Texas Books

Enjoyed it very much, bogged down just a little in several places. The author really got me caught up in the first page.

This is the type of book that is hard to put down. It grabs you from the start and keeps you wondering what is going to happen next. It is not only a great story, it is also full of history of the Texas rangers and the Mexican border towns. I can't wait to read the sequel. I highly recommend this book.

Agree with others: hard to put down. A New Yorker married to a Texan, I had to take Texas history for teaching certification. It was extremely interesting, but this book beats all by drawing the reader in, so that you sort of live that slice of history along with the characters.

A great read. I was hooked at the first chapter. What a way to start a story! And the story continues with suprising twists and turns. You will enjoy the last chapter as much as you enjoyed the first chapter.

If you liked this tale about the Texas-Rio Grande region, then you will like Bart Skelton's monthly feature in Guns and Ammo magazine. And likewise, if you like Bart Shelton, then you will like this book.

Enjoy.

This is a captivating story with lovable characters. There is just the right amount of excitement, historical reference and Spanish language smattered throughout to make this book authentic and informative but easy and pleasant reading. I am anxious to see more from this author.

This is an excellent book. As a 74 year old Jewish native Houstonian I could not put it down. I strongly recommend it to anyone interested in Texas history, even if they are not Jewish.

This is an excellent book for anyone who wants to know more about Texas than football & beer!

This book delves into a part of Texas history that has been ignored. Hollace wrote with a very interesting style that kept me totaly involved until I finished. It is one of those books that you feel you become one with and never want it to end.

Hollace Weiner's writing kept me enthralled. This book is the rare combination of careful and accurate research while the presentation is that of an enticing historical novel. It's loaded with all the goods - mystery, politics, romance and more, but all the accounts are true. I couldn't put this book down as every chapter had a fresh and intriguing draw. The facts themselves are fascinating. Written in Ms. Weiner's engaging style, this book is a big winner. I give lectures on small-town synagogues and Jewish communities and I have already used some of the great new research covered in her book.

It is a very well written book which documents the great impact these Jewish Rabbis had on the people of Texas in general.

I read this book when my first child was a month old. It was exactly what I needed. I felt as if I had a sympathetic voice for everything I was experiencing emotionally. This book doesn't address the concerns found in most baby books such as how to dress and bathe your baby. Instead, it focuses on the changes you are experiencing as a new mother. It made me feel a little more sane while I was experiencing the crazy fogginess of sleep deprivation.

The best part about this book was that it was written in a question and answer format. I could easily pick it up where I left off as I was frequently interrupted by the demands of my newborn son. I was also able to tell when I didn't need the information on a certain subject and could skip right over it to the next question. I was able to digest the information at my own pace.

This book is a lifesaver for new mothers and I would highly recommend it to anyone who has recently had a child or is about to have one. It gave me hope when it seemed like my life was overwhelming and it reminded me that one day I will have a full night of sleep again!

I received this book as a gift, and now my best friend is pregnant so I'm buying her a copy. Every new mom needs this book! Anything and everything that comes up for new moms is addressed - from the baby's health and development to changes in your body and why you're fighting so much with your partner. Love the question & answer format, which makes for easy reading in quick "bites." I pick up this book over and over again and always find something new and inspiring. Highly recommended!

Motherhood Without Guilt: Being the Best Mother You Can Be and Feeling Great About It

I have read many books about how to care for your newborn, but this book was about how to take care of me, after childbirth. Every question I had and wondered if I was being selfish, greedy, overly protective or just depressed was included in this book. It gave examples that I related to. I am very grateful to know that I am not alone with my emotions and experiences of being a new mom!

As a family therapist and teacher, I thought I was quite prepared to become a mother. In reality, I was overwhelmed by the abrupt changes in my life after having a baby. This book addressed my concerns in a caring, supportive and nonjudgmental way. It discussed issues that I had difficulty verbalizing, and it normalized my early experiences of motherhood. This is my top pick for every new mother - it is my staple gift at every baby shower!

