I enjoyed the audio book. It was not too difficult to follow. The interesting story and occurrences with the writing style of McDougall made this a worthwhile read. ( )

I'm enjoying the book although it is not a page turner like some of the books I read. I definitely want to finish it, the story of the young donkey being the main thread, it is interwoven with many threads leading in different directions but coming back to Sherman and each animal and person who comes in contact with him. ( )

Wow! Even the tangents and rabbit holes the author goes through are interesting and are brought back into the main story. This book actually gave me goosebumps in the ending of the next to the last chapter - never had that happen before. ( )

McDougall is such a compelling writer it's incredible. I teared up multiple times during reading about the friendships and relationships between Chris and his family and the donkeys and all their friends. All the information about human and animal connections were endlessly fascinating and well weaved in. The details about Amish life were also, though very much side notes, really well added in, and I got a huge sense of the community Chris and Mika live in and why they'd choose to be there. I had a great moment earlier today when I met a guy who's run the Leadville 100 and we got to geek out about BORN TO RUN, but honestly I think this one sits closer to my heart. ( )

A good friend of mine - whose idea of a good time is competing in triathlons - and I met for our weekly coffee/tea a couple of weeks ago, and she said "I have a book I think you'd like." I looked at her with heavy scepticism, because she reads running books and cookbooks, and I'd rather starve than cook, and be eaten rather than run. "No, really; it's written by a runner, but it's about a donkey and I SWEAR nothing bad happens to the donkey, and it's ends happily." She knows me well.

So I brought the book home, and when MT saw it, he said, with heavy scepticism, "Is that supposed to be for me to read?", thereby proving that the only person he thought less likely to be interested in the book than himself, was me. So I started explaining how the book ended up on our coffee table and as I did, I opened it to the first page.

And was completely captivated. I don't mean "oh, this actually looks good" in an idle sort of way, I mean once I started reading it, I couldn't stop and I heard MT ask about 30 minutes later: "Did you mean to start reading that now?" Er... no, but shhh...

Part of this easy engagement definitely stemmed from my friend's assurances that the story ended well; if she hadn't sworn up and down that this was so, I'd have thrown the book down before I got to page 2 and refused to touch it again. The donkey may end up in a great place, but he doesn't start there. Horrifying fact: donkey's hooves never stop growing; they have to be trimmed or else they start curling upwards.

The story in a nutshell is this: the author, a runner, agrees to shelter and rehabilitate a donkey rescued from a hoarder. Part of the donkey's recovery success depends on being given a purpose, and at a loss for anything more purposeful, and with a secret curiosity about the sport of donkey racing, the author starts the donkey on the long path from death's door to racing fit.

That nutshell makes it sound like it's still more about racing than the more sedentary reader would like, but it isn't. This book is about the donkey - Sherman - and his fellow goat and equine friends, Lawrence, Flower and Matilda; it's about the people involved in helping Sherman be his best donkey self, and, as filler to pad out the page count, a lot of interesting asides about related topics, such as the history of donkey racing (honest to god, it's a thing), the people involved in racing donkeys, the benefits of animal/human relations, the benefits and dangers (in excess) of athletic training, depression, and the Amish. Yes, the Amish. It works.

McDougall is, at heart, a journalist, and the writing style and narrative reflect that. It's well written and an easy read, but it lacks that formal, reserved style sometimes found in similar books. It's chatty, and his personality comes through clearly, as does Sherman's and his furry friends. Who are awesome, by the way.

Running with Sherman is the best kind of feel good book, where the animal triumphs in the end, and everybody wins. As the reader who'd rather be eaten than run (not really, but it's a close thing), I'd happily recommend this book to anybody looking for an easy but worthwhile read. ( )