Texas Books

Orphans' Nine Commandments
"Through three orphanages and many foster homes, through tears and humor, the author is a survivor. His story is interesting historically as well as personally and shows the resilience of the human spirit.
This moving memoir will hold teen's attention...." School Library Journal. December 1, 2007.
Ellen Bell, Amador Valley High School, Pleasanton, CA.

"The Orphans' Nine Commandments" by William Holman reflects a spirit so strong and knowing that everyone reading it will be inspired by the grace and honesty shared. Not only those outside of the adoption circle but everyone who was ever a child will respond to the quality of this book. Compassion is one of the most human abilities. May this wonderful book plant seeds of compassion in all who read it.
Touched by Adoption

The Orphans' Nine Commandments is a wonderful book. My daughter took a
copy to her son's sophomore English teacher asking her to share Roger
Bechan's odyssey with her students. She thinks it would encourage kids
who have a rough start . . . to persevere . . . and become successful.
Perhaps then other English teachers in the U.S., and perhaps the world,
will put it on their recommended reading list. That is how important
I think this book will become.
Mrs. Elaine Blackstock. Clearwater, Fla

Taken by his mother when he was six years old to an orphanage and dropped off without warning never to see or hear from her again, William Holman brings the 1930's depression era in Oklahoma to vivid life. His descriptions of the hard times as well as the simple pleasures of growing up in that time and place without a family that he longs for are poignant, spirited and funny. The situations and characters who influence his life through the years will infuriate as well as warm your heart. Despite his rough beginnings the boy succeeds in life eventually becoming the director of the San Francisco Libraries. He marries a wonderful woman and creates a family of two sons. While he never sees his mother again, he does discover who his father was and meets his half siblings. Holman's story has a fine ending but its his journey that makes it so good.

An outstanding glimpse into a life that should have been much different considering its beginnings. This book will make you laugh, make you cry, and cause you to thank your lucky stars. Hard to put down until reaching that last page.

This is a great summer-reading book, fast-paced and clever. Well worth the price. Hope there are more!

When I finished the book I didn't know what to do. I wanted to find out more about Clay Parker, the protagonist , as well as the bizarre characters that inhabit this small Texas town. Having moved to this small town from the big city after disappointment in his personal life, he discovers that he landed in a Fellini movie. Well, maybe "Jenks" (town) isn't quite the insane asyllum of Fellini world, but it is nuts!

I didn't want to put the book down until I had finished it. I laughed out loud a couple of time, which I don't usually do. Actually chuckled about the book even after I had finished it. Just a fun ride. I may be forced to read it again unless the author publishes another book soon.

I highly recommend the book to anyone wishing to escape the perfunctoriness of this world for a few hours. To Austin, please publish another book as soon as possible.

This debut crime novel just came out, and the title is from Oliver Wendell Holmes: "Lawyers spend a great deal of time shoveling smoke." The cover picture gives you a good idea of the kind of humor this book is full of. It's the story of a burnt-out Houston tax lawyer who heads to small town Jenks, Texas, to escape the rat race. Quirky Southern characters, bizarre plot twists and outrageously funny situations abound in Austin Davis' first novel.

"Shoveling Smoke" is Texan Austin Davis's first novel, and it is a doozy. As a Texan myself, I'm always leery of books (and films) set in Texas, because all too often they devolve into a rousing game of "laugh at the silly hicks." Fear not in this case, as Davis's novel, I'm thrilled to say, brings the laughs while refusing to reduce characters to caricatures.

The plot is deceptively simple: Big-city (Houston) tax attorney decides to move to a firm in the backwoods and escape the rat race; cue wacky rural hijinks. So how does Davis take this overdone stranger-in-a-strange-land storyline to another level? With good old-fashioned whip-smart writing, that's how. The dialogue crackles with cleverness, and it's an authentic clever, not some contrived ain't-they-a-hoot nonsense. Hilarious rural-speak flows from these characters so naturally you can hear the voices in your head, and Davis presents that speech almost reverently, as evidence of wit and command of language, never as ignorance. The pacing is spot on throughout. And as far as the plot goes, Davis doesn't simply walk the line between the hysterically unexpected and the ridiculously unbelievable, he redraws it. As wild as some of the circumstances get in this novel, I never felt the tightrope of verisimilitude wobble beneath me; I believed every word.