I cannot believe I had to endure the pregnancies and births of four children before someone wrote this book! The New Mom's Companion: Care for Yourself While You Care for Your Newborn is an amazing book that speaks directly to a new mom, and about practically ALL of the questions and dilemmas that a new mom has to endure! Wait, it really speaks to ANY mom! I have to admit that I quickly studied the "in-law" questions, to make sure I wasn't off my rocker for some of the concerns I had (and still have) about my ability to be a good mom, despite what the other side of our family thinks! The authors of The New Mom's Companion: Care for Yourself While You Care for Your Newborn have taken great care to respond to the many questions highlighted in this book, putting a positive light on some very emotional and misunderstood feelings of a new mom. We are pampered and doted on while we are pregnant, yet the minute the baby arrives, moms seem to lose their identity and their value. The New Mom's Companion: Care for Yourself While You Care for Your Newborn brings self-worth back to the woman, who just happens to be a mom!

I met Tom Dodge in 1980. He was the somber, bearded, denim-clad intellectual who collected and sold vintage books in his relaxed little store downstairs from my wholesale office in a restored 200 year-old jailhouse in Waxahachie, Texas -- a great place to work and to hang.

On balmy afternoons, when business was slow, I would venture downstairs, browse the bookshelves, drink some coffee, and swap a few stories. I did most of the talking. Our conversations would round many curves, some serious, many amusing, but none very invasive in a personal sense. When we laughed, I noticed that Tom's demonstration was subdued, as if a gnarled hand from deep in his soul had reached up, pained his features, and choked his laughter.

One day, I felt confident of his trust, so I asked him about his parents. He was forthright, but hesitating. He described his mother and her life in sparse detail. He tried to share some insight about the person whom he thought was his father. Finally, he confessed that he really did not know who his father was. I cannot recall our finishing that point, because I had to take a phone call upstairs. We continued our visits, Tom's justified preoccupation with a recently injured son diverted me from trying to "get into his head."

My company closed the Waxahachie office in 1984, and I relocated my work to Dallas. Although we did see each other occasionally, Tom and I really did not keep in touch until 1995. One afternoon, I gave him a call; he was talkative and enthusiastic, in the middle of writing another book -- a personal account, this time. By then, Tom was trying to "manage" his mother -- not only her home and finances, but also the aftermath of some of her bizarre behavior in and around town, the result of a diminishing mental capacity.

I found out that, while growing up, Tom had shoes, clothes, shelter, and food. And, he had the love of his mother's parents, who raised him. But, all through his life, he wanted -- needed -- to know who his father actually was. But, Tom's mother could not tell him -- especially as he grew to adulthood -- because he represented a shameful indiscretion with someone to whom she was not married. He tried to reach out to her, but she was running too fast, pursued by ghosts from her past. They never had a deep conversation; it was just too risky for her. Time was running out; Tom's mother would not be able to tell him, because she was losing her mind. One great day, however, Tom got his answer -- a simple, straight answer. His world changed after that.

Oedipus Road is an interesting book in which Tom Dodge deals with his frustrating journey into self-realization in a sensitive, but dignified, way. He does not try to pull the reader into a maelstrom of grief; Tom, himself, is too reserved. Rather, he takes you along on a sensitive, realistic tour of time and life in a couple of small towns in Texas; he guides us with reflection and awareness. Oedipus Road involves the reader through a captivating story and empathy for a man seeking significance.

I liked this book. I found it well written and very interesting. The tales of growing up in Cleburne, Texas are captivating, even more so since it's a world gone by. The chronicling of his mother's Alzheimer's Disease is heartbreaking and reminds us of what we all might be facing.

There is a hauntingly beautiful line in the movie "Shadowlands": "We read to know we are not alone." Every time I read Tom Dodge's OEDIPUS ROAD I feel its truth.

