Books like The Eighty-Dollar Champion — picked by fans

I aggressively avoid reading books about animals, let alone ones devoted to a single animal (and one that had been written about before), but Hillenbrand’s brilliantly deployed, meticulous research into all of the human personalities that surrounded Seabiscuit seduced me, and many other readers.

Now that her book has become a bestseller and a feature film, it’s easy to forget how unlikely an accomplishment it was, particularly given her struggles with chronic fatigue, which she later chronicled in a poignant New Yorker essay.

This was the first book I ever pulled from the big kids’ shelves at our library. I read it in the big chair in the den until Mother chased me outside with dire threats that I was ruining my eyes. 

Then I read among straw bales and a heap of yard cats until nightfall lured the cats away. Then I read in bed until Mother threatened further direness if I didn’t turn off my light. Then I read by moonlight until I fell asleep and woke again the next day to read more.

A shipwreck, an island, and a horse. A little barn in the suburbs. These were the opposite of my world. During the hours I spent with this book, I became an escape reader.

I loved this book because it is a memoir of one woman’s journey across the United States on horseback.

This is a true story of courage, connection, and fortitude. Descriptive and emotional, I felt like I was on the journey with the author, experiencing everything as she did and being completely in awe of the strength and determination she had to complete such a life-changing journey. 

I’ve long believed that animals are smarter than we give them credit for, and in this book, Frans de Waal provides a fascinating, science-based explanation of why that’s the case. Even more compelling, he provides evidence that the reason we’ve so often underestimated animals’ intelligence has nothing to do with their limitations and everything to do with our own.

Whether it’s the parrot who can add sums, dolphins who call each other by name, or the researcher whose fidgeting caused the capuchin monkeys he was studying to underperform, de Waal offers both an entertaining read and a critical question: How much are animals capable of that we aren’t capable of perceiving?

I had never heard of the capaill uisce, the malevolent water-horses of Celtic folklore, before reading The Scorpio Races.

These creatures are magnificent, but also, as I’ve said, malicious. I just think that combination is so interesting!

We love horses; we love magical creatures; but these are something else again—mythical creatures that reflect the complexity of life in this world.

Anyway, Stiefvater makes the most of this rich tradition in a stunningly beautiful young adult novel about love, about courage, about conflicting loyalties, about dreams of glory, about the challenges of survival versus the claims of integrity. And a thrilling race!

This is one of my very favorite water-creature stories. Unforgettable!

Some books stay with you for a lifetime. Such is the case with Black Beauty for me.

This historical fiction novel (although it wasn’t “Historical” when it was written!”) is considered a classic because of its staying power and message. Anna Sewell’s work inspired the creation of the ASPCA because of the depictions of animal cruelty in the book.

Now, half a century later, it has inspired me to not only write historical fiction horse stories but I also chose to write in first person from the horse’s point of view the way Black Beauty is written.

You know this is going to be a great book from the author who treated us to other historical adventures such as The Color of Lightning, Enemy Women, and News of the World. Jiles has the skills to recreate a period in time so tangible, the reader feels like they've been dropped through a time portal, and Stormy Weather is no exception. Set during the darkest years of the depression, a woman and her daughters battle cruel hardships alone on an abandoned farm, relying and setting their hopes on their only legacy—a dangerous, rogue racehorse named Smoky Joe. It is a story of personal strength and desperate dreams, pinned on the back of a horse. I love a story about women with grit, hope, and a tenacious will to succeed. 

The animal is a number of racehorses. The human is a collection of owners, trainers, jockeys, and more, yielding a comprehensive look at human and animal behavior in the horse racing industry. A strong, intimate novel. I used to ride but never very well, and I’ve always wondered what a horse’s “thoughts” involved. Author Smiley gave me a feel for that as she applied her own assumptions to one horse in particular.  

A “murder light” story, unique setting, and cast of crazy characters are the hallmarks of a classic cozy mystery, and Outfoxed certainly delivers! The setting serves up a whopping dose of southern charm and fox hunting tradition, while also providing a stage for a fierce rivalry between a native son Virginian and an upstart Yankee for the coveted position of joint-Master of the Hunt. When a murder is committed during the Opening Day Hunt, everyone is shocked to realize the murderer has to be an insider. That’s when the Master of the Jefferson Hunt of Virginia, “Sister” Jane Arnold, swings into action with both the horses, hounds, and even foxes on her side. Yes, the animals speak, and it’s charming and fun. The author’s obvious love of fox hunting comes through so clearly, it prompted me to give it a try. Once. Because I must admit, it was too much… show more.

This is my only other fiction pick. I read this many years ago, when it was new, but it stayed with me. We see a lot of relationships between people and dogs or people and horses, but this is a novel about a girl and a group of bonobos. That’s an interesting twist on the human/animal relationship, because other primates are so similar to us in their intelligence and approach to the world. They are mostly helpless against human forces, but then again so are young girls. The bonds formed in this book are worth the price of admission, and the suspense is high throughout.