{"id":1357,"date":"2018-12-31T16:51:14","date_gmt":"2018-12-31T16:51:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wordpress.etypegoogle10.com\/?p=1357"},"modified":"2018-12-31T16:51:14","modified_gmt":"2018-12-31T16:51:14","slug":"lone-star-reviewsmichelle-newby-nbcc-114","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wordpress.etypegoogle10.com\/?p=1357","title":{"rendered":"Lone Star ReviewsMichelle Newby, NBCC,"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Contributing Editor<\/span><\/h1>\n

<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

MEMOIR<\/p>\n

Alex Lemon<\/span><\/p>\n

Feverland: A Memoir in Shards<\/span><\/p>\n

Milkweed Editions<\/p>\n

Paperback,\u00a0 978-1-57131-336-2, 312 pages, $16.00; September 2017<\/p>\n

Reviewed by Si Dunn<\/p>\n

Imagine that your entire life can be viewed, frozen in place, in one big mirror. <\/span>Now, drop the mirror. Let it shatter and scatter into countless pieces. As you pick up some of the fragments, one at a time, write down what you see in each piece and try to make it connect somehow with the next piece you lift.<\/p>\n

Associative.<\/span> That\u2019s the easiest adjective to describe the structure of Fort Worth writer Alex Lemon\u2019s<\/span> latest memoir. (His previous works include Happy: A Memoir<\/span> and several poetry collections.)<\/p>\n

Feverland: A Memoir in Shards<\/span> jumps quickly from one time, place and memory to another memory that is somehow connected. And each biographical \u201cshard\u201d may consume one short paragraph or a page or several pages.<\/p>\n

Initially, the book can be challenging reading. But it soon becomes rewarding. Lemon understands the power of using short, clear sentences to build toward deeper meanings. At the same time, he does not shy away from using longer sentences (sometimes very long) to alter the rhythms and flow of thoughts.\u00a0 >>READ MORE<\/span><\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

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TRUE CRIME<\/p>\n

Kermit Schweidel<\/span><\/p>\n

Folly Cove: A Smuggler’s Tale of the Pot Rebellion<\/span><\/p>\n

Cinco Puntos Press<\/p>\n

Hardcover, 978-1-941026-82-3 (also available as ebook), 266 pages, $16.95<\/p>\n

February 2018<\/p>\n

Reviewed by Si Dunn<\/p>\n

It’s tempting to describe Folly Cove as \u201cReefer Madness\u201d<\/span> toked up on steroids.<\/p>\n

This well-written book offers much more information and entertainment than that 1936 anti-marijuana film.<\/p>\n

Folly Cove<\/span> takes the reader inside the methods and cash-only economics of marijuana smuggling during the early 1970s. It describes how border patrols and federal drug agents were evaded and how a smuggler, if arrested, could slow or even stop the wheels of justice with some well-placed money and a high-dollar attorney. But in those days, conviction for possessing even small amounts could bring a long prison sentence. >>READ MORE<\/span><\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

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<\/span><\/span><\/span>Texas Reads<\/span>Glenn Dromgoole<\/span><\/h1>\n

>> archive<\/a><\/span><\/h1>\n

Texas children\u2019s author David Davis was a friend<\/h1>\n

I\u2019m sad to report that David Davis,<\/span> one of my favorite Texas children\u2019s authors and a good friend, died on May 24. He wrote children\u2019s books that adults probably enjoyed and understood more than the children they read them to.<\/p>\n

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Among his titles: Texas Mother Goose, Ten Redneck Babies, Redneck Night Before Christmas, Librarian\u2019s Night Before Christmas, Texas Zeke and the Longhorn,<\/span> and The Twelve Days of Christmas\u2014in Texas, That Is.<\/span> Most of his books are still in print.<\/p>\n

Here are two of my favorites from Texas Mother Goose,<\/span> which Carlton Stowers<\/span> and I included in our selection of 101 Essential Texas Books<\/span> a few years ago.<\/p>\n

\u00a0Breakfast with Humpty Dumpty<\/p>\n

\u00a0Humpty Dumpty sat on a wall<\/p>\n

\u00a0Humpty Dumpty had a great fall<\/p>\n

\u00a0All the ranch cowboys and all the vaqueros<\/p>\n

\u00a0Got a big breakfast of huevos rancheros.<\/p>\n

\u00a0Three Blind Mice<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0Three blind mice,<\/p>\n

