Texas Books

If you are serious about becoming a great teacher, then you should read this book. It is not just a study prep but a great book on pedagogy, laws related to teaching, testing theories, development theories, discipline techniques....and so much more.

I just finished a Master's degree in Education and I'm still learning so much from this book. It has complete and in-depth chapters on each of the 13 competencies and also a final chapter on test taking skills for the 4-8, 8-12 PPR test.

This is the kind of reference you can use even after you pass the test!

This book gives the most comprehensive preparatory review that I have seen. I am getting ready for TEXES, and I bought just about everything Amazon has on the subject. Most of the books provide a very brief summary of the competencies and go straight to the practice exams. Not this one! In fact, there is no practice exam anywhere in the book, but each chapter (organized based on competencies) has review questions at the end. Each competency is explained with application to middle and high school students. The book has definitions, examples, extensive bibliography at the end of each chapter and suggested activities that you can do in order to master the concepts. I can't say enough good things about this book. I have been out of school for years, and I was looking to something that would give me a nice refresher course in Pedagogy. But I also wanted to have more in-depth, detailed explanation of terms and concepts, and I got it here.

Start with this book if you are getting ready for your TEXES, and then move on to the other study guides. This is your textbook!

If you are in an alternative certification program, this is a MUST have to start your career as a teacher. Wong's book is a must-have, as is this one. My first year of teaching, I used this book so frequently, it's become a bible to me.

This book is one of a very few that gives valuable information about the PPR TExES test for middle and high school teachers. It specifically deals with each of the 13 competencies and provides lots of samples and review questions. It's definitely worth the investment, something I can't say about most test-prep books. This one actually has information about good teaching, not just test info.

Beneath the Texas Moon by Elle James
Harlequin Intrigue # 906 - March 2006

Eve moves to Spirit Canyon with her son, Joey, looking for a fresh start and a quiet town to heal in. Eve's hoping to escape from her nightmares and she's praying that Joey will heal from the trauma of watching his father being viciously mauled to death by his own dog. Mac recently returned from Iraq and also recently resigned from the Special Forces. The scars of his last mission run deep not only on his body but in his spirit as well. Spirit Canyon isn't as peaceful as Eve was expecting. There's an animal attacking livestock, it even got one of Mac's breeding goats. And someone wants to scare Eve by leaving her threatening messages. Though trying to fight her attraction to Mac, Eve finds herself accepting his protection and admires the bond he's forming with Joey.

This is definitely a paranormal. I liked the characters that Ms. James has created and I hope that there will be more to come about Spirit Canyon. The climax was most unexpected. A very memorable debut for Ms. James!

This one came in my Intrigue subscription. I've been trying to clean up a lot of my older books in the TBR pile, so this one has been waiting. But reading the back blurb brought it closer to top of the pile; I just had to read it now. I'm glad I did. Excellent debut and I look forward to Ms. James' next release.

Reminded me of the "skin-walker" in the movie, Shadowhunter with Scott Glenn.

Eve Baxter moved to tiny Spirit Canyon, Texas to escape her nightmares and to raise her son in a safe place.
Her ex-husband was more interested in his dogs than his son, Joey. Thereby making his son a witness to his mauling and death by a dog.

She had been in contact with Miss Addie, who is a bit of a matchmaker, and suggests that Eve use the help of Daniel Goodman and Mac McGuire to help turn her house into a Bed and Breakfast. [never did learn if it ever was finished]

Mac had retuned from Iraq just six months ago and still was living with his guilt at having survived his troup and healing from his wounds.
He and Joey had identical wounds across the forehead which intrigued the boy. Until he met Molly, Mac's forty pound Aussie.

Daniel Goodman was his friend and foreman who kept his ranch running while Mac was away. He and Daniel were trying to find a lost goat and lamb. Strange losses of animals was occuring around the ranches.

It seems that the drought-ridden town has it's share of secrets and skeletons.
Eve also meets the Mayor, Clint Logan who had showed up about 5 years ago and he tried to put the move on her. She gently tried to discourage him.

Because of her hang-ups about her unloving step-father she was determined not to subject her son to the same problems. The only thing that I disagreed about was that she tended to get a bit hysterical and you can't do that when raising a child.

Joey seemed to develope a rapport with Mac which made Eve very uneasy. Yet she felt drawn to the brooding rancher. Eve's dreams tended to be a bit spooky without being explained why she had them. Did she tend to be a bit psychic?
Well she sure did come across in the end.

A great mystery with great characters and not sluggish.
Definitely Recommended -m

This story grabbed my attention from the opening pages and held it throughout. The suspense kept me concerned for the character who seemed like people I might meet in my everyday life. I love a tough-on-the-outside hero who has a soft spot for kids.