In addition, I was surprised, nasty old cynic that I am, to catch myself grinning on more than one occasion while reading this book. Sure, there were moments when I laughed out loud, but even a crappy book can get a zinger in here and there, so that's not necessarily a high compliment. But to discover yourself smiling with no knowledge of how long you've been doing it? That is something special. I am not just impressed by Davis but grateful to him, for I was having a bit of a downer week and reading his book was like having someone snatch a handful of sunshine and toss it to me.

Get this book and catch some of that sunshine for yourself.

Houston Lawyer Clay Parker moves to the East Texas town of Jenks to go to work for the Chandler and Stroud law firm. This is a firm infamous for representing horse thieves, shady businessmen and crooks of every stripe. Chandler is a gravitationally challenged (PC for fat) man who never met a good looking woman he didn't like and Stroud has a fondness for the drink. Clay, the new blood, winds up knee deep in questionable and barely legal tactics to get their clients off. Jenks maybe be a Texas backwater of a town, but there are plenty of big city laughs in this story.

If you didn't know there was going to be humor here when you saw the cover of this book, a horse's patooty with its tail stiff and flying in the breeze, then you got bricks between your ears. This book will make you laugh. There is quite a bit of suspense here too. Laughter and suspense, what a terrific combination.

Having been born in the first third of that century, and having worked with buckaroos that were contemporaries of Hewey Calloway, I couldn't get enough of Kelton's continuation of The Good Old Boys. He had to know those men who had a difficult time walking down a sidewalk but sat in a saddle like it was a rocking chair. They really existed! I wonder if Hewey would have carried a cell phone, or what he would think of Interstate 10? I thank Elmer for letting us revisit Hewey and Miss Renfro to see how things worked out. This book is wonderful

What a great book. It is the story of part of the life of Hewey Calloway. One of the last of the true cowboys. He hates to see cars, trucks and telephone lines. He is, I think, really what most of the cowboys were like. It is not full of gun fights and running from the sheriff. He is a hard working man that moves on when he feels like it. A real good story. Has places that are sad and many places that will make you smile. The ending is very good. I just got a happy feeling from reading the book. Makes me wish I had been Hewey Calloway.

This western story is from the point-of-view of a veteran cowboy, Hewey Calloway. It is not exactly the story of his but more the story of the changes that occured during his life. A big one was the advent of the automobile, it greatly decreased the use of horses. Society changed during his life also, more people got involved with industry. It is disturbing to Hewey thinking about cowboy's becoming extict. But Hewey Calloway keeps the tradition alive. Hewey continues to learn more about life and learns to live with regret of decisons that he made earlier in his life.

Like "The Pumpkin Rollers", this is probably the best western I have ever read. It is also a contender for the best book ever read. Hewey Calloway and Spring Renfro are the greatest. What a powerful ending! Also, the other characters that are great are Peeler, Skip Harness, who dies when he is gored by a bull (very sad), Walter and Eve, Tommy, Cotton, Fat, and the list goes on. This is a wonderful book!

Mr. Kelton is from, and writes about, my hometown of San Angelo, Texas. He has a talent for seeing the past in vivid detail (I don't think he's a contemporary of Hewey), an understanding of Native Americans equal to Larry McMurtry's, an eye for modern life in West Texas, and a fine sense of humor (characters like Snort Yarnell). Good work, Elmer; hope to see you in the coffee shop of the Cactus Hotel someday!

This review first appeared in the April 2002 issue of DR AHEAD, the newsletter of the Air Force Navigators Observers Assoication.

There is a saying, "Join the Navy and see the world. Join the Air Force and see Texas." In these two books Tom Alexander takes readers on a tour of Texas to visit 19 of the 65 Army Air Force bases which operated there during World War II.

