Lone Star ReviewsMichelle Newby, NBCC,
Contributing Editor
CHILDREN’S FICTION
Mary Pope Osborne (author), AG Ford (illustrator)
Hurricane Heroes in Texas (Magic Tree House #30)
Random House Books for Young Readers
Hardcover, 978-1-5247-1312-6 (also available as an e-book and an audio-book), 112 pgs., $13.99; August 7, 2018
Mary Pope Osborne’s beloved Jack and Annie return to Texas, landing in a backyard oak tree in Galveston on September 8, 1900, just in time for the Great Galveston Hurricane, the deadliest natural disaster in the history of the country.
Hurricane Heroes in Texas is the thirtieth installment in the mega-bestselling Magic Tree House series by Mary Pope Osborne. >>READ MORE
LONE STAR INDIE REVIEWS
HUMOR / PERSONAL ESSAYS
Sonja Klein
Saplings, Switches, and Twigs
Ambush Publishing
Paperback, ASIN: B07JYQK5GQ (also available as Kindle ebook), 348 pages, $14.72; October 25, 2018
If you’ve read any of Sonja Klein’s three previous books (Honk If You Married Sonja, Roundtrip from Texas, and Ambushed by America), you already know to expect the unexpected from her well-written and often hilarious or poignant personal essays.
For example, she cautions that her new work, Saplings, Switches, and Twigs, is not really about trees. The central focus, instead, is on “the sturdy roots and branches of a family, similar to a tree and to all trees that grow for short periods or for centuries and give seed to more of the same. From most trees, there are saplings, switches, and twigs, some of which mature into strong limbs, branches and trees, and some of which die, are broken off, and never mature, but return to fertilize and replenish the earth. Similarities exist with families. This book is partly about them.”
Partly, it turns out, is a key word. Along with family, her wide-ranging topics include life, love, international travel, food, ex-husbands and ex-boyfriends, and even the occasional Jeep she has killed off through a combination of rugged Southwest Texas driving and maintenance neglect. >>READ MORE
LONE STAR INDIE REVIEWS
12.9.2018
FICTION
Rick Treon
Black Rose Writing
Paperback, 978-1-68-433167-3 (Kindle ebook also available); 228 pages, $18.95; December 6, 2018
Former Texas newspaper reporter and editor Rick Treon’s first completed work of fiction is an impressive, realistic dark thriller with an unnerving conclusion that wisely leaves a pathway open for a follow-up novel.
In Deep Background, Levi Cole, the chief investigative reporter for a Dallas newspaper, is forced to leave his high-profile job suddenly because of questionable writings that could bring him and his employer big lawsuits. To get out of the limelight for a while, Cole returns to his rural Texas hometown of Bison Ridge to help a colleague and married ex-girlfriend cover a murder.
However, as he digs deeper and deeper, Cole eventually discovers that he has gotten himself caught in a deep conspiracy that goes well beyond the murder. And his entrapment will compel him not only to take sides — a huge no-no for an “objective” reporter — but also to make disturbing choices. >>READ MORE
Texas ReadsGlenn Dromgoole
>> archive
First Ladies featured in new children’s book
Three former First Ladies from Texas are included in the new children’s book, Have You Heard About Lady Bird? Poems About Our First Ladies by Marilyn Singer and illustrated by Nancy Carpenter (Disney/Hyperion, $17.99 hardcover).
The poem about Lady Bird Johnson, who is featured on the cover, deals with beautification: “She loved things that flew. She loved things that grew.”
Barbara Pierce Bush, Singer writes, “Made fun of her weight, her age, her looks. Strongly believed in the power of books.”
The verse about Laura Lane Welch Bush notes that she loved libraries and books and promoted family literacy while in office, as did her mother-in-law.
Every First Lady, from Martha Dandridge Curtis Washington to Melania Knauss Trump is portrayed in verse as well as in a biographical summary at the end of the book.
Barbara Jordan: Acclaimed Austin children’s author Chris Barton reflects on the life of the late Barbara Jordan in his new picture book, What Do You Do With a Voice Like That? The Story of Extraordinary Congresswoman Barbara Jordan (Beach Lane Books, $17.99 hardcover, illustrated by Ekua Holmes).
He begins with her growing up in Houston’s Fifth Ward, reciting poetry and memorizing speeches, and follows her as she becomes a lawyer, runs unsuccessfully for political office, gets elected to the Texas State Senate, then to the U.S. Congress where she makes a name for herself during the Nixon impeachment hearings, and finally becomes a college professor.
Barton — who writes that he sometimes asks himself, “What would Barbara Jordan do?” when dealing with contemporary issues — concludes the book with a biographical time line from her birth in 1936 to her death in 1996.
He recommends several other books about her, especially the adult biography by Mary Beth Rogers, Barbara Jordan: American Hero.
Nutcracker: A Texas writer and a Texas artist – Jennifer Coleman and Wade Dillon — teamed up to produce The Texas Nutcracker (Pelican, $16.99 hardcover), a tale set in Fort Davis in the late 1800s.
