What a wonderful collection of delicious recipes. Chef Walker has shared his magical culinary secrets and has delivered them in a beautifully illustrated and well written book. "In Your Kitchen" tells us how to prepare some of Brennan's famous treats such as: Brandy Milk Punch, Turtle Soup and Bananas Foster. Carl Walker also shares his life experiences with his readers. After reading through the book, I feel that I know Chef Walker and his family personally. NOTE: The Texas Cornbread Pudding will become a must for your family gatherings.

Brennan's of Houston in Your Kitchen is as approachable as Chef Carl Walker himself. This cookbook guides the reader through the best Creole recipes from the restaurant in a straightforward, informative manner. Recipes are not overly simplified for the home cook, but instead are presented in an enticing and easy to follow step by step process, with lovely pictures of the final products. Each dish we have prepared tastes exactly like the food available at the restaurant. We recently visited Brennan's of Houston and were again pleased with how well the recipes translated for the home cook. What a delightful addition to any "chef's" library.

This book is so well balanced with recipes, photos, history of the place and it feels like you know the author when you read it. I've tried some of the recipes and they are user friendly, which isn't always the case for a chef written book. I've given this book to my friends for Christmas and they have loved it. The photos are exceptional and they are not intimating to me, like so many other books. If you want a touch of Creole and some just good cookbook reading it is my new favorite.
ps. I forgot almost every recipe has Chef tips and notes so you can substitute ingredients that may be hard to find and make your own creation.

As a Puppy Raiser for Southeastern Guide Dogs, I know that dogs are exceptional and are often guardian angels. This book, however, tells the story of Dakota who is not only a guardian angel for his owner, Mike, but his spirit guide. Through the gentle encouragement from Dakota, Mike has found his mission in life - to educate others about the human-animal bond and about the specialness of service animals. Bravo Mike for telling this truly amazing and touching tale of love, generosity and spirit.

This book is not "just" about a dog. This book is not just about a "typical" dog or an "exceptional" dog. This book is about
life. It is a book about what most all of us want in life:
acceptance, joy, play, nurturing, happiness and last but not least: unconditional love. "The Angel by My Side" shows how we don't really "own" a dog; but how a dog (here a Golden Retriever) can teach us about the really important things in life and help us get away from our own selves, our own problems, and how we can give to others, in a multitude of ways. And yes, we as humans, can still learn from dogs.

Thank you to Mike Lingenfelter for sharing his exceptional story, I absolutely loved this book. Not only is this book inspiring to all who will read it. "The Angel By My Side" will open your heart to what service dogs do for their human "partners", the difficulties and obstacles that each has had to overcome and the truly remarkable work that both Mike and Dakota have done and continue to do. In our "throw-away" society, perhaps this story will also teach people about rescue dogs and what wonderful companions they are (I have a rescue dog of my own). Beware...you will need a box of Kleenex when you read this book.

I am a native Texan and history buff, but I was never aware of the important role many small Texas towns played in the aerial war efforts of the United States. What a revelation this book provided.

Very well written, interesting, informative, humorous and sometimes tragic, The Stars Were Big and Bright is one book that will remain in my personal library for years to come. It is sure to be reread whenever the urge to revisit the history of Texas' contribution to the U.S. Army Air Force's efforts during WWI and WWII.

I was impressed also with the numerous vintage photograps, maps, descriptions of the relevant airfields, aircraft photos and specifications, as well as the high level of documentation from primary source documents.

This book absolutely has to be the best book on this topic yet written. Perhaps the author, Thomas E. Alexander, will treat us to another great book in the future.

This book provides a worthwhile survey of the role of military aviation...anecdotal details keep the text lively...vintage and contemporary photographs make the book valuable for anyone interested in the military buildup that affected Texas communities...

"The Stars Were Big and Bright" is a compelling read about a time when people of the United States banded together in a common cause and about the Texas homefront during wartime. What makes this book an intereting read is that it contains not just the facts but the reactions of soldiers and Texans alike.

A beautifully written memoir by Ron Rozelle whose father had Alzheimer's. Set in the author's hometown, a small town in east Texas, this account reflects not only on the time Alzheimer's affected his dad, but there are flashbacks to his years of growing up in that town and remembered incidents in his family. This book, deservingly so, was a PEN America West Creative Nonfiction Prize finalist and a Texas Institute of Letters Carr P. Collins Nonfiction Award finalist. It is good, relaxing reading as a coming-of-age in a small town story as well as an Alzheimer's memoir.

