Texas Books

I consider myself fortunate to have stumbled upon this book a few years ago. I have since bought several copies to give away. Fargas is a luminous poet, along the lines of Jane Hirshfield but more humane and engaged with the world; she views the created world with joy, humor and awe, often through the lens of western and eastern spiritual traditions. The poem "Barely Husbanding Their Own Bodies" is a miniature masterpiece. I can't recommend this book highly enough -- I want more from this poet!

I'm afraid I'm one of those people who's always been "afraid" of poetry. This book has made feel that there's nothing to be afraid of, that poetry can be simple and meaningful at the same time; that it can it can touch something inside without my realizing why or how. It's a lovely book.

On the sixth day of the biblical creation story, God created humans as distinct from animals. Modern readers regard humans as part of the animal kingdom. The title epitomizes Laura Fargas's gift for synthesis in imagery. Subtle phrasing of rhythm and voice combine with her images to make An Animal of the Sixth Day an experience rather than simple reading. I highly recommend it.

If the charming, graceful, and intelligent Appaloosa has won your heart, then make sure Haine's masterpeice has a place on your bookshelf. Concise yet extraordinarily detailed text is complimented by exquisite art depicting spotted horses through time. An amazing peice of Appaloosa literature, and written by one of the founders of the ApHC, no less! Absolute necessity for all Appaloosa lovers.

A magnificent book, full of gorgeous full color photos of ancient and modern artwork depicting the appaloosa. This book is also a well-written history of the evolution of the appaloosa and the attitudes towards the color. For example, did you know that spotted Lippizans and Lusitanos used to be prized and not prohibited? Highly recommend for those who love spotted horses!

Written by one of the founding fathers of the Appaloosa Breed, this book provides a great historical narrative of this colorful American breed. Illustrated with marvelous color prints, it recounts the travels of Appaloosas across the world from early times to the present. A must for any Appaloosa fancier!

This is the best book ever written for identification of fresh and saltwater aquatic and wetland plants along the Texas and Louisiana Gulf Coast.

I can't believe that it's out-of-print in paperback as this constitutes a great void in the available knowledge for the growing number of people who are becoming interested in learning about these plants and identifying which ones are valuable to wildlife, and which ones are detrimental.

I have found this book extremely useful for me an interested amateur with no technical background. I find the book very accessible. The illustrations and photos are very good and the text is excellent.

For anyone who does wetland delineations in Texas, this book is a must. All the pictures are well detailed, and the descriptions of the flora are first rate. It's an excellent field guide.

I have read both of Glynn Harper's books and loved them both! This one centers around a female aviator who spends her life looking for a place to belong, other than the big, blue sky. She finds love early in life and doesn't know enough to realize it. Read the book to see if you believe she finally finds where she belongs. Along the way, you will meet several characters you will love to love. Harper writes this novel almost as if you belong in the world he is creating for his main character.

Arise Beloved puts the reader directly into the lives of the characters. The author, who knows Texas, reveals the ethos of the small-town life of a family with all the flaws and strengths of most of us. Harper's development of Gunther, the man's deepest fears and shame, love and passion, makes the reader feel as though he/she is an intimate friend. Well done!

Sensitively portrayed by Author Glynn Compton Harper this is a book of romance, ambition, danger, adventure and love of flying and of the planes flown. From this, a story emerges. The little known saga of women pilots in World War Two shows the events and responses to them in a novel that captivates and entertains.
The Rev. Carolyn L. Davis

This is more of a guide to living in Austin than traveling in Austin, although I imagine it would be helpful for the latter as well. Even though it's out-of-date, it gave me a great sense of the different neighborhoods and hang-outs when I moved to Austin. Thank God for guides that are subjective and tell it like it is, not read like the venue paid for product placement.
I wish they'd make a new version -- a lot of the places listed are closed or have moved. Still, it gives you a sense of place better than ANY book of its kind, with the possible exception of the NFT series for New York, Boston & SF. In fact, the Edge guide doles out information kind of like a prehistoric NFT.

This is by far the best travel guide I've come across for ANY city. Finally a travel guide that doesn't seem to be written by a tourist. My only complaint is that Edge Guides can't be found in more cities.

