Riding Lessons: A Novel | 
 enlarge | Author: Sara Gruen
Publisher: Harper Paperbacks
Category: Book
List Price: $13.95
Buy New: $4.38
You Save: $9.57 (69%)
New (45) Used (32) from $3.75
Avg. Customer Rating:  91 reviews
Sales Rank: 4524
Media: Paperback
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 416
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.8
Dimensions (in): 8 x 5.3 x 1.3
ISBN: 0061241083
Dewey Decimal Number: 813.6
EAN: 9780061241086
ASIN: 0061241083
Publication Date: April 1, 2007
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Shipping: Expedited shipping available
Shipping: International shipping available
Condition: New. No dust jacket as issued. Trade paperback (US). Glued binding. 387 p. Audience: General/trade.
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Product Description
As a world-class equestrian and Olympic contender, Annemarie Zimmer lived for the thrill of flight atop a strong, graceful animal. Then, at eighteen, a tragic accident destroyed her riding career and Harry, the beautiful horse she cherished. Now, twenty years later, Annemarie is coming home to her dying father's New Hampshire horse farm. Jobless and abandoned, she is bringing her troubled teenage daughter to this place of pain and memory, where ghosts of an unresolved youth still haunt the fields and stables—and where hope lives in the eyes of the handsome, gentle veterinarian Annemarie loved as a girl . . . and in the seductive allure of a trainer with a magic touch. But everything will change yet again with one glimpse of a white striped gelding startlingly similar to the one Annemarie lost in another lifetime. And an obsession is born that could shatter her fragile world.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 86 more reviews...
 Hilarious, but not in a good way July 22, 2008
My wife and I had this book on CD for a long car trip. We picked it on the basis of availability and Gruen's Water for Elephants. We listened to the end only because it was all we had, and because we developed a fascination with how bad it was, wondering how the author could turn this self-centered, singularly unappealing character into someone sympathetic who grew and learned by the end.
Well, it never happened. She never grew, never became more reasonable, never took an interest in others except how they reflected back on her. In a more mature writer's hands, this might've become a powerful portrait of a totally dysfunctional, tragic character.
At some point, we lost all curiosity about how the author would redeem this character, because it was clear she wouldn't. And because she was the narrator, we never learned much of interest about any of the other characters. Eventually, it became a challenge -- could we make it to the end?
We agreed if we were reading the book, we both would've tossed it across the room long ago. But we egged each other on, taking turns predicting plot twists and laughing uproariously at the heroine's self-absorbed descriptions of her trials.
At the end, we both burst into laughter -- at relief we had made it all the way and at the author's ham-handed romance novel descriptions. Unless you like bodice rippers, learn a lesson from our experience and run, run away from this book!
 Awesome book July 11, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
I have not picked up a book for fun for years, but I was at Live and Let Live Farm (which is mentioned in the acknowledgments) adopting a horse (who resembles "Flicka" in the story...a black Arabian mare...) and I noticed this book. It took me a while, but then I saw the book on the shelf at Walmart, and I decided to suck it up and buy it.
At first, the author's style was different than what i was used to. I wasn't sure if I was going to like it. She uses a lot of adjectives and is very descriptive, but as I read more, I grew to really enjoy the style.
I didn't want to put the book down, but at the same time, I dreaded finishing it, because then it would be done. No more book to read. The story flowed so smoothly, and was believeable. I am a horse person, and the author either knew about horses or did a lot of research. It was nice to read the correct terms when it came to the horses.
I definitely recommend this book to any horse lover who also enjoys a good read. I would also recommend this book to anyone who likes a good story about a woman trying to get back on her feet after her life falls apart.
fast read for horse lovers June 30, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
Great beach reading! I read this book in one sitting. The story moves well and I enjoyed the author's intimate knowledge of horses. I reccommend this book to all my "horsey" friends.
Riding Lessons June 9, 2008
1 out of 4 found this review helpful
Was very disappointed in this one Sara wrote. After reading Water for Elephants,
figured it would be a shoo-in, it was not. A manic, depressed, spoiled, woman that never got it. Gave the reader nothing but pitty-pot,from beginning to end
Many Story Lines - keeps your interest June 3, 2008
1 out of 2 found this review helpful
The first twenty pages rope you into the story & there are another 360 pages to go....SO MUCH HAPPENS you HAVE to keep reading. There are a few story lines going on simultaneously & you really can't figure out where everything will end up. The end is a little predictable but good reading all the same. I JUST HAD to read the last 50 pages to know exactly how it ends.
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