Buff: A Collie by Albert Payson Terhune (1921)
I loved Terhune’s dog books as a kid. Revisiting them now, it’s surprising to see how harsh some of them are. There’s a little of that in “Buff,” but it’s primarily a pretty nice dog/man story, about loyalty and reclamation. Terhune’s weakness is writing people, and there’s too much people in this book to stack up among his best stories. But as always, his understanding of dogs — he really gets them — makes the Buff-centered parts of the story really work. Not the best read, but it was short.
The Compleat Horseplayer by Tom Ainslie (1966)
This classic handicapping tome is old, but the info is still sound. Read it, highlighted it, took the info to the track and put it into play and made enough to enjoy the rest of the day mostly on their money. I have to go through it again to absorb more before I become a obscenely wealthy tycoon, but all such worthy goals take time.
Bright Wings – Billy Collins, Editor (2012)
This is a lovely book full of poems about birds, accompanied by wonderful illustrations. A very nice read.