I had read Mr. Dodge's book of short essays and thoroughly loved it. I purchased this book at NorthLake College where I had the pleasure of hearing Mr. Dodge speak. My father died of colon cancer a year ago and spent a month in dementia at the end, and my mother has recently moved my 94 year old grandfather into her home. Due to these circumstances I could really appreciate Mr. Dodge's experiences dealing with his mother's situation - and understand the stress. But the beauty - and the mystery - of the story is his search for his father's identity. I kept turning pages because I couldn't wait to see what information he would discover - or extricate from his mother - next.

Oedipus Road by Tom Dodge is wonderfully engaging. I think I read it in three sittings. Normally I don't find mysteries my cup of tea, but when they are about birth rather than death and occur on a spiritual-emotional plane rather than a physical one, the drama changes entirely; this tea is just the right cup and just the right flavor.

The narrative's subtitle, "Searching for a Father in a Mother's Fading Memory," captures a basic irony of this tale with its classical allusions and provides the basis of its form. The author, stubbornly searching for his lost father in his mother's lost memory, begins each chapter with a candid recollection of his mother in her own voice -- setting the tone for her son who recalls his own childhood in parallels that oddly match his mother's memories on some level. However, Plato and Sophocles hover behind this story of small town life in Cleburne, Texas during the fifties with its insistence on knowledge, especially self-knowledge. In a sense, the author travels the long read that we all travel from the time we're old enough to question our identity. How can we make wise choices unless we know who we are? His mother, a victim of Alzheimer's disease, would seem to be little help on his path; however, the past is as vivid to her mind as the present is dim. Her lively language fairly vibrates off the page as she recalls her own childhood, evoking yet another generation, that of her beloved parents, in whose home the author is reared. We see life spanning generations, socially, politically, economically -- a history of the United States for three generations on a personal level.

As the author outlines his struggles with his mother's mental deterioration and his search for his father, we get not only only a book of changing times but one of morals and mores also. Unlike Jocasta, the author's mother knew who his father was, but as he says of his mother and gradmother: while they could bear any tragedy, scandal was indefensible. And thus never mentioned, ever. Dodge says he was the scarlet letter his mother refused to wear. It's not a bitter story, however. Despite the author's pain and ever-present anxiety, he recalls the pleasure of his small-town doings with nostalgia, great fondness and affection. And always there to guide him, like the chorus in ancient Greek plays, were his grandparents, his aunt Bernice and his mother's husband, kind beacons along the way.

Finally this mystery, aptly begun on Mother's Day, is solved, but it's a who-done-it until the very end. I was breathless by the end of one of the last chapters when the author has led the reader to believe that, if ever, it will be now, and his mother, like a character in a badly dubbed foreign movie, says the name for which so long he has searched. And oddly there is no blame. Because Dodge has allowed his mother to speak for herself, his story is her story too. Tragedy bequeaths itself only because it is inevitable, not because someone is to blame. Thus it is that Oedipus Road does what the best stories do: teaches us compassion and affirms life without ignoring its tragedy or folly.

Since Joe Coomer and I are distant relatives (cousins by marriage), I've been reading his books for about four years. I started with KENTUCKY LOVE because that's where his ancestors and mine began. What a book that was!

Then I read three more, in no particular order, so I'm wandering helter-skelter through his writing career ... and enjoying every moment of these fine reads.

Each book I read is so unique from the other, but each has common threads: warmth, love of family and friends, love of life, life lessons, smooth reading, realistic characters, etc.

I really looooooove the concept of ONE VACANT CHAIR, and appreciate finely-drawn characters who have unusual jobs in life.

Go, Joe!!! (And congratulations on the movie deal on THE LOOP. Can't wait to see the movie!)

This story has everything I look for in a book: excellent characters who evolve; a good, strong plot; romance; and humor.

Sarah is a fourty-something mother whose husband has betrayed her and whose grandmother has just died. She takes refuge with and also takes care of her grieving Aunt Edna, grandmother's caretaker for the last 20 some years.

The cast of characters includes a blind black man who repairs the chairs that Edna endlessly paints, the rest of the family who are quite quirky and a southern baptist minister with a bad toupee.