My parents grew up in Oakwood and knew Ron's father, and that's why I read this book. However, it's a beautifully written story, and you don't have to have an Oakwood or Texas connection to appreciate it. It's a very real slice of life and captures moments with poignancy and realism. I felt like I was there with him during all parts of the story. Oprah-this is your kind of book-a wonderful snapshot of simple but complex nuances of small town life. Bravo, Ron!

Ron Rozelle weaves an excellent memoir which tells of a sense of community, personal loss and growth. Memoirs tend to drift off and ramble leaving the reader anxious to finish the tale and move on. However, Rozelle leaves the reader wanting more. The characters of Oakwood, Texas are presented in such a way that the reader feels as if he/she is familiar with these people. "Into That Good Night" feels like you are having a one on one conversation with Rozelle. The subject of Alzheimer's is dealt with in a manner that shows the impact of the disease not only on the patient, but the extended family. This book is important and a must read.

Bryce Echenique shows us Peru and Peruvian culture the way it really was. Mentiones real places i wen to, Schools I attended and people I can identify with. When you read this book, you will remember the innocence of childhood, the sweet smell of love, the value of a good friendship and the reality of everyday pain and gain... Read it and you wil agree with me...this is simply a great,,,,great book!!

Gabriel Garcia Marquez said once this was the best novel ever written in Latin America. He's right. Bryce Echenique explores deeply Peruvian society while describing a world of illusion created for little Julius, who eventually will have to fit perfectly in this society. The author has shown before an outstanding capability to "paint with words" so as to give us a perfect picture from the reality his characters live in. In A World for Julius, the language is used in an exquisite way, allowing the reader to see, feel and understand the environment where the story develops. If someone wants to read something better, try the same book in Spanish.

This is, with no doubt, the brightest book of this exceptional peruvian writer. Bryce has the ability to make you cry and laugh as you identify your own growing experience with the life of the main character, a little boy named Julius. The author makes us see why some things that have no importance when we are a kids later become the center of our existence, such as looks, political opinion or social status. This novel is delightful and is written with really good taste and sensibility. Since you begin to read it, you will find yourself trapped in a beatiful and sharp story about the social realitys of southamerican countries.

These Hap Collins/Leonard Pine books is probably the best series you've never heard of. If you're already a fan of the books , you know what to expect, a good plot, great characters, and maybe the best dialogue in the business. Two-Bear Mambo is my personal favorite. If you just discovered this series , start with the first book "Savage Season" and jump right in.

In this novel, Joe Lansdale continues and deepens the partnership/friendship of Hap and Leonard, seen previously in Savage Season and Mucho Mojo.More than any other current writer, Lansdale has the uncanny knack of placing more hilarious dialogue and description on virtually every page, while he follows this seemingly mismatched pair's quest to find a friend who has disappeared deep in Klan country. Lansdale manages to shine his literary light on racism, southern culture, human relationships and foibles, all within the context of this gripping suspense novel. I guarantee that you'll not only set aside this book at times to think, but that you'll have to stop reading regularly to laugh out loud. A most wonderfully human novel from this gifted writer

Sad to think this book is already out of print. This one is the third installment of the Hap/Leonard series and picks up where Mucho Mojo left off. The pair rush off to the aid of a friend, but pay the price for their outsize egos as they find themselves in a part of the South where the calendars seem to be set 30 years behind schedule. There are no quick, easy resolutions to be found and the Hap and Leonard at the end of the book are markedly different from the two at the beginning. As always, Mr. Lansdale's keen ability to understand and describe human nature is evident. Highly recommended!

I just had the sad occasion to finish The Smilin' Country. I wish there were more pages. I liked the chance to catch up with my old friend Hewey Calloway. It's four years later and Hewey is still learnin'about life. Always but not completely regretting his split from Spring Renfro, Hewey just cannot seem to make the tansition from a 20 yr old cowboy to 50 year old cowboy. The spirit is willin' but the ol' body doesn't work quite as well as before. I highly recommend any of Kelton's books, but this is even better than The Pumpkin Rollers, which I also enjoyed a great deal. With the passing of Louis L'Amour, westerns just don't get much better'n Kelton's.

What a great book. It is the story of part of the life of Hewey Calloway. One of the last of the true cowboys. He hates to see cars, trucks and telephone lines. He is, I think, really what most of the cowboys were like. It is not full of gun fights and running from the sheriff. He is a hard working man that moves on when he feels like it. A real good story. Has places that are sad and many places that will make you smile. The ending is very good. I just got a happy feeling from reading the book. Makes me wish I had been Hewey Calloway.

