Explore Texas past, present—and football—in this selection of locally produced titles available on BARD.
Ramble with Lonn Taylor from Galveston to El Paso, and rub elbows with outlaws, Pinkerton detectives, and Texas Rangers. Football fans can get the scoop on how an Arkansas Razorback salvaged America’s Team, while politicos can filibuster with Sam Rayburn.
And along the way, get a taste of “the best ice cream in the country.”
BLUE BELL ICE CREAM: A CENTURY AT THE LITTLE CREAMERY IN BRENHAM, TEXAS, 1907-2007 by Dorothy Mcleod Macinerney (DBC 18395)
Filled from cover to cover with historic photographs, colorful artwork, vintage ads, and interesting facts, the book gives readers a taste of what makes Blue Bell “the best ice cream in the country.” The story begins when Blue Bell wasn’t called Blue Bell and it didn’t yet make ice cream, takes you through three generations of the family-run business, and culminates with details about special centennial festivities.
BOAT PEOPLE: A NOVEL by Mary Gardner (DBC 26796)
This novel focuses on Galveston, Texas, and a community of newly arrived Vietnamese. Struggling to maintain a balance between Vietnam and America, her tough and funny characters live with one foot in each world. Descriptions of sex, violence, and strong language.
CONGRESSMAN SAM RAYBURN by Anthony Champagne (DBC 26758)
Sam Rayburn grew up as the son of a small farmer and one of eleven children. He knew poverty and the difficulties of rural life, but went on to become a powerful congressman, majority leader and Speaker of the House.
DESPERATE MEN; REVELATIONS FROM THE SEALED PINKERTON FILES by James David Horan (DBC 24963)
A collection of information about western outlaws taken from the actual files of the Pinkerton Detective Agency which was founded in 1850.
LO QUE TU CALLASTE by Caridad Bravo Adams (DBC 26755)
Dramatic novel of love, pride and revenge. Spanish language. Title in English: What You Keep Quiet About.
MALDAD DE UN VIEJO by M.L. Estefania (DBC 26762)
An innocent man is murdered by a gang leader (un viejo) and his men. It is then up to the inexperienced young sheriff to catch them. Spanish language. Title in English: The Evil of an Old Man.
NATURE OF TRUTH by Sergio Troncoso (DBC 18364)
Helmut Sanchez, a young researcher in the employ of renowned Yale professor Werner Hopfgartner, by chance discovers a letter written decades ago by his boss mocking guilt over the Holocaust. Appalled, Helmut digs into the scholar’s life to uncover evidence of Hopfgartner’s hateful past. Soon Helmut’s intellectual quest for the truth becomes a journey of justice and blood—one with unforeseen consequences. Violence, strong language, and explicit descriptions of sex.
PLACE IN EL PASO: A MEXICAN-AMERICAN CHILDHOOD by Gloria Lopez-Stafford (DBC 26779)
A memoir of growing up in El Paso in the 1940s and 1950s. The narrative begins as five-year-old Gloria, nicknamed “Yoya,” faces the death of her mother and other unexpected changes which separate her from her beloved barrio neighborhood. The search for her place becomes a search for identity as Gloria seeks to understand her various homes and families.
PRISONERS by Matthew Hart (DBC 25539)
Texas Ranger Sam Cody finds more danger than he bargained for when he teams up with beautiful Dr. Hope Baxter and aging lawman Eli Peyton to arrest Peyton’s wounded outlaw brother. The high-pitched level of sex and violence reminds us that the formula western isn’t what it once was. Some violence and some descriptions of sex. Book 9 of the Cody’s Law series.
RUTA DE LOS CARROS by M.L. Estefania (DBC 26760)
Spanish language western about gun running, cover-ups and an occasional romance. Spanish language. Title in English: Route of the Boxcars.
TEXAS, MY TEXAS: MUSINGS OF THE RAMBLING BOY by Lonn Taylor (DBC 18089)
In a collection of essays about Texas gathered from his West Texas newspaper column, Lonn Taylor traverses the very best of Texas geography, Texas history, and Texas personalities. Taylor writes a very honest, witty, and wise book about Texas past and Texas present. These essays are stories of legacies, of men and women, times, and places that have made this state what it is today. 2012.
TURNING THE THING AROUND: PULLING AMERICA’S TEAM OUT OF THE DUMPS—AND MYSELF OUT OF THE DOGHOUSE by Jimmy Johnson (DBC 24976)
The memoirs of football coach Jimmy Johnson, from his own college playing days with the Arkansas Razorbacks to his role in leading the Dallas Cowboys in their return to greatness. Strong language.
WILL OF GOD by LESLIE DIXON LEATHERHEAD (DBC 26775)
Five sermons were given in the author’s City Temple congregation and published in order that their contents might help others clarify their minds on a subject that is especially relevant: that “to understand the authentic will of God is to discover peace, and to lose fear and confusion.”