Texas Books

This book helped me TONS. I took my TExES and almost aced it. I'd recommend it to anyone.

This book is an excellent source to help you PASS the PPR! I read through other books and found this one to be more explanatory and easier to understand. It goes into great detail of all the types of questions that appear on the exam. I finally felt like I knew how to go about taking the exam without the confusion and frustration! I positively recommend this book to anyone who needs a better understanding of how to choose the BEST answer on the exam. This is the book that finally helped me PASS!!! Cheers & Good Luck!

This book was fantastic. As a teacher, it is hard to find really good Hispanic authors for my students. This book will most certainly be in my classroom. Xavier is a wonderful storyteller who captures the spirit and imagination of the folklore of the Rio Grande Valley in Texas. This book is written in vinettes, which makes it a fun and easy to read for classroom students. The young and old will enjoy this book.

This was a fun read, creepy but in a fun way. I really enjoyed the book, and children will love the just right blend of humor, horror and shock!

Readers of American history in general and Southwest events in particular will find Crisis In The Southwest, a survey of the US/Mexican struggle over Texas, to be clear and well done. The logic and events of the Mexican War and Texas Revolution come clear with a story which covers both ideologies and underlying roots of conflict.

The latest addition to the outstanding Scholarly Resources "The American Crisis Series", historian and civil war expert Richard Bruce Winders' Crisis In The Southwest: The United States, Mexico, And The Struggle Over Texas is a thoroughly "reader friendly" historical study clearly laying out facts, battles, and the profound impact the conflicts had upon history of Mexico, the European powers of the day, and the emergence of the Republic of Texas, eventually culminating in the role Texas was to play in shaping the events that were to ultimately result in the American Civil War. Black-and-white maps and illustrations enhance the carefully researched text, which presents life-and-death struggles in direct and simple language accessible for readers of all backgrounds.

For many people, passing on one's life story can be as simple as telling family members and friends personal vignettes that have shaped who they are, and hoping that those stories get passed on to future generations without being altered, embellished or completely forgotten. But when those stories are put on paper, they can preserve a treasure trove of information that can make for fascinating reading decades later.

Such is the case with "Crossing the Rio Grande: An Immigrant's Life in the 1880's" by Luis G. Gomez. Originally published in Spanish in 1935 under the title "Mis Memorias" by a small print shop in Rio Grande City, Texas, this translated edition published by Texas A&M University Press is a labor of love and devotion by a grandson determined to safeguard not only a piece of family history, but Texas history as well.

Guadalupe Valdez Jr., the author's grandson, first learned of his grandfather's book in 1934. Gomez told his then 17-year-old grandson that he was writing two volumes of "notable incidents" of his youth for a "public who loves to read." He also hoped that the book would "be of great help to the young."

Valdez finally saw a copy of the book for the first time in 1947, 10 years after his grandfather had passed away. The grandson never put the book out of his memory, and as he himself grew older he began giving formal presentations on it to genealogical organizations. It was at one of these conferences that he met someone who put into motion the opportunity to translate and publish the book for a new generation of readers.

"Crossing the Rio Grande" is an English edition of Gomez's memoir translated by his grandson with assistance from Javier Villarrreal, a professor of Spanish at Texas A&M University--Corpus Christi. An introduction by Thomas H. Kreneck explains the book's value to academia and describes what has been learned of the publication history of the original Spanish-language book.

Gomez came to Texas from Mexico as a young man in the mid-1880s. He made his way around much of South Texas, finding work on the railroad and other businesses, observing the people and the way of the region. From the moment he crossed the Rio Grande at Matamoros--Brownsville, he sought his fortune in a series of contracting operations that created the infrastructure to help develop the Texas economy.

Through setbacks and perseverance, Gomez has crafted a heartfelt memoir that is beautiful in its simplicity and historically valuable in its glimpse into the rugged frontier of the Lone Star state. No exact record exists as to how many copies of the original book were printed, but what is known is that five copies remain in existence today. Interestingly, a second volume is alluded to, but has never been located.

This current edition is a testament to the bond between a grandfather and a grandson that has stood the test of time, language and culture. Regardless of your position on today's immigration reform debate, it will give you insight into one man's struggles to achieve a better life in a country not legally his own.

"Crossing the Rio Grande" is a small volume, but don't be fooled by its size--it packs a powerful punch. It's sure to be on the "Top Ten" list of any Texas border community considering a "One Book, One City" reading program.

This is a great read! It was very interesting to read about his memories of this time. It was as if I was reading about my great-great grandfather's life during this time period!