From the first poage of this book Elle James grabs you by the throat and doesn't let go. You'll fall in love with her hero, be fascintaed by the mystery, and find yourself absorbed in a w=mystical world that captures your attention. If you want a book to reread again and again, this is one to buy.

Sitton and Hunt recap the Great American Story, told many times in many places in this great nation. Blending a worthy narrative with an amazing array of photographs from Larry Jene Fisher, the authors remind us why and how America became so great and why East Texas is such a magnificent story of its own. Read this book if you want to understand what made America and Texas rich and dynamic. Study this book if you want to recall what we must build on to keep our nation great. There's a reason we are who we are and Big Thicket People captures that story superbly.

This book does a magnificent job of capturing a poorly documented chapter
in our nation's history. Sitton and Hunt's text combined with Fisher's
amazing photography magically transports you to the East Texas of the 1930s and 1940s. In reality, the book transports you to the Old South for these "lost" lifeways were common throughout the South before WWII. If you'd like to know more about the Old South, whether it be fox hunting, tie hacking, turpentining or just the old free range livestock culture, this book is a must.

Again, Sitton and Hunt do a great job of telling/showing the history of the rural South which has not been heavily documented. I highly recommend this book, it is a MUST have.

This book offers wonderful photography of an almost lost era in American history. The history of the rural South has not been heavily documented. Sitton and Hunt combine the outstanding photography of Larry Fisher with their wonderful text to make this era come alive. Many of these photographs provide extremely rare documentation of old Southern lifeways, such as turpentining, marking ears of free-range hogs, stave making, etc. I highly recommend this book to anyone interested in the history of the South or East Texas. It is a fabulous resource.

Big Thicket People by Thad Sitton and Charles Hunt provides an invaluable pictorial record of a back woods culture that has faded from the scene.
Larry Jean Fisher moved to Saratoga, Texas and the area called the Big Thicket in the mid 1930s when his first career as a silent movie pianist was ended by the "talkies". We are extremely fortunate that he chose to apply his artistic talents to photography for his pictures provide authentic images of a lost culture.
The Big Thicket is a unique ecological area whose major feature is quite well described by its name. For some the "Thicket" provided a hiding place and for others it meant a meager livelihood, but its harsh and also bountiful environs shaped the lives of those who established homes there. Fisher took pictures of the rustic culture that he found in and around Saratoga. The negatives of his pictures were fortunately passed to the custody of the Lamar University Library where they were finally published by Sitton and Hunt.
The natural history of the Big Thicket was significantly altered by timber-cutting and oil exploration, but it is now slowly reverting to its original state under the protection of the National Park Service's 100,000 acre Big Thicket National Preserve. The Preserve, however, can not bring back the way of life so we are left with the Fisher pictures and the descriptions by Sitton and Hunt.
This short volume provides an excellent review of life in the Big Thicket, but it leaves one wanting more than just this taste of what once was.

Only in America can one person grow up in a city, remember the details almost to the letter, and then WRITE about his friends, fellow citizens, interesting characters, etc. as Bill Cherry has done. He brings the past, and in some cases the present, to life in Galveston. Anyone who finds people of all kinds interesting will find this book INTERESTING! I am Professor Emeritus of Music, University of North Texas and have followed Bill's career rather closely through the years!

I've never read a book quite like this, and I doubt you have either. It's a collection of sixty essays, catagorized by subject: Love, Humor, Nostalgia, History, Hurricanes, Religion, Characters and Memories. And these tales could have as easily been written by Daymon Runyon as they were by this talented story teller, Bill Cherry.

Consider some of the titles: "Joe Pajucie, His Red Cadillac and the Four Cheap-Looking Women;" "At Miss Dorothy's: Arthur and Summer Saw the Midnight Sun;" "Baby Doll Pajamas, Spoolies and Tabu Marked Rites of Passage;" Smooching Can Make a Boy and Girl Say Things They Don't Really Mean;" and "Rose, Curly, the Priest and the Doctor above the Dime Store.

And then there's one simply titled "Homer Sectuals." It's about a circa 1954 mayor inviting some teenage boys, who one night were sitting at a drugstore soda fountain, to go with him for a raid he was staging at a public men's room on the beach. Since they had never heard the term "homosexuals" before, the boys thought Homer Sectuals was a dangerous wanted criminal, so they took the mayor up on his offer. This cops and robbers story is a scream because the homophobic mayor gets his just due.

