I'm not an expert on many things, but when it comes to judging the quality of Texas literature, or Texana, as it is called, I'm about as confident as a rider on a bucking horse who is still upright after seven seconds. (That last of the eight seconds is reserved for humility: It doesn't take luck long to leave a man spitting dirt.)
So I decided to take a chance and put together a list of good Texas books you could explore over the course of a year—one book for each month. Here it is:
January: The Tacos of Texas by Mando Rayo and Jarod Neece.
This guide to all things tacos in Texas, from the Austin-based writing team behind TacoJournalism.com, became a bestseller in Texas (and beyond) after its release in 2016. I'm assigning it to January because by around January 3, your New Year's resolutions won't be quite so firm. When that time comes, you'll want tacos. And those tacos will give you the strength for the great year of reading ahead.
February: The Son by Philipp Meyer.
In my opinion, this ambitious novel is the best Texas book since Lonesome Dove. In 2014, it was a runner-up for the Pulitzer Prize. A miniseries aired on AMC in 2017, starring Pierce Brosnan. But if you read the book, you'll have the advantage of being able to say, with a touch of snobbery, “I read the book, and the book is much better.”
March: Miles and Miles of Texas: 100 Years of the Texas Highway Department by Carol Dawson and Roger Allen Polson.
Just in time for your spring break comes this wonderful book about the history of Texas roads and how they were built. The original mission of the Texas Department of Transportation was “to get the farmers out of the mud.” Of course, they surpassed that goal and built a state full of superhighways. Let's not talk about I-35.
April: Lonesome Dove by Larry McMurtry.
Texas cattle drives usually began in the spring, so April seems like a good time to read or reread Lonesome Dove. If you haven't yet read this Pulitzer Prize-winning literary treasure, it's time. Gus and Call are waiting for you.
May: Texas Ranger: The Epic Life of Frank Hamer, the Man Who Killed Bonnie and Clyde by John Boessenecker.
This notorious criminal couple met their deaths in a police ambush on May 23, 1934, thanks to the hero of this book. Hollywood made Hamer into a villain, but as so often happens, they were seduced by myth and got it wrong. I like what the Dallas Morning News said about this book: “The story of Frank Hamer may be the last great untold story of the American West.”
June: Isaac's Storm: A Man, a Time, and the Deadliest Hurricane in History by Erik Larson.
For the start of hurricane season, read this bestselling history of the deadly hurricane that devastated Galveston in 1906, with a focus on Isaac Cline, the chief U.S. meteorologist in Galveston at the time of this deadliest of storms.
July: Empire of the Summer Moon: Quanah Parker and the Rise and Fall of the Comanches, the Most Powerful Indian Tribe in American History by S. C. Gwynne.
This book tells the story of the final years of the Comanche nation and how Quanah Parker and his warriors were never defeated militarily.
August: The Time It Never Rained by Elmer Kelton.
Kelton's classic 1973 novel tells the story of a West Texas rancher, Charlie Flagg, who lived through the devastating seven-year drought of the 1950s, considered the worst dry spell in modern Texas history.
September: Friday Night Lights: A Town, a Team and a Dream by H. G. Bissinger.
The start of football season is the perfect time to read this nonfiction book about the Permian Panthers of Odessa, which inspired the popular television series.
October: All the Pretty Horses by Cormac McCarthy.
Winner of both the National Book Award and the National Book Critics Circle Award. Once you get started, read the entire “Border Trilogy.”
November: Lone Star: A History of Texas and the Texans by T. R. Fehrenbach.
As the days grow shorter and the nights longer, sit down by the fire and read military historian Fehrenbach's unsurpassed chronicle of Texas, from prehistory through the 20th century.
December: The Big Rich: The Rise and Fall of the Greatest Texas Oil Fortunes by Bryan Burrough.
Christmas will soon be here again. As you begin thinking about gifts and money, it's the perfect time to read the rags-to-riches stories of Texas oilmen such as H. L. Hunt and Roy Cullen. These men became some of the wealthiest people in the world in their day. They knew how to spend money and play on a grand scale few have ever experienced. It will inspire your Christmas shopping and make you want to play poker for oil leases, buy sprawling ranches, and acquire your own Texas island.
There isn't much romance in these books. But there is plenty of tough love. And that's a good thing. If you don't get tough love early in life, it's hard to find lasting love later.
Happy reading.
