{"id":1383,"date":"2018-12-31T16:57:48","date_gmt":"2018-12-31T16:57:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wordpress.etypegoogle10.com\/?p=1383"},"modified":"2018-12-31T16:57:48","modified_gmt":"2018-12-31T16:57:48","slug":"lone-star-reviewsmichelle-newby-nbcc-118","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wordpress.etypegoogle10.com\/?p=1383","title":{"rendered":"Lone Star ReviewsMichelle Newby, NBCC,"},"content":{"rendered":"
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<\/span><\/span>Lone Star Reviews<\/span>Michelle Newby, NBCC,<\/span><\/h1>\n<\/div>\n

Contributing Editor<\/span><\/h1>\n

Michelle Newby is on vacation this week and will return with her regular review next Sunday after a well deserved break.<\/span><\/h1>\n
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HISTORY \/ POLITICS<\/p>\n

Building the Great Society: Inside Lyndon Johnson\u2019s White House<\/span><\/p>\n

Joshua Zeitz<\/span><\/p>\n

Viking<\/p>\n

Hardcover, 978-0-525-42878-7, 400 pages, $30.00\u00a0 (also available in paperback, audiobook, and ebook formats)<\/p>\n

January 2018<\/p>\n

Reviewed by Si Dunn<\/p>\n

Trump and the Republican Party keep saying they want to \u201cunwind\u201d Barack Obama\u2019s political legacy.<\/span> Yet what\u2019s also under threat are major achievements of the Lyndon Baines Johnson administration, according to historian Joshua Zeitz<\/span> in this important, informative new book, Building the Great Society.<\/span><\/p>\n

Zeitz writes: \u201cIt was no small accomplishment to secure passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965. It was another matter entirely to have it mean something \u2014 to leverage the full weight of the federal government to desegregate public and private institutions peacefully throughout one-third of the United States.\u201d<\/p>\n

The author also notes that \u201c[p]ersuading Congress to enact a steady profusion of liberal initiatives was a crowning achievement\u2026. [F]ew presidents have left in place so sweeping a list of positive domestic achievements.\u201d<\/p>\n

A central focus in Zeitz\u2019s new work is that it was not easy to work for the bigger-than-life Texas politician. Yet a well-meshed team of presidential aides made legislative victories happen.\u00a0 >>READ MORE<\/span><\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

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Joe Holley<\/span><\/p>\n

Hurricane Season: The Unforgettable Story of the 2017 Houston Astros and the Resilience of A City<\/span><\/p>\n

Hachette Books<\/p>\n

Hardcover, 978-0316485241, 272 pages (also available as paperback and ebook), $27.00<\/p>\n

May 1, 2018<\/p>\n

Reviewed by Chris Manno<\/p>\n

If you\u2019re looking for a baseball collectible <\/span>enshrining the 2018 World Champion Houston Astros and their hurricane-battered host city, then Joe Holley\u2019s<\/span> Hurricane Season: The Unforgettable Story of the 2017 Houston Astros and the Resilience of A City<\/span> is it. If you\u2019re looking for a focused historical sports narrative, this may be more problematic to read.<\/p>\n

The story loops forward and backward and changes narrative modes like a frenetic Robin Williams anecdote: it\u2019s robust, very colorful, entertaining, but exhausting in the end. Ultimately, the reader has a hard time deciding what this book is, because Holley himself seems confused as to what it should be.<\/p>\n

Like most baseball game commentary, Holley tends to be overly verbose here. That is consistent with the book\u2019s sixteen-word title but tiring for the reader. He opens with compelling if paradoxical (am I reading a radio broadcast transcript?) play-by-play that is laden with the foibles of baseball sportscasting,\u00a0 >>READ MORE<\/span><\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

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

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Texas A&M Press offers compelling non-fiction titles<\/h1>\n

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Texas A&M University Press continues to step up its regional non-fiction offerings<\/span> with titles covering a wide range of interests.<\/p>\n

Here are a few current selections from A&M, and a peek at the new fall catalog promises many more are in the works.<\/p>\n

The Natural History of Texas<\/span><\/a><\/span> by veteran ecologists Brian R. Chapman<\/span> and Eric G. Bolen<\/span> ($50 oversized hardcover) is a 390-page, full-color celebration of the biological diversity of Texas.<\/p>\n

