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Books

Texas Standard: November 25, 2022

Had your fill yet? No need to loosen the belt…we’re serving up something different today. As many Texans dash about in search of gift-giving deals on this Friday, we’ve made out a list of some of our favorite books this past year. From tales of trailblazing women clearing the way for the final frontier of space to an examination of re-wilding as a way to get back to a balance with nature and make cities more livable. A memoir from a music superstar and the hidden histories of gay power in high places. Just a few of the reading selections we’ve been perusing today on the Texas Standard:

 

Vitamina T

Don’t forget to take your Vitamin T! That’s T for Tacos, Tortas, and Tamales. In this episode, taco journalist Mando Rayo and bilingual educator Suzanne Garcia-Mateus sit down and browse through the spanglish children’s book that they co-wrote called Vitamina T for Tacos. They connect over their shared experiences of growing up bilingual and speaking spanglish and how that motivated them to write a book that represented the complex culture that they didn’t see in children’s books when they were growing up.

Texas Standard: August 16, 2022

Many high marks and persistent challenges as Texas schools start off a new academic year with report cards from the state. For the first time in three years, the Texas education agency issues report cards for Texas schools. We’ll hear details. Also, what health officials are telling school teachers and administrators as a virulent strain of COVID-19 takes hold and experts try to tackle the spread of Monkeypox as well. And who’s pushing to ban books at school? A months-long investigation by the Houston Chronicle comes up with answers. And state senator Roland Gutierrez on how the state could and should better support Uvalde. Those stories and more today on the Texas Standard:

Texas Standard: May 5, 2022

With the Supreme Court now widely expected to overturn Roe vs. Wade, new numbers of where Texans stand on the issue of Abortion. From abortion to border security, the state’s population growth and the economy, Texans weigh in on a range of issues that could have a profound effect at the polls come November. Jim Henson with the results of a new survey by the Texas Politics Project. Also, Texas’ attempt to treat gender-affirming care as “Child Abuse”. A new report examines the underlying scientific claims being made by officials leading the push. Plus, say cheese, Texas: why a place better known for its beef is challenging dominant states in the dairy business. All this and then some today on the Texas Standard:

Texas Standard: February 16, 2022

As many watch for the next moves in Ukraine, Europeans are turning to Texas for more of their energy; it could come with strings attached. Also, six Texas congressional races to watch. And, an auction for wild horses…why some see it as a betrayal. Those stories and more today on the Texas Standard:

Texas Standard: February 2, 2022

With a winter storm warning set for much of the state, and the memories of last February still fresh, Texans brace for what’s coming. Also, vaccinations for the very young? A Texas-based expert on vaccine trials underway and what parents and caretakers  should know. Plus, across Texas, a record number of books being banned from Public school libraries; why the push right now and who’s pushing back. These stories and more today on the Texas Standard:

Texas Standard: December 1, 2021

Four new laws aimed at improving the lives of almost a million and a half Texas residents who served in the military. We’ll have Details. Other stories we’re following: young authors and librarians weigh in on the Governor’s attempts to purge what he calls pornography from public schools. Also big news for a small city: what the decision to locate a new multi-billion dollar semiconductor facility means for the town of Taylor in Central Texas. Also what’s in the name “Brackenridge” and a Politifact check of a claim that U.S. households are on track to spend 19 billion dollars more on energy by 2030. All that and more today on the Texas Standard:

Texas Standard: November 26, 2021

From what’s been called the shrine of Texas liberty, to a ghost town reborn by the sound of music. It’s been said that you have to know where we’ve been to appreciate where we’re headed. Remember the Alamo? Forget it, say the authors of a new book that’s stimulated a serious rethink about an important chapter of Texas history. A reconsideration of what we think we know…a through line in some of our favorite conversations with authors this past year. We’ll revisit their stories and discuss their importance on a special Book edition of the Texas Standard:

Texas Standard: November 11, 2021

While the Supreme Court considers Texas’ new abortion law, what appears to be the first hearing on SB8 in a state court. We’ll take a look at the potential impact. Other stories we’re tracking: more than a hundred noted Texas authors sign an open letter warning of book bans, censorship, and a threat to marginalized Texans. Plus virtual Reality, once primarily the province of gamers, becomes serious business helping seniors. Tech expert Omar Gallaga with more. And on this veterans day, a West Texas native reflects on his days in uniform, and then in the custody of the North Vietnamese. Those stories and more today on the Texas Standard:

Texas Standard: October 28, 2021

Hundreds of kids in Texas’ Child Protective system sleeping on office floors. Will a new panel find a way to fix the problem? We’ll explore. Other stories we’re tracking: an effort by a state lawmaker and candidate for Attorney General to inventory books about race and sexuality in Texas schools. And Texas jails pushed to the brink by the pandemic. Also, an effort to build a better house with a 3D printer, Texas could be home to the biggest development of its kind. And a seasonal ritual comes to Williamson county, a firsthand view from its inaugural fair and rodeo. Those stories and a whole lot more today on the Texas Standard:

