Charles E. Finsley certainly succeeds in in his stated objective of making the story of dinosaurs in Texas into a twentieth-century story. The photographs of fossils as well as the fossil finders are great. The text is informative, comprehensive and slanted for the amateur in search of an overview of the story of Texas dinosaurs.

Mr. Charles E. Finsley give a great picture of the Texas contributions to dinosaur paleontology. Doris Tischler drawings give you not only posture, but feeding habits, behavior and a dynamical perspective of how the Dinosaurs lived. Mr. Langston experience gives a great complement with his participation. If you like dinosaurs, you'll finish this book in just two days! but you'll use it all your life.

Support your local paleontologist. This simple phrase describes much of what is learned from this interesting little book. Within, the reader learns where Texas stands in the search for our dinosaur heritage. Using an understandable geologic timeline, the Mesozoic story is told with a Texan viewpoint. Leading professional and amateur paleontologists are showcased as the significant sleuths in the story of how hard it is to find, prepare, study and display dinosaur fossils. Their personal experience educates the reader to the scarcity and importance of material and the hard work that has accumulated information throughout the generations. Using simple enough language for a child but having enough information for the average reader this book is easy to read and quite informative. Throughout, thought provoking questions and "did you know?" tidbits are added to instill in the reader the desire to go hunting dinosaurs for themselves.

I live in Austin, TX and wanted to find out where I could take my dogs and let them really run. Well, not only did this guidebook tell me what areas allow leash-free dogs (and it turns out the Austin area has a lot more than I ever knew!), but it gave great anecdotal descriptions of the various trails, facilities, etc. I've taken the pups on four walks so far (I've had the book a month) based on recommendations in this book and the descriptions were dead on accurate.

Dogs, Larry D. Hodge has concluded, are like American Express Cards. "Some people won't leave home without them," says the Mason free-lance writer. That's the idea behind Hodge's new book, "The Texas Dog Lover's Companion" (Foghorn Press, $20.95). Hodge has "the inside scoop on where to take your dog" in the Lone Star State. It's the seventh "Dog Lover's Companion" volume from the California publisher. Hodge, who writes about travel and the outdoors for a number of Texas publications, including the San Antonio Express-News, says a guide for dog lovers didn't initially set his tail to wagging. He writes in the book's introduction: "Traveling dogs are a common sight in Texas ... What's the big deal? In Texas we just tell the dog to get in the back of the truck with the kids." Editors at Foghorn Press pressed him. They wanted listings of Rover-friendly restaurants, festivals, hotels and motels. They wanted to know where pet owners can walk a dog without a leash. Hodge approaches the subject matter with humor and humility. To conduct research, Hodge traveled mostly with Sport, a Rhodesian Ridgeback/handsome stranger mix, and sometimes with Samantha, an Australian blue heeler mix. The author, who confesses to sneaking both dogs into a Corpus Christi motel that doesn't allow pets ("We spent the entire time keeping them quiet"), was "surprised at how many motels openly welcome dogs." At more than 600 pages, "The Texas Dog Lover's Companion" is well-researched. You can bet Hodge did his homework, ranking park areas by a system of paws - four paws being the, er, cat's meow. The lowest rating is a fire hydrant, or as Hodge writes, "That means the park is just worth a squat." Two parks in San Antonio got 31/2 paws - Martin Luther King Park and Southside Lions Park. The latter "is as good as it gets for a dog in Texas," Hodge says. Another South Texas favorite is Dwight D. Eisenhower Park. "It has great walking trails and great views of the San Antonio skyline," Hodge says. The biggest surprise in researching the book was "how many closet dog people are out there who keep a dog at their place of business all day ... everything from book stores to dress shops to restaurants to motels. "The minute I said something about doing a guide book for dogs they would turn and get real friendly," Hodge says. In all, the book lists more than 400 places to chow down, hundreds of places to stay the night and nearly 500 parks, beaches, forests and wildlife areas, as well as doggy do's and don'ts, safety tips, rules of dining etiquette and hints on avoiding pooper- scooper faux "paws." Plus, "The Texas Dog Lover's Companion" is illustrated with delightful cartoons by Phil Frank.