Volume I covers the bases which were at Amarillo, Pyote, Pecos, Sweetwater, Greenville, Waco, Harlingen, and San Antonio (which alone of these still survives as an active facility). Volume II adds to the tour the bases at Pampa, Hondo, Del Rio, Midland, Marfa, El Paso, Fort Worth, Lubbock, Austin, Big Spring, and Houston. Alexander tells how and when each base came into existence, what missions were fulfilled, who some of the people associated with the base were, how the thousands of Air Force men and women, mostly from outside of Texas, interacted with the nearby community, and what became of the facility. In addition the author looks at the nearby Texas communities before and after the bases were established and the impact that the bases had on the state as a whoe.

Information about the bases is carefully researched and documented with endnotes. There are scores of histrical and contemporary photographs. The books are rich with ancedotal material. Alexander writes with skill

The heart of these books is Alexander's powerful descriptions of the opening, operation, and disposition of the bases and the resulting impacts on Texas. Those who spent Air Force time in Texas will enjoy these books. Libraries in communities which have or had a military base nearby should acquire them. This goes for communities across the country, not just in Texas, because the lessons they teach are about how war and peach change America.

I really enjoyed reading "The Stars Were Big and Bright." There was so much informative and humorous information in a well written format. It was very interesting learning about the diversity in the locations of the air bases and I loved the old pictures. It was a book I didn't want to put down.

I thoroughly enjoyed the portrayal of the life and times of Sweetwater as well as what it was like to be a WASP in a small Texas town!

This book provides a worthwhile survey of the role of military aviation...anecdotal details keep the text lively...vintage and contemporary photographs make the book valuable for anyone interested in the military buildup that affected Texas communities...

I am a native Texan and history buff, but I was never aware of the important role many small Texas towns played in the aerial war efforts of the United States. What a revelation this book provided.

Very well written, interesting, informative, humorous and sometimes tragic, The Stars Were Big and Bright is one book that will remain in my personal library for years to come. It is sure to be reread whenever the urge to revisit the history of Texas' contribution to the U.S. Army Air Force's efforts during WWI and WWII.

I was impressed also with the numerous vintage photograps, maps, descriptions of the relevant airfields, aircraft photos and specifications, as well as the high level of documentation from primary source documents.

This book absolutely has to be the best book on this topic yet written. Perhaps the author, Thomas E. Alexander, will treat us to another great book in the future.

What a beautiful book! Tammy Faye Messner tells it like it is without hesistation. It's a real opener and makes you question the validity of other ministries and their leaders. Tammy Faye truly was a woman of God and I'm sure she's "dancing with angels" right now...and singing at the top of her lungs too!

great lady. very honest in her book. i just love her and if you do too, you'll love all of her books.

What a life! Tammy certainly tells it her way! All of it! From growing up in International Falls, Minnesota to being the queen of the largest Christian television network to being the scorn of millions in and out of the Christian community. And all the steps inbetween. She candidly shares every detail (including some of her sex life!) of her rise and fall from power and her struggle to pick up the pieces of her life. Every struggle, every behind-the-scenes moment, every misconception and every mistake NOT widely known about!

Tammy definately had a life worth reading about. She sheds revealing backstage light on some of the biggest names in Christianity today - Paul and Jan Crouch, Pat Robertson, Jerry Falwell, etc. etc. etc. All with a genuine spirit of forgiveness.

Tammy is definately a beautiful soul and a beautiful person who deserves to be heard. In the book she says, "I believe that truth is truth. What happened happened and is now history. I just want history to be told correctly for my children's sake and for the sake of my grandchildren and generations to come." I think that we all should hear the truth from this woman whose ENTIRE life was devoted to openly sharing with people.

Whether you agree with her religion or not (for the record I don't but I still enjoyed every word and think she's fabulous) her general love for everybody, including those that hurt and betrayed her in a colossal manner, shines!

Don't judge a book by it's cover or a televangelist by her makeup!!!

Sidestep the profiteers trying to make a fast buck from Tammy Faye's recent death by selling this book for up to $2,000. I recently ordered an AUTOGRAPHED copy of the book from Tammy Faye's website for $25 plus shipping.

