{"id":1414,"date":"2018-12-31T17:07:51","date_gmt":"2018-12-31T17:07:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wordpress.etypegoogle10.com\/?p=1414"},"modified":"2018-12-31T17:07:51","modified_gmt":"2018-12-31T17:07:51","slug":"glenn-dromgooles-texas-reads-column-appears-weekly-at-lonestarliterary-com-102","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wordpress.etypegoogle10.com\/?p=1414","title":{"rendered":"Glenn Dromgoole’s Texas Reads column appears weekly at LoneStarLiterary.com"},"content":{"rendered":"
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<\/span><\/span>Texas Reads<\/span>>> archive<\/span><\/a><\/span>Glenn Dromgoole<\/span><\/h1>\n

8.26.2018\u00a0 Adventure story for kids includes maze puzzles<\/h1>\n

Children\u2019s author Travis Nichols,<\/span> who grew up in Texas, has produced a delightful book that kids (and adults) will find challenging and fun.<\/p>\n

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<\/a><\/span><\/span>Maze Quest<\/span><\/a><\/span> (Chronicle Books, $12.95 paperback) is an adventure story that incorporates more than 25 creative maze puzzles to solve along the way. These are not just your everyday mazes, either.<\/p>\n

For example the first maze is a child\u2019s messy room littered with toys and clothes and other objects. The reader has to walk through the maze to get to the Quest Office, where the adventure begins. In another maze, the reader must negotiate the relentless waves of the Sea of Sickness to get to a small island where the story continues.<\/p>\n

Right up front, Nichols warns readers, \u201cIf you choose to give up, put down this book and walk away.\u00a0 Ask a teacher or family member to recommend a book about people sitting quietly in a restaurant trying to choose between soup options.\u201d<\/p>\n

On the other hand, \u201cTo insist that you\u2019re up for the Quest, thrust your fist in the air and yell, \u2018I\u2019m up for it!\u2019 Then keep reading.\u201d<\/p>\n

Good luck on your Quest!<\/p>\n

Decorated: Danger 79er: The Life and Times of Lieutenant General James F. Hollingsworth<\/span><\/a><\/span> by James H. Willbanks<\/span> (Texas A&M University Press, $32 hardcover) tells the story of one of America\u2019s most decorated soldiers who \u201cled from the front.\u201d<\/p>\n

Born on a farm in Sanger, Texas, Hollingsworth drew praise from Gen. George Patton as one of the two best armored battalion commanders in World War II and received the Distinguished Service Cross three times, as well as four Silver Stars and six Purple Hearts during his career, which includes commands in Vietnam and South Korea. Hollingsworth died in 2010 at age 91.<\/p>\n

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<\/a><\/span><\/span>Mysteries:<\/span> Self-published Texas novelist Lynn Vadney<\/span> features a 66-year-old widow as her main character in Hattie\u2019s Secrets: A Collection of Mystery Stories<\/span><\/a><\/span> (Desert Willow Publishing, $15, paperback).<\/p>\n

The book is divided into three sections, each one pretty much self-contained, featuring Hattie Johnson, whose domineering husband has died a few months earlier. With him gone, Hattie is free to make new friends, develop new interests, and discover heretofore hidden talents.<\/p>\n

She makes use of these new gifts in helping solve a double murder, a local ghost story, sagging morale at the town\u2019s major industry, and an espionage case.<\/p>\n

Vadney employs a technique that I really like: At the beginning of the book she lists the characters who will be appearing in the stories. So, if you\u2019re reading and you can\u2019t remember exactly who Kirk Montrose is, you can go back to the list and refresh your memory. I did that (at the back of the book) with my own \u201cColeman Springs\u201d stories a few years ago, and I wish more authors would, as a courtesy to readers.<\/p>\n

* * * * *<\/p>\n

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

>> Read his past Texas Reads columns in Lone Star Literary Life here.<\/span><\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Texas Reads>> archiveGlenn Dromgoole 8.26.2018\u00a0 Adventure story for kids includes maze puzzles Children\u2019s author Travis Nichols, who grew up in Texas, has produced a delightful book that kids (and adults) will find challenging and fun. Maze Quest (Chronicle Books, $12.95 paperback) is an adventure story that incorporates more than 25 creative maze puzzles to solve […]<\/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-1414","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.etypegoogle10.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1414","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=1414"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.etypegoogle10.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1414\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.etypegoogle10.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1414"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.etypegoogle10.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1414"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.etypegoogle10.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1414"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}