The carpet in the back of my sport utility vehicle is still full of coarse, reddish hair, and I'm in no hurry to clean it out. That's where Rosie, our six-year-old Golden Retriever, used to ride. We took her to parks and beaches when we could, which in retrospect was not anywhere near often enough. Rosie was part of our family. She was our first "child" and later, Deputy Mom and Big Sister to our daughter Hallie. Like all good dogs, for her the term "unconditional love" was redundant. Last summer, as Hallie played in our front yard, someone driving a blue pickup truck ran over Rosie when she ran out in the street. The person who did it--Hallie says it was a man (only in the sense of his gender)--kept driving. Rosie was left writhing on the pavement with a broken back. Using a blanket, Linda and I got her into my truck and rushed her to an emergency veterinary clinic. After looking at an X-ray, the vet said there was nothing we could do for her but put her down. So, with the wisdom that only sad hindsight brings, if you have a beloved family pet, do things with it as frequently as you can, while you can. And buy a copy of a book funny enough to dry the tears from my eyes when I think about Rosie and the kind of person who would hit a 75-pound dog and not stop, while a little girl watched: "The Texas Dog Lover's Companion" by Larry D. Hodge (Foghorn Press, 656 pages, $20.95). The book is the first-ever Texas travel guide for people with dogs. It lists places where dogs are welcome, rating them on a scale of a fireplug (suitable only for "dewatering" your dog) to one to four paws, depending on the dog-friendliness factor. A good book offers more than its title suggests, and "The Texas Dog Lover's Companion" is a good book. What makes it good is that Hodge has personalized it, crafting it as something of a Texas-only version of "Travels with Charlie." Unlike John Steinbeck, whose faithful canine companion was Charlie, Hodge traveled with two dogs, Sport and Samantha.

Hodge could have written a simple, to-the-point guidebook, but his Steinbeck-like opus is full of observation and insight into Texas as well as the human and canine condition. Writing about a park in Houston, for instance, he mentions that he went to a nearby branch library to re-read a passage from the classic novel, "Old Yeller," by the late Mason writer Fred Gipson. Hodge and his two dogs put 25,000 miles on his sport utility vehicle (Hodge says his Sport appreciates the fact that Detroit bestowed her name on a whole vehicular genre) in researching "The Texas Dog Lover's Companion." Following a 20-page, philosophy-filled introductory overview on traveling with dogs (and in which Sport and Samantha are brought on stage), Hodge covers the state region by region. He and his co-researchers sniffed their way across the state, checking parks, places to eat and sleep and even places where you can take your pet shopping. Hodge found most of Texas pretty accommodating when it comes to dogs, but it's clear that he didn't mind leaving Lubbock in his rearview mirror. "Unfortunately, for dogs there are few positives," Hodge writes of Lubbock. "Dogs must be leashed everywhere, and we could find few places that actually welcomed them. For dogs, anyway, Lubbock seems destined to remain a stop on the way to someplace better." One "someplace better," he wrote, is Amarillo. Hodge likes its climate and friendliness -- to people and their pooches. Hodge's guidebook is a sometimes funny and always entertaining and useful travel reference even if you aren't traveling with Rover. If a hotel, eating place or park won't accept dogs, who would want to go there anyway? As Hodge writes, "Texas is going to the dogs. And it's about time." Hodge's book is a delightful salute to Texas and to dogs, from Old Yeller to Sport, Samantha and -- in sentiment, to Rosie. "It's the land that brings out what's inside us," Hodge quotes one savvy Big Bend resident as saying about her corner of Texas. "There's a beauty and clarity I believe you find only in open spaces." And, Hodge adds, "in the eyes of a dog."

