Winner of Night Watchman and my review of Horse Heaven

Trees and Gold
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The winner of The Night Watchman is "Kim and Victoria" and I mailed them their copy Monday. I enjoyed this mystery and admire the author's writing and plotting skills and hope they do too.

Have you ever fallen in love with a book? This is so rare, and it happened to me a week ago. I bought a copy of "Horse Heaven" by Jane Smiley, and walked right in to the world of horses and horse racing, trainers, owners and jockeys. This novel is so well crafted that it is a pleasure to read, and I am almost sorry I finished reading it.

This is a rather long book that does not seem long and its chapters are very short and self contained so you can read one chapter and put it down and easily pick up where you were. However, what happened to me as a reader is that I would read a chapter, then just one more, and 10 chapters later would finally put the book down.

Jane Smiley has somehow successfully gotten inside the head of horses, and conveys to us how each horse perceives the world, and thoughts that it has. She is obviously a student of horses, and does own a few race horses.

The horses' names and lineages are fascinating. Who wouldn't love Justa Bob, Limitless, and Mr. T, especially since we get insights from them as they view the world. Look for Elizabeth who calls herself an animal communicator and who reads the minds of horses.
Many owners are ultra rich and Smiley provides us fascinating glimpses into their worlds, motivations, and marriages.