There's old family squabbles, new acquaintance mystery. And most of all, there's a big old life lesson - what you see is not always what you get. It's all in what you choose to see.

This is not quite a light read; it's a lot thicker than that. But it is utterly lovely.

(*)>

"We were two fat women, eighteen years apart, a chair artist and a designer of Christmas ornaments, who only knew we had troubles and a hot summer to get through," says Sarah. But as it turns out, there is a great deal more to quirky Aunt Edna's troubles than Sarah could possibly imagine. As the novel turns from the hot, oppressive heat of Texas to the misty beauty of Scotland, she learns of her aunt's remarkable secret life and comes to fully understand the fragile business of living, and even of dying.
My reviewing experience is minimal, but it would be remiss of me to not let you know how much I enjoyed this book. Joe Coomer's book "One Vacant Chair" is one of the most well-written stories that I have ever read. If you have the time this summer and you're looking for a great read, try this book. You won't be disappointed.
"It's where you sit down that determines everything in life."

This book works on so many different levels. It's a great read that's hard to put down once you start. It has wonderfully fleshed out characters who come to life on the page. The themes are compelling, and Coomer handles them with a strong sense of humor and sensitivity. The discussion of art technique adds another interesting dimension. All in all, I loved this book!

Friends and family have been phoned and emailed with the rave review I've given this book. Funny, touching, sweet, and spicy---it has everything you hope a book will have, and then some. Realistic characters, great dialog and a realistic plot kept me reading well into the night. Tell your friends...they'll thank you.

A wonderful book for quilters and lovers of history. Written in the first person, you are drawn into the simple lives of these women. A quick and rewarding read.

Reading about the lives of these women makes you appreciate the ease of modern life but the simjplicity of their days is enviable. Wonderful quilts too.

This book is facinating with it's history of American pioneer women. It contains real quotes from real people about the lives that they lived. If you have seen or been in the play you will be delighted to see that some of the show's monologues are word-for-word from this book! I't's a moving book and a moving play.

This book is a wonderful tribute to women...quilters or not. The book is filled with interviews, pictures, and descriptions that bring the joy and sorrow of daily living to life. If the simple things in life are indeed the sweetest.... then these women and their quilts tell the sweetest story ever...they tell our story... they are our history.

I have read many books about pioneering women who set up homes from scratch and quilted for practical and soul-fulfilling reasons. Usually though, those women are long gone and we are left with rather dry details of their lives. The joy of this book is that the women whose words are recorded in it are living, breathing members of that pioneer group, and, even though their experiences were in the 20th rather than the 19th century,the issues and incidents are the same and they tell a vibrant story.
The book records conversations amongst Texas quilting groups, to which the authors were invited and the ladies seem eager to tell stories of their early days in dug outs and cabins, their families scaping a life from the soil and their role in that. None of them ever sound hard done by or as if they wish their lives had been different. And they are all keen to express the creative and fulfilling role that quilting has had in their lives.
If you are not a quilter, you will still enjoy the strength, friendship and nobility that run through these conversations - they are a link with a passed era, which I felt honoured to share as I read.

I had really almost decided to stop buying Junior League Cookbooks. They had all started to look about the same, recipe wise, with little if any regional feel to them. (and you guys in north dakota can just leave out the tex-mex, ok?) But I am extremely happy that I have this one. The book is a work of art in itself, with really nice design to it, and at least a hardback/spiral not a plastic comb (I know, some cookbooks could not afford to see the light of day without that)- but these recipes are terrific, very texan, and have for the most part left out the huge amounts of filler recipes that so many junior league cookbooks have started to have- like endless lasagna dishes, italian, etc. Well Done! I would have bought a few more for friends if I had any, IF they had left out more of the 'canned' sorts of things.... but there is not an overwhelming amount of that, like there was in the '60's.

South Texas women have always had a flair for entertaining. Nothing is ever ordinary! The book is filled with fresh ideas in a creative ensemble of South Texas cuisine. Recipes are easy to follow and offer a twist to the overly detailed companions. Your friends will delight in your cooking and be so ever inquisitive of the recipes, this I know from experience!