I love Tammy Faye and thank God for not only who she is, but for her love for a lost world. I'm so glad and encouraged personally that she has the guts to not only be herself, but also how she chooses to look or wear her makeup. Whoever wrote or said for her to get rid of her makeup is an IDIOT. I can't stand people like that.

I was pleased to find that not only is Texas BBQ represented in the first chapter, but the book also recommends the use of wood-burning, offset firebox pits. Unfortunately, the book is a let down when it comes to BBQ sauce.

I have two major points of contention with the lone recipe that is provided:

First, the authors admit that the only reason that the book even contains a BBQ sauce recipe is at the request of their New England-based publisher, and while their chastising is mildly amusing, I have to agree with the Yankee: the vast majority of Texas diners that I've met take their brisket/sausage/chicken/etc with sauce. It is disturbing that the Jamisons, while attempting to write a Texas cookbook, had to be strong-armed by a Red Sox fan into coughing up a BBQ sauce recipe.

Second, the recipe that is offered is a tangy, syrup-y concoction the likes of which I've never seen served with Texas BBQ. I certainly can't claim to have tasted the sauces from a majority of Texas purveyors of Q, but none of the ones that I have tried, from Austin to Houston, resemble "Ol' Red's". I expect something thinner, not a glaze, more savory with a hint of smokiness and very little tang.

The Jamisons need to rethink their seemingly limited view of "the perfection of cookery"'s most recognizable accompaniment.

I bought this book a few weeks ago in a Dallas mall in one of those Texas touristy shops because I was looking for a basic Texas cookbook that had a great variety of Southern and Mexican recipes including a great basic salsa and a Ranch dressing.

So far, I have not been disappointed ONE BIT. I have made four recipes so far...year-round salsa, green sauce, milagro meatloaf, and the mashed potatoes, and everything has turned out absolutely fantastic. The instructions are perfect and don't need any tweaking whatsoever.

Just as an aside, I have made mashed potatoes probably forty times, but decided to give this new method a try after reading how deliciously fluffy and rich they were supposed to be. Not only did the method work out perfectly, but they are THE best mashed potatoes I've ever had.

Fantastic book...definitely a must-have for anyone that adores Tex-Mex or Southern cooking!!!

Like other reviewers have said, I have never made anything out of this cookbook which wasn't utterly delicious! The difference between this and many of the other cookbooks I own is that this food is meant for people who love to eat real food- not "nouveau" dishes that often turn out as if no one had tested the recipe. My favorite recipes are "The Driskill's 1886 Room Chocolate Sheet Cake" (which is now called "Texas Sheet Cake" by my family, the PTA and my church group); the Molasses Spice Cookies; and the Big Thicket Coconut Cake.

Yesterday was my daughter's birthday and she opened this cookbook and requested Tamale Pie and Pineapple-Ginger Upside-Down Cake for her birthday dinner. Both were new recipes and both came out absolutely beautiful and delicious. I asked my husband what he wanted for dessert for Father's Day and he picked out the German Chocolate Cake from this cookbook, because he said that it was guaranteed to be excellent.

So can you tell I think you should buy it?

I have owned this book for over 10 years now and have cooked most everything in it. I'm telling you honestly that I have yet to cook something out of here that doesn't get snacked on constantly or rave reviews from people that visit. My original copy of this fell apart from being used so much! What I wound up having to do was cut the spine off of the book and rebind it myself.

I'm honestly very surprised that this book doesn't have more reviews than it does. Not only are the recipes wonderful to eat, they are fun to read. The author adds fun descriptions and background information with every recipe. Reading these will actually make you want to cook them. Almost every recipe book that I've read since has been disappointing in this respect. This book raised the bar!

Actually there is one recipe that I haven't been able to cook very well, and that is the biscuit. I've dedicated entire days here and there to do nothing but cook batches trying to get it right, but they always come out hard and don't taste very good.

