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. >>READ MORE
LONE STAR INDIE REVIEWS
FICTION
Sylvia Sánchez Garza
Cascarones
Floricanto Press
Paperback, 978-1-724-62288-4, 162 pages, $20.95
July 2018
Cascarones are colorfully decorated chicken eggs whose contents have been replaced with confetti or even small toys. In Mexican-American culture, cascarones are used in Easter egg hunts, and they symbolize not only the resurrection of Jesus but also spring, family togetherness, and good luck.
Edinburg, Texas, writer Sylvia Sánchez Garza’s Cascarones is an entertaining, informative short novel best classified as a bildungsroman, a coming-of-age story focused mostly on one character’s formative years.
Set in South Texas in the 1960s, 1970s, and present, Cascarones is written for young-adult readers. However, older readers also can enjoy it and learn more about Mexican-American Easter traditions and family life, plus some of the impacts of racial discrimination.
In the book’s flashback portions, Garza’s main character, Suzy, is growing up within the protective shell of being among many relatives.
“Being part of a close-knit Mexican American, Rio Grande Valley family,” Suzy recalls, “my brothers, sisters, and I grew up with the privilege of always being surrounded by loved ones regardless of where we were. Our fifty-plus first cousins on Mommy’s side, and almost thirty first cousins on Daddy’s side, were like brothers and sisters to us. All of the family celebrations included them.” >>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 (Kix-girlfriend cover a murder.
Texas ReadsGlenn Dromgoole
>> archive
Texas Reads columnist Glenn Dromgoole is taking a break during the past two weeks of December. We’re leaving his Dec. 16 column posted here in case you missed it.
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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COMING UP ON TOUR: YA FICTION
Einstein’s Compass: A YA Time Traveler Adventure by Grace Blair & Laren Bright
Visit with Grace Dec. 13, 2018–Jan. 11, 2019
1/2/19 Guest Post All the Ups and Downs
1/2/19 Theme Song Hall Ways Blog
1/3/19 Review That’s What She’s Reading
1/4/19 Book Trailer Story Schmoozing Book Reviews
1/4/19 Author Spotlight Chapter Break Book Blog
1/5/19 Review Reading by Moonlight
1/6/19 Review Forgotten Winds
1/7/19 Excerpt Max Knight
1/8/19 Review StoreyBook Reviews
1/8/19 Author Interview Book Fidelity
1/9/19 Character Spotlight The Book Review
1/9/19 Character Spotlight Rainy Days with Amanda
1/10/19 Review The Clueless Gent
1/11/19 Author Interview Sybrina’s Book Blog
1/11/19 Review Missus Gonzo
COMING UP ON TOUR: PICTURE BOOK
HEART OF THE OAK by J. L Novinsky
Visit with the author January 3–12, 2019
1/3/19 Book Trailer Reading by Moonlight
1/4/19 Review All the Ups and Downs
1/5/19 Review Missus Gonzo
1/6/19 Guest Post Rainy Days with Amanda
1/7/19 Review That’s What She’s Reading
1/8/19 Sneak Peek The Clueless Gent
1/9/19 Character Interview Forgotten Winds
1/10/19 Review StoreyBook Reviews
1/11/19 Notable Quotable Story Schmoozing Book Reviews
1/12/19 Review The Page Unbound
RECENTLY ON TOUR: MEMOIR
FIERCE, FUNNY, AND FEMALE:
A JOURNEY THROUGH MIDDLE AMERICA, THE TEXAS OIL FIELD, AND STANDUP COMEDY by Marti MacGibbon
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WHAT TEXANS ARE READING
LONE STAR LISTENS interviews >> archive
Author interviews by Lone Star Lit staff
12.23.2018 Author, teacher, and program director Michael Noll extols the virtues of the Writers’ League of Texas
The Writers’ League of Texas was established in 1981 as the Austin Writers’ League in the capital city of Texas and since then has grown to represent the entire state. It is a nonprofit professional organization whose primary purpose is to provide a forum for information, support, and sharing among writers, to help members improve and market their writing skills, and to promote the interests of writers and the writing community. But even if you’re a reader instead of a writer, you’ll find many of their community events to be fascinating and enjoyable and give you the opportunity to learn more about your favorite authors and genres of books. WLT program director Michael Noll took time this week from a hectic holiday schedule to be interviewed by email about WLT and some of its signature programs.