\u201cNo work has more elaborately described the remarkable biodiversity of Texas than this monumental volume,\u201d respected naturalist Andrew Sansom<\/span> writes in a foreword.<\/p>\n

The authors discuss in easy-to-understand language each of eleven natural regions of Texas, telling the stories behind the natural wonders, with informative sidebars sprinkled throughout the text.<\/p>\n

An appendix offers histories of the various natural state symbols \u2014 state flower, state tree, state bird, state stone, state gem, state grass, state fish, state insect, etc. \u2014 twenty in all.<\/p>\n

I suggest starting with the introductory chapter, then flipping over to your favorite region of Texas, then leisurely continuing the tour region by region. Or, even better, get out and see Texas\u2019 magnificent diversity for yourself. Take the book along with you.<\/p>\n

Bob Spain\u2019s Canoeing Guide and Favorite Texas Paddling Trails<\/span><\/a><\/span> ($26.95) is, appropriately, a waterproof paperback. Spain, a certified canoe instructor who retired from Texas Parks and Wildlife ten years ago, offers a thorough guide for beginning or experienced paddlers.<\/p>\n

When Good Gardens Go Bad: Earth-Friendly Solutions to Common Garden Problems<\/span><\/a><\/span> is the latest guidebook from Texas organic gardening expert Judy Barrett<\/span> ($23.95 flexbound). A garden doesn\u2019t have to be perfect, Barrett contends, but it should be fun!<\/p>\n

The Grand Duke from Boys Ranch<\/span><\/a><\/span> by Bill Sarpalius<\/span> ($34.95 hardcover) is a political memoir of a man whose alcoholic mother sent him and his two brothers to Cal Farley\u2019s Boys Ranch when he was thirteen. He couldn\u2019t read. He went on to become a state senator, a U.S. Congressman, and a motivational speaker and advocate for those struggling with addiction.<\/p>\n

The Cedar Choppers: Life on the Edge of Nothing<\/span><\/a><\/span> by Ken Roberts<\/span> explores the story of the hillbilly culture of poor Scots-Irish clans from Appalachia who migrated to the Texas Hill Country in the mid-1800s ($27.95 hardcover). At first they survived by hunting, fishing and trapping and later by cutting, selling and transporting cedar fence posts until the drought of the 1950s caused them to move to small towns to find work.<\/p>\n

Exiled: The Last Days of Sam Houston<\/span><\/a><\/span> by Ron Rozelle<\/span> ($29.95 hardcover) is a biographical sketch of Houston after he was forced to resign as governor when he wouldn\u2019t take an oath of loyalty to the Confederacy in 1861. He died two years later.<\/p>\n

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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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Amaya Books<\/p>\n

Paperback, 978-0-9993-9810-4 (also available as an e-book), 320 pgs., $16.89<\/p>\n

November 21, 2017<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is true that America is a land of opportunity.\u201d \u2014Jolie, Democratic Republic of Congo<\/p>\n

I volunteered a few years ago as a family mentor with the International Rescue Committee (IRC), which was born in 1933 \u201cat the call of Albert Einstein.\u201d I had returned from a vacation in Jordan, where I had seen the United Nations\u2019 refugee camps for Syrians. Jordan is a tiny country with a total population of fewer than ten million people, yet it hosts three refugee camps and 740,160 refugees, the second largest proportion of refugees to population in the world.<\/p>\n

When I returned to Texas, I did some research. At that time the number of displaced people on the planet was estimated to be a staggering sixty-five million. I was horrified by the number. During my poking about the internet for more information, I came across the IRC\u2019s office in Abilene, Texas. I had no idea there was an opportunity so close to my West Texas home where real differences were made in the lives of the world\u2019s most vulnerable populations. After I applied to volunteer and passed the background check, I attended orientation and met my assigned family, refugees from Rwanda.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat I am seeing in this country is that people take care of themselves; Americans are really independent. The IRC [trains] us in that spirit, too.\u201d \u2014Ellie, Rwanda<\/p>\n

Ten Cultures, Twenty Lives: Refugee Life Stories<\/span> is the first book published in the United States by Daina Jurika-Owen,<\/span> PhD, a folklorist and former refugee resettlement worker with the IRC\u2019s Abilene office.\u00a0 >>READ MORE<\/span><\/a><\/span><\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