Larry McMurtry and the Lonesome Dove Quadrilogy

Of the thousands of mourners who posted their goodbyes and gratitudes to Texas writer Larry McMurtry across last month, there was one stand-out theme. It was to thank McMurtry for his Pulitzer Prize-winning novel “Lonesome Dove.” Most considered it his premiere gift to them personally, a gift that had immeasurably enriched their lives, as culturally vital as Homer’s Iliad was to the Greeks. To many, “Lonesome Dove” is a book of proverbs, with advice such as:  “The best way to handle death is to ride on away from it.” Or “Yesterday’s gone on down the river and you can’t get it back.” In fact, “Lonesome Dove,” the day after McMurtry died, rocketed up into the top 100 best selling books on Amazon, and became the #1 bestseller in Westerns. 

Without a doubt, many who thanked Larry for “Lonesome Dove,” have read the other three books in the quadrilogy. Yet, I also know, from long experience, that some fans of the book and film, are unaware that there are three other books. There’s a great deal more trail to ride with Augustus McCrae and Woodrow Call. 

The first is “Dead Man’s Walk.” Call and Gus are young men, in their early twenties. I’ve always thought of Gus and Call as part of the “buddy cops” genre. Here, we meet them for the first time as Texas Rangers on guard duty, west of the Pecos in pursuit of Comanches. McMurtry writes: “Gus took guard duty a good deal more lightly than his companion, Woodrow Call.” Gus annoys Call when he brings out a jug of mescal and takes a swig in front of him. Call remarks,  “If the major caught you drinking on guard he’d shoot you.” There you see already the contrast that will define their friendship throughout the next two books. Gus the free-spirited, fun-loving sociable rule-breaker and Call the disciplined loner. 

“Comanche Moon” is the second book in the series. Gus and Woodrow are both now Ranger captains, but that comes later in the book. It opens as Gus and Woodrow are part of a troop of 13 Rangers trying to run down Comanche Chief Kicking Wolf. They are pursuing him along the edge of the Palo Duro Canyon. Out on the Llano Estacado, Gus feels disoriented. McMurtry steps in to provide one of his iconic descriptions of the Texas landscape: “There was not a feature to stop the eye on the long plain: no tree, ridge, rise, hill, dip, animal or bird. Augustus could see nothing at all, and he was well known to have the best vision in the troop. The plain was so wide it seemed you could see to the rim of forever, and yet, in all that distance, there was nothing.” 

“Lonesome Dove” comes next in the story’s chronology. I won’t say much here as this book is the best known of the four. I will say only that it was the first “Game of Thrones” in the sense that McMurtry killed off a great number of characters we came to love. As McMurtry himself wrote in “Lonesome Dove,”  “Death and worse happened on the plains.” 

The final book is “Streets of Laredo.” It was the original name for “Lonesome Dove” when it was just a screenplay. In this last book, Captain Call is hired to pursue a violent, psychopathic killer named Joey Garza who is a thinly-disguised Billy the Kid. In this book, we get a better look at Call and what he’s made of. For instance, here are his thoughts about loyalty: “It seemed to him the highest principle was loyalty. He preferred it to honor. He was never quite sure what men meant when they spoke of their honor, though it had been a popular word during the War. He was sure though, about what he meant when he spoke of loyalty. A man didn’t desert his comrades, his troop, his leader. If he did, he was in Call’s book, useless.”  

I envy those who have not read the quadrilogy. I would love to be able to have the singular joy of reading them all again for the first time. But a second or third read is mighty enjoyable, too.

Texas Standard: December 23, 2020

Read any good books lately? We sure have. As we fast approach the end of the year, and a certain holiday known for gift giving we hit the stacks. They served on the front lines of a revolution in Mexico that revolutionized Texas, too. A new book reclaims the often overlooked stories of revolutionary women. Also, living the dream: the Texas author who’s writing the books she wished she’d been able to read as a kid. And a how-to book with a Texas twist you won’t find stashed away in the tool shed: how to be an astronaut and much more as we chat with authors about some memorable books of 2020 on todays Texas Standard:

Texas Standard: November 25, 2020

You now the saying so many books, so little time? Well if you’ve got an hour, we’ve got a page turner for you. We’ll take a trip to the library. From ideas about voting and civic duty, the untold story of a war often repeatedly revisited, an agent of change who might otherwise have been lost to history, the tale of a Texas music scene that breaks all the stereotypes and loving sports when they don’t love you back. Conversations with authors from across the Lone Star State and beyond as we hit the bookshelves for a very special edition of the Texas Standard:

