Fans pick 100 books like The Sand Pounder

While history tells a very pragmatic story about our human tendency to gather near water, literature tells more haunting stories of water. The literature of my youth was no different. In these books, water and watery habitats are both settings and characters. Sometimes protagonist, sometimes antagonist, always present. Perhaps my years of immersion in these books imprinted so deeply that I had no choice but to arrange my first poetry collection as a journey of water. After all, water is one of Earth’s clocks, and I prefer its version of time.

I have horse blood in my veins. I’ve loved horses ever since I knew what amazing animals they are. I grew up in a town where no one could house a horse. As I read about horses and learned more about them, I dreamed about the day I could have my very own. As a married adult with 4 acres of property and a little barn, I finally had my own horses over a 20-year period. The knowledge I gained by having my own beloved animals and caring for 12 foster children prepared me to write the Keystone Stables series about foster girl, Skye Nicholson, and her quarter horse, Champ. 

I have horse blood in my veins. I’ve loved horses ever since I knew what amazing animals they are. I grew up in a town where no one could house a horse. As I read about horses and learned more about them, I dreamed about the day I could have my very own. As a married adult with 4 acres of property and a little barn, I finally had my own horses over a 20-year period. The knowledge I gained by having my own beloved animals and caring for 12 foster children prepared me to write the Keystone Stables series about foster girl, Skye Nicholson, and her quarter horse, Champ. 

I have horse blood in my veins. I’ve loved horses ever since I knew what amazing animals they are. I grew up in a town where no one could house a horse. As I read about horses and learned more about them, I dreamed about the day I could have my very own. As a married adult with 4 acres of property and a little barn, I finally had my own horses over a 20-year period. The knowledge I gained by having my own beloved animals and caring for 12 foster children prepared me to write the Keystone Stables series about foster girl, Skye Nicholson, and her quarter horse, Champ. 

I have always loved exploring, whether it is on the shelves of the library or on a car trip. Growing up, we left our sheltered home in New England and piled into our dad’s car. We explored caves in Virginia and South Dakota, the ocean in Massachusetts and Maine, and museums from Chicago to Boston. In historical fiction, I see the boundaries of human experience, knowing people and places I could never in reality experience. I learn empathy, history, natural science, and political science in these pages. For me, a good historical novel is as good as a vacation, delving into the past, sight-seeing, window-shopping, and experiencing beyond the everyday.

I have been horse-obsessed since before I can remember. I begged my parents for lessons and read every horse book I could, starting with Misty of Chincoteague and the Black Stallion series. I let life lead me away from horses, but I came back after almost two decades away. Now, I write about horses for a living and work with them daily–the main theme of my life in both books and business is connection. I write nonfiction and fiction books and have a hilariously honest and fun podcast called Adulting with Horses, where we talk about our favorite topic. Want to guess what it is? 

My favorite mode of transport is being on the back of a good horse. I have enjoyed horse treks in Ecuador on the Inca Trail, in the backcountry of British Columbia, the High Sierras, and on the Wild West coast of Ireland, as well as numerous stays at guest’s ranches in the U.S. My equestrian articles have appeared in Equus, Horse Illustrated, and California Riding Magazine, to name a few. A back injury forced me to give up my mare and the riding world I loved. Writing The Cowgirl Jumped over the Moon was my way of letting go and moving forward in life.

My favorite mode of transport is being on the back of a good horse. I have enjoyed horse treks in Ecuador on the Inca Trail, in the backcountry of British Columbia, the High Sierras, and on the Wild West coast of Ireland, as well as numerous stays at guest’s ranches in the U.S. My equestrian articles have appeared in Equus, Horse Illustrated, and California Riding Magazine, to name a few. A back injury forced me to give up my mare and the riding world I loved. Writing The Cowgirl Jumped over the Moon was my way of letting go and moving forward in life.

From the moment my grandmother told me that books were not created by magic, but that real people write books (I was five years old) I knew that I wanted to become a writer—as surely as did Anne in Anne of Green Gables. Themes of the joy, the complexity, and responsibility of friendship and family, of working together despite great challenges to overcome obstacles for purposes beyond ourselves, and of doing that while sometimes working through stages of grief all resonate with me, are all part of my life. The books I’ve recommended, as well as the books I’ve written, contain those themes.

I'm a poet and creative mentor, and it’s the intensity of poetic language – its expansiveness and limitations – that shows up in my fiction and in the novels I love. Quinn is an exploration of male violence, incarceration, and radical forgiveness. I’ve spent a decade working with long-term prisoners in Scotland, trying to understand and come to terms with notions of justice and responsibility: does guilt begin and end with the perpetrator of a violent act or are we all in some way culpable? How can literary form dig into this question aslant? Can the unsettled mind be a space for innovative thinking?