If you've lived or visited Galveston, you may have a 10% advantage on those of us who haven't, but this book is a wonderful experience for readers everywhere, and what makes it exceptional is that these stories are totally non-fiction!

This is a wonderful book, and was the start of a wonderful friendship with the author. I had purchased the book in a local bookstore, read it (not once, but twice) and just loved it. Then I was weeding thru my bookshelves to make room for more books and decided I would sell my copy of "Galveston Memories." That on-line sale prompted the author to eMail me, demanding to know why I was selling his book. Didn't I like it? Well, of course I did. Then why sell it? I need to make room for newer books. Well, if you agree to sell something else, I'll come over there and personally sign a hardcover copy of my book for you. And Bill Cherry did just that, and he's been a very good friend to me and my husband ever since. All I can say is this... read "Galveston Memories" -- you will love it, even if you've never heard of or been to Galveston. Just don't try and re-sell it because you'll get a phone call from the author.

I like to go to the Mosquito Cafe in Galveston to hear Bill Cherry tell stories. The coffee and scones are great. But the main attraction is the pure pleasure of hearing Bill tell stories about a quirky island off the Texas Coast that has been home to famous pirates, gamblers, bamboozlers and other assorted characters. The stories in this book originally were published in The Galveston County Daily News. As the editor, I can tell you they passed the muster of tough critics. These are the kind of stories islanders like to read about themselves. The stories Bill tells so well at the cafe over coffee are here in this book. It's not exactly the same as a trip to the cafe, but it's mighty close.

I saw Mr Shrake on Evan Smith's Texas Monthly Talks, & learned that he'd written books where much of the action takes place near and around where I currently live: east of Austin in the fertile riverlands around Bastrop.
That made me want to order two books & see what could be learned about the lives people led in this area before the turn of the century. What I discovered was probably an accurate "novelized" glimpse into the rugged, rough, dangerous country that bears no resemblance to the present-day idyllic countryside peopled with artists and university types! The stories about McGill and Custer's brother's horse were mesmerizing & I could hardly put them down, no doubt partially because areas that I am familiar with kept cropping up. All in all, both tales provided valuable insights into exactly why and how this part of Texas was the wild, deadly, lawless frontier back in the days before and after the Civil War. Good stories about real people on their own, the stories take on special interest if the geography is personally pertinent.

McGill is an inspiring hero, immensely capable, with a huge zest for life. He packs incredible adventures into his short life, yet tells his story in a delightfully laid back style. He combines an interest and tolerance of all ideas, religions and philosophies, with a violent intolerance of certain purveyors of them. McGill is a warrior/philosopher, born, raised and ideally suited to this harsh land. His story is one of violence, love, sin and redemption, but it is often hard to distinguish which is which.

This book is a "must read" for all lovers of powerfully written adventure stories, but may make all other westerns dull and unimaginative in comparison.

This is an incredible tale from beginning to end. Shrake has developed a character that is the first person born on the American Continent to achieve sainthood, and until the last pages of the book the reader is kept guessing how he could deserve such an honor. The book reads as a memoir written by McGill as he tells the story of his life while awaiting his death. He lives the life of an indian scalper, buffalo hunter, and gold miner in 19th century Texas from the time of the Texas War of Independence until after the US Civil War. The more you read of this man's account of his life, the less you can believe he could ever desert to be Sainted.

This book has long been out of print, and its re-printing is an excellent opportunity for new readers to discover a classic western. Any fan of Larry McMurty's books in the "Lonesome Dove" will love "Blessed McGill" and recognize that McMurty has probably gotten some of his writting style from reading this book.

As a student of Texas history in general and a reader of fiction about Texas and the Southwest in particular, I found Blessed McGill by Edwin "Bud" Shrake to be rich with descriptive color and accurate detail about the rugged lives and times of both settlers and natives in the 19th century. The characters are developed in depth.

His repeated use of sensory descriptions such as the smells of things adds a dimensional aspect not usually found in this kind of fare. In my opinion, the only other Western fiction writer who stacks up with Shrake is Elmer Kelton.

The Blessings of Hard-Used Angels is an enjoyable and rewarding collection of short fiction. John Cottle's stories are fresh with unique, sometimes off-beat, but always-believable characters. I have no qualms in comparing his approach to development with that of more well known Southern writers in an extremely favorable manner. I would then erase the Southern writer categorization, not wanting to represent the collection as anything other than great stories and excellent writing. Annie McGill, my selection for one of the better stories in any collection, is subtle but unrelenting as it delves into and renders an attorney's emotional response to a quandry. Simple enough, short, but accomplished in such a manner as to create a picture far more intricate than its length might indicate.

