LONE STAR BOOK REVIEWSMichelle Newby, NBCC
Contributing Editor

Michelle Newby is contributing editor at Lone Star Literary Life, reviewer for Foreword Reviews, freelance writer, member of the National Book Critics Circle, and blogger at www.TexasBookLover.com. Her reviews appear or are forthcoming in Pleiades Magazine, Rain Taxi, World Literature Today, South85 Journal, The Review Review, Concho River Review, Monkeybicycle, Mosaic Literary Magazine, Atticus Review,The Collagist.

Reviews by Lone Star Literary staff and contributors

About our book review policy

• LSLL 1.22.2018

• LSLL 1.21.2018

• LSLL 1.14.2018

• LSLL 1.7.2018

• 2.5.2017

• 1.29.2017

• 1.22.2017

• 1.15.2017

• 1.8.2017

• 1.1.2017

• 12.23.2016

• 12.18.2016

• 12.11.2016

• 12.4.2016

• 11.27.2016

• 11.20.2016

• 11.13.2016

• 11.6.2016  Amie Sikes and Jolie Sikes; photographs by April Pizana, Junk Gypsy

• 10.30.2016  Chad S. Conine, The Republic of Football

• 10.30.2016  Mac Engel, with photographs by Ron Jenkins, Pigskin Rapture

• 10.30.2016  Homer Ross Tomlin, Homer Thornberry

• 10.24.2016  Robert Brescia, Destination Greatness

• 10.23.2016  Dan Slater, Wolf Boys

• 10.16.2016  Paulette Jiles, News of the World

• 10.16.2016  Greg Lynch, Plain Brown Wrapper

• 10.9.2016  Christopher Carmona, The Road to Llorona Park

• 10.2.2016  Julissa Arce, My (Underground) American Dream

• 9.25.2016  Kevin Robbins, Harvey Penick

• 9.25.2016  Joe Jiménez, Bloodline

• 9.18.2016  Robert L. Seltzer, Amado Muro and Me

• 9.18.2016  Inés Hernández-Ávila and Norma Elia Cantú, editors, Entre Guadalupe y Malinche: Tejanas in Literature and Art