LONE STAR LITERARY LIFE: Michael, you teach numerous workshops for the Writers’ League of Texas. How would you describe the organization?
MICHAEL NOLL: The Writers’ League offers the community, inspiration, and guidance that writers so often find themselves needing. They’re stuck in a manuscript and need a strategy or two to get them past it, and so they can take one of our classes. When they have finished a book and want to learn how to get it published and meet agents, they come to our Agents & Editors Conference. When they need to feel not so alone, they listen to our podcast or come to our Third Thursday event at BookPeople. And when they need community, they reach out to any of the wonderful 1,400 members they’ve met at various events.
Can you tell us a little bit of WLT’s history? Who founded it? When did it start? How has it changed over the years?
It started in an Austin backyard. I’m a little fuzzy on the exact origin, but I’m pretty sure the backyard belonged to Sarah Bird. Since then, the Writers’ League has grown from focusing on Austin to serving the entire state, with free programs at rural libraries, panel discussions in Houston and Dallas, and a traveling roadshow featuring myself and executive director Becka Oliver talking about craft and the agent search.
How many people are currently members of WLT?
We have around 1,400 members.
What would you say are the benefits of WLT to aspiring authors?
The Writers’ League offers a lot of the same benefits as an MFA program — help with craft, an introduction to the business of publishing, and a community of writers — but in a way that’s easier for people juggling jobs, family, and everything else that demands our time and attention. >>READ MORE
Texas’s only statewide, weekly calendar of book events
Bookish Texas event highlights 12.23.2018>> 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
Monday., Dec. 24 No public events this Christmas Eve. Please feel free to create your own.
Tuesday, Dec. 25MERRY CHRISTMAS, Y’ALL — HOPE SANTA BRINGS YOU LOTS OF BOOKS!
HOUSTON Wed., Dec. 26 Avant Garden, Write About Now Last Poetry Open Mic of 2018, 7:30PM
EL PASO Thurs., Dec. 27 B-17 Bombers Oyster Pub, Barbed Wire Open Mic Night, 8PM
SUGAR LAND Thurs., Dec. 27 B&N, Story time with local author Maria Ashworth, 10AM
EL PASO Fri., Dec. 28 Fahrenheit 180, Open Mic featuring Joann “Paradigm” Roberts, 8PM
HOUSTON Fri., Dec. 28 La Madeleine French Bakery, Houston Writers Guild Holiday Social, 7PM
AUSTIN Sat., Dec. 29 Malvern Books, a reading from The Lumberjack’s Dove—and a shadow puppet crankie show—with visiting writer GennaRose Nethercott, and with special guest Sean Petrie, 7PM
FORT WORTH Sat., Dec. 29 The Dock Bookshop, Community Kwanzaa Celebration, 3PM
WATAUGA Sat., Dec. 29 Half Price Books, Johnny Dodds will sell and sign copies of his book, The Difference in Me is Christ, 1PM
MARFA Sun., Dec. 30Crowley Theatre, Pete Gershon signing Collision: The Contemporary Art Scene in Houston, 1972-1985, TBA
MONDAY, DEC. 31, 2018 SEND OUT THE OLD YEAR AND RING IN A BOOKISH NEW YEAR AT MIDNIGHT
News Briefs 12.23.18
Author James Patterson’s Holiday Bookseller Bonuses for 2018 include eight Texas recipients
NEW YORK — James Patterson has renewed a most welcome holiday publishing tradition — bonuses for independent bookstore employees.
The best-selling author announced Tuesday that 333 workers each will receive $750. The winners, nominated by customers and colleagues among others, are listed on the web site of the American Booksellers Association. Patterson has given more than $1 million to individual book sellers over the past five years and has donated millions to libraries and literacy programs.
In a statement Tuesday, Patterson said book sellers have used the money for everything from fixing a car to paying a dental bill. He said he was happy to make “a small difference” in the lives of people who had helped so many in their communities. >>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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