I have lived in Austin for 5 months now, and still find that I carry this book around with me and use it to guide me around the city. I think the highest compliment for this book is the fact that friends of mine who have glanced through it find it to be right on target as to what is worth visiting. And these are Austin natives. It is especially useful in helping us who choose not to partake in the whole "fraternity/college" nightlife and hang out with the rest of the music geeks on 6th street. The best investment I made before moving down here!

It is a great book. It lack grammatical explanations, but it does provide phrases on many subjects, often those you won't find in phrasebooks (e.g. conversations with ranchers on their work). I think not only it may give you specialist vocabulary, but can be a good introduction to conversational language.

I was a Spanish major in college, but would honestly have no idea how to express myself in a lot of real-life situations to be encountered in the backcountry. So this guide helped me brush up on some of my "practical" Spanish for an upcoming trip to the Sierra Madre, Sonora and Chihuahua. You would probably be better off knowing some basic Spanish before messing with this guide, but it's not 100% essential. The authors use dialogues with topical themes, like "Can I cross your land?" or "Hey, my truck broke down". The dialogues and vocabulary lists highlight colloquial Mexican usage and point out some backcountry "linguistic etiquette" (like addressing people as "amigo" instead of "señor", which is perfectly acceptable in the backcountry). The vocabulary lists here are also great, with a bunch of practical terms arranged thematically.

This isn't just a phrasebook, though. It's also a guide to the practicalities of getting around and enjoying the backcountry and how to behave in situations that most city-hopping tourists just don't encounter. A lot of rural Mexicans (in places like inland Chihuahua, for example) rarely meet tourists and are often offended by arrogant or just plain ignorant gringos who don't necessarily mean offense. This guide addresses some issues like how to ask for permission to cross somebody's land or what to do if you need to ask directions from a woman if the man of the house isn't around. It's also just generally a useful "how to" guide to hiking and camping in rural Mexico.

Great book. Worth taking with you.

Although I speak spanish fairly well, I do not know many of the more technical terms. When my truck broke down in the middle of the Chiapas, I did not know how to begin to tell the mechanic that I finally located what was wrong and what I needed to fix it.

Without the helpful technical phrases abundant in this book, it would have taken me much longer to find the tools and equipment that I needed to repair my vehicle.

I highly recommend it to anyone traveling in the outback in Spanish-speaking countries.

Jimmy's writing gets better with each book. This one does not disappoint---it's fast paced and as he might have put in his own wonderful words...BY GOD GOOD. Wonderful read. This is not pulp western folks. If you like good westerns, don't miss this one.

I just finished reading J. Lee Butts' book, A Bad Day to Die, the adventures of Lucius "By God" Dodge, Texas Ranger. What a book! Butts is an exceptional writer, has an unusual gift for clever dialog, and is one who flat out knows how to tell a tall Western tale properly.
The book picks up on Lucius Dodge as an old man talking to an old Ranger partner, and then flashes back to one of the craziest, meanest, bloodiest, nastiest cases Dodge and his partner Boz Tatum ever worked on...the Nightshade murders. The two young Texas Rangers, tough, smart, hard working honest fellows are sent to Sweetwater, Texas, a town terrorized by a big family of thugs, the notorious Nightshades.
Two different beautiful girls fall for the handsome young Ranger, Dodge, one the impetuous, sweet-kissing, straight-shooting, green-eyed Martye, sixteen year old daughter from a big, dirt poor family of farmers, and the other the pistol-packing, hard-assed, gorgeous Nance Nightshade. Dodge is no ladies man by any means, often embarrassed by the obvious attentions of these two different, but extremely attractive females.
A Bad Day to Dies isn't light reading, it's a tough book, it doesn't have fairy tale ending, it isn't a book that seems destined to be a Hollywood movie...too real for Hollywood, but what this excellent Western novel is, is historically accurate, hard-hitting, true to the flavor of time and place, and above all, interesting at every point. The deeper into the story the reader gets, the more difficult it is put this exciting book down. Told in the first person by an older and wiser Lucius Dodge, the flow of remarkable similes and metaphors is staggering, the book has the feel of one that was written and then re-written and polished over and over, and of one that was written by a real pro, a wordsmith with uncommon and serious skills. If you've never yet had the pleasure of reading J. Lee Butts, and you appreciate a good story set in the Wild West as it actually was, check out this talented writer. A Bad Day to Die is one mighty fine Western novel. Highly recommended.

