Book cover of Rough Magic: Riding the World's Loneliest Horse Race

Book description

"Think the next Educated or Wild. Palmer’s memoir of beating the odds to become a horse champion is an inspiring saga of perseverance—and a classic underdog tale." —Entertainment Weekly

At the age of nineteen, Lara Prior–Palmer discovered a website devoted to “the world’s longest, toughest horse race”―an annual competition of…

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Why read it?

1 author picked Rough Magic as one of their favorite books. Why do they recommend it?

I loved the voice and turns of phrase in this book. Signing up for the Mongolian Derby (a ten-day horse race on 25 different semi-wild ponies across 1000km of Mongolia) seemed like a lark for nineteen-year-old Prior-Palmer. Knowing at the outset she won the race kept me turning the page to discover how the hell someone who seemed more squirrel than human accomplished such a feat.

Some of my favorite parts were when she tuned into the ponies she rode and imagined what they had to say. I kept thinking her positivity, humor, care for the ponies, and willingness to…

From Heidi's list on slow travel adventures by women.

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Book cover of The High House

The High House by James Stoddard,

The Victorian mansion, Evenmere, is the mechanism that runs the universe.

The lamps must be lit, or the stars die. The clocks must be wound, or Time ceases. The Balance between Order and Chaos must be preserved, or Existence crumbles.

Appointed the Steward of Evenmere, Carter Anderson must learn the…

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