Read more

The Lemon-Garlic Mixture Recipe that Chris Wark (Chris Beat Cancer) Recommends

My husband and I are both over 70, and while we have the odd age-expected ache or pain or fallen hair or swollen ankles or whatever, we have avoided many of the BIG Diseases: Heart Disease, Diabetes, High Blood Pressure, Arthritis, Cancer-- but we have had family with these diseases and there is a good chance that we will have something like this hit at some time.  That is the way of the world these days, is it not? So, to be proactive and preventative, we believe that "Food is Our Medicine" and we adhere to a Whole Food/Plant-Based way of eating. We also watch a lot of those health seminars that mesh with our way of thinking that plants/herbs are the answer-- or at least our first rule of order when we feel ill.  We loved the Chris Beat Cancer series because, well, who wouldn't?  Chris is a charming young man with a friendly, compassionate mission to help others learn about how they too can beat cancer without (or only as a sideline) chemo or radiation.  In his Square
1 comment
Read more

How To Tell A Good Joke

  Telling a good joke can be a fine art. In our family it is an emotional connector, an indicator of mental health, and a boost to positive energy.   While humor is subjective, there are some general principles that can help increase the likelihood of successful pulling off a knee-slapping pun or cracking a witty story.  Here are some tips on what's required to tell a good joke: 1. Know Your Audience: Understanding who you're telling the joke to is crucial. Different people find different things funny, so tailor your joke to your audience's sensibilities.  When my husband and I were "new" together, I was invited to a few events with his family. These were lovely, warm European folks who sometimes inserted jokes in their language into the general dinner conversation. When I looked rather lost, my then-boyfriend attempted a translation of the joke that they had all laughed uproariously at.  I don't remember what it was, but I do remember thinking, "Ick! Tha
Post a Comment
Read more