I'm a big fan of westerns, and spotted this one at my local Walmart. Intriqued by the title, I decided to pick it up. I'm glad that I did. This book is what westerns should be, exciting from beginning to end. It seems to be written in the first person at the beginning, and slips seemlessly in and out from that point on. I've read a lot of westerns, but the way the author put words together painted a pretty picture. Grab this one if you see it!

Although I fancy myself a fan of her vampire and witch books, I found that I was drawn in by Maggie Shaynes family of cowboys. Could not put the books down!
Wes is the half brother of the rest of the Brands, but they never treat him like it. He has many skeletons in his closet and it is fun to watch Taylor pull them out. Very believable and well developed story line.
Thank you, Maggie Shayne!

This is a fantastic book, 3rd. in the Brand family saga. As each story is told, we learn more about the Brands, which is fabulous, but without loosing anything about the main couple in each story.

Wes is a half brother to the rest of the Brands. Their father had an affair with Wes's mother a Comanche. Wes was bought into the family by his stepmother when his own died & made to feel a part of the family. But for a long time there was something missing & that was his heritage.

Taylor, like Wes was not bought up in the way of the Comanche. She was adopted when her mother died & bought up with white Americans. Wes & Taylor learn about their heritage with a Comanche shaman, Turtle.

This is turning into one fantastic series of books the more I read each new one. Next is book 4 Ben & Penny's story in "The husband she couldn't remember".

Who of us hasn't, at one time or another, lost trust in those we love most? How we deal with that feeling of betrayal can overshadow our lives. This is the theme of Maggie Shayne's "Badland's Bad Boy"; how to trust, who to trust. Do you receive trust and then return it, or does it have to be given unconditionaly in order that it be returned? Taylor McCoy is a Comanche who was raised in a white society. Given away by her birth mother, lied to by her adoptive parents, she trusts nothing but her own gut instincts. When she is hired to excavate a Comanche site at Emerald Flat, she meets Wolf Shadow who claims to be a spirit from the past. He tells her that she is desecrating sacred ground and must stop. Wes Brand is a half-breed Comanche who has been raised by the Brands. He has become close to Turtle, an ancient shaman, and has learned from him the legend of Wolf Shadow and Little Sparrow. He has dressed as Wolf Shadow, hoping to drive Taylor McCoy from the site. But as he stays close to her, she wins his heart. Should he drive her from the site and save the land, as the old shaman has asked, or should he tell her the truth and betray his friend, Turtle? This is a beautifully, touching story of love in two realms, earth and spirit. Maggie Shayne has delved into the dark recesses of man's troubled psyche, pulling forth the emotions he conceals, exposing them to the light of truth.

Sherman brings history to life, and paints a scene the way an artist would approach a canvas. Perhaps the best of modern Western lore. Sherman is at his best in this one. A compelling story, with dimensional characters you hate to leave

In a way only Jory Sherman can fulfill, he takes you on an incredible journey, through a raging storm in the Gulf of Mexico, to settle the vast, arid, Apache stalked land of Texas. A fantastic read!

After reading Grass Kingdom, I waited for this addition to Sherman's series on a historical look at the early Texas years and found it to be another great Jory Sherman saga. The character of Martin Baron and his effort to build his own western kingdom was great. The flavor of Spain the character Miguel Fuentes added was wonderful seasoning.

Growing up in California, I became a Texan as soon as I knew better. Having missed all of the Texas history and trivia growing up, it was pure delight to read "The Bathroom Book of Texas Trivia". It's a gem for those with little nuggets of time to snatch a quick read. From the snippet about the "Pulpwood Queens of East Texas" to discovering how the Lone Star became Texas' state seal to "The Games People Play", it's a fun and informative read.

Often hilarious, intriguing, or just plain interesting fun quick facts about the Lone Star state. If you know someone who plans to visit or move to Texas (or recently arrived), this will orient them. It will also delight Texas natives and Texas ex-patriates who get homesick. Highly recommended.

I found the "Bathroom Book of Texas Trivia" a very enjoyable read. As a native Illinoisan I learned much about my adopted state of Texas. If you are a fan of trivia, or just want to learn more about the Lone Star State, you will enjoy reading this book.