Easy read, but it was intended for a younger audience. The concept of writing a book from the perspective of the horse is not unique: if you can attribute personalities to horses then you will find this book more believable -- not everyone does. The tale manages to wind its way around the battlefield and offer different perspectives of the war, which should appeal to anyone with interest or family ties to those times. This book ultimately points out that many of the war heroes were unceremoniously left behind when it was time to go home.

"Witty" is a word that is missing from the list above and would have been my first choice. I think a lot of people get turned off by this book because there's little explanation on the cover or inserts, just some weird pictures to capture your interest. I took a chance and by the end could not put it down!

It takes a while to get into the story: a 19-year-old London busybody elects to live with her country farm cousins after her parents die, but sets off with the intention of transforming their lives one by one to her own satisfaction. It's brilliantly written, poking fun of every possible aspect of the story; I was literally smiling or chuckling for most of the second half. I can't believe it was written in 1932, it's such a timeless and funny perspective of the social etiquette of the times -- but not really, considering parts of it were scandalously edgy for it's time.

The blog-like format of this book lent itself well to reading it during daily commutes. Watching it as a documentary might have been a better use of time but a lot of the posts' meanings would have been lost since Jacobs is quite a verbose, interpretive writer. The premise is so simple and amazing; Jacobs tries to be pragmatic and open-minded, but it's pretty clear he's hamming it up for the most part. "Boastful" would be the best word to describe it -- he's following *all* the rules to the letter, out-talking a Jehovah's Witness, creating strain in his marriage and with his son, out-smarting the Bible with feeble substitutions (stoning adulterers by dropping pebbles on their shoes or using a Nerf bat to "beat" his son) in order to check them off, and then there's his biggest vanity: his enormous beard. Overall, the book is entertaining, especially when exposing us to the absurdities that comes from the Bible. Jacobs provides numerous perspectives throughout the book while keeping true to his original purpose, and ultimately concludes that people should strive to be more conscientious.