Texas Standard: March 20, 2020

The latest on efforts to develop a Cornonavirus vaccine and speed up research on medical treatments. Also with stay at home the order of the day, some tips on how to get more work done, even with the kids around. And diversionary tactics that don’t involve a screen. They call them books. Hot tips for cool reads, plus the the week in Texas politics and more today on the Texas Standard:

Texas Standard: November 29, 2019

No matter where you are, tis the season to be shopping. But if you’d rather be reading, or giving the gift thereof, you’re gonna enjoy this special edition of the Texas Standard. They are, as Stephen King once wrote, a uniquely portable magic. The quietest and most constant of friends, the most accessible and wisest of counselors, the most patient of teachers, wrote Charles W. Elliott. And a lot of them focus on or are written about the greatest place we know. This hour, we’re talking about books, albeit with a distinctly Texas accent:

Texas Standard: November 13, 2019

Two Texans, a republican and a democrat both facing unexpected challenges. What do these candidacies tell us about Texas politics? We’ll take a look. Plus, how a Texas child custody case appears to set the stage for the next chapter in the culture wars. Also, the rise in subprime lending for wheels. When it comes to auto loans in Texas is a bubble beginning to form? We’ll take a closer look. And what are the most essential Texas books? Got any suggestions? So does commentator W.F. Strong. That and a Politifact check and more today on the Texas Standard:

101 Essential Texas Books

By W. F. Strong

If I have an addiction, it’s definitely books. I read about two books a week and order two more I’m unlikely to ever get to. But I like them on the shelf as backup the way survivalists hoard food supplies. Admittedly, I’m often short of shelves. When you have more books than shelves, you know you’re overdoing it.

I’m the book equivalent of the cat lady. I take in more books than I should. I recently took a pickup load of recyclable metals to a solid waste depot. As I paid the man I noticed he had 20 books on a little shelf outside his office. I said, “Well, you have plenty to read there when things are slow.” He said, “No, I’m not much of a reader but I can’t stand seeing good books go to the dump so I save ’em. These are rescue books for anyone who wants them.” I rescued 5 of the rescue books. To show the extent of my addiction, I also have a massive stash in the cloud, just in case I need a book when traveling or when stuck at the dentist’s office.

Doing some math I figured that if I live to my allotted average age, I figure I have only 2,000 books left to read in my life. And probably only 1500 because I’ll re-read 500 of my favorites, leaving 1500 new books over the next 20 years – out of billions in the world. A sad fraction. So, I must choose well. To borrow from the old dicho, “Life is too short to read bad books.”

So how does one choose well? First, you have recommendations from friends whose taste you trust. As I am into Texana books, I rely also on sites like Texas Booklover on Facebook for suggestions worth my time. But my favorite of all are books about books. Larry McMurtry has an exquisite book called simply Books. It’s truly spellbinding. A similar sort of work that I want to recommend to you today is 101 Essential Texas Books by Glenn Dromgoole and Carlton Stowers, both authors and experts on Texas literature.

Each book in the 101 is tightly summarized. You’ll find your favorites here for sure: All the Pretty Horses, The Time it Never Rained, Lone Star by Fehrenbach, Michener’s Texas, Friday Night Lights, and Lonesome Dove. But you will also find numerous gems you’ve perhaps never come across.

I like that the collection is in genres. You have first-rate works in history, literature – in this case books about books and writing – fiction, people, place, law and order, sports, food and drink, and books for young readers.

Here’s a few I think are lesser known standouts:

Texas Post Office Murals by Philip Parisi is a full color book of 115 photographs of depression era murals painted in Texas Post Offices across the state. They were painted by famous artists like Tom Lea, Xavier Gonzalez, and Jerry Bywaters and were meant to lift the spirits of people going through hard times.

A History of Texas Music by Gary Hartman. Not limited to Country-Western, Hartman covers “German, Czech, Tejano, Cajun, rock and roll, and rhythm and blues.”

100,000 Hearts: A Surgeon’s Memoir by Denton Cooley. It’s an autobiography by one of the world’s best heart surgeons of all time. And I’m not just saying that because one of those 100,000 hearts still beating is mine.

Under the category of “place” you have Goodbye to a River by John Graves, and A.C. Greene’s A Personal Country, as one would expect. The lesser known standout for me is Great Lonely Places of the Texas Plains by the Texas Poet Walt McDonald and Texas’ genius photographer Wyman Meinzer. It is a stunning book wherein poems illuminate photographs and photographs animate poems.

Rainwater by Sandra Brown. Sandra Brown is best known for her bestsellers in romance and suspense so this work is a departure for her. Set in a small Texas town during the depression, it has been compared to The Grapes of Wrath because it is the story of a tough woman barely surviving while running a boarding house in the dust bowl.

That’s a quick preview. Check out the 101 Essential Texas Books and you’ll be sure to find many you’ll cherish having on your shelves, or if you’re like me, stacked on your desk or on top of the dining room table, piano, refrigerator, night table, etc.

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