John Cottle's writing is like a clear mountain pool--the kind you might be lucky enough to find wandering the deep forested ends of the South. It has that kind of arresting clarity and simplicity and yet such richness of detail--light striking the surface just so, wheeling cascade of ferns, the dark reaches of shadows, rocks stacked in centuries--that tells you from the first you're looking at something you'll remember a long, long time. Of course you will reach your hand to touch such beauty, and the cold shock of that clear water will go straight through your bones--it's that powerful. You'll laugh but you won't leave: in fact, you may even jump right in, boots and all, splashing and swirling, floating for hours, remembering how wonderful it is to be warm-blooded, to be human, to be alive.....If you love masterful writing, memorable characters, and language that tells the truth of living, buy this book now.

A wonderful debut short story collection from Alabama writer John Cottle. If you love language, you'll love these stories. There are descriptions in The Blessings of Hard-Used Angels that are as lush as the landscape that inspired them. A rich cast of characters, too, their lives tragic, humorous, hopeful and ill-starred. The law is a central theme, what it takes to uphold it, break it, get used by it or simply ignored by it. There is a long tradition of great writing from the South, William Faulkner, Carson McCullers and Flannery O'Connor come immediately to mind. John Cottle's writing is of this tradition and continues it. Do yourself a favour and check this book out. You won't be disappointed.

John Cottle is a master storyteller. One tends to forget, in the midst of all the pseudo-fiction of today that is passed off as literature, that classic, poignant, 'real' literature is still being written. Cottle is one of those Southern writers who has stepped out of the traditions of Tennessee Williams' and William Faulkner to give us touching and masterful art in The Blessings of Hard-Used Angels. But for all of that, he is still lending his own fresh views to the plight of those men and women, the hard living, the hard working, the people we all know, mesmerizing us with prose that is so well wrought that it sweeps the reader right in. One story after another is guaranteed to knock your socks off, so I highly recommend this book. If you only buy one title this Christmas for gifts, make it this one; you can't go wrong.

This book is a must for Yankee Historian

An excellent account of the Southern attempt to sieze and hold the western territories. I enjoyed the book and found it easy to read. It covered the southern viewpoint and history of the attempt to secure Arizonia and New Mexico for the Confederacy. The book has good maps that allow the reader to understand the movement across the wide expanse of the Southwest. Personal accounts give a good view of the individaul Texan's view of the campaign and battles. A forgotten theater which was overshadowed by the fighting elsewhere. Dr. Frazier does a good job of showing the strengths and weaknesses of the Confederate Army of New Mexico. The book added to my understanding of this campaign and I recommend to to anyone interested in this campaign.

Fantastic book about the southern struggle to build an empire!All northern history teachers should read this book.I am a U.S.History teacher who wrote a story about my greatgrandfather who was in prison in Texas during the Civil War and DFrazier contacted me for info,thus I have now read his book and it is superb!

I found this book to be an exciting and revealing look into the western campaign of the Civial War. Dr. Frazier is an incredible story teller as well as a thorough researcher. A must read for anyone interested in the role of the western Confederacy.

Beautifully written collection of stories. The author is able to bring you in to the lives of characters from all different walks of life, and capture you with their struggles. These stories will leave you thinking and questioning human nature and the place you come from.

I loved this book of stories so much that it's difficult to know where to begin. Kelly Magee's characters are wonderfully complicated--strong, flawed, compelling, often brutally insightful, almost always sympathetic, and entirely believable. The American landscapes in which these stories take place--the Grand Canyon, New Orleans, the thick heat of Florida--manage to feel both fantastic and utterly recognizable. Perhaps best of all, this book is a tour de force of language. Magee's writing is vibrant, clear-eyed, imagistic, and original--hers is a voice you will want to return to again and again.

This book is amazing! The collection of stories won the Katherine Anne Porter prize in short fiction for a good reason - Kelly Magee's skill as a storyteller. Her characters are complex and live complicated lives. Their world is harsh and beautiful, painful and magical, exhilarating, authentic, and accessible throughout this collection. Magee's language is sticky and sharp. Her prose utilizes the economy of words, keen sense of detail, and imagery of poetry. These stories are about being - being southern, an outsider, queer, subversive, and human. The stories make me think of Flannery O'Conner and William Faulkner but also of the photographs of James Agee and Diane Arbus. Magee tells you a story so vivid not only can you see it, you can feel it, too. I can't wait for more....