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Arcadia Books Ltd. (London)<\/p>\n

Paperback, 978-1-9113-5017-0 (also available in hardcover, as an e-book, an audio book, and on Audible), 215 pgs., $15.95<\/p>\n

May 3, 2018<\/p>\n

Olivia has returned to Caprock, a small fictional town in the Texas Panhandle.<\/span> \u201cBefore they\u2019d let me out of rehab someone had to agree to act as my legal custodian,\u201d she explains, which is why thirty-two-year-old Olivia is living with her mother who, again, controls Olivia\u2019s life from finances to laundry. \u201cOne little cocaine-induced heart attack and it\u2019s back to my childhood to start over.\u201d<\/p>\n

Even better, Olivia\u2019s court-ordered therapy is conducted by a former friend with whom she shared AP English classes in high school. Ouch. Olivia, who has an advanced journalism degree from Columbia, is also required by the court to hold down a job, but the only job she can find is behind the counter of a mall jewelry store which is owned by a friend of her mother\u2019s. Olivia is in debt up to her nose in legal bills, medical bills, her Neiman\u2019s card, and money she borrowed from friends to pay the rent and her car note since her salary went up that nose.\u00a0 >>READ MORE<\/span><\/a><\/span><\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

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<\/span><\/span> Twig\u2019s Top Ten Bestsellers<\/h1>\n

June 2018<\/h1>\n

What are Texans reading these days, you ask? <\/span>Lone Star Lit\u2019s newest regular feature is a monthly list of trending titles at the <\/span>Twig Book Shop,<\/span><\/a><\/span> 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.<\/span><\/p>\n

Lawrence Wright,<\/span> God Save Texas, <\/span>978-0-525520108<\/span><\/p>\n

Shari Lapena,<\/span>The Couple Next Door, <\/span>978-0-735221109<\/span><\/p>\n

Neil Gaiman<\/span>Norse Mythology\u00a0 <\/span> 978-0-393356182<\/span><\/p>\n

Andrew Sean Greer,<\/span>Less,<\/span> 978-0316316132<\/span><\/p>\n

HBR’s 10 Must Reads on Mental Toughness,<\/span> 978-1633694361<\/span><\/p>\n

Margaret Atwood,<\/span>The Handmaid\u2019s Tale , <\/span>978-0385490818<\/span><\/p>\n

Jen Sincero<\/span>You Are a Badass: How to Stop Doubting Your Greatness and Start Living an Awesome Life <\/span> 978-0762490547<\/span><\/p>\n

George Saunders,<\/span>Lincoln in the Bardo,<\/span> 978-0-812985405<\/span><\/p>\n

Rupi Kaur,<\/span>The Sun and Her Flowers,<\/span> 978-1449486792<\/span><\/p>\n

HBR\u2019s 10 Must Reads on Emotional Intelligence (Hbr’s 10 Must Reads)\u00a0 <\/span>9781633690196<\/span><\/p>\n

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LONE STAR CLASSIFIED LISTINGS<\/span><\/h1>\n

FEATURED:\u00a0 PRIZE COMPETITIONS<\/h1>\n

6.3.18<\/span>\u00a0 The 2018 Julia Darling Memorial Poetry Prize<\/span><\/p>\n

A prize of $750.00 and publication in The Ocotillo Review<\/span> Winter 2019 will be awarded for a poem of up to 65 lines. Carrie Fountain<\/span> will judge. Revenue generated will be donated to cancer research. Details: www.kallistogaiapress.org<\/span><\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

6.3.18\u00a0 The 2018 Chester B. Himes Memorial Short Fiction Prize<\/span><\/p>\n

A prize of $750.00 and publication in The Ocotillo Review<\/span> Winter 2019 will be awarded for a short story up to 4,200 words. Antonio Ruiz-Camacho<\/span> will judge. Revenue generated will be donated to Parkinson\u2019s research. Details: www.kallistogaiapress.org<\/span><\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

>>READ MORE<\/span><\/a><\/span> CLASSIFIED LISTINGS<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/span><\/span><\/span>WHERE IN TEXAS?<\/span><\/h1>\n

