Seabiscuit: An American Legend

by Laura Hillenbrand (performed by Richard M. Davidson; Recorded Books 2001)

When I was a horsy kid growing up in New Jersey, I knew all about Seabiscuit, Man o’ War, War Admiral and other famous racehorses, but the details had faded by the time I reached adulthood.  I first read Seabiscuit a few years ago when it was first published, and I read articles about Laura Hillenbrand’s struggle with chronic fatigue syndrome.  I saw the movie, and recently listened to the audio book. It seems I can’t get enough of it!

I was kind of amazed at first how this story of a horse appealed to so many people, but when I read it, I understood: this is not just the story of a horse.  It is a story of an era (the 1930s), and it is the story of three amazing human beings: owner Charles S. Howard, who started out as a bicycle mechanic and became a car mogul; trainer Tom Smith, who disliked people but loved and understood horses; and jockey Red Pollard, who did not understand the word “quit”.  How Howard, Smith and Pollard worked together to turn around the career of this most unusual little horse to make him the 1930s equivalent of a rock star makes a fascinating read.  As good as the movie was, there is no substitute for reading (or listening to) this wonderful book.

Smiling at Shadows: A Mother’s Journey Raising an Autistic Child

by Junee Waites & Helen Swinbourne (Ulysses Press 2003)

This is a very moving account of the life of a severely autistic child and his loving parents, who like many parents of children with disabilities, discovered strengths in themselves they probably never knew they had.  Australians Junee and Rod Waites tried to understand their son Dane’s world as much as possible, finding that his autism brought unusual gifts along with its well-known deficits.  Their struggle to educate Dane and make him as independent as possible is inspiring.  Dane functions amazingly well in a world that must have been as strange to him as another planet.

The Sunday Philosophy Club

by Alexander McCall Smith (narrated by Davina Porter; Recorded Books)

I am an enthusiastic fan of Mma Ramotswe and the No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency series, but it has taken me years to get around to reading Alexander McCall Smith’s other series, The Sunday Philosophy Club and its sequels: Friends, Lovers, Chocolate; The Right Attitude to Rain; and The Careful Use of Compliments. Although not quite up to the standard of The No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency, this is a delightful series. The novels are billed as mysteries and the protagonist, Isabel Dalhousie, as a sleuth; but they aren’t really mysteries (any more than the No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency stories are) and Isabel is a 42-year-old independently wealthy philosopher and editor of The Review of Applied Ethics. She is incorrigibly interested in the affairs of others and constantly getting herself embroiled in their business, much to the dismay of her friends. I think Isabel is McCall Smith’s way of pondering the common ethical questions we all meet in daily life (When is it okay to lie? What is our obligations to our fellow humans? etc.). Isabel’s niece Kat, Kat’s rejected suitor Jamie, Isabel’s no-nonsense housekeeper Grace, and the various characters who people the novels are portrayed in that marvelously succinct way he has. There is a love story entwined in the series which unfolds at a leisurely pace. I like Isabel very much, despite her tendency to meddle, and I enjoy the sense of place with which these novels are embued. They renew my wish to visit Scotland.