Texas Books

I have read quite a few books made from journals of individuals in Vietnam. Most are either dry accounts of movements or almost novelized disjointed experiences. This Book "The Bridges of Vietnam: From the Journals of a U. S. Marine Intelligence Office" Is not only chronologically organized, but also has a list of external events that took place at the same time.

With out a frame of reference it would be hard to tell if he was barging or borrowing someone else's idea of Vietnam. However in chapter Three "Internship" he covered the same territory (II Corps TZ) as I did; only he was there six months earlier. I saw his reference to the Fourth Infantry with out any reference to the armed reconnaissance First of the Tenth attached to the Fourth Infantry. I also spent some time in other locations and he does a good job of describing daily life. It looks like he left out how to do the job he does and maybe some things he did. For the most part he was dead accurate as to the people and environment of the time. He makes you feel that you are there.

This book is well worth reading and then keeping as a reference. Especially as time passed and you forget your first taste of warm "33" beer.

Fred Edwards served as an intelligence officer during the Vietnam War and visited very major ground unit from Special Forces camps and ground reconnaissance unites, to armored calvary units, and waterborne reconnaissance units. An invaluable and strongly recommended contribution to the military annals of the Viet Name conflict, Edward's The Bridges Of Vietnam: From The Journals Of A U.S. Marine Intelligence Officer is as vivid and candid memoir of the war from the perspective of a front-line intelligence officer as is available to the non-specialist general reader or military buff.

What fun it is to check each morning to see what happened that day in history! Well researched and well written, it's fun for Texans of all ages!

Steven Jent's A Browser's Book Of Texas History is a compilation of more than 500 incidents Texas history arranged in a day-by-day format. Some of these doings are famous, others obscure, but all have combined to make Texas the most remarkable state in the American Union. A Browser's Book Of Texas History can be read from cover to cover in an afternoon, or one day at a time browsing as we are introduced to larger-than-life events and the colorful personalities responsible for them. A Browser's Book Of Texas History is a "must" for all students of the American frontier in general and Texas history in particular.

I wish I had known there were two books. I already had one of them so I was buying that one for the second time but they were both worth it I gave the one I had to my son.

Since Kelton's books were recommended to me by Wayne Barton, (another Golden Spur winner and very fine Western writer), I have become a true Keltonite.

A former farm and ranch reporter for the San Angelo, Texas paper, Mr. Kelton grew up on the sere and unforgiving plains of West Texas at a time when wildcatters were still wild and the real old cowboys were still around to tell their tales. His books ring with an accuracy that other Western authors only lust after.

I lived out in West Texas and today's residents are shadows of their predecessors - but you can still get a good idea of what the original Anglo and Tex-Mex settlers were like from looking at them. Or, you can read Kelton and get the real thing without visiting the Llano.

Often basing his stories or real events, he creates three dimensional charachters who behave like real people with real shortcommings and emotions. They behave like people we know instead of some pre-programmed Western versions of the Terminator. Not all his books end in a titanic shwdown of blazing six-guns. But then neither did everything in real life back then.

These two novels are a pair of his works that show off some of the best qualities of Kelton's writing, but when someone crafts book with as much expertise as he does, it is hard to rate any given work against the others. They are all good.

By the way, I highly recommend you also read Kelton's "The Wolf and the Buffalo" a book which Wayne Barton accurately called, "a western novel for pepole who don't like western novels". The better known "The Good Old Boys" shows a playful side of Kelton's writing and is, sorry Tommy Lee, better than the otherwise excellent TV adaptation.

If it's Kelton - read it.

Texas Treasures is a great book about lost treaure, and adds some history of Texas too. It's an excellent book, and he tells you about where the gold might be located. W.C. Jameson also gives treasure stories about his close calls to where he almost found the treasure.It's organized and a quality print!

Jameson does a great job of making the legends of Texas' buried treasure come alive. His facts and details made me want to grab a shovel and get to work trying to find some of this stuff!! I would recommend this book to anyone interested in learning about Texas or treasure anywhere. Jameson's dry wit made the book enjoyable. I finished it in one night!

"Wyclif Burning" re-established the line between that in which I believe and in what I hope. "The Lesson" is one of the few pedagogical meta-poems that transcend the banality of modern poetry. If read "dead-pan" it acquires an introspection that only when put within the context of the others does it begin to give the ecclesiastical counterargument. This sublime nature can only be described as divine sophistry.

Thom Satterlee's research and exegesis are scholarly. The wisdom he brings to the work is profound, and his technique is remarkable. This is one of those rare contemporary works which deserves (and is getting) many rereads. Satterlee richly deserves the book prize for Burning Wyclif.

Disclaimer: I reviewed this book very positively on Suite 101; However, I bought the book myself, and have no connection with author, editor, or publisher.