We were going on a trip to see the Llano Estacado and the canyon in west Texas.This book gave the trip so much dimension and understanding at how hard the life was for the explorers and the pioneers in this harsh land.Very cleverly written,holds one attention. Wonderful

Using historical writings of early explorers, the author captures the mystery and magic of the great Llano Estacado or "Staked Plains" that begin in West Texas and extend north and west. Particularly amusing is the efforts of early railroad surveyors to find underground water at the edge of the Llano (aka the caprock) only to miss one of North America's largest aquifers (the Ogalla) by a matter of miles and in some cases yards.

[Review by Larry Blumenfeld, Blumenfeld & Aswsociates, Post Office Box 2831, 660 Circulo Nomada, Tubac, AZ 85646-2831, (520) 398-3371, published in COUNCIL FIRES, The Publication for Western Americana Enthusiasts, Vol. 8, Issue #1, January, 1998, p. 16-17.] E1 Llano Estacado: Exploration and Imagination on the High Plains of Texas and New Mexico, 1536-1860. Written by John Miller Morris. Austin: Texas State Historical Association, First Edition ($39.95). El Llano Estacado is an extremely well written new work of Southwestern History, brilliantly revealing the historical core and heart of one of America's most history-packed regions--the mesaland of the Southern High Plains in Texas and New Mexico. From the Canadian River in the north to the Edwards Plateau in the south, from the Pecos River in the west to the awesome canyonlands of the Red, Pease, Brazos, and Colorado Rivers in the east, these 50,000-square miles of what is commonly referred to as "the Llano" are here chronicled over a period of 300 years, revealing the history, cultural grandeur, and mythic wonders of this special ruggedly beautiful land. A knockout read for both historians and buffs alike, Morris's new book is his song to this unique environment, revealing, melding, and analyzing a diversified series of Spanish, French, Mexican, and Anglo-American explorers and adventurers and how they made their mark on this remarkable land. The book opens with an examination of what is known as the Lost Coronado Trail, pursuing the question of where did the Coronado Expedition go in 1541. What follows is nothing short of a breakthrough analysis of what they saw and how they remembered it as revealed through their personal accounts and journals. The second part of the book, which deals with the Llano Frontier, continues its unique approach to the study of the three centuries of Spanish exploration and imagination following Coronado. Here we revisit this extraordinary land through the eyes and imaginations of the conqueror, Juan de Onate, the accounts of the French explorers, Pierre Mallet and Paul Mallet, and the travel diaries of trailblazers Pedro Vial, Jose Mares, and Francisco Amangual. Part Three then explores and analyzes "the invention or discovery of the Llano through the Anglo imagination," including the "prose of the poet Albert Pike, the grand deceits of Alexander Le Grand, the reasoning of Josiah Gregg, and the legendary collapse of the Texan-Santa Fe Expedition" as chronicled by George Wilkins Kendall and Thomas Falconer. Together the author analyzes what he calls the "American rhetoric of romantic discovery." The Great Zahara, the last of four parts, deliciously delves into the "perceptual approaches of classic U. S. Explorers James W. Abert, Randolph B. Marcy, A. W. Whipple, Andrew Gray, and John Pope...." Powerful, unusual, stimulating, and nothing short of brilliant, El Llano Estacado is one of the finest works of cultural and mythic history of a region I have ever read. Morris has penned a great work of both history and imagination, pushing the boundaries on historical scholarship to limits that I would have never thought possible. This book should change the way history is not only written but perceived. You must read this mmagnificent book!!

Eldercare in Texas presents the basic information family caregivers need to know to care for their aging spouse, parent or relative. Davis covers legal & financial concerns, housing options and end-of-life issues in a no nonsense way. The glossary is particularly helpful. Her personal anecdotes show the reader she doesn't just write about eldercare, she has lived it. A must read for any family caregiver in Texas.

I am a social worker and work just with Texans. This book is the most resourceful book I have had in years. The elderly in Texas did not know that half of these resources are available to them. I encourage family caregivers to purchase this book.

