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Shelley’s Year In Books

Shelley’s 2025 Year in Books

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Elizabeth

5,369 books | 354 friends

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Shelley Lee Riley

Goodreads Author

Born

in Salinas California, The United States

Website

http://www.shelleyleeriley.com

Twitter

Shelleyr1992

Genre

Memoir, Fiction, Young Adult

Member Since

April 2013

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Married to a jockey, I learned my trade as a trainer in the competitive, male-dominated sport of horse racing while I attended California State University, Sacramento. All the while, I worked hard, hoped and dreamed, as I guided the young horses in my care.
Twenty years passed in this way, and one morning, in a snow storm, at a January Thoroughbred sale in Kentucky, lightening struck. The inconceivable happened, when my eyes met those of a small, fuzzy and inquisitive seven month old colt. When I signed the sales tag, after placing the winning bid, I had no way of knowing that I’d just gotten lucky…really lucky. I had struck the mother lode of horse racing, even though I wasn’t to know that for many months to come.
In writing Casual Lies Married to a jockey, I learned my trade as a trainer in the competitive, male-dominated sport of horse racing while I attended California State University, Sacramento. All the while, I worked hard, hoped and dreamed, as I guided the young horses in my care.
Twenty years passed in this way, and one morning, in a snow storm, at a January Thoroughbred sale in Kentucky, lightening struck. The inconceivable happened, when my eyes met those of a small, fuzzy and inquisitive seven month old colt. When I signed the sales tag, after placing the winning bid, I had no way of knowing that I’d just gotten lucky…really lucky. I had struck the mother lode of horse racing, even though I wasn’t to know that for many months to come.
In writing Casual Lies – A Triple Crown Adventure, I quickly found I was writing to an audience, not of horsemen and women, but to the television audience that loves horses and who delights in the beauty and pageantry of the sport of horse racing.
I wanted to give a glimpse into what goes on behind the Network camera lenses, and to those who tune in on the first Saturday in May to watch, arguably, the most famous horserace in the world—The Kentucky Derby. With its pretty horses, colorful crowds and a level of excitement that virtually heaves off the screen, every year’s event is an extravaganza to the senses.
The book is a true-life story about the head strong, talented and charismatic colt that took me to that event, not as a spectator, but as a participant.
Casual Lies never met anyone he didn’t like, and his ardor for life was both palpable and a powerful motivator whenever I would begin to doubt the wisdom of our course and found my hope had begun to fade. Together, we challenged the horses and horsemen at the very pinnacle of the Thoroughbred world.
What I learned from the adventure of a lifetime, was that believing you can, is every bit as important as hope in achieving a dream.
I live in the San Francisco Bay Area with my rescued greyhound Nigel.
www.shelleyriley.com
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Average rating: 4.37 · 73 ratings · 37 reviews · 9 distinct works

	Casual Lies-A Triple Crown Adventure 4.43 avg rating — 35 ratings — published 2013 — 2 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Into Madness (Born From Stone, #1) 4.35 avg rating — 20 ratings — 2 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	For Want of a Horse: A Short Story Collection 3.50 avg rating — 6 ratings — published 2014 — 3 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Labyrinth of Ruin it was amazing 5.00 avg rating — 4 ratings	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Labyrinth of Ruin it was amazing 5.00 avg rating — 3 ratings — published 2024 — 2 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Pilgrim really liked it 4.00 avg rating — 2 ratings — published 2015	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Beezle really liked it 4.00 avg rating — 2 ratings — published 2015	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Leopold it was amazing 5.00 avg rating — 1 rating — 2 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	In Brief: A Short Story Collection 0.00 avg rating — 0 ratings — published 2015	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

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December 12, 2024 My Thoughts & New Challenges

Distraction, singular, is loosely defined as a thing that prevents someone from giving full attention to something else. Make it plural, distractions, and now you have me. Admittedly, I am easily distracted. However, I am always open to a new challenge. Something that would be difficult to achieve. For a woman from the suburbs to find a horse that could be competitive against the best two and thre

Shelley is Currently Reading

Shelley Riley is currently reading

The Pariah (Covenant of Steel, #1)

by Anthony Ryan (Goodreads Author)

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May 05, 2024 02:44PM

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Immortal Hearts The Complete Series (Immortal Hearts #1-5)

by Lilah T. Bane (Goodreads Author)

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Jan 13, 2024 11:11AM

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Winter's Mourn (Winter Black #1)

by Mary Stone (Goodreads Author)

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May 12, 2023 08:36AM

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Shelley Riley rated a book really liked it Quicksilver (Fae & Alchemy, #1) by Callie Hart (Goodreads Author)	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
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Shelley Riley rated a book really liked it Court of Rivals (Their Dragon Rider #1) by Lacey Carter Andersen (Goodreads Author)	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
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Topics Mentioning This Author

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Goodreads Choice ...: What are you reading now?	7843	3631	Apr 30, 2016 01:24PM
Cozy Mystery Corner : What are You Reading Besides a Cozy?	1140	711	Dec 27, 2016 06:21PM
All About Books: What have you just read? Opinions, recommendations & reviews	12686	1769	Oct 16, 2017 08:33AM
A Million More Pages: Counting Cards ~ Team Snake Eyes	184	31	Dec 13, 2019 10:20PM
All About Books: Alphabet of Books You've Read	1771	602	May 14, 2023 05:30PM

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Shelley’s Quotes

“Two things are infinite: the universe and human stupidity; and I'm not sure about the universe.”
― Albert Einstein

tags: attributed-no-source, human-nature, humor, infinity, philosophy, science, stupidity, universe

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“A man with a scant vocabulary will almost certainly be a weak thinker. The richer and more copious one's vocabulary and the greater one's awareness of fine distinctions and subtle nuances of meaning, the more fertile and precise is likely to be one's thinking. Knowledge of things and knowledge of the words for them grow together. If you do not know the words, you can hardly know the thing.”
― Henry Hazlitt, Thinking as a Science

tags: language, power-of-words, vocabulary, words

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Shelley’s Year In Books

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156 posts
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December 12, 2024 My Thoughts & New Challenges

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