I can't believe there are used copies available! Why would anybody sell one after seeing and using it? I wasn't born in Texas but was made an "honorary native" by friends (complete with membership card!). I received this book as a gift after moving back to the midwest and I LOVE it! I now make the best chicken-fried steak this side of the Sabine River thanks to this cookbook. It not only has great recipes, it has invaluable tips and interesting comments on Texas culinary history and culture. The recipes are not fancy (meaning not "nouveau" or "fusion"), not laden with fillers. Just good food suitable for any night of the week.

My face is a bit red. Matter of fact, I'm almost embarrassed to admit this. I am a lover of Western novels, but had never heard of Elmer Kelton. I have been visiting my daughter's (second home) ranch in Colorado and started doing some horseback riding - at the tender young age of 71! In connection with this I started a subscription to American Cowboy magazine, in which I found an article about Kelton. On my next visit to Barnes and Noble I looked for Kelton's books and lo and behold found a shelf full. I selected The Time it Never Rained as a trial read. I quickly discovered that I couldn't put the book down. I am now on a mission to read all of his works. Definitely five stars.

This is the first Kelton book I have read and the first fiction novel that I have read in decades. I felt like it was real to life and forgot it was fiction. I live there-West Texas, Panhandle. Surely there is a sequel. He left it open to finish out the lives of the major people involved, in at least one more book but ended this one as he should.

Elmer Kelton was rightfully honored with a number of awards for this thoughtful piece of work originally published in 1973. While it is about ranchers trying to survive in one of those long droughts that seem to come more and more frequent to the West and particularly the Southwest it is much more than a story of survival. The nearest community in the book is called Rio Seco and while it only exists in our mind's eye Kelton describes it well enough that it could be one of thousands such communities scattered across Texas and the West. What came to my mind as he described it is the movie from a number of years ago called, "The Last Picture Show". The book is a beautiful study of evolving and conflicting cultures on so many levels. Kelton does a fine job of laying out the past and showing the future of changes between Angelo and Hispanic to include the continuing question of undocumented immigrants. Another is the "old school" way of looking at things rather than the new way. One of the focal points of the book is the role that government aid plays in changing groups such as ranchers forever. The "hero" (and I'm sure he never considered himself a hero of any kind) of the book, Charlie Flagg refuses the aid and thereby creates tension for himself and others around him. What's amazing, and something to which I consider an honor, is that I was reared in a time and community to have known men just like Charlie Flagg. This book has been re-published several times and I can understand why. Really much of what you read in "The Time It Never Rained" is timeless while other parts provide a beautiful look to the middle of the last century in Texas. While it's considered a western it's far from a "shoot'em up". Other of his books go there but that's for another review.

This book is unlike any of Kelton's other works. The time setting is the 1950s and the seven-year drought we experienced during those years. The plot/theme is the end of the era of independence and freedom among cow men ... the time when they told themselves the drought forced them to sell themselves to the government to receive hay in return for their souls and their pasts.

I think of this book as a companion read to Abbey's, Brave Cowboy and McMurtry's, Hud (the book). All three writers were capturing a time and an attitude representing an end of an era when ranchers continued to curse the government out of habit while accepting welfare money as gracefully as the city poor they despised for doing so.

Kelton's book is as good as the other two, maybe better.

Being a Texan in Texas during the drought Elmer Kelton describes in The Time It Never Rained, he seems to write about it first hand. I remember the deluge that ended the drought, and it was the experience I remember. I worked at the San Angelo Standard-Times while Mr. Kelton did, and his day to day newspaper work was a preview to his books to come. He has West Texas nailed down to a T, and I love all his books. But this one especially strikes home.

I was present during a year of the meetings and all I can say is that after more then 30+ years of disinformation by the media and other anti-war, anti-military I am tired of the facts not being generally available. Now all I can do is hope people may evaluate todays events in somewhat of a pragmatic knowledge of the real world. To my knowledge all of the principals at the WIEW's are deceased, my job in MACV Current Intelligence Indications branch was to present the intelligence.

This is an important historical work and a valuable reference that historians, biographers, and others writing about or studying the Vietnam War will want to consult. It is a remarkable record of the briefings and meetings attended by General Abrams, the U. S. commander in Vietnam, during four of the most critical years of the war.