This is by far the best reference book for eldercare in Texas I've ever read. Thorough, informative, easy to read & understand. Covers everything a caregiver for the elderly could need. A++

I found the book to be everything I expected it to be. While doing the research for slavery reconciliation legislation in Texas, I was repeatedly pointed to Professor Campbell and this work for an accurate depiction of slavery in Texas. Because Texas history is glazed with legendary figures and romantic western lore, its complicity in protecting slavery has been quieted. This work is greatly needed so that we will not forget the truth of our past.

Professor Campbell brings to light the institution of slavery of slavery in antebellum Texas. Many Texans have no idea of the significant role that slavery played in its beginnings as a nation and a state. Campbell uses hard evidence to support his work (newspapers, census, private letters, first hand accounts, etc.).

This work goes into detail about the lives and dealings (literally) of slaves. Several anecdotal instances are given for just about every aspect of slave life. Texas slavery also reflects the slavery practices of other southern US states, so this is handy to have for a study of American slavery in general.

Professor Campbell's book is indeed steeped in historical scholarship, but it is nevertheless pleasant to read and easily understood. I highly recommend this book for students(or those interested in) Texas history, the American Antebellum South, or slavery in 19th century America.

This is a great book that introduces the development of Texas and it's history step by step. It starts off with the Mexican government being instable and later wanting to become a dictatorship. Texas was granted land grants from Mexico to settle families in Texas, this got out of hand for Mexico because so many immigrants were coming from the US to settle in their nation. Also bringing slaves, and an introduction to slaves into mexican territory. This later causes the war between mexico and texas, causing thier seperation and a Texas constitution protecting slaves as property. Slaves later became rebellious when Texas was annex into the US and they wanted to be free. Texas later sesseeded from the US and thus resulted in the civil war- a victory for the US granting liberty to all slaves and indentured servants.

Noah Smithwick was an old man, blind and near his ninetieth year, when his daughter recorded these words. After his death in 1899, she polished the manuscript and had it published in 1900. He had stayed on in "paradise" Texas from 1827 to 1861, when his opposition to secession took him to California. This book is his story of these "old Texas days." If his memory for facts sometimes fails him, his stories never do.

Noah Smithwick's recollections bring to life the early era of Anglo-Texas history. This book is filled with colorful characters and anecdotes, almost a who's who of people behind the place names of modern Texas. No other account matches this densely-packed narrative as a color commentary of days before - and after - the Alamo. Against the backdrop of history, this book details many personalities and incidents that are unrecorded elsewhere.

Old Noah provides a somewhat biased insight into the early days of anglo Texas and the Texas Revolution. Unfortunately, old Noah's memory was somewhat moldy when he set his recollections down, conflicting with other contemporary reports of various issues. Nevertheless, this book is probably the first place to commence research in this field and is required reading for anyone who wishes to understand the attitudes and impressions of the period.

This book does a very good job of listing fresh water fishing sites all over the state of Texas with information on what sort of fish to expect. It's geared to the fly fisherman of course but would be useful to anyone wanting to fish fresh waters of Texas. It list essentially all the rivers and lakes in the state and where the access points are. In a few cases it would be nice to have more specific instructions on how to get to the access point but it's still a very thorough listing of places to fish and what to expect when you get there.

Wow! What a terrific book! Fly fishers all over the state
are talking about the most comprehensive book written for
fly fishing Texas. This is the book to carry in your vehicle
when off gallivating in the hill country, the pineywoods
or the gulf coast. Congratulations Phil!
Constance Whiston

I have been an avid flyfisher for some 30+ years and have read countless books on the topic. Phil Shook provides a very interesting perspective, and although his observations and directions are specific to Texas, he does provide an excellent basis for any angler's personal quest for solitary fishing waters. As well as being very well written, providing interesting and helpful information, as well as tips on flies and equipment, the book contains locations, accommodations, and meal planning advise. This book will certainly be an asset to any angler, pro or novice wishing to improve their catches.

