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Mare
Mare | Mary Gaitskill
One of the Best Books of the YearThe New York Times The Washington Post NPR San Francisco Chronicle Vanity Fair Milwaukee Journal Sentinel Kansas City Star When Velveteen Vargas, an eleven-year-old Fresh Air Fund kid from Brooklyn, comes to stay with a family in upstate New York, what begins as a two-week visit blossoms into something much more significant. Soon Velvet finds herself torn between her host family Ginger, a failed artist and shakily recovered alcoholic; and Paul, a college professor and her own deeply tormented mother.The one constant becomes Velvet s newly discovered passion for horse riding and especially for an abused, unruly mare named Fugly Girl. A stirring and deeply felt novel, The Mare is Mary Gaitskill s most poignant and powerful work yet a stunning exploration of a girl and her horse, and of the way we connect with people from all walks of life."
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michalamarie
The Mare: A Novel | Mary Gaitskill
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Good read, lots of layers, but ending left me wanting.

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rachelwill
The Mare: A Novel | Mary Gaitskill
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Book 27: (Catching up on books read in 2017!)

A tad longer and drawn out than it perhaps needs to be but, nonetheless, The Mare evolves to be a tale of two cities. Both an antithesis of each other - the fresh air and bareback freedom of the country fights to win over the pollution - moral and environmental - and suffocation of the city. But there is still dirt in the country...

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juliannebenford
The Mare: A Novel | Mary Gaitskill
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My library has a sharing arrangement with two other libraries so I can log into Overdrive through all three - each has different books available. This is how big my wishlist is on just one of them 😅 I go through and add more every time they add new books - and I'll add anything I'm even vaguely interested in, as it's free! I mostly borrow audiobooks as I own so many print books.

MiyakoBunny My library here is similar except it's across the whole state of Georgia it's awesome ... and awesomely addicting 😃🤔😳 7y
22 likes1 comment
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beckygracelea
The Mare: A Novel | Mary Gaitskill
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Done for the week and I've got the house to myself for a brief time so going to make some headway into my next Baileys Prize longlist read. Fascinating so far.

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SavidgeReads
The Mare: A Novel | Mary Gaitskill
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Panpan

Whilst it's definitely readable The Mare bored me & annoyed me overall. Mainly because of the 'white rich couple take in a poor black girl for a while and bond with her and turn her into horse riding star' cliche, then the perfectly happy married couple who actually are happy cliche and also as I felt like it patronised anyone Dominican from whatever walk of life they came from. A well written book, but a slightly tame, easy and lazy one too.

LitHousewife I read her once (Veronica?) and it left me pretty cold. I don't have any desire to pick up anything else. You make me happy to continue doing just that. 8y
42 likes1 stack add1 comment
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mhillis
The Mare: A Novel | Mary Gaitskill
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The Mare was my favorite book this month! #bestofmarch #marchintoreading

58 likes1 stack add
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BookishTrish
Mare | Mary Gaitskill
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Another day, another book #bliss

54 likes2 stack adds1 comment
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EvieBee
The Mare: A Novel | Mary Gaitskill
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I didn't enjoy this book at all. I never finish books that I am not enjoying, but this one made me want to stick around for the ending, which was so anticlimactic that I regretted wasting time on it. #DidntLikeItStillFinished #MarchIntoReading

DivineDiana I think we need another choice beside ❤️️. Because how can you like hate? 8y
MaleficentBookDragon That illustration is creeping me out. 8y
EvieBee @DivineDiana Right? I changed my post though because hate is a strong word and despite how much I disliked it I felt compelled to finish it. So...that's got to be something. 😊 8y
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EvieBee @MaleficentTheBookDragon I wanted you to feel my pain. Just kidding! 😄 8y
slhbooks I've always felt bad about avoiding this book. Now, not so much😉 8y
DivineDiana @EvieBee84 Yes, it shows your commitment to a story that impacted you greatly. ❤️️ 8y
EvieBee @slhbooks I hate saying this, but I don't think you would be adversely affected by not reading it. 😄 8y
70 likes7 comments
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EvieBee
The Mare: A Novel | Mary Gaitskill
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Panpan

Ay caramba. This book. It was a gut puncher, that's for sure. It's supposed to be an urban version of National Velvet, but I felt pretty beat down by the language and disturbing images of life in inner city Brooklyn. It's hard for me to read about child abuse, and I just kept waiting for an adult or friend to step in. Probably why I read to the end. The climax was anticlimactic for me.