• 9.11.2016  Brett Burlison, Riverside

• 9.11.2016  Richard Cox, The Boys of Summer

• 9.4.2016  David Todd and Jonathan Ogren, The Texas Landscape Project

• 8.28.2016  James Lee Burke, The Jealous Kind

• 8.21.2016  Amy Gentry, Good as Gone: A Novel of Suspense

• 8.14.2016  Yvonne Georgina Puig, A Wife of Noble Character

• 8.7.2016  J. Todd Scott, The Far Empty

• 7.31.2016  Jennifer Close, The Hopefuls

• 7.24.2016  Jonah Lisa Dyer and Stephen Dyer, The Season

• 7.17.2016  Paul Pedroza, The Dead Will Rise and Save Us

• 7.10.2016  Joy Jones, The Last Madam

• 7.3.2016  Minerva Koenig, South of Nowhere: A Mystery

• 6.26.2016  Anton DiSclafani, The After Party

• 6.19.2016  Marti Corn, The Ground on Which I Stand

• 6.12.2016  Justin Cronin, The City of Mirrors

• 6.5.2016  Christopher Molleda, Legend of the Gatorman

• 6.5.2016  Chitra Banerjee Divakarun, Before We Visit the Goddess

• 5.29.2016  Laura Bush and Jenna Bush Hager, Our Great Big Backyard

• 5.22.2016  Leila Meacham, Titans

• 5.15.2016  Melissa Lenhardt, Sawbones

• 5.8.2016  Laura Tillman, The Long Shadow of Small Ghosts

• 5.1.2016  Karen Harrington, Mayday

• 4.24.2016  David M. Parsons, Reaching for Longer Water

• 4.17.2016  Cindy Huyser, Burning Number Five

• 4.17.2016  Melissa Ginsburg, Sunset City

• 4.10.2016  Skip Hollandsworth, The Midnight Assassin

• 4.3.2016  Lisa Trow, Sign of Redemption

• 3.27.2016

• 3.20.2016  Shelley Armitage, Walking the Llano

• 3.13.2016  Marcy McKay, Pennies from Burger Heaven

• 3.6.2016  Clara Bensen, No Baggage

• 2.28.2016  Mary Beth Rogers, Turning Texas Blue

• 2.28.2016  Jane Eppinga, Henry Ossian Flipper

• 2.21.2016  Vannetta Chapman, Joshua’s Mission

• 2.21.2016  Manning Wolfe, Dollar Signs

• 2.14.2016  Jodi Thomas, Rustler’s Moon

• 2.7.2016  E. R. Bills, Black Holocaust

• 1.31.2016  Catherine A. Winn, Beyond Suspicion

• 1.31.2016  Cathey Graham Nickell, Arthur Zarr’s Amazing Art Car

• 1.24.2016  Karl Rove, The Triumph of William McKinley

• 1.17.2016  Rene S. Perez II, Seeing Off the Johns

• 1.10.2016  Robert Brescia, The Americanism of John Ben Shepperd

• 1.10.2016  Ashley Hope Pérez, Out of Darkness

• 1.3.2016  Mica Mosbacher, Racing Forward

• 12.27.2015  Betty Boyd Caroli, Lady Bird and Lyndon: The Hidden Story of a Marriage That Made a President

• 12.20.2015  Cappy Lawton and Chris Waters Dunn, Enchiladas: Aztec to Tex-Mex

• 12.20.2015  Jon Meacham, Destiny and Power

• 12.20.2015  Frances Brannen Vick, ed., Tales of Texas Cooking

• 12.13.2015  Zachary Thomas Dodson, Bats of the Republic

• 12.6.2015  James Lee BurkeHouse of the Rising Sun

• 12.6.2015  John C. Kerr, The Silent Shore of Memory

• 11.29.2015  Bower Yousse and Thomas L. Cryan, Freddie Steinmark

• 11.29.2015  Bill Neal, Skullduggery, Secrets, and Murders

• 11.29.2015  Melissa Lenhardt, Stillwater

• 11.29.2015  Lois Winston, editor, We’d Rather Be Writing

• 11.22.2015  Diana Finfrock Farrar, The Door of the Heart

• 11.15.2015  Mat Johnson, Loving Day

• 11.8.2015  Lisa Sandlin, The Do-Right

• 11.1.2015  Jeff Guinn, Buffalo Trail

• 10.25.2015

• 10.18.2015  Miles Arceneaux, North Beach

• 10.11.2015  Sandra Cisneros, A House of My Own

• 10.4.2015  Patricia Vermillion, Hound Dawg

• 9.27.2015

• 9.20.2015  John Vaillant

The Jaguar’s Children

• 9.13.2015  Jim Sanderson, Hill Country Property

• 9.6.2015  Carlos Nicolás Flores, Sex As a Political Condition

• 8.30.2015  Sandra Brown, Friction

• 8.23.2015  Gerald Duff, Playing Custer

• 8.23.2015  Joyce Gibson Roach, The Land of Rain Shadow

• 8.16.2015  Ernie Wood, One Red Thread

• 8.9.2015  R. Gaines Baty, Champion of the Barrio

• 8.9.2015  Texas Football Books 2015

• 8.2.2015  Cliff Hudder, Pretty Enough for You

• 7.26.2015  Sarah McCoy, The Baker's Daughter

• 7.19.2015  Children's Summer Reading 2015

• 7.19.2015  andy Fritz, Hail of Fire: A Man and His Family Face Natural Disaster

• 7.19.2015  Mark Pryor, The Reluctant Matador

• 7.12.2015  ames Magnuson

Famous Writers I Have Known: A Novel

• 7.12.2015  Paul and Moss, We Could Not Fail
• 7.12.2015 Notices of titles received

