The Pioneer Woman: Black Heels to Tractor Wheels

Book Review

Reading "The Pioneer Woman:  Black Heels to Tractor Wheels" by Ree Drummond was quick and fun!  I have been reading her blog for over a year now, and I really enjoy her sense of humor, beautiful pictures, and descriptions of life on the ranch.

So, when I saw her book on the shelf at the library, it was a purely instinctive reaction for me to grab it.  Never mind that I was already in the middle of two books and had three more books waiting for me.  I told myself that I wasn't going to get distracted with The Pioneer Woman and that I would finish The Remains of the Day before cracking her open.

Nope.

It didn't work.

I plowed through the first third of the book the same evening I picked it up.  I just couldn't resist!  A day and a half later, I was done and I throughly enjoyed it!  Ree is light and funny, even when things aren't so great.

A Love Story

Here Ree tells us the story of meeting and falling in love with her husband.  Her intentions didn't include a ranch, horses, or cattle, but that's where she was drawn.  She describes in hilarious detail the mid-twenties life she knew, all of which was about to change.  And maybe one is blind to things when in love, since she seems rather startled, after returning from their honeymoon, to find herself alone in the house on the ranch during the day.  And it is quiet.  And she is alone.  And there are no stores within gazillions of miles.  And she is alone, without a soul in sight of the house.

Oh, except for the cows in her yard.

One might have expected her to spend a little more time thinking about what life on the ranch might mean, once the hubby returns "to work" full-time.  But maybe that's just how blind love can be.

Heartaches

Ree doesn't hesitate to include us in her heartaches too.  She doesn't spend a lot of time dwelling on them, which is good, but I didn't quite get a sense of how deeply she was affected by these things.  Maybe because her humor was there, maybe because it was difficult to share or express.  Either way, this is not a heart-wrenching account of those experiences, and that is probably just fine, given the focus of the book.  When I picked it up, it didn't expect or want it to be a tearjerker.

I read the entire book in a day and a half, and I loved every minute of it!  Clearly, I had trouble putting it down.  I'd like to hear more stories of the ranch, just so I can laugh along with Ree!