The Texas version of the popular holiday story includes rattlesnakes, a Bluebonnet Fairy, chili con carne, horned toads, and dancing the “Cotton Eyed Joe.”
Holiday break: I’m taking a short break from the Texas Reads column but will be back in January with more Texas books.
* * * * *
Glenn Dromgoole’s most recent book is The Book Guy: One Author’s Adventures in Publishing. Contact him atg.dromgoole@suddenlink.net.
>> Check out his previous Texas Reads columns in Lone Star Literary Life
Twig’s Top Ten Bestsellers
November 2018
What are Texans reading these days, you ask? Lone Star Lit’s newest regular feature is a monthly list of trending titles at the Twig Book Shop, a leading independent bookseller in San Antonio. Click on any title for the Buy link. And we’ll also include a hotlink to related content in Lone Star Literary Life.
Hugh Fitzsimons, III,A Rock Between Two Rivers: The Fracturing of a Texas Family Ranch, 978-0-524763138
Michelle Obama,Becoming, 978-0-524763138
Paulo Coelho,The Alchemist (Harper Perennial), 978-0-062315007
Neil DeGrasse Tyson,Astrophysics for People in a Hurry,978-0-393609394
Heather MorrisThe Tattooist of Auschwitz, 978-0-062797155
Jen SinceroYou Are a Badass: How to Stop Doubting Your Greatness and Start Living an Awesome Life, 978-0762490547
Harvard Business Review,HBR’s 10 Must Reads on Mental Toughness, 978-1-633694364
Yuval Noah Harari,Homo Deus: A Brief History of Tomorrow,978-0-062464347
Liane Moriarty,Nine Perfect Strangers,978-1-250069825
Sarah Pekkanen,The Wife Between Us, 978-1-250130945
LONE STAR CLASSIFIED LISTINGS
>>READ MORE CLASSIFIED LISTINGS
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CONTINUING ON TOUR: MEMOIR
FIERCE, FUNNY, AND FEMALE:
A JOURNEY THROUGH MIDDLE AMERICA, THE TEXAS OIL FIELD, AND STANDUP COMEDY by Marti MacGibbon
Visit with Marti THROUGH Dec. 21, 2018
12/16/18 Review The Book Review
12/17/18 Guest Post That’s What She’s Reading
12/17/18 Scrapbook Page Kelly Well Read
12/18/18 Review Nerd Narration
12/19/18 Excerpt Forgotten Winds
12/19/18 Guest Post Momma on the Rocks
12/20/18 Review Reading by Moonlight
12/21/18 Review Missus Gonzo
RECENTLY ON TOUR: FICTION
THE JANUS WITCH by Michael Scott Clifton
Visit with Michael through Dec. 13, 2018
12/9/18 Review Book Fidelity
12/10/18 Author Interview Rebecca R. Cahill, Author
12/10/18 Excerpt Chapter Break Book Blog
12/11/18 Review Nerd Narration
12/12/18 Guest Post Rainy Days with Amanda
12/13/18 Review The Clueless Gent
12/13/18 Review Reading by Moonlight
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WHAT TEXANS ARE READING
THE YEAR IN REVIEW >> archive
12.16.2018 Top Twenty Texas Books of 2018
Best of fiction and nonfiction
Michelle Newby, NBCC, Contributing Editor
Whew. What a year. As 2018 slips into the rear-view mirror, on behalf of Lone Star Literary Life, I would like to say thank you to all of the authors who have written books about our state or set in our state, but I’d like to pay special recognition to my favorite Texas books of 2018.
I read and review dozens of books set in Texas or written about Texas each year. This year’s selections reflect the diversity, tastes, and range of the state and its readers, with settings from the Panhandle to the Piney Woods, from the Gulf Coast to the Chihuahua Desert. The twenty authors include twelve men and eight women, ranging in age from thirty-six to seventy-one; their subjects are many and varied, including history, politics, memoir, medicine, weather, art, immigration, families, criminals, victims, grief, bliss, growing up, and growing old. >>READ MORE
Texas’s only statewide, weekly calendar of book events
Bookish Texas event highlights 12.16.2018>> GO this weekMichelle Newby, Contributing Editor
SPECIAL EVENTS THIS WEEK
- No special events this week
ONGOING EVENTS
- Finding Sophie Blackall Exhibition, Abilene, October 11-February 1
- 30 Poems for the Tricentennial: A Poetic Legacy, San Antonio, December 3-April 25, 2019
- Artful Books, Alpine, December 7-17
AUSTIN Mon., Dec. 17 Malvern Books, a poetry reading and birthday cake to celebrate the late, great poet laureate of Hyde Park, Albert Huffstickler, 7PM
DALLAS Mon., Dec. 17American Airlines Center, Michelle Obama presents her autobiography, Becoming, 8PM
RICHARDSON Mon., Dec. 17 Richardson Public Library, Writers Guild of Texas Holiday Party, 7PM
SAN ANTONIO Mon., Dec. 17 The Twig Book Shop, Phil Bohlender discussing and signing Wings of Wisdom: Lessons Learned at 35,000 Feet, 5PM
HOUSTON Tues., Dec. 18 Murder By the Book, MBTB Recommends: 2018 Top 10 Edition, 6:30PM
SOUTH PADRE ISLAND Tues., Dec. 18 Paragraphs on Padre, Zane Grey Day, 12PM
HOUSTON Wed., Dec. 19 Blue Willow Bookshop, Julie Murphy will appear in conversation with actress Maddie Baillio to talk about DUMPLIN’, 7PM
