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kairosdreaming's review against another edition
3.0
So a quick Wikipedia search showed that there are over 200 titles in the Chicken Soup for the Soul series. Don't worry, I'm not going to review them all, I don't think I could handle that. But I am going to read and review all of the ones on my bookshelf already, so I can justify getting rid of them. This book wasn't actually that bad, it had some decent stories in it.
Chicken Soup for the Horse Lover's Soul is about horses (and maybe a mule or two). So obviously if you are not a horse lover, this probably isn't the book for you. It's broken down into different sections, like "And....They're Off" which describes horse racing or "Horses as Healers" which shows the calming influences of horses. All of the stories are short stories, no more than a few pages long. I can't say there were really any stories that stood out for me or that I was particularly taken with. They were all nice in that calming sort of way these books have, but nothing was outstanding. And in the beginning at least, a lot of these stories involved the horse dying. Which was a little disturbing to start a book out that way, especially considering it was supposed to be uplifting.
Since this book is more about horses than people, obviously the little quirks described are all the horses. There are stories about difficult to train horses, horses that are so sweet they'll do anything, horses that are good with children, etc. It kind of shows that horses have their own personalities aside from just being animals. I've never really spent that much time around horses, so this part at least, was informative to me. It also made me a little jealous though, no matter how much I wished for a horse as a child, I never got one, and I only got to go riding once or twice. But I guess for a city girl, that's pretty good. I have a feeling that people who were around horses more would find it easier to relate to this book.
The format of this book is a good one for reading in little doses. Sure you can read the book in one sitting if you'd like, but if you're one of those people that prefers to take a few pages at a time, this book really lends itself to that. The short story format is easy to read and there are a lot of stories in this book. And a good variety of them too, although after awhile some start to sound the same.
An ok book, good for those who love horses or short inspiring stories. I can't say that I'd ever read this book again, but it was good for a first time read.
Chicken Soup for the Horse Lover's Soul
Copyright 2003
414 pages
Review by M. Reynard 2013
More of my reviews can be found at www.ifithaswords.blogspot.com
Chicken Soup for the Horse Lover's Soul is about horses (and maybe a mule or two). So obviously if you are not a horse lover, this probably isn't the book for you. It's broken down into different sections, like "And....They're Off" which describes horse racing or "Horses as Healers" which shows the calming influences of horses. All of the stories are short stories, no more than a few pages long. I can't say there were really any stories that stood out for me or that I was particularly taken with. They were all nice in that calming sort of way these books have, but nothing was outstanding. And in the beginning at least, a lot of these stories involved the horse dying. Which was a little disturbing to start a book out that way, especially considering it was supposed to be uplifting.
Since this book is more about horses than people, obviously the little quirks described are all the horses. There are stories about difficult to train horses, horses that are so sweet they'll do anything, horses that are good with children, etc. It kind of shows that horses have their own personalities aside from just being animals. I've never really spent that much time around horses, so this part at least, was informative to me. It also made me a little jealous though, no matter how much I wished for a horse as a child, I never got one, and I only got to go riding once or twice. But I guess for a city girl, that's pretty good. I have a feeling that people who were around horses more would find it easier to relate to this book.
The format of this book is a good one for reading in little doses. Sure you can read the book in one sitting if you'd like, but if you're one of those people that prefers to take a few pages at a time, this book really lends itself to that. The short story format is easy to read and there are a lot of stories in this book. And a good variety of them too, although after awhile some start to sound the same.
An ok book, good for those who love horses or short inspiring stories. I can't say that I'd ever read this book again, but it was good for a first time read.
Chicken Soup for the Horse Lover's Soul
Copyright 2003
414 pages
Review by M. Reynard 2013
More of my reviews can be found at www.ifithaswords.blogspot.com
bookworm1909's review against another edition
4.0
After a long day of work and college, I love the short but uplifting, inspirational, or sometimes emotionally sad stories about horses and their owners/riders. I have only ridden a horse a couple of times, but through reading this stories I feel like I am closer to understanding this amazing creature.
melomindy's review against another edition
4.0
Decided not to keep this one, though I loved it growing up.
cheryl6of8's review against another edition
3.0
This book came into my hands from a bookbox. I was already planning on giving away a large number of horse-themed books for the Becky's Hugs Release Challenge this February, so I thought it might make a good addition to that cause. (http://www.bookcrossing.com/forum/23/514818. Becky is the daughter of my friend ResQgeek. She was tragically killed when hit by a car while riding her bike. ResQgeek sponsor a release challenge every year in her honor, and also maintains a webpage. Becky's love lives in you! Live her love by sharing Becky's hugs! Visit the Becky's Hugs page at Facebook. http://www.BeckysHugs.com.) I usually only give away children's books, which I register in honor of Becky, but thought it might be interesting to try giving away a book for a grown-up as well.
Of course, before I could give it away, I had to read it. I am not a horse-crazy person and I have only been on a horse once or twice in my life, both times when I was very small. I still enjoyed the stories and found them funny and poignant and uplifting and all of the other things you expect from a Chicken Soup collection. Made a nice compilation to read on a hermit weekend.
Of course, before I could give it away, I had to read it. I am not a horse-crazy person and I have only been on a horse once or twice in my life, both times when I was very small. I still enjoyed the stories and found them funny and poignant and uplifting and all of the other things you expect from a Chicken Soup collection. Made a nice compilation to read on a hermit weekend.
saraleoni's review against another edition
3.0
I had thought the stories would be more spiritual but otherwise good. Many were sad, as tends to be the case with animal stories.
ashes2ashes's review against another edition
5.0
I loved reading this. It was a bit slow at times because there isn't one story with a plot; it's a collection of a ton of individual stories. They're all horse stories, so I absolutely loved it. Definitely would recommend for anyone who loves horses and is a fan of the Chicken Soup books.
ashwise360's review
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
lighthearted
reflective
relaxing
sad
medium-paced
5.0
granite's review
2.0
For a book about horses, there's too much Jesus, with no other religious practices mentioned except when convenient to use quotes about horses from the Qu'ran (which are attributed to "Arabic proverbs", nice, guys). Did I miss that the Chicken Soup books were obnoxiously Christian as a child? Are they supposed to be? Is it just an unfortunate side effect?
Entire racehorse section boring and repetitive, huge differences in quality between pieces, not enough copy-editing, lots of fetishization of disability -- we get a ton of ~inspiring~ pieces from parents, but no actual words from the people they're writing about.
Some very sweet, good pieces; I especially enjoyed the ones that did not attempt to proselytize and instead emphasized horse-human connection. You know. The stated point of the book.
Entire racehorse section boring and repetitive, huge differences in quality between pieces, not enough copy-editing, lots of fetishization of disability -- we get a ton of ~inspiring~ pieces from parents, but no actual words from the people they're writing about.
Some very sweet, good pieces; I especially enjoyed the ones that did not attempt to proselytize and instead emphasized horse-human connection. You know. The stated point of the book.
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