• 7.5.2015  Jamie Brickhouse, Dangerous When Wet

• 6.28.2015  Jesse Sublett, 1960s Austin Gangsters

• 6.21.2015  C. W. Smith, A Throttled Peacock

• 6.21.2015  Willie Nelson, It's a Long Story

• 6.14.2015  Melanie Shankle, Nobody's Cuter Than You

• 6.14.2015  Elizabeth Garcia, Border Ghosts

• 6.7.2015  Kejia Parssinen, The Unraveling of Mercy Louis

• 5.31.2015  Kimberly Meyer, The Book of Wanderings

• 5.24.2015  Brantley Hightower, Courthouses of Central Texas

• 5.17.2015  James Hannaham, Delicious Foods

• 5.10.2015  Texas Beach and Travel Reads 2015

• 5.10.2015  Merritt Tierce, Love Me Back

• 5.3.2015  Attica Locke, Pleasantville

• 4.26.2015  Elizabeth Crook, Monday, Monday

• 4.19.2015  Chris Cander, Whisper Hollow

• 4.12.2015  Lacy M. Johnson, The Other Side: A Memoir

• 4.5.2015  Antonio Ruiz-Camacho, Barefoot Dogs: Stories• 4.5.2015John DeMers, The Delicious Mischief

• 4.5.2015  Russell D. Kane, Texas Hill Country Wineries

• 3.29.2015  Katherine Center, Happiness for Beginners

• 3.22.2015  David Heymann, My Beautiful City Austin

• 3.15.2015  Elizabeth Harris, Mayhem

• 3.8.2015  Patrick Dearen, The Big Drift

• 3.1.2015  Donna Walker-Nixon et al., eds., Her Texas

• 2.22.2015  Scott Blackwood, See How Small

• 2.15.2015  Amanda Eyre Ward, The Same Sky

• 2.8.2015  Mary Helen Specht, Migratory Animals

• 2.8.2015  Romance Roundup

• 2.2.2015  Jan Jarboe Russell, The Train to Crystal City: FDR’s Secret Prisoner Exchange Program and America’s Only Family Internment Camp During World War II

• 2.1.2015  Richard Jespers, My Long-Playing Records and Other Stories

Texas ReadsGlenn Dromgoole

is co-author of 101 Essential Texas Books. His column appears weekly on Lone Star Literary Life. Contact him at g.dromgoole@suddenlink.net.

• LSLL 1.22.2018

• LSLL 1.21.2018

• LSLL 1.14.2018

• LSLL 1.7.2018

• 2.5.2017

• 1.29.2017

• 1.22.2017

• 1.15.2017

• 1.8.2017

• 1.1.2017

• 12.23.2016

• 12.18.2016

• 12.11.2016

• 12.4.2016

• 11.27.2016

• 11.20.2016

• 11.13.2016

• 11.6.2016

• 10.30.2016

• 10.23.2016

• 10.16.2016

• 10.9.2016

• 10.2.2016

• 9.25.2016

• 9.18.2016

• 9.11.2016

• 9.4.2016

• 8.28.2016

• 8.21.2016

• 8.14.2016

• 8.7.2016

• 7.31.2016

• 7.24.2016

• 7.17.2016

• 7.10.2016

• 7.3.2016

• 6.26.2016

• 6.19.2016

• 6.12.2016

• 6.5.2016

• 5.29.2016

• 5.22.2016

• 5.15.2016

• 5.8.2016

• 5.1.2016

• 4.24.2016

• 4.17.2016

• 4.10.2016

• 4.3.2016

• 3.27.2016

• 3.20.2016

• 3.13.2016

• 3.6.2016

• 2.28.2016

• 2.21.2016

• 2.14.2016

• 2.7.2016

• 1.31.2016  Author offers thoughts on Texas politics

• 1.24.2016  Miles Arceneaux offers another gripping tale

• 1.17.2016  Lansdale wild west novel gets off to a fast start

• 1.10.2016  Author documents black holocaust in Texas

• 1.3.2016  Step-mom offers hope to blended families

• 12.27.2015  Texas doctor relates bedside stories from his career

• 12.20.2015  New Texas books: football, chili, WWII

• 12.13.2015  New Texas Almanac features articles on food, wine

• 12.6.2015  New biographies focus on two presidents from Texas

• 11.29.2015  Indians, buffalo hunters head for a showdown

• 11.22.2015  Another Christmas romance set in Twilight, Texas

• 11.15.2015  New series focuses on women in Texas history

• 11.8.2015  Visit the sites of Texas Ranger gunfights

• 11.1.2015  Photographs relate history of Texas politics

• 10.25.2015  Diane Kelly keeps two series going

• 10.18.2015  A behind-the-scenes look at Texas high school football

• 10.11.2015  New Wingate novel weaves intriguing family saga

• 10.4.2015  Texas books for Texas kids make good reading

• 9.27.2015  Sandra Brown keeps the pages turning in Friction

• 9.20.2015  Skullduggery, murder explored in true mystery

• 9.13.2015  Someone’s getting married at the ranch, but who?

