Looking for some great books to buy for holiday gifts this year? Clay Smith with Austin-based Kirkus Reviews has a few books that will be perfect for anyone on your list, including yourself.
“The Last Stop” by Ryann Ford
“She has gone to rest stops and it’s a really lovely sort of documentary – it’s kind of quirky and fun … there’s a lot of kitsch and American character in these rest stops.”
“Marfa Modern – Artistic Interiors of the West Texas High Desert” by Helen Thompson, Photographer Casey Dunn
“For people who are – understandably – baffled by Marfa, and don’t understand why this really tiny West Texas remote town has become an international art mecca, this book really explains why.”
“News of the World” by Paulette Jiles
“This is a really beautiful story set in the winter and spring of 1870, as an elderly man who’s been through three wars goes around small Texas towns – and has collected newspapers from around the world – and he reads the news to people in those towns. And they each pay ten cents to hear him read the news for about an hour. And he is asked to take a 10-year-old girl who had been captured by Native Americans and is being sold back to the Anglo settlers – he is asked to take her from Wichita Falls to San Antonio. If you have pride in Texas history, you’ll either want to read this for yourself or someone you love.”