South Texas women have always had a flair for entertaining. Nothing is ever ordinary! The book is filled with fresh ideas in a creative ensemble of South Texas cuisine. Recipes are easy to follow and offer a twist to the overly detailed companions. Your friends will delight in your cooking and be so ever inquisitive of the recipes, this I know from experience!

This Cookbook has a lot of unique recepies that are very easy and and delicious. The variety also makes it easy to do a complete meal from the cook book.

This is a great cookbook! There are great recipes for casual entertaining with ingredients that are easy to find. I collect JL cookbooks from all over the US and this is one of my favorites. Maybe because there are lots of Tex-Mex and appetizers.

This book caused me to think of people and places I hadn't thought of for the past 30 years. I served with Delta company Sept. 1970 till July 1, 1971. Keith Nolan told a story that should have been told long ago. After reading Sappers in the Wire I was upset with some of the things that were said about Delta. But I now realize that not everyone will recall events in the same light. It has a lot to do with where you are at in the chain of command. This book caused me to get in touch with quite a few of my wartime brothers. It has also help me to remember things that were in the back of my mind, THANKS Keith for telling at least part of The Professionals story of 1970- 1971. I will re-read this book over and over, because each time it helps me remember more.
SFC Joseph H. Wolfe, Jr. US Army (Ret)
Charleston, SC

AASIGNED TO COMPANY "D" 1/46, 196 INF, I KNOW MR. NOLAN HAS TONS IF INTERVIEWS AND DOCUMENTS ON THE SUBJECT, FSB MARY ANN, I BELIEVE THAT VOLUMES COULD AND SHOULD BE WRITTEN, AS WELL AS, PHOTOS, NOT TO STOP SHORT OF A FEATURE FILM.....

This book helped me remember how lucky I am to be here to read it. I was amazed at how much detail he found in his research, best one Ive read on viet nam and what it was really like. Thanks mr. Nolan

The war was winding down but for the men of the 196th LIB home was just a distant dream. As a member of Charlie Company, I can attest to the accuracy and fairness the author treats the grunts of LZ MaryAnn. I only pray that we will never see a war like VN again.

AASIGNED TO COMPANY "D" 1/46, 196 INF, I KNOW MR. NOLAN HAS TONS IF INTERVIEWS AND DOCUMENTS ON THE SUBJECT, FSB MARY ANN, I BELIEVE THAT VOLUMES COULD AND SHOULD BE WRITTEN AS WELL AS PHOTS, NOT TO STOP SHORT OF A FEATURE FILM.....

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

Tammy Faye Messner is an inspirational lady and her book is a light along the shadowy path of the human condition. Tammy's mind is sharp and agile, and her voice of reason is soft with wisdom yet strong with courage. Every page has something positive to offer, and although the subject matter is mostly serious, Tammy manages to lighten the text with several amusing recollections. I particularly enjoyed pages 88 - 101, where Tammy mischievously recounts the famous 'Jim Bakker Roast' when the couple were at the height of their fame and influence. Following is a brief excerpt.

'Jim was excited but I had to say no because the roast was about to start. Jimmy Swaggart opened with a three-minute routine about the doghouse (he'd just been put there by his wife - again!), then Benny 'The Rug' Hinn told an off-colour joke about The Archbishop of Canterbury and a vacuum cleaner. Jim laughed so much he almost made MY mascara run! Joyce Meyer, never one to miss the spotlight, then asked Jerry Falwell to dance.
"Ballroom?" Joyce suggested.
"Honey," Jerry bellowed, "in these tight pants there ain't even room for loose change!"
I'd never heard Jim laugh so much, apart from the time he made a prank call to Oral Roberts pledging $5,000,000 on behalf of the Jehovah's Witnesses. I gotta tell you. These televangelists sure know how to put on a roast.'

If you haven't read Tammy's book, do yourself a favour.

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.

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.

Great book! Kelton shows us Charlie Flagg's country. You'll like it

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.