Basics: 2004, softcover, 372 pages, 300 species, 421 color photos, no range maps

Here is a great book on an area rich in butterfly species and uniqueness. Over 400 color photographs display 300 species of butterflies from the southern border of Texas. All butterflies of the area - common, vagrant, and accidental - are covered in this guide.

There is one species per page and most are illustrated with 2-3 photos. The more distinctive or rarer butterflies often have only one photo. All the photos are in color and do a good job of showing the field marks. My only minor critique about the photos is many appear to be overexposed or slightly hazy. This causes the colors to lack crispness.

It appears the photos are meant to mimic what you would encounter in the field. By this, I mean nearly all the hairstreaks, sulphurs, and satyrs are shown only with their wings closed (no dorsal views) while the duskywings, cloudywings, and flashers are shown only with their wings open (no ventral views), just as you would typically see in the field without collecting the butterfly.

The text starts with a paragraph on the description of the butterfly. This information is written well with very useful details. Another shorter paragraph offers comparisons to similar species. The "When and Where" paragraph gives general information on seasonal or monthly presence along with notes on the habitats in which the species is likely to be found.

I like the inclusion of "LRGV speciality" written at the beginning of the species account for the appropriate butterflies. Standing for "Lower Rio Grand Valley" and found on nearly half the species, it immediately informs the reader about the geographic uniqueness of the specimen for the US.

This is a great book to have when visiting far-south Texas and should help you identify nearly everything you encounter.

I've listed several related books below...
1) Butterflies: Northeastern Mexico by Garwood/Lehman
2) Butterflies of Arizona: A Photographic Guideby Stewart et al.
3) Butterflies of North America by Brock/Kaufman
4) The Butterflies of North America by Scott
5) Butterflies through Binoculars: The West by Glassberg
6) National Audubon Society Field Guide to North American Butterflies

Butterflies Of The Lower Rio Grande Valley is a full-color field guide to butterflies in the Lower Rio Grande Valley of South Texas. Beautiful, full-color photographs on every page display individual species in all their grace and majesty. The text lists straightforward information on when and where each species can be found, how to distinguish it from similar species, its wingspan, and much more. Appendices, a butterfly checklist, and an index round out this slightly-larger than pocket size guide, which is a "must-have" for butterfly sightseers and breathtaking to page through for anyone with a keen interest in these ephermal and delicate insects.

The wealthy family we met in Fire Lilies is reintroduced a generation later in Writer Massey's "The Caballeros of Ruby, Texas" as we follow Alicia Martinez' son Miguel. Don Miguel is a successful businessman, the father of six children and not too faithful husband of wife Beatriz. When Don Miguel's contracting business fails he is forced into bankruptcy. The move to California's Salinas Valley is first viewed as a fresh start. However many of the problems besetting the family follow them. Don Miguel's marriage collapses, his children marry, the life he faces in California does not resemble anything he had hoped for.

Writer Massey presents her narrative from the viewpoint of three of the daughters: Isabel's story runs from 1948-1953, Terre's 1942-1955, and Marta's 1956-1959. Each of the daughters views life from the perspective of her own personality and sibling position. Isabel believes the trials the family face are a result of her father's bankruptcy. When the money available for her to finish her college education is gone Isabel is not too unhappy. She didn't much care for school and goes to work before she falls in love with the man she marries. Isabel is determined that her marriage will not follow the patriarchal constraints followed by her parents. Isabel's portion of the story ends in 1953 when she as a young married mother of a three year old leaves Ruby with her husband as he completes his military duty in Kansas. Terre's tale begins in 1942 when her sister Marta is born, it is the year Don Miguel took `that woman' with him on a business trip to Mississippi. Terre is unable to reconcile her father's infidelity with his love for his family. When her own fiancée proves untrue she makes up her mind that she is not going to live as her mother did. At first neither parent can believe that Terre is adamant when she breaks her engagement on days before the wedding. Marta's segment is told from the standpoint of a younger child. The move to California does not prove to be the salvation of the family. If anything it only worsens the situation. Don Miguel's drinking and womanizing continue, Beatriz faces the stress in the only way she can, at last she takes her Elliie, Lupita and Marta and returns to Ruby. Beatriz went right to work in a tomato packing shed and then began selling cosmetics door to door. Beatriz has found her calling soon has a thriving cosmetics business underway. Marta married in 1962. She and Daniel moved to California and lived with Don Miguel for a time before moving back to Texas where Daniel became a successful grocer with a chain of stores. Raul the only son became an officer in the Air Force.

The Caballeros of Ruby, Texas is a poignant tale presenting an engaging glimpse into the ethnicity and way of life of a significant portion of our society. Writer Massey illustrates the restraints felt by both young and older Hispanic women living here in the United States during the years following World War II. Massey demonstrates how these restrictions work both to the hindrance and advantage of the women involved. Of the ministrations of a patriarchal husband or parent can be repressing, but especially for daughters there is security to be had when dad has the final say in many aspects of her life.