• 9.6.2015  Friday Night Lights twenty-five years later

• 8.30.2015  Panhandle author’s mysteries set in Amish country

• 8.23.2015  Ransom Canyon series of novels set in West Texas

• 8.16.2015  Cartoonist has a little fun with Texas history

• 8.9.2015  Brantleys relate story of their Ebola ordeal

• 8.2.2015  Ranger captain’s short life was anything but boring

• 7.26.2015  Writer gets creative in Texas alphabet book

• 7.19.2015  Wilder Good, Hank books aimed at boys

• 7.12.2015  Author of Arkansas mysteries now writes in Texas

• 7.5.2015  Authors trace story of Fort Hood massacre

• 6.28.2015  Twelve Texas novels for your summer reading list

• 6.21.2015  Novel weaves stories from Honduras, Austin

• 6.14.2015  Willie Nelson says "It’s a long story"

• 6.7.2015   Self-published novels offer humor, mystery

• 5.31.2015   Texas poets laureate share favorite recipes

• 5.24.15   Schoolgirl picks Hank Williams to be her pen pal

• 5.17.15   Successful Houston trial lawyer profiled

• 5.10.15   Friendship theme runs through Madigan books

• 5.3.15   Paperback mysteries offer more bangs for buck

• 4.26.15   Franklin Barbecue owner tells his story; new and reissued Texas cookbooks

• 4.19.15   Student's ride home becomes quite an ordeal

• 4.12.15  Famous Texas trees featured in new volume

• 4.5.15  Texas book commemorates 1964 Civil Rights Act

• 3.29.2015  |  Graphic novel focuses on cattle drives

• 3.22.2015  |  Crows, buzzards and coyotes featured in children’s books

• 3.15.2015  |  El Paso football coach fought discrimination

• 3.8.2015  |  Texas books from crime to music to war… and more

• 3.1.2015  |  Writing team turns out entertaining mysteries

• 2.22.2015   |  Cowboys survived rugged conditions in winter of 1884

• 2.15.2015   |  Latest Harmony novel goes back to the town’s beginning
• 2.8.2015  |  Texas A&M guidebooks focus on Texas grapes, seashells

LONE STAR LISTENSAuthor interviews by Kay Ellington, LSLL Editor & Publisher

Kay Ellingtonhas worked in management for a variety of media companies including Gannett, Cox Communications, Knight-Ridder, and the New York Times Regional Group, from Texas to New York to California to the Southeast and back again to Texas. She is the coauthor, with Barbara Brannon, of the The Paragraph Ranch series of West Texas fiction.