According to the introduction of the book, this story was told in the indigenous language of Keresan by a well-known elder of the Cochiti Pueblo near Santa Fe, New Mexico, in 1928. This traditional story is part of a larger tradition of Native Americans in teaching values and right ways of living in community through storytelling. Crow is impatient and leaves her eggs in order to do the things that she wants to do. In essence, she gives up her responsibility towards her children. When Hawk comes by and sees the eggs abandoned, she sits on the eggs, hatches the eggs and feeds the chicks. She has taken on a responsibility that was not originally hers and will not give it up even when Crow comes back and is indignant that Hawk will not give up the young fledglings. While it is a hard story for Crow, one does notice later that Eagle is comforting Crow in her loss. As for the colorful and vibrant illustrations, childen will definitely enjoy them as they are led to think about personal responsibility and the costs associated with giving it up.

This book reveals how modern adoption suits should be handled. The answer was plain, simple, and correct--how ironic that the bird which symbolizes America could see it so easily.

The author never jumps to conclusions, but slowly, gathering the clues to lay out a history of the Mayan calendar. It is up to you to decide whether his logic is correct, I could not find any flaws. As the book goes you pick up plenty of astronomical, geographical and historical facts. Very engaging.
The book has gone out of print, but is now posted in a digital format on the author's website. Still it is sad that it did not get wider attention.

Vincent Malmstrom has written a wonderfully entertaining book stuffed full of facts on the Mesoamerican systems of calendrical accounting. I had no idea the history of their calendars went so far back, nor that they were so widely used by such a great number of civilizations. His theories fill in where the facts leave off, as most studies on ancient cultures must, and the facts support his hypotheses. Malmstrom's theories on the origin of the calendar are quite different in some aspects than those of scholars before him -- one major difference is that he does not believe the Olmec developed the calendar. I don't want to ruin any surprises for a reader -- and there are some for those who accept the commonly supported theories of the Olmec as the "father" of all subsequent Mesoamerican civilizations -- so I will stop with just one more comment: If you have any interest in Mesoamerica or the cultures of the Zoque, Olmec, Zapotec, Maya, Mixtec, Toltec or Aztec, GET THIS BOOK!

this was a gift for a friend of mine....book was in excellent shape and had shrink wrap around it

I gave this book as a gift. Dave is a fanatical Dallas Cowboy fan and he takes this with him where ever he goes. His wife says it has become his new bible for Cowboy trivia

As a 25 year resident of the Dallas Fort Worth Metroplex, I must say this man knows his stuff. His ratings of the restaurants are dead on and his discriptions of the cities is not only factual but also amusing. There are things he found I didn't know about and are dying to check out. This is a must read for anyone who wants to know some little known facts about this great metroplex.

As a 25 year resident of the Dallas Fort Worth Metroplex, I must say this man knows his stuff. His ratings of the restaurants are dead on and his discriptions of the cities is not only factual but also amusing. There are things he found I didn't know about and are dying to check out. This is a must read for anyone who wants to know some little known facts about this great metroplex.

A Dark Night In Texas is based in a small but real town in Texas. The places featured in the book are real but the story IS NOT. Just so you know.
Ranger O'Malley is called out to investagate a death and finds out that it is an old friend. As Ranger O'Malley searches the death of Jack Weatherby, he grows in love with Jack's kid sister, Sara. Read the book and find out if you can solve the murder before Ranger O'Malley does. But beleive me it is a great book.

Great characters in this book. Very suspenseful. An ending I totally did not expect! I would love to see Ranger O'Malley continue in other stories!

With so much publishing money funneled into Chick Lit and the next mass market success, it is more than just a little refreshing to find a book of poems of such caliber. Wright, with his dark, lyrical style is the sort of poet who is the real deal. His sensibilities, reminscent of Roethke and Dickey, materialize in his masterful images and his language; while his approach to nature (especially a blue crab) is fresh and unique. His perception of the South denies the current trends of focusing on the "redneck qualities" and instead, revisits Southern landscape and relationships in a tone both comically horrific and heartbreakingly beautiful. Wright is an emerging enchanter to enjoy.

Give this book a chance, and see why the University Presses are putting out the best work right now.

It's hard to remain sedate about a book that shows such promise: I was one of the few who had access to the manuscript of William Wright's Dark Orhard before it was selected for the Texas Review Breakthrough Poetry Prize. For a first time book, Wright's poetry strikes me as masterly; he has a inherent sense of line break and meter, although most of his work is free verse. In addition, Wright's work synthesizes the sensibilities of preceding poets like Roethke, Dickey, Ammons, James Wright, Richard Hugo, and, in his more lyrically obsessive pieces, Dylan Thomas; Wright's style is definitely his own. My favorite pieces from the book include "Dreaming of My Parents," "Cruelty," "Benfield, Remembered," "Dead Dog," and "In Fear of Holiness"-- all of these poems interlace Wright's half-imagined, half-experienced childhood with interior exploration, really great stuff.

Nature and humanity coalesce in some of the best, freshest poetry that I've recently read, a welcome relief from the esoteric, propaganda fueled poetry that claims much of today's literary landscape.