Don’t miss a reading or a good read! Sign up for our FREE weekly
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Meet our bloggers<\/h1>\n

Bookmark them so you can return again and again!<\/p>\n

A Novel Reality<\/span><\/a><\/span>, Jana Grissom<\/p>\n

A Page Before Bedtime<\/span><\/a><\/span>, Melyssa Prince<\/p>\n

Bibliotica<\/span><\/a><\/span>, Melissa Bartell
Book Fidelity,<\/span><\/a><\/span> Celia Medrano-Ortiz
#Bookish<\/span><\/a><\/span>, Erin Decker<\/p>\n

Books and Broomsticks<\/span><\/a><\/span>, Belle Whittington<\/p>\n

Books in the Garden<\/span><\/a><\/span>, Julia Byers
Carpe Diem Chronicles<\/span><\/a><\/span>, Maida Malby<\/p>\n

Chapter Break Book Blog<\/span><\/a><\/span>, Lynn Poppe & Julia Smeltzer<\/p>\n

The Clueless Gent<\/span><\/a><\/span>, Michael O’Connor<\/p>\n

Forgotten Winds<\/span><\/a><\/span>, Christena Stephens<\/p>\n

Hall Ways Blog<\/span><\/a><\/span>, Kristine Hall
Kelly Well Read<\/a><\/span>, Kelly Moore<\/p>\n

The Librarian Talks<\/span><\/a><\/span>, Tabatha Pope
The Love of a Bibliophile<\/span><\/a><\/span>, Kristen Mouton<\/p>\n

Margie\u2019s Must Reads<\/span><\/a><\/span>, Margie Longoria
Max Knight Blog<\/span><\/a><\/span>, Max Knight<\/p>\n

Missus Gonzo<\/span><\/a><\/span>, Lorilei Gonzales<\/p>\n

Momma on the Rocks<\/span><\/a><\/span>, Jenn Belden<\/p>\n

Nerd Narration Blog<\/span>,<\/a> Taylor Sebring<\/p>\n

The Page Unbound<\/span><\/a><\/span>, Becca Cahill & Haley Ringer<\/p>\n

Reading by Moonlight<\/span><\/a><\/span>, Ruthie Jones<\/p>\n

StoreyBook Reviews<\/span><\/a><\/span>, Leslie Storey<\/p>\n

Story Schmoozing Book Reviews<\/span><\/a><\/span>, Marissa Marroquin<\/p>\n

Syd Savvy<\/span><\/a><\/span>, Sydney Young<\/p>\n

Tangled in Text<\/span><\/a><\/span>, Kelli Quintos<\/p>\n

Texas Book Lover<\/span><\/a><\/span>, Michelle Newby<\/p>\n

That\u2019s What She\u2019s Reading<\/span><\/a><\/span>, Jenn Zavaglia<\/p>\n

COMING UP ON TOUR: FICTION<\/h1>\n

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The Edge of Over There by Shawn Smucker Visit with Shawn July 17\u201326, 2018<\/span><\/h1>\n

7\/17\/18 Author Interview Texas Book Lover<\/p>\n

7\/17\/18 Book Trailer Hall Ways Blog<\/p>\n

7\/18\/18 Excerpt That’s What She’s Reading<\/p>\n

7\/19\/18 Review Reading by Moonlight<\/p>\n

7\/20\/18 Review The Clueless Gent<\/p>\n

7\/21\/18 Top 10 List Story Schmoozing Book Reviews<\/p>\n

7\/22\/18 Notable Quotable The Librarian Talks<\/p>\n

7\/23\/18 Author Interview Max Knight<\/p>\n

7\/24\/18 Review Books and Broomsticks<\/p>\n

7\/25\/18 Guest Post Rebecca R. Cahill, Author<\/p>\n

7\/26\/18 Review Forgotten Winds<\/p>\n

RECENTLY ON TOUR: FICTION<\/h1>\n

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To Catch a Texas Star by Linda Broday<\/h1>\n

RECENTLY ON TOUR: FICTION<\/h1>\n

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Tangible Spirits by Becki Willis<\/h1>\n

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Lone Star Literary Life Facts and FAQs<\/span><\/h1>\n