Sorley spent a year in a secure vault, wearing earphones to listen to over 2,000 hours of highly classified 1968-72 audio tapes. He transcribed 835,000 words by hand and then edited them into this volume of about 450,000 words and over 900 pages. The U. S. Army, the Central Intelligence Agency, and the National Security Agency all had to give their clearance before publication.

As we all know, meetings can be deadly dull. However, Sorley has apparently cut any inconsequential chatter and mundane topics because what is left is intensely interesting. We can read the exact words of General Abrams and his subordinate commanders, staff, and visitors. They are amazingly frank and express strong opinions about the conduct of the war, their contemporaries, and the Vietnamese. I knew, or at least met, many of the participants in these conferences and their personalities come through in their recorded remarks. It was especially interesting to read what the most senior generals in Vietnam were hearing and saying about the 1972 Easter Offensive while I was fighting in it at one of the lower levels.

Sorley provides lists that identify the Americans and Vietnamese who participated--or were mentioned--in these meetings and 64 illustrations that show what many of them looked like. There is also a glossary of terms, acronyms and abbreviations, and a good general index.

We are fortunate that these sessions were recorded and that a historian of Lewis Sorley's ability expended the time and effort to transcribe and edit them into a usable form that will be preserved for future generations.

Vietnam is still an amazingly painful topic for many people. A huge number of regular folks read about the American Civil War (or whatever other name you want to give it), both World Wars, the Revolutionary War, and other important events in American history. Our Vietnam experience is very hard for the living generations to investigate for a number of reasons. One reason is that those of us who were alive during the 60s and 70s and at least teenagers all developed strongly held views and emotional commitments to a position on the war. Revisiting those years with the kind of open mind required by serious scholarship requires more strength than most of us mere mortals can muster.

However, I believe emphatically that it is time to do so. It seems clear to me that much of what was being fed to Americans via the media was couched to promote an anti-war view. Yes, it is true that the press, say, in WWII was more uniformly supported the war effort (but not as completely as is remembered today), but the point in both instances is that we reach a point in time when it is essential to go back, examine the evidence with fresh eyes and an open heart, and get as close to the truth as we can.

This book is one of those treasures that provides essential primary information that none of us had access to previously. This book provides edited transcripts of tapes made of various briefings and meetings of General Creighton Abrams when he was the commander of US forces in Vietnam from 1968-72. It makes surprisingly fascinating reading. You do have to get used to some of the military terminology, but the author does provide helps for the reader. There is some introductory material, and guide to all the participants in the back with their full names, titles, and the dates of their service. There is an essential guide to all the acronyms as well. And of course there is a useful index.

It is painful to read these accounts as they struggled to manage the war effort, getting the right forces in place, reacting to bad reporting back home, and their reactions events and politicians back home. There are a couple of quotes that I think that struck me especially forcefully.

The first is between Abrams and his boss, Admiral John McCain (father of our Senator John McCain) pg 573:

McCain: "I think when this d___ thing comes out in clear writing sometime, maybe 5 or 10 years from now, you're going to find out that we were a g__d___ sight closer to some sort of a successful conclusion to this d___ thing than the politicians and newspapers in the United States won't [sic] admit, and a few other things."
Abrams: "I thought we'd read that in your memoirs."
McCain: "I'm not going to write any g__d___ memoirs. I decided that a long time ago." "Sure going to be interesting to see what some other people say about me in their memoirs, though. I hope I'm around long enough to read some of them."
Abrams: (serious, not joking): "Well, I think on that score, Admiral, none of us can hope for any of that to be good."
McCain: "Memoirs won't be read if they're good. That's a fact. I can tell you that right now."

What have we done as a country to make such dedicated men who have sacrificed so much of their lives on our behalf to have to eat that much pain?

