Half Broke Horses: A True-Life Novel

jeannette's second novel is not bad, but the glass castle is way better. as the other reviews have explained.

i decided i would give it try because i am so intrigued by jeanette and her entire family. half broke horses is about her grandmother smith (rosemary's side of family) before she was born. setting back when land was priceless and "cowboys and ranchers were a way of life.

you can read them in chronically order since this does occur before the "adventures" of the walls family. but you will not get the some of things that happen to the smith family unless you read the glass castle before.

pros: great story, reading is very easy you can easily picture the desert, ranch and cattle life; still interesting because lily casey smith still has her own adventures and ideologies that make this family who they are today. grandma lily is still a strong, clever and easily adaptable character/ person.

cons: not even close to being as humorous as the glass castle, i love jeannete walls; even though it was meant to be the voice of lily casey smith in the back of my mind i was still hearing jeannette talking like she was reading the diary of her grandmother. but maybe because i was so captured by jeannette i couldn't get her off my mind.

read if you would like to read more of jeannette's writing, but if you haven't read the glass castle you have no idea what you are missing.

half broke horses can be skipped, if you want.

Half Broke Horses is the true-life story of Lily Casey Smith, grandmother of Jeannette Walls. It's a compelling story in which we follow this amazingly strong and resourceful woman through her challenging life. At the age of 6, we find Lily helping her father to break horses in. At age 15 she is working independently at a teaching job that she loves, enduring a 500 mile solitary and dangerous journey to get there. A little later we find her the mother of two children, one of which is familiar to some Jeannette Walls fans, as the memorable mother, Rosemary Smith-Walls from the book The Glass Castle. Constantly, Lily finds her life to be a struggle as she survives tornadoes, personal heartbreak, the Great Depression and much more, all of which makes Half Broke Horses one of those books that you will find it hard to put down.

I have to admit, I read The Glass Castle a while ago and find myself struggling to remember any of the content (I shall definitely be revisiting that book in the near future) but I did remember that I greatly enjoyed it. As such I was looking forward to checking out Half Broke Horses and I knew from learning about the book online, that I needn't have read, or remembered The Glass Castle to enjoy this title.

Half Broke Horses is an addictive read. I had serious problems putting this book down for any length of time and as such, I finished it in just a day. I couldn't help but devour this title and the writing style of Jeannette Walls brings the characters and background to life in a truly memorable and beautiful way. I found myself to filled with envy as Lily spoke of the lands she worked, lands so dry and desolate but turned into a private oasis with hand-crafted lakes such as Big Jim. The beauty of these lands only scarred momentarily by tornadoes, floods, and droughts as we witness Lily and her family do everything they must in order to survive everything Mother Nature has in store for them.

I found myself longing for these open spaces, and for such a closeness with nature. I also found myself really admiring the family atmosphere on the ranches as the owners and staff alike worked so hard to make it thrive.

A heartwarming read that I know I shall visit again!

I absolutely loved Walls' "The Glass Castle" but this was pretty good too. Interesting stories about an interesting woman. And Walls has a way of writing that keeps you intrigued and entertained.

So, as I sit here with my diet coke and bag of microwave popcorn and finish the last 60 pages, then go to the sink and rinse my hands with running water, I feel inexplicably grateful for what I have. Not to have grown up on johnnycakes and beef jerky...eating a raw onion to escape scurvy! WOW!
I feel honoured to have experienced the struggles and realities of the people living in southern USA by way of Miss Walls before phones, cars and through the wars and the depression...the adventure and danger runneth over. Another fascinating read by Jeannette Walls. ENJOY!!

I bought this book for my husband for Christmas after reading a review. I did not read it but probably heard most of what was written. He could hardly put it down and was truely amazed by the true story. On the bases of this I have bought a copy for my mother in law as well as the authors prequil. Glass Castle

I am giving this book 3 stars because it was good and worth reading. However, I had extremely high expectations given that Glass Castle is one of my all-time favourite reads; so I was a tad disappointed. That said, I admired the protagonist's gumption and will to succeed; she made a fortune through blood sweat and tears, in a time that there were no fortunes to be made. There is almost no "pre-quel" quality to this book, and it definitely stands alone from Glass Castle. If you only pick one, read Glass Castle. Hands down.

This was a smart and very funny book. I love her writing style. A must read that will have you considering the interesting aspects of your own family history.

I thought this was another great read just as I did with The Glass Castle. Now I need to read The Glass Castle again as I will have a better appreciation for the story and her parents!

I loved the Glass Castle and was looking forward to this one. Unfortunately, I just couldn't get interested in it. I don't know if it was the voice of the character or what. I didn't finish it.

Fascinating to get the back story for The Glass Castle.

Glass Castles (her first) astounded me so i was eager to read this one. This is a very different book than the first.
This book is a series of vignettes really, outlining stories that happened in the grandmothers life and strung together chronologically. The style is easy to read in short chapters that is supposed to be written in the grandmother's voice. Sometimes it was hard to wrap my mind around terms the grandmother may have used like "crumb-bum" but in context of the grandmother speaking i guess it works.
This is a straight forward story without any themes or grand expectations but i think it succeeds because of it's simple honesty representing a time and person the author obviously respects.

This book is just so amazing. Walls definitely has a true and unique talent for story-telling. The chapters in this novel are very short as they were in The Glass Castle and it makes the book so easy to want to read and continue. Walls tells this story of her grandma in a very raw and true way. I really enjoy her writing because shes not at all fluffy or verbose. She writes simply and clearly and is absolutely amazing at making the reader feel like we've known the characters forever. Walls writes in a very conversational type style that makes the reader really relate to the characters and scenerios no matter how different they are from ones day to day life. Also, I loved that this book is consistent with the details Walls revealed in The Glass Castle. I actually reallly loved the fact that she wrote The Glass Castle first and then in Half Broke Horses, you go back in time and see how and why the events of Jeannette Walls' life unfolded.
Awesome read! Highly highly recommended