Too often sequels are a dud. Not so with Elmer Kelton's follow-up to "The Good Old Boys." Hewey Calloway is 4 years removed from leaving Spring Renfro, but he hasn't wised up much or changed his ways. But things are a changin' around him. And, if fact, Hewey IS changing--he's getting older if not wiser. Will Hewey wise up--about his lifestyle and about Spring before it's too late? Kelton tells us in his own remarkable style.

Having grown up in the Hill Country, I was immediately drawn to this book. Woods' protrayal of her grandmother's life brought out the history of this area and her descriptions created vivid mental pictures. You'll find yourself not wanting to put the book down as you travel through time with this story of Laura Woods.

The main charracter , Laura, is a wonderfull role model for all women. What a story ! She has childhood loves to her adult problems and relationships. I enjoyed watching her grow. This story is rich and full . I miss reading about her. Laura was an amazing woman, yet so common that not only did I find my self pulling for her but I found myself changed and enspired by her . Her experiences became mine. My hat is off to this truely talented author. I hope she writes many many more books. I would also like to thank her for sharing Laura's story . What a WONDERFULL BOOK !!!!

I can not say enough about how much I enjoyed this book. From the beginning to the "wow" of an ending this book will have you hooked. A truely fantastic read. Laura (the main character ) is a very likeable child who grows into a remarkable woman. Her lifes journy takes the reader on a wonderful adventure. Along with her growth as a person the reader can't help but to grow also. A fantastic story.

I*ve been fascinated with this case and watched more of this trial than OJ.I actually feel sorry for Diana and Adrienne*s family. This was the fastest I*ve ever read a book, and I really found out alot about David and Diana .I hope that Mr Meyer does a follow up after the graham trial

Blind Love is factually correct. I have read the books, seen the movie and watched both the Zamora and Graham trials on video tape. Peter Meyer's book puts it all together as best can be presented from all the evidence available.

I bought this book at a grocerie store just to have something to do when I was bored. I found myself hooked on the book and I finished it in 3 days which is pretty amazing for me(and my mom!). It had great details and it makes you want to follow up on the trial until is over.

I have read all three of Sandra Brown's Texas series. Sage is the third in the trilogy and kept me up all night reading. I couldn't and didn't want to put this book down until I finished Sage and Harlan's exciting love story. I recommend this book to anyone who is looking for a "feel good" romance that will make you smile.

This was my first Sandra Brown book and I just loved it! I'm sorry that I didn't realize that this book was the third in a trilogy about the Tyler family but and thrilled that my introduction to her works was this one. Now I can't wait to go back and read the first two books of the series.

Sage Tyler is the youngest of the three Tyler children; she was two older brothers, Lucky and Chase. This story starts out with her fiancee breaking up with her which is overheard by Harlan Boyd the newest employee of the Tyler Drilling Company. Since Sage had been busy finishing up school she was unaware her brothers had hired a new employee who is annoyingly self-assured and very good looking. Sage and Harlan of course start out on the wrong foot and there's lots of tension between the two of them. There is also a fair amount of attraction and sexual tension between them. There ensues quite a relationship between them and a new relationship between Sage and her brothers.

All in all an enthralling story. I didn't want to put it down and I wasn't ready to leave the Tyler family; in fact I want to join the Tyler family!

There was a time when I sneered at Romance novels, although I had never read one. Then one dark and stormy night, alone in an Outer Banks beach house, I picked up a well-tattered paperback of Sandra Brown's "Sage," and I simply devoured it.

Although I didn't know it at the time, "Sage" is Book Three of Brown's Texas! trilogy, but I'm glad I read it first. The story opens as spoiled, beautiful and headstrong Sage Tyler is dumped by her mama's-boy fiance. Pouting out on the porch of the fiance's mansion, she looks up to find tall, gorgeous, cowboy Harlan Boyd, who has been sent by the Tylers to fetch her home. The sparks fly, and the action begins.

The sexual tension between Harlan and Sage expresses itself in outward animosity, and the sparring between the two forms a humerous backdrop to the rest of the story, which involves Sage's two protective brothers, Lucky and Chase, their wives, Mama Tyler and her Sheriff boyfriend, and a threat to the family business. Like all Brown stories, this one is well plotted, believable, and very, very sexy.

The inevitable and explosive meeting of Sage and Harlan, which begins with a furious and physical fight, and ends with the steamiest love scene I've read in quite a while, will have you fanning yourself. But naturally, the course of true love is never smooth, and with two strong-minded, stubborn, ornery Texans like Sage and Harlan, it gets so bumpy that the reader wonders if this is one romance that will not have a happy ending. I won't give it away. But I will say that for pure, luscious escapism and a really good story, this book remains in my top ten of all time.