ALPINE Thurs., Dec. 21 Front Street Books, Border Walk author and wayfarer Mark J Hainds, 6PM
BRYAN Thurs., Dec. 21 Dallas Central Library, Kenyatta D. Berry, co-host of the PBS series “Genealogy Roadshow,” will be in Dallas to discuss genealogy, family history, and her new book, The Family Tree Toolkit: A Comprehensive Guide to Uncovering Your Ancestry and Researching Genealogy, 6PM
SAN ANTONIO Thurs., Dec. 21The Twig Book Shop, Carrie Fountain reading and signing I’m Not Missing, 5:30PM
AUSTIN Sat., Dec. 22 Austin Books & Comics, ABC’s annual Christmas Party, 10AM
NACOGDOCHES Sat., Dec. 22The Bosslight, John Perry signing The Story Of Mitch, 1PM
SAN ANTONIO Sat., Dec. 22The Twig Book Shop, E.R. Bills signing 100 Things to Do in Texas Before You Die, 11AM
News Briefs 12.16.18
Arts & Letters Live 2019 Season Announced by Dallas Museum of Art
DALLAS — The Dallas Museum of Art (DMA) has released its schedule for the 2019 season of Arts & Letters Live. The propular literary series will kick off its 28th season January 6 with renowned religion scholar, National Book Award winner, and New York Times bestselling author Elaine Pagels, whose new book is Why Religion?: A Personal Story. The book “weaves together a personal story with the work that she loves, illuminating how religious traditions have shaped how we understand ourselves,” according to the DMA.
Arts & Letters Live is a literary and performing arts series for all ages that features award-winning authors and performers of regional, national, and international acclaim. The series is recognized for its creative multidisciplinary programming — combining literature with visual arts, music, and film—and for commissioning new work from musicians, dancers, and poets, inspired by works of art in the museum’s collection and special exhibitions. >>READ MORE
Submissions open for Writers’ League of Texas 2019 Manuscript Contest
AUSTIN — Have you been working hard on an unpublished manuscript that’s finally ready to see the light of day? Are you looking for some constructive feedback on your work-in-progress? Would you like the chance to sit down with a literary agent in person to discuss your project?
If so, you’re invited to submit a short synopsis and the opening pages of your unpublished work to the Writers’ League of Texas’s (WLT) nineteenth annual manuscript contest. It’s not necessary to live in Texas in order to enter this contest.
Winners of the 2019 manuscript contest will:
- Win a free registration to the WLT’s 2019 Agents & Editors Conference (June 27-30, 2019, in Austin)
- Meet one-on-one with a literary agent in your category or genre (in person at our annual conference or via phone call) if you’re one of our ten winners
- Be recognized during the opening session of the 2019 Agents & Editors Conference and in the printed program (if you’re a winner or a finalist)
- Receive valuable, specific written feedback on your work. >>READ MORE
————— A D V E R T I S E M E N T —————
Lone Star Listens compilation available fall 2018, for readers, fans, and writers everywhere
The present generation of Texas authors is the most diverse ever in gender, age, and ethnicity, and in subject matter as well.
Week in, week out, Lone Star Literary has interviewed a range of Texas-related authors with a cross-section of genre and geography. To capture this era in Texas letters, we’re pleased to bring you
Lone Star Listens:
Texas Authors on Writing and Publishing
edited by Kay Ellington and Barbara Brannon; introduction by Clay Reynolds
Available in trade paper, library hardcover, and ebook Summer 2018
360 pages, with b/w illustrations and index
Featuring novelists, poets, memoirists, editors, and publishers, including:
Rachel Caine • Chris Cander • Katherine Center • Chad S. Conine • Sarah Cortez • Elizabeth Crook • Nan Cuba • Carol Dawson • Patrick Dearen • Jim Donovan • Mac Engel • Sanderia Faye • Carlos Nicolás Flores • Ben Fountain • Jeff Guinn • Stephen Harrigan • Cliff Hudder • Stephen Graham Jones • Kathleen Kent • Joe R. Lansdale • Melissa Lenhardt • Attica Locke • Nikki Loftin • Thomas McNeely • Leila Meacham • John Pipkin • Joyce Gibson Roach • Antonio Ruiz-Camacho • Lisa Sandlin • Donna Snyder • Mary Helen Specht • Jodi Thomas • Amanda Eyre Ward • Ann Weisgarber • Donald Mace Williams
As a collection of insights into the writing and publishing life, the book will be useful in creative writing classes (not just in Texas alone) and other teaching settings, as well as for solo reading and study—and a great Texas reference volume.
- Examination and review copies will be available fall 2017 in watermarked pdf format.
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