This woman is fearless. She crafts people, topics, and points-of-view with an empathy few possess. The characters in this book are fighters--literally and figuratively. As they seek connection, words fail, and they rely on fists and lips (the body's language) to speak their desires and their fears. They fight lovers, gentrification, weather, neighbors, and themselves to carve out a space to call home. From them, we learn again and again to recognize the hope, dignity, and grace that continue to thrive in unlikely circumstances; we recognize the common needs that connect us all.

This excellent road journal by Texas Rock and Roll icon Joe Ely is an enjoyable, refreshing read. It would make a great gift for anyone interested in music. This year Ely was selected for a lifetime acheivement award by Americana. You can go to NPR.com and key word Joe Ely to hear an interview with the author about this book. There are also songs, of course. I absolutely promise you that you will love this book!

Johnny Hughes, author of the Lubbock novel Texas Poker Wisdom.
Texas Poker Wisdom

Joe Ely is a first class musician. Once you start listening to him, you can't stop, and now he gives us a poetic glimpse at life on the road. Bonfire of Roadmaps delves into the hard life, triumphs, and trials of life as a modern day troubadour, and it is a great read. The chapters flow rhythmically along, bursting with memorable characters, stories, lyrics, and a first hand account of what its like to crisscoss the map playing in dingy bars, auditoriums, hotel rooms, and foreign countries. Joe just keeps going. Do yourself a favor: buy this book, listen to the spoken word cd that comes with it, and then start collecting Joe Ely's albums. He's the best. It's as simple as that.

Joe Ely has written an epic poem of life on the road, full of wisdom and insanity, that careens from Austin to Denmark, youth to age, and the bright noise of backstage to the profound silence of the stars. Ely has seen it all, done it all, and lived to sing the story in this fine feast of a book. Nibble it or gulp it down, but read it and let it feed your soul. "When a man knows not his next destination, any road he takes will get him there on time," Ely says. With this book, the veteran singer/songwriter arrives in fine style.

I am very pleased with "Bonfire Of Roadmaps" by Joe Ely. It is a book to savor over the years ahead and to take on long road trips when I travel. And, if I stay home, then it is a book that can take me on Joe Ely's road trips.
I feel blessed that I was able to sit in the front row at Joe Ely's multimedia presentation of Bonfire Of Roadmaps at the Texas Book Festival held in Austin on November 3rd and 4th, 2007. The audience was packed and enthusiastic. A line formed at the book signing following Joe's readings and songs and video. I was very pleased to have Joe sign my book for me. Later, Joe Ely and Joel Guzman and Joe's band filled the space around the Texas Capitol steps with their magical music and lyrics. Joe was deep into his songs and making every effort to fill each listener with the unique blend of country, roots, wisdom, adventure, personal challenge, disappointments and triumphs of which his music is composed. Much of the time he sang with eyes closed as he drew from deep down the well of his own life experience. I will always remember this concert and I have the book to bring back the feelings of the road, feelings that Joe Ely was kind enough to share with us all.

As an historical writer, I strongly recommend this finely crafted novel. Mr. Johnson has created a Civil War Drama that readers of the Western genre will thoroughly enjoy. It is cleverly constructed with full-dimensional characters and events that will linger long after the last page. A great read!

From the back cover of the novel: "The author knows firsthand the locale of this action-packed and fast-paced story. He owned and operated a cattle and horse ranch in the Texa brushland wilderness,in the land known as la brasada . . . . the ranch bordered the Rio Grande for nine miles . . . During the Civil War, wagons loaded with cotton left deep ruts while traveling across the ranch into Mexico. The tracks are visible to this day."

From these roots comes Brasada by Don Johnson, a western novel that is interwoven with some fascinating Civil War History - in particular, how the South financed the War by smuggling its cotton into Mexico and getting paid in gold.

This is a real page-turner that has everything a fan of Westerns and Civil War Novels could ask for, and then some. Just a great introduction to the Western genre for new readers. I strongly recommend it for anyone who likes to read good fiction.

Jerry Patterson, thebuffalokid@aol.com

The characters are as vivid as those in Lonesome Dove. I hope there is a sequel as the opportunity is there with the gold missing and the key characters still young.

In the tradition of great Western writers such as Louis Lamour and Elmer Kelton, Don Johnson brings the old West to life in vivid detail in his new novel Brasada. Johnson's knack for storytelling and colloquial style transports the reader straight to the harsh brushland of Civil War-era Texas. Unlike many modern western authors, Johnson has chosen not to blur the line between good and bad, creating the most dispicable of villains in Santiago and effecting sympathy for the story's hero Lance Morgan. But these characters, while morally black and white through most of the story, still manage to develop throughout. The story's intriguing plot and colorful characters make Brasada hard to put down and a must for fans of classic Western novels.