\u2022 Editorial policies<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

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Lone Star Literary Archives<\/span><\/h1>\n

\u2022 Weekly issues<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

\u2022 Lone Star Listens Interviews<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

\u2022 Lone Star Book Reviews<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

\u2022 Texas Reads<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

\u2022 Events<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

\u2022 Announcement: LSLL Launches<\/a><\/p>\n

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2018 Kids’ Summer Reading\u00a0 <\/span>NEW BOOKS ADDED!<\/span><\/h1>\n

sponsored by Blue Wilow Books<\/a><\/span>hop<\/h1>\n

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From read-to-me books to early readers,<\/span> chapter books to middle readers to YA, you\u2019ll find these terrific new titles at your neighborhood bookshop or online. >>READ MORE<\/span><\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

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WHAT TEXANS ARE READING<\/span><\/h1>\n

LONE STAR LISTENS interviews\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>>> archive<\/span><\/a><\/span><\/h1>\n

Author interviews by Kay Ellington<\/span><\/h1>\n

7.15.2018\u00a0 UT graduate Mary H. K. Choi chats about her YA hit EMERGENCY CONTACT<\/h1>\n

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Mary H. K. Choi\u2019s debut novel has been excerpted in<\/span> Entertainment Weekly,<\/span> has received a starred review in Publishers Weekly,<\/span> and has prompted think pieces in the New York Times<\/span> and the Atlantic,<\/span> among other outlets.<\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Emergency Contact <\/span>has been described as a compulsively readable novel that shows young love in all its awkward glory. The author talked with us (appropriately via email) for today\u2019s Lone Star Listens. When you\u2019re done snapping up her interview, check out her website at the deliciously named choitotheworld.com.<\/p>\n

LONE STAR LITERARY LIFE:<\/span> Mary, where were you born, where did you grow up, and how would you describe those days?<\/span><\/p>\n

MARY H. K. CHOI:<\/span> I was born in Seoul, Korea, but moved with my family to Hong Kong when I was eleven months old. From there I moved to San Antonio, Texas, the summer before my fourteenth birthday. Moving to Texas was such a trip. I\u2019d never seen such an expanse of sky before in my life! Coming from a city that was always lit up with neon lights and skyscrapers, I\u2019d never experienced such all-encompassing thunderstorms and I\u2019d never seen a shooting star. That\u2019s the biggest thing that struck me about Texas, the heaviness of the sky on my shoulders. Still, I missed the public transportation of Hong Kong and walking around everywhere, so I moved to New York right after college and I\u2019ve been there ever since.<\/p>\n

You graduated from UT Austin and went to New York and pretty much tapped into every possible medium while lassoing the zietgeist \u2014 including stints as a columnist for Wired,<\/span> as an editor for MTV Style,<\/span> and as a contributing writer for Allure<\/span>. You have also written for the New York Times,<\/span> New York, The Atlantic, Billboard,<\/span> and The Fader.<\/span> What was your first big break as a writer?<\/p>\n

My first big break in New York came when I became the editorial assistant for an art and lifestyle magazine called Mass Appeal in Brooklyn. You wouldn\u2019t believe the number of times I hit refresh on that intern call-out. They\u2019d had an ad position open, so I kept my fingers crossed for an editorial position, and sure enough I was the first to apply. Working for an independent, pirate-ship style magazine was a wonderful experience. You get to try on all the hats, and so I fact-checked and helped editors and lent a hand on photo shoots and I got my first byline reviewing the twentieth anniversary edition of a Magazine book. I was lucky enough for work for some unbelievably generous and talented editors who kept me in the loop and referred me for other jobs. Still, it took being an assistant to an editor \u2014 managing travel, doing expenses and scheduling for almost four years \u2014 before I got my truly big break writing as much as I wanted, for a magazine I founded as editor-in-chief of Missbehave<\/span> magazine.\u00a0 >>READ MORE<\/span><\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

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Texas’s only statewide, weekly calendar of book events
<\/span><\/a><\/span>Bookish Texas <\/span>event highlights\u00a0 7.15.2018<\/span>>> GO this week<\/span><\/a><\/span>Michelle Newby, Contributing Editor<\/span><\/h1>\n

SPECIAL EVENTS THIS WEEK<\/span><\/p>\n