This books gives a detailed history of the island of Galveston from it's first inhabitants to present day. Unlike some historical accounts this book is a real "page turner," completely absorbing the reader in each different time period from hostile indians to mafia men. The author lays out areas on the island to explore as well as important historical landmarks. He helps one understand the rise and fall of the island's fame and fortune along with it's leading families. I highly recommend it whether you are visiting Galveston or you are just interested in history.

This is simply the best and most entertaining historical study that I've ever had the pleasure of reading. It literally made me laugh out loud as well as tear up several times. I can't say enough wonderful things about this book. It reads like a very well written novel whose topic is endlessly fascinating. I've given it as a present several times since I first read it about 10 or 11 years ago and the recipients have all been as thrilled with it as I've been.

I rarely read history for pleasure ( I lean more towards murder mysteries), but I read this on the recommendation of a stranger in the local library. I was pleasantly surprised at the breadth of content which the author managed to cover in a way that reads like a popular novel. It never gets boring, but I'm sure that I irritated my husband by laughing out loud a time or two and insisting he listen to a few paragraphs. Since I grew up near Galveston and spent days on the beach from infancy to last month, I'm probably biased, but I think this book would appeal to many. Enjoy!!

In the 500 plus pages of this remarkable trilogy, Billy Lee Brammer does more to explicate and evaluate American politics, especially Texas politics and even more especially, populist politics as practiced by Lyndon B.Johnson, than all the ponderous Caro-type analyses that weigh us down blur the color and cloy the flavor. More than a portrait of LBJ, the book is an artful depiction of the lure of politics and its terrible cost on those who pursue it. All this is conveyed with humor, sympathy and a clear-eyed vision of the American scene of the 60's.

Written by a former member of President LBJ's staff. It's no secret that Lady Bird Johnson did not like this "too close to home" novel that most say was based in part on her famous husband.

However, the true gem in these pages is an acurate account of the style of Texas politics during this time period. It honestly reflects what life in this arena was like from someone who was there to see it for himself.

When this novel was released, the author Billy Lee Brammer was touted as the next great American writer. That prediction never came true due to the tragedy in the author's own life. We are left with this first work and a wonder of what might have followed had the author's life followed a more positive path.

Newcomers to Texas politics are often told to read The Gay Place if they want to understand Texas politics and a land where politics is best described by the words of former Governor Ann Richards...."IN TEXAS...POLITICS IS A CONTACT SPORT!"

This story tells of a state where men and women most often rise to the top through their intelligence and skill and not their bloodline. It certainly is not a tale of wealthy trust-fund princes who merely walk through doors open by their fathers.

You can feel the humid summer heat of Austin and the sexy passion of it's people as these pages unfold. While this wonderful city has changed dramatically in the past thirty years, you can still find many of the story's locations full of Texas politicos and their groupies. A well written and entertaining novel.

A wonderful trilogy. This is a gem of a book, and desrves a much wider audience than it's received to this point (but then, it's only been in print for 37 years). Not only is it a masterful series of short novels about politics, it also does a wonderful job of capturing the feel of a time and place.

In typical McMurtry style, there is a good deal of humor and whimsy in this novel. For the first 400 pages or so I felt it was a bit overdone, but once I saw where the novel was headed, it made perfect sense. About the ultimate destination of the novel: it packs quite an emotional punch. Rare indeed is the novel that can make me cry, but this one did it.

As a sequel to "Terms of Endearment", "The Evening Star" follows up on the life of Aurora Greenway and her three grandchildren. I found myself laughing out loud as I read this book and I fell in love with Aurora's wit, humor and sarcasm. The book was written with such creativity about the lives of its characters that it draws in your imagination and emotions. I read this book twice in a row and it only got better the second time around. This book deserves 10 Stars!

McMurtry's characters become so real to me that I can barely stand to let them go at the end of his books. I am so glad that I got to see what happened to the people from Terms of Endearment.