• LSLL 1.22.2018

• LSLL 1.21.2018

• LSLL 1.14.2018

• LSLL 1.7.2018

• 2.5.2017  Lone Star Literary Life Anniversary

• 1.29.2017  James Donovan

• 1.22.2017  Kimberly Willis Holt

• 1.15.2017  S. C. Gwynne

• 1.8.2017  Michelle Geilan & Amy Blankson

• 1.1.2017  Tex Thompson

• 12.23.2016  Melissa Lenhardt

• 12.18.2016  Mike Cox

• 12.11.2016  John Pipkin

• 12.4.2016  Nan Cuba

• 11.27.2016  Tiffany Harelik

• 11.20.2016  Isaiah Campbell

• 11.13.2016  Benjamin Alire Sáenz

• 11.6.2016  Paulette Jiles

• 10.30.2016  E. R. Bills

• 10.23.2016  Joyce Gibson Roach

• 10.16.2016  Carol Dawson

• 10.9.2016  C. C. Hunter

• 10.2.2016  Mac Engel & Ron Jenkins

• 9.25.2016  Lois Kim

• 9.18.2016  Alexia Gordon

• 9.11.2016  Tim Z. Hernandez

• 9.4.2016  Donald Mace Williams

• 8.28.2016  Chad S. Conine

• 8.21.2016  Dominic Smith

• 8.14.2016  Jonah Lisa Dyer & Stephen Dyer

• 8.7.2016  Weina Dai Randel

• 7.31.2016  Amy Gentry

• 7.24.2016  Linda Castillo

• 7.17.2016  Lex Williford

• 7.10.2016  Richard Mabry MD

• 7.3.2016  Jamie Brickhouse

• 6.26.2016  Judy Alter

• 6.19.2016  Terry Jennings

• 6.12.2016  Nathan Hale

• 6.5.2016  Children’s Books, Authors, & Events

• 5.29.2016  J. Todd Scott

• 5.22.2016  Jan Jarboe Russell

• 5.15.2016  Vote for Favorite Texas Bookstores

• 5.8.2016  Chitra Divakaruni

• 5.1.2016  Leila Meacham

• 4.24.2016  Obituary, Paul Ruffin

• 4.24.2016  Jenny Browne

• 4.24.2016  Ann Howells & Michelle Hartman

• 4.17.2016  Donna Snyder

• 4.10.2016  Skip Hollandsworth

• 4.3.2016  San Antonio Poets Laureate

• 3.27.2016  AG Ford

• 3.20.2016  Clay Reynolds

• 3.13.2016  Kathleen Kent

• 3.6.2016  Rene S. Perez II

• 2.28.2016  A. G. Howard

• 2.21.2016  Harry Hunsicker

• 2.14.2016  Julie Murphy

• 2.7.2016  Sanderia Faye

• 1.31.2016  R. Gaines Baty

• 1.24.2016  Julia Heaberlin

• 1.17.2016  Jeff Abbott

• 1.10.2016  Kellie Coates Gilbert

• 1.3.2016  Sarah Cortez

• 12.27.2015  Cliff Hudder

• 12.20.2015  Amanda Eyre Ward

• 12.13.2015  James Lee Burke

• 12.6.2015  Mary Helen Specht

• 11.29.2015  Mica Mosbacher

• 11.22.2015  Ray Benson

• 11.15.2015  Carolyn Brown

• 11.8.2015  Colleen Hoover

• 11.1.2015  Reavis Wortham

• 10.25.2015  Stephen Graham Jones

• 10.18.2015  Jeff Guinn

• 10.11.2015  Lisa Sandlin

• 10.4.2015  Sandra Brown

• 9.27.2015  Carlos Nicolás Flores

• 9.20.2015  Stephen Harrigan

• 9.13.2015  Karen Witemeyer

• 9.6.2015  Lisa Wingate

• 8.30.2015  Jennifer Hamburg

• 8.23.2015  Rachel Caine

• 8.16.2015  Ben Fountain

• 8.9.2015  Buzz Bissinger

• 8.2.2015  Nicki Loftin

• 7.26.2015  Elizabeth McCracken

• 7.19.2015  Jesse Sublett

• 7.12.2015  Sarah McCoy

• 7.5.2015  Gary Cartwright

• 6.28.2015  Kimberly Meyer

• 6.21.2015   Ann Weisgarber
• 6.14.2015  John R. Erickson
• 6.7.2015  Hank the Cowdog

• 5.31.2015  James Hannaham

• 5.24.2015  Sarah Bird

• 5.17.2015  Elizabeth Crook

• 5.10.2015  Merritt Tierce

• 5.3.2015  Denise Chavez

• 4.26.2015   Attica Locke

• 4.19.2015  Chris Cander

• 4.12.2015  Joe R. Lansdale

• 4.5,2015  Jodi Thomas

• 3.29.2015  Antonio Ruiz-Camacho

• 3.22.2015  Susan Wittig Albert

• 3.15.2015  Kejia Parssinen

• 3.8.2015  Patrick Dearen

• 3.1.2015  Katherine Center

• 2.22.2015   Matt Minor

• 2.15.2015   Thomas McNeely

Press Releases

• March 23, 2015  |  Cities Named Top Texas Bookish Destinations

• March 5, 2015  |  Lone Star Launches

Promotions

• Top Texas Bookish Destinations 2016, Week 1

• Top Texas Bookish Destinations 2016, Week 2

• Top Texas Bookish Destinations 2015, Week 1

• Top Texas Bookish Destinations 2015, Week 2