Last year I aimed to read at least 30 books, with a good number of non-fiction or classics. This was to try and cut down my To Be Read pile which grows every time I enter a book shop. Not sure why I am so easily led by books jostling for my attention and then pleading for me to take them home. Obviously I am a soft touch. I often buy classics not just because they look good on my bookshelf (and makes me look cleverer than I am) but because they genuinely sound interesting and I'd like to read them some day when time is available.
Sometimes the hype just isn't worth it though as I found with Laurence Sterne's Tristram Shandy. One chapter in (and that was a slog) and now it sits unread on my bookcase. Had it been 20th or 21st century dross it would have found its way to a charity shop, but as it is 'classic' 18th century rubbish, Laurence has a reprieve.
But other times I pick up a book and feel inspired, motivated or/and that I've learnt something new. And so it was last year with Waypoints and The Man Who Listens to Horses.
Waypoints was a library book written by Sam Heughan. I admit I didn't know who he was until I started reading and realised he was a Scottish actor and was the star of the series Outlander, a time travel historical saga which sounded intriguing.
Sam embarks on his own Highland adventure - a hike along the West Highland Way (this was why I picked the book up in the first place, it's a long distance walk that interests me). Unlike many people, he starts it in November and decides to wild camp along the way. At least that what he's thinking when he sets off.
Whether he continues to wild camp in the Highlands in November ... I will leave it to you to discover. No spoilers here! I enjoyed this book immensely, it's descriptive enough that you can imagine what's it like for Sam but not overly so. It won't win awards for nature writing. But I got a feel for what it might be like to walk it with the ups and downs and the fellow hikers he meets en route. Intermingled with this current journey, he looks back at his life journey, his formative years and how he ended up as an actor. I had never heard of Sam beforehand but by the end of the book I felt that I had got to know him. He comes across as a likeable down-to-earth man. Two other ideas I had by the end of the book... If I had the time I might like to watch or read Outlander one day. And walking the West Highland Way and climbing Ben Nevis are now on my Wish List.
Another book I read was Monty Roberts' The Man Who Listens to Horses. There was a film out in the 1990s called The Horse Whisperer. I haven't seen it and when I read a dog training manual some years back, which mentioned Monty Roberts, I wondered if The Horse Whisperer was based on his life. I don't think it is but his life story certainly has the makings of an absorbing movie.
Born in the 1930s, Monty's life has been immersed in horses since a small boy. His parents worked at the Salinas Rodeo Competition Grounds and ran a riding school on the site. From a young age, he was entered into horse shows and competed regularly. His father was also a man whose horsemanship techniques were conventional for that time but also cruel. And this cruelty is something Monty rebels against. When he observes mustangs in the wild as a teen, he gradually invents a new way of taming horses, one that 'listens' to the horses and communicates via body language. As well as learning about Monty's life, I discovered things I didn't know about horses. This £1 purchase from a charity shop while on holiday was a good buy!
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