Every year I evaluate the books I read and come up with my top two or three books for the year. I have to confess I was getting a bit worried about what I would put on that list this year because there were so few that really stood out from the rest. But just in time, my hold on Horse by Geraldine Brooks came through from the library, and I knew by just reading the first chapter that I had hit the jackpot! Well researched, moving, with wonderful characters, one of whom is the greatest race horse who ever lived, Brooks give us wonderful insights into the world of racing as well as the worlds of art history and forensic biology. She also touches on important issues like racism, misogony, slavery, and the treatment of animals, by laying bare our current world and opening our eyes to the destructive power these wrongs have had on individuals and society throughout our history.
Theo, a Nigerian-American art historian finds a painting of a horse in a pile of junk outside his neighbor’s house. What attracted him to the painting, was not only the fine detail of the horse, but the fact that a Black man was holding the reins of the horse and you could sense the bond between them.
Jess, an Australian who works at the Smithsonian, specializes in bones. Mostly she specializes in bones of animals, from dinosaurs to small little birds. Her specialty is putting them together and so that you can see how they walked, how they moved, and how they might have lived. When she is unexpectedly asked to find the skeleton of an object in the Smithsonian catalogue identified only as “Horse” she becomes intrigued. When the skeleton is finally found in the attic of the Smithsonian, Jess can see that although it is strung together and displayed three dimensionally it is has been done incorrectly, and the power of this horse, his stride and form are all diminished.
In 1954, Martha Jackson, a trendy contemporary art gallery owner who made Pollock famous, is offered a 19th century painting of a race horse. Although the artist is unknown, Martha becomes obsessed with the painting, which reminds her of the horse she once rode before her mother died in a tragic horse riding accident.
In Kentucky in 1850, a small bay foal is born and Jarrett, an enslaved groomsman, is tasked with taking care of him. They form an incredible bond and the horse goes on to be one of the fastest thoroughbreds, breaking race track records throughout the South. An itinerant artist captures the bond between the horse and Jarrett, several times over the course of the horses’ career, even as the horse and Jarrett are sold to different owners and the Civil War tears the county apart.
Brooks is masterful in telling this story based on a real horse called Lexington, one of the fastest race horses who ever lived. She tells it by using different character’s voices and weaving them back and forth as the truth of Lexington and Jarrett’s lives are revealed. Probing and insightful, Brooks lifts up the tragedy of slavery and explores how its malign influence still has power over our lives even now. This was a powerful and important book one that not only tops my “Best of the Year” list, but also needs to be added on to my “Best Ever” book list!
Brenda’s Rating: ***** (5 out of 5 Stars)
Recommend this book to: Marian, Lauren Keith, Ken and Sharon.
Book Study Worthy? Yes!
Read in e-library format.
January 6 Report: Findings from the Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the United States Capitol.
Five people are dead. The car is a Mercedes, a rich man’s car but only a traumatized servant remains at the scene. Reviewers call this “sensational,” “dazzling,” huge epic, immersive and absorbing!” Sounds exciting, right?
Anthem by Noah Hawley
seems like a perfect opportunity! This time she is exploring the instinct to protect the ones we love and the grief and pain we feel when we cannot. Divided into three parts, this theme is explored from a town house in Washington Square Park in different time periods. In 1893, a scion of a wealthy family chooses to marry a poor music teacher rather than someone of his own class. In 1993 Yangiahra explores the AIDS epidemic and in 2093 she explores a world riven by plague and a totaltitarian regime. I look forward to reading this!
The set up is quite good: A sister, Jess, comes to Paris to crash with her half brother, Ben, while she recovers from a bad job break up and sorts out what she wants do with her life. But when she arrives he is not there, and the longer she stays and the longer he remains missing, the more suspicious she gets of everyone in the building.
Molly Gray is a maid at the Regency Grand Hotel. She is fastidious and meticulous and a stickler for proper etiquette. She is in many ways the ideal person for the job, however, she has trouble reading people and finds social interactions a bit challenging. Her grandmother had been the one who helped her understand people but she passed away months ago and Molly, now twenty-five, is on her own.
Another must read book is 
knew that an octopus could be a main character of a deeply moving and touching novel? If you don’t believe me, then you have to read this book! Van Pelt’s simple yet evocative writing pulls you in and before you know it you are invested in the life of an octopus in ways you never thought possible! 
The was also a year in which I read a number of feminist novels that were quite enlightening. 
Finally, 
I have been looking for something that could help balance all the madness and, on the recommendation of a friend, I found a book that has helped me find a moment in my day to become quiet, to get myself in sync with the quietness of winter and to learn about the mystery of new beginnings.
Joe McGrady, a police detective in Honolulu, Hawaii, is called in, after work hours in November of 1941, to the scene of a horrific murder on the outskirts of the city. Although initially they identified a male body that had been mutilated, they later found another female body under a pile of clothes as they were going over the scene of the crime. The man was later identified as the nephew of a high ranking military commander, the woman, however, could not be as easily identified. Tasked with finding the killer, McGrady begins by trying to identify the woman, which also leads him to the killer who he now believes is in Hong Kong. In early December, McGrady is authorized to follow the killer across the Pacific. But the winds of war soon overtake McGrady as the Japanese military begins its assault, first in Hawaii and in Hong Kong and now he must figure out how to survive, while keeping his hopes of bringing the killer to justice alive.
Lachlan Kite is a member of an elite black ops outfit called Box 88. His cover is that he works in finance in London, which allows him travel extensively. Married and now expecting their first child, Lachlan is feeling more settled than he has ever felt before. So it is unsettling to find that one of his childhood friends, someone his own age, has suddenly died.
Brenda's Bookshelf 