All the Pretty Horses by Cormac McCarthy

It was a difficult decision which McCarthy book to choose for this list. I went back and forth between All the Pretty Horses and The Road. I choose All the Pretty Horses because it is one of the most beautiful, well written books I have ever read. It depicts the stark, hard cowboy life along the Texas Mexico boarder. It is a coming of age story and a love story. The main character John Grady is 17 when he leaves Texas with a friend and rides into Mexico, where they are quickly out of their depth. Grady gets caught up in a crime that he did mot instigate, and is brutally beaten in a Mexican prison. He learns a lot of difficult life lessons and has to grow up fast. Unfortunately for Grady, there are no easy answers and he is left a hardened man.

The Border Trilogy continues with Volume Two, The Crossing, and concludes with the third volume, Cities of the Plain.