Rosemary Gregory, Myra Lee Goff & Roger Nuhn have given the citizens of New Braunfels (& Comal County) a gift that will last through the years. It is a chronicle of a German settlement and the people who have lived here in earlier times. Lushly illustrated with over 275 photographs, illustrations, maps, and artifacts, it is an beautiful tome that invites the reader to connect with and feel part of this community. Everyone in who grew up in or lives in Comal County should have a copy.

The Newshounds in the Great Balloon Race was a hit with my third grade students. As an elementary school librarian, I am always looking for the opportunity to reinforce curriculum topics in the library and when I can use a good story, all the better. My students thoroughly enjoyed Isaac and his crew as they travelled to our state (Texas). The book is presented as a "geography adventure" and includes suggested questions and activities from the author to assist in curriculum reinforcement, but it is also an enjoyable and humorous story as well. The students enjoyed pouring over maps and locating the places in the story. Being a former New Yorker myself, I enjoyed the opportunity to provide some information on the Hudson Valley (home of the WDG-TV news team). My students all asked: "Where will the next "On the Trail" report be from?

Anson, Texas, a small community north of Abilene, plunged into turmoil when a parent group (soon to be know as Footloose) came together to address concerns about their teenage children. As in other farming communities, the free time of many teens was spent drinking and "parking." To provide chaperoned activities appealing to adolescents, Footloose began to plan a dance. Immediately they found themselves head-on with an ordiance banning dancing with the city limits. Initiated in the 1930's by an influential fundamental group, this city ordinance continued to concur with the religious beliefs of the present day community leaders. The church's power in the community provided a formative voting constituency; and the connection between religious affiliation, economy and social power had prevailed for years. The Footloose group, on the other hand, comprised a force of relative new comers to the community. Imagine the implosion! The controversy was not what drew Dr. Ricardo Ainslie to Anson, yet it proved a tremendous back drop for his story of racial and social change. His book explores the events following the civil rights legislation of the early sixities complicated by a declining economy and the infusion of agricultural technology. Ainslie observes the racial interaction of the traditional white farming community, dealing with an ever growing Mexican-American population. Thorough research and extensive interviews with sixty of Anson citizens illustrates this often uncomfortable dichotomy. Ainslie graphically tells of the emergence of change, using sensitive respect for the people caught in the winds. He is able to convey the benevolence in the worn faces of those who tell of hard times, laughter, and life's discourse. His descriptive writing parallels that of successful novelists. The reader can easily visualize Anson with its pick-up trucks, hometown cafe, and farming "contraptions" resting near the dusty roads, an infusionof Spanish colloquialism brings the characters of Anson alive. After telling the "Dancin" story, Ainslie shares insights from six of Anson's unique personalities. Their diverse background creates an awareness that allows the reader to see the inevitability of conflict. One becomes involved in personal reflections of the civil rights movement and the consequent "Act" that altered the American way of life. The frustrating chain of events in Anson reiterates the strength of long held beliefs (about race, culture, and religion) gleaned from childhood. This book is an intriguing look at the deeper levels of social activity, and clarifies how seemingly "small acts speak to larger issues." Change brings to the surface each person's inner-struggle for identify. Ainslie writes of the natural resistance to change and how even in the midst of it we can only see what we want to see. Acceptance of change is a slow and arduous process. In this somewhat depressing portrait of samll town evolution, remains a peculiar resilence and resolve of human nature that is to be revered. El libro de Ricardo Ainslie es excelent!

This is a very good book to explore the styles of Mance Lipscomb,Lightning Hopkins,Blind Lemon Jefferson and others.There is a feature on each Artist and an instruction on how to play each song.This is a style of playing that you really have to work at,but the tab makes it fun and rewarding.There is a plastic record (reminds me of the '70s ) which comes with the book and contains the Artists playing the songs.The only slight downfall for me was the choice of songs relating to Lightning Hopkins,but apart from that this is a brilliant book!

A one night stand resuling in a pregnancy and marriage sounds pretty "formula" romance, except for one thing. The one night stand occurs becuase the heroine, Glenna, wants to feel young, since she is about to become a grandmother again and it's her 42nd birthday. The hero, Reid is 47, also with a grown child.

Get over the dumb title and formula plot. It's a cute story about a man and woman trying to deal with being middle aged, watching their grown children have lives, and reconciling with them, all the while dealing with a new baby on the way and their own marriage.

Most catgory romance has characters in their 20s and early 30s, this one is unique with characters that are a bit older, more mature and experienced. Not bad at all.

It's hard to find books that offer common-sense travel tips for families. Naylor Rodriguez obviously knows her subject - and home state - well. This book is fun to read even if you're not going any farther than your own living room.

The Old Army in Texas: A Research Guide To The U.S. Army In Nineteenth-Century Texas by Texas historian Thomas T. Smith, is an encyclopedia-style research tool containing a wealth of information about the United States Army in nineteenth-century Texas. An informative introduction succinctly summarizes U.S. Army operations; then different sections follow which collaboratively present maps of the changing Texas military frontier during the 1800s, army commanders and organizations in Texas, post garrisons 1836-1900. Enhanced with a selected bibliography, a summary of combat actions during the Indian Wars of Texas 1849-1881, and much, much more, The Old Army In Texas is a superb resource for quick reference and a highly recommended addition to American History, Western Frontier, and Military History academic reference collections and supplemental reading lists.

Having served over 4 years hard time as an employee in an institution of higher learning, I really appreciated both the humor and politics of this book. One book of a small series, it is set in a fictitious private liberal arts college in Texas. In additional to the murder(s), faculty vs "the administration" plays a large role in the plots of the books in this series.

This is a hot, funny read. Kimberly Raye really knows Texas and her story of New Yorkers dealing with a real Texas ranch is hilarious. A cast of characters straight out of a sit-com liven up the plot and the reader can't help breathing a sigh of relief at the happy ending. Steamy and not just the weather!

An absolutely mesmerizing account of the capture, survival and ultimately return to frontier Fredericksburg, Texas. An insiders look at Native American existence, its differing cultures, its taboos and its different forms of organization. It is not a pretty picture.

In events strikingly similar but less well-chronicled to those taking place on the Northern Plains, the 1870's witnessed the demise of the Southern Plains Indians--Apaches, Lipans, Commanches. Enter this young Henry Lehmann, an eleven-year old white taken from his frontier family by an Apache raiding party. Over the next ten years he matures from captive slave to fully "Indianized" warrior, only to ultimately (and reluctantly) reunite with his family. This amazing firsthand account details Indian life as it reached a violent climax with encroaching white settlement. A real page-turner and a must read for those interested in Plains Indians and Texas frontier history.