\u00a0See how they run!<\/p>\n

\u00a0They ran for Senate up Austin way,<\/p>\n

\u00a0Since they\u2019re blind it\u2019s the place to stay;<\/p>\n

\u00a0They\u2019re just like senators in every way,<\/p>\n

\u00a0Those three blind mice.<\/p>\n

David had a wonderful sense of humor and often teamed up with fellow Fort Worth children\u2019s author Jan Peck<\/span> to put on delightful programs for schools, libraries and book festivals.<\/p>\n

He also wrote a collection of stories about his Grandpaw Lacy and allowed me to include one of them, a gently moving piece called \u201cWages for a Hired Hand,\u201d in the book of West Texas Christmas Stories<\/span> I edited in 2013.<\/p>\n

In 2004 David and I did a book signing together and were virtually ignored while folks literally lined up out the door to get former Texas Tech football coach Spike Dykes<\/span> to autograph his new book, Tales from the Texas Tech Sidelines.<\/span><\/p>\n

We joked that never again would we try to compete against a football coach at a book signing. I will miss him.<\/p>\n

New Texas novel: <\/span>How the Cowboy Was Won<\/span><\/a><\/span> is the latest novel from popular Texas romance author Lori Wilde<\/span> (Avon Books, $7.99 paperback).<\/p>\n

Set in the fictional town of Cupid, Texas, the story features the town matchmaker, who can\u2019t seem to find a match for herself, and a cowboy who is her best friend. She tries to hitch him up with the right gal, but who might that be?<\/p>\n

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Folklore:<\/span> Legends and Life in Texas: Folklore in the Lone Star State in Stories and Song,<\/span> edited by Kenneth L. Untiedt,<\/span> is the annual volume published by the Texas Folklore Society based on presentations at the society\u2019s get-togethers (University of North Texas Press, $45 hardcover).<\/p>\n

As always, there is plenty of good reading here for those interested in history and folklore, including this intriguing title: \u201cYodels, Cattle Calls, and Other Melodious Sounds.\u201d<\/p>\n

Glenn Dromgoole<\/span> writes about Texas books and authors. Contact him at g.dromgoole@suddenlink.net.<\/span><\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

>> <\/span>Check out his previous Texas Reads columns in Lone Star Lit<\/a><\/span>erary Life<\/span><\/h1>\n

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<\/span><\/span>2018 TEXAS BOOKISH DESTINATIONS<\/h1>\n

Can you name this literary place in the Lone Star State?<\/h1>\n

Admit it: bookfans love traveling almost as much as they love reading itself.<\/span> All year long we promote our annual list of Top Texas Bookish Destinations, for readers who want to visit the settings of their favorite books, the birthplaces and haunts of favorite authors, and hot spots for book buying, readings, and other literary activity.<\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 But throughout Texas\u2019s 268,597 square miles, there are also lots of out-of-the-way points of interest that we don\u2019t always have space to cover in our Top Ten pages.<\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Watch this space each week for a new bookish place that you\u2019ll want to add to your own travel list. Be the first to email us with the correct identification, and win a prize!<\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 This week, we continue with a bookish place that\u2019s located in 2018\u2019s #1 Top Bookish Destination. Where in this city celebrating its tricentennial this year would you find a colorful reading corner inside one of its hometown retailers?<\/p>\n

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Email us at<\/span> info@LoneStarLiterary.com<\/span><\/a><\/span> with the specific right answer,<\/span> and we’ll send you a free copy of Literary Texas.<\/span><\/p>\n

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LAST MONTH\u2019S PHOTO<\/span> (below<\/span>) went wanting for a winner. We\u2019ll reveal the place now \u2014 it\u2019s the Poet Tree, in Houston (yeah, that would\u2019ve been easy, for anyone who zoomed in).<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Contributing Editor MEMOIR Alex Lemon Feverland: A Memoir in Shards Milkweed Editions Paperback,\u00a0 978-1-57131-336-2, 312 pages, $16.00; September 2017 Reviewed by Si Dunn Imagine that your entire life can be viewed, frozen in place, in one big mirror. Now, drop the mirror. Let it shatter and scatter into countless pieces. As you pick up some […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1357","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.etypegoogle10.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1357","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.etypegoogle10.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.etypegoogle10.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.etypegoogle10.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.etypegoogle10.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1357"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.etypegoogle10.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1357\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.etypegoogle10.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1357"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.etypegoogle10.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1357"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.etypegoogle10.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1357"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}