Then at the end of the book when Abrams is leaving, Ambassador Ellsworth Bunker provides these comments to him pg 877-8:

Abrams: "Mr. Ambassador?"
Bunker: "Yes, I'd like to say a word, General Abrams. When you and I came here, a little more than give years ago, I was hoping we could exit together. I just want to say that these five years I think have had the most rewarding of a fairly long career that began with the horse artillery in 1916. And they certainly have been fateful years, for the Republic of Vietnam and for our own country. I suppose, when the history of this war is written, it will be very clear that no country ever put as many restraints on itself as we did. And I think it's been probably the most difficult war that we've ever tried to fight. And it's been fateful for our country, because I think the question is whether we have the patience and the determination and the will to accept the responsibilities of power."

There is more to this statement, but that will do for my purposes.

We can learn from history, and we are now in a situation in Iraq where we are also being tested in much the same way by some on the home front. We will see if we "we have the patience and the determination and the will to accept the responsibilities of power." I pray we do.

A fabulous contribution to scholarship and can add a great deal to your own understanding of this middle period of the Vietnam War.

The first words I noticed about "The Abrams Tape" was its dedication by Lewis Sorley, "For the people of South Vietnam." A few pages later, a quote by the eldest of Gen. Creighton Abrams's three sons appears, "He [Gen. Abrams] thought the Vietnamese were worth it."

This book is an unfathomable work that captures the period in Vietnam from June 1968 through June 1972. Its main character is Abrams, whose approach to the second half of the Vietnam War greatly differs than that of William Westmoreland. Sorley transcribes and edits the recordings from the Weekly Intelligence Estimate Update (WIEU) sessions and other meetings attended by nearly all key American and South Vietnamese players of that time. No matter of one's opinion on the war, readers will uncover difficult decisions that were made about Vietnamization, pacification, the Cambodian incursion, the invasion of Laos (Lam Son 719) and the Easter Offensive. How important was gaining the release of American POWs? How much did that desire play into Kissinger's negotiations for a settled "peace with honor" and a unilateral U.S. withdrawal?

If you're looking for an exact history and not a journalist's analysis, a historian's rehash or a grunt's memoir, Sorley's "The Abrams Tape" and its predecessor "A Better War" are must-reads.

Vietnam Chronicles, The Abrams Tapes 1968-1972 is the product of Herculean efforts by Lewis Sorley, editor, annotator, and transcriber of excerpts from nearly 500 tape recordings of weekly command briefings at MACV (Military Assistance Command, Vietnam) headquarters at Ton Son Nhut air base in Saigon, Vietnam. In these transcription excerpts of the tapes of the weekly and other special briefings for General Creighton W. Abrams, U.S. Commander in Vietnam, Sorley has put together significant portions from his voluminous notes on the still highly classified tapes held in a special collection at the U.S. Army Military History Institute. It took one year in the transcribing, and one year of mandatory declassification review to bring this collection to the general public. The result for the historian and general reader is a wealth of material regarding the nuance and persona of high command which makes for very interesting reading.

But what is more important it reinforces Sorley's basic thesis put forth in an earlier work, A Better War, that the modus operandi significantly changed when General Abrams took command in mid-1968; and by capitalizing on earlier efforts, our arms and those of the South Vietnamese were able to begin steering a course toward what might, just might have been a very successful outcome of the long Vietnam conflict.

Like usual, my seventeen-year-old snatched Jenny's book before I could get my hands on it. That's when the torture began--hooting and guffawing erupting from the other room for hours while Her Royal Highness refused to tell me a single joke!
When my turn to read The Big Picture finally came, I laughed at Jenny's snarky humor till I cried. Katie Parker and her wacky foster grandma, Maxine, walked off the page and into my kitchen till I fed them pizza with the rest of the teen fixtures around here. When Jenny's next book comes out, I'm buying two copies--make that six--one for me, one for Her Royal Highness, and the rest for the kids who have pizza smudged my whole series.

This is the third in the Katie Parker Series, which is about a teenage girl in foster care because her mom is in prison for drug dealing. In this book Katie's mom wants to take her back, and Katie feels torn between her mom and her foster family and friends. How can Katie show her druggie mom the love of Jesus when her mom does not want to change?

I think this series is awesome! I don't like to read, but this story pulled me in right away and has showed me that reading can be fun. I like how the author mixed humor with sad situations. I found myself crying sometimes but I laughed a lot.