Notafraidofwords I had to stop reading this, I just felt no connection to the characters. 8y
EvieBee @Notafraidofwords I can definitely see that! 8y
rubyslippersreads I'm curious about this, but I'm afraid it might ruin National Velvet for me. 8y
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EvieBee @rubyslippersreads I wrote a spoiler free review on Goodreads. The prose about horses was GREAT! Not sure if that will help. My link is in my bio. 8y
rubyslippersreads @EvieBee84 Great review! I don't think I'll move it up my TBR list, but the great prose about horses has me intrigued. 8y
EvieBee @rubyslippersreads Thank you! It moved me so much that I've been looking for another horse book. It's been so long! (edited) 8y
rubyslippersreads @EvieBee84 Let me know if you find a good one. 🐴❤ 8y
monandez Thanks for that warning. Anything to do with child abuse I usually have to skip right through those pages. 8y
EvieBee @monandez You are very welcome! That's such a tough subject. 8y
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EvieBee
The Mare: A Novel | Mary Gaitskill
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"My eyes shot open; I thought, The horses have what people here have (Crown Heights, Brooklyn). They get beat down and locked up but still, when they run, nobody can stop them."

Spent all afternoon and evening listening to this audiobook while cleaning house and decluttering/reorganizing. I was looking for a light, inspirational read but this book is "mad dark." Complex and now I need to just finish it already. How will it end?!? #audible

Donna_sBookMinute I enjoy multi-tasking, too. An audiobook is a trusty companion during housework, walking, keyboarding, driving, etc. -- anything that doesn't require the brain to process data. #audiobook 8y
EvieBee @Donna_sBookMinute Yes! They have definitely come in handy. 8y
GlitteryOtters How do you like the narrator on this audiobook? I just read the description & I definitely want to read this book, I just need to decide if this is better as a visual read or an audio read. 8y
EvieBee @GlitteryOtters I like all of the different narrators. It's mainly two but when the other three speak it always surprises me. I noticed that on Goodreads, many people gave up reading because of impatience but I feel like the audiobook sucks you in and lulls you into the story. (edited) 8y
GlitteryOtters @EvieBee84 awesome, thank you for the feedback! Definitely placing this on my Audible wishlist. 8y
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EvieBee
The Mare: A Novel | Mary Gaitskill
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Just started my first audiobook of the year! This one happens to be an audible book I own, which is great as I'm challenging myself to read my own books this year. #audible #currentlyreading #currentlylisteningto

Donna_sBookMinute Sounds like a really good read. Who is the narrator? 8y
EvieBee @Donna_sBookMinute Enjoying it so far! It's got several narrators: Kyla Garcia, Christa Lewis, Sean Pratt and Nicol Zanzarella. 8y
62 likes2 comments
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DocBrown
The Mare: A Novel | Mary Gaitskill
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Though the plot sounds a bit contrived, this is a richly textured character study that focuses on relationships within and between families. Also an exploration of race, class, age, and identity development. I didn't love it at first, but did by the time I finished it.

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Janet_Rebhan
The Mare: A Novel | Mary Gaitskill
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I really enjoyed this book. It's not so much a page turner as a character study. Mary Gaitskill writes beautifully and insightfully. The relationship between girl and horse is a powerful metaphor. And the insights into art, addiction and relationship ring so very true.

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Snakes6atx
The Mare: A Novel | Mary Gaitskill
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This book was uncomfortable to read in the best way. It was not a perfect read for me, but it made me think and feel and I respect it for that. I am definitely going to read more from this author.

Sydsavvy Not easy, but plausible. I thought it was well done. 9y
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tkmadden
The Mare: A Novel | Mary Gaitskill
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My dear Mary Gaitskill has everyone talking about her new hit "The Mare" -- a tender, fierce story of love, disconnection, and horses. In other news, here we are checking mailboxes for the No Tokens letter writing contest. It's the year of Gaitskill!

14 likes3 stack adds