Massey has a canny knack for taking the mundane and weaving a tale of outstanding proportions. The Caballero family is like so many I have know from my growing up days and early teaching days in the San Joaquin Valley, California.

Writer Massey only improves her skill as a writer. The Caballeros of Ruby, Texas is a charismatic, well-written work filled with powerful, well fleshed characters. Each of the women is a person in her own right. Massey adroitly captures the spirit ound in all family situations whether good, bad or somewhere in between. I like Massey's presentation with the three daughters each speaking from their own viewpoint. No one perspective really presents a true picture of anything. The story of Don Miguel and his doleful downward slide is much more believable when seen through the eyes of his three daughters.

Excellent read......... happy to recommend

Reviewed by: molly martin h

I not only had a great read, but I also learned a great deal about life in a culture very different from my own. If you like rich, emotional stories this is a great one. I loved the women in the story and how the three of the daughters who narrated the book dealt with their father's loss of wealth and standing and finally, his death. Just the kind of book you want to curl up with and escape.

This book is one of the best I've actually read so far that is recommended for the novice. It contains and index and glossary, as well as illustrations that explain the various parts of the plant, and gives simple, precise descriptions of each form of cacti and where it can be found. It also has excellent photographs of the entire plant in close-up that aid in visual identification. It has been a tremendous help in identifying cacti that once were nameless to me. If you can obtain a copy, it's well worth it.

Del Weniger has given us an excellent compilation in this volume. Fortunately, copies are still available of the out-of-print title. I highly recommend the book for beginners & experts alike. Excellent photography. Insightful text. Good organization.

My interest in the Caddo Indians stems from having worked in the area formerly controlled by the tribe. From Nacogdoches to Natchitoches, on northward into present-day southeastern Oklahoma and southwestern Arkansas, the Caddo and related tribes once controlled a vast area and were by all accounts well-organized, fairly disciplined, and relatively settled in relation to the nomadic tribes of the plains.
The Caddo Indians: Tribes At the Convergence of Empires 1542-1854 is the story of how a people who from the beginning strove to maintain peaceful and profitable relations with the white settlers fell victim to disease, alcohol and the duplicity of many of those whom they trusted. But it is also the tale of bravery, perseverance and unity in the face of all the forces of history that conspired against them.
The reader will see how the accidents of geography and the vagaries of events beyond the control of the Caddo nations brought them down from a tribe numbering in the hundreds of thousands, to a rump nation of just a couple hundred members today whose headquarters now sits on a meagre 37 acres in Oklahoma. You will meet good men and scoundrels on both sides and you will see how the scoundrels among the white nations (Spain, then Mexico, Texas and then the United States) eventually gained the upper hand. Of the white colonists who dealt with the Caddo tribes over the centuries, only the French come away largely free of the stench of dishonor.
The story of the Caddo Nation is yet another sad chapter in the history of Euro-American interaction with the Native peoples. It is doubly sad for the Caddo tribes as they took an actively friendly stance from the start.
I recommend this book to anyone interested in history as it pertains to the Indians. F. Todd Smith gives the reader a fine, easy reading overview of an important but overlooked tribe and a little-known era in what was then a remote section of the frontier.

If there is just one book you buy this year on the Caddo Indians, let it be this one. This is a book for scholars. But it is also a book for the armchair history buff. Smith writes in a palatable style. In the end, it is the natural narrative that carries the story. This part of American history is missed in most public education. Sit back with a cold one and this book. I did.

I have read this novel many years ago, and still the story continues to haunt me. It comes in vivid images : A quiet little town in Texas. A plane crash. Survivors pouring out of the wreck, disoriented, shocked, changed for the rest of their lives. This town, it will never be the same again. The people, they will come together. Milan Kundera once said that the success of a so-called 'Best-Sellers' is that it urges you to find a key, a solution. It is exciting, but once you've found it, the magic is over. You can throw away the book, the mystery is unveiled, the excitement is gone. Read this book, be different. It belongs to another category.

Returning to her themes of separatist movements and cultural divisions, A. G. Mojtabai begins her sixth novel with the crash of a passenger jet. The gigantic plane plummets to earth by the small town of Bounds, Texas, a place where the inhabitants had never anticipated such a climatic disaster.

One of the first to observe the crash is a Roman Catholic priest, Father Mark, who sees the plane falling as he drives home. He had been thinking of various parish problems and reconsidering his vocation. Now, he is called to minister to the accident victims.

Other witnesses include the town's grumpy postmistress in whose field lies the twisted debris, and a newspaper reporter from Fort Worth who was headed for a yard sale but ran into the country's top story.

"Called Out" is aptly named for it is a story of how individuals are summoned forth from lives of isolation to interact with their fellow men. There are no pat answers here. What does such a disaster mean? The author leaves us to wonder.

This is a spare, sober tale yet a rich one causing readers to ponder their places among their fellow human beings.

- Gail Cooke