~~by Erin, age 14

Katie Parker is a riot! A realistic, relatable, sarcastic, hilarious girl on the verge of adulthood and all the issues that come with. The best part about Katie is EVERYONE gets her - young teens, college students, moms, middle-aged women, even grannies can relate to something in Katie's life. In fact, one of my favorite characters was Mad Maxine, Katie's crazy foster grandma who gets into more trouble than Katie herself.

I would recommend this series (please, go back and read them in order!) to any teen girl. They're fresh, fun, and full of inspiring themes that don't preach, but rather give subtle undertones of faith. Katie is real - it was hard to put this last book in the series down. I want to save them and let my daughter read them one day. (Okay, so she'll have to wait about 12 years, but hey!) =)

I really enjoyed reading the 3rd book in the Katie Parker series! I caught myself laughing out loud throughout the book. I'll never understand how authors can be this funny and come up with this stuff, it is pure talent! Katie Parker is a character that you continue to love throughout the series. She goes through REAL challenges and learns big lessons. The series would be a great present for teenage girls!

Once again, Jenny B. Jones proves she is one of today's top novelists. In The Big Picture, she brings Katie's story to a hopeful conclusion, leading readers through the story with her typical wit. It takes a skilled writer to weave her kind of wit with genuine depth so readers stay enthralled with the characters' world. Katie is so real that it's easy to imagine hanging out with her, yet her antics and humor are bigger than life at the same time. Jones also shows additional spiritual growth in Katie, guiding readers to search for more in their own relationships with God. Great read! May we see more from Jones for many years to come.

The Blue Yonder Inn by Helen Campbell is a thoroughly "reader engaging" novel about a mother's struggle to keep her ill-tempered teenage niece out of trouble. Their gradual coming to terms with one another, amid the backdrop of the family business - a pay-by-the-hour roadside motel that depends upon airmen, prostitutes, and visitors to the state penitentiary for its clientele - evolves through the turbulence of an extended voyage of discovery and more, in this sometimes sardonic, sometimes heartwarming look at the effort it takes to forge true family ties. The Blue Yonder Inn is a deftly written and highly recommended for personal reading lists and community library contemporary fiction collections.

This book is highly entertaining and a very quick read. For a great view of life in West Texas in a different time in history, check this out!

Tired of the same old character cliches? Sick of the same old plots? Well, drive yourself over to the Blue Yonder Inn where you'll meet a memorable assortment of oddballs whose resumes aren't exactly worth a second call. Bonnie Blue, the down-and-out protagonist, leaves Blackie, her baby, in a wheelbarrow outside the Blue Yonder Inn and heads out on her own hero's journey. On the run from her good-for-nothing husband Gil, Bonnie meets up with more curious folk - some unsavory, some endearing. This story is sharp, fast paced, and has well drawn characters. Helen Campbell's biting wit makes even the most tragic of circumstances humorous. You'll find yourself laughing and sympathizing with people you might otherwise avoid completely.

Helen Campbell scores again! Just as Turnip Blues was too hilarious to put down, so the character development in The Blue Yonder Inn makes you not want to quit reading until the end. Though the central story of Bonnie Blue, Blackie, and Darnelle covers but a brief span of time, you are transported back and forth through the generations of their family and friendships resulting in a panoramic encounter that seems all so familiar. Campbell writes with such detail and clarity that the reader's emotions are continuously engaged. You want to hold Blackie in your arms, punch out Gil, and share a bourbon with Darnelle.

This is a wonderful novel, easy to read and hard to put down --staying in my mind ever since I did finally put it down, sad to finish it.
A surprising book, because the heroine, Bonnie Blue, is a [weak person] if ever there was one -- and yet there's something about the way Campbell describes this young woman that made me care about her, and the sad and difficult life she leads, and the people around her, particularly her wayward uncles and enterprising aunt. Authentic, funny, poignant, insightful -- Campbell's novel doesn't shy away from the ugly truth about the underside of American society -- as it was in the 60s in Texas -- but you'll end the book feeling joyous rather than depressed, trust me.