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Texas Books: Best Books Set in the Lone Star State
By: Angela & Melissa
Updated:
As an Amazon Associate and member of other affiliate programs, we may earn a referral fee from qualifying purchases.Whether you’re participating in our Read Around the USA Challenge or simply found your way to our website researching books set in Texas, we’ve curated a diverse list of highly-rated titles about the Lone Star State! If you’re looking for another state, check our comprehensive list of books set in every state.
A Few Things Texas is Known For…
Texas joined the United States as the 28th state, leading to the Mexican-American War due to a dispute over the border between Texas and Mexico. Almost as soon as Texas became a state, it seceded from the Union to join the Confederacy in the lead-up to the Civil War. And it was one of the last states to surrender following the conclusion of the war in 1865.
We’ve all heard the saying that everything is bigger in Texas. It’s the largest of the continental US states and the second largest overall (second only to Alaska). It also boasts the second-largest population, behind only California. But beyond sheer size, this phrase captures the Texan spirit and cultural identity, reflecting a sense of pride, ambition, and grandiosity.
Today, Texas celebrates a blend of Southern, Western, and Mexican influences, exemplified in its food, music, and festivals. Texas is famous for barbecue, Tex-Mex cuisine, and the iconic rodeo culture.
Each of Texas’s major cities embodies a distinct cultural character, reflecting the state’s vast geographic size and diverse population. The capital city of Austin is known for its vibrant music scene and robust tech industry. Houston, the state’s largest city, is a hub for the oil and gas industry and home to NASA’s Johnson Space Center. Dallas is renowned for its robust business environment and has a vibrant arts district. One of the oldest cities in Texas, San Antonio, is rich in Spanish colonial history and home to both the Alamo and the famous River Walk.
Fiction Books Set in Texas
The Bright Years
Book Summary
Ryan and Lillian Bright were deeply in love when they married and became parents to baby Georgette. But they were also keeping secrets from one another. Lillian had a son she didn’t tell Ryan about. And Ryan had an alcohol addiction that he didn’t tell Lillian about. As the years pass, Geogette comes of age, watching the highs and lows of her parents’ marriage.
Later, when a shocking blow tears the family apart, Georgette tries to distance herself from reminders of her parents. But when Lillian’s son begins searching for his birth family, Georgette will be forced to return to her roots to learn more about her family’s history. Ultimately, she’ll have to decide whether she can let them back into her life while there’s still time.
The Book Girls Say…
This novel is told from three points of view and does not follow a linear timeline. Rather, each chapter is set in a different year, winding back and forth through the timeline of the Bright family.
Early readers praise this debut author, who is also a Harvard-educated social worker, for creating compelling and realistically flawed characters that you will really come to care about.
The First Emma
Book Girls’ Readers Rate This Book
100% Would Recommend to a Friend
Book Summary
When Emma marries Otto, she dreams of a simple and happy life. However, Otto’s obsession with his businesses, including beer, mining, and hospitality, makes them one of the wealthiest couples in the nation. Despite the wealth, Emma is lonely and unhappy. Then, an accident brings her an unexpected choice – should she choose loyalty or independence?
In 1943, a dying woman issues an ad for someone to write her life story. Mabel is fleeing her old life in Baltimore after the war and is eager to escape to San Antonio for this unique position. As she learns Emma’s story, she’s surprised to find a woman who experienced both devastation and astonishing success as she navigated a brewery through Texas prohibition.
The Book Girls Say…
Watch our interview with author Camille Di Maio! This book is based on the real life of Emma Koehler & history of Pearl Brewing. After reading, check out the Hotel Emma in San Antonio, which was formerly the Pearl Brewhouse.
Di Maio also authored another book set in Texas titled Before the Rain Falls. This dual timeline novel (1940s and present) intertwines the stories of a woman released from prison after decades and a journalist investigating a mysterious painting believed to weep.
Also Featured on These Book Lists:
Atmosphere
Book Summary
Joan is content with her quiet life as a physics and astronomy professor at Rice University in Houston. Then, she sees an ad that changes her life. NASA is looking for the first female scientists to join the Space Shuttle program. After being selected from a pool of thousands of worthy applicants, Joan begins training in the summer of 1980.
As she trains with her new team, they become unlikely friends, and Joan finds a new passion for life. She also begins to question everything she thinks she knows about her place in the observable universe.
The Book Girls Say…
As we’ve grown to expect from Taylor Jenkins Reid, this book is strong in character development and pulls you into the characters’ lives. Early reviewers note that there is a lot of astronaut and NASA talk, so science fans may appreciate the level of detail, while some may find it overwhelming.
You’ll find themes of gender discrimination in STEM/the 1980s, family relationships, friendships, and a deep love story that fans of Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo may especially enjoy.
Many reviewers noted crying throughout the novel, so keep the Kleenex handy!
If you are interested in a non-fiction book about NASA in Texas a couple of decades earlier, we highly recommend The Astronaut’s Wives Club by Lily Koppel. This book tells the fascinating, true story of the wives behind the men of the 1960s space program. NASA viewed the families of their astronauts as their business, selecting only men with seemingly perfect family lives, and giving the wives strict orders to create homes that wouldn’t produce any undue stress or “mental chores” for the men. For good or for bad, these women were rocketed to celebrity by their husbands’ selection as the original Mercury 7 astronauts.
Also Featured on These Book Lists:
The Four Winds
Book Girls’ Readers Rate This Book
98% Would Recommend to a Friend
Book Summary
As the Dust Bowl drought gripped the Great Plains, millions were out of work, crops failed, water dried up, and farmers fought to keep their land. This is the story of Elsa Martinelli, who is forced to make an agonizing choice: fight for her land in Texas or move west to California in search of a better life.
Like so many of her neighbors, Elsa courageously faces the hardships and sacrifices that came to define an entire generation during the Great Depression as they fought for the American Dream.
The Book Girls Say…
We love books that truly transport you to another time and place, and few books do that quite as well as The Four Winds. You will feel the dirt and the direness that so many experienced.
For another look at Texas during the Dust Bowl years, we recommend Rainwater by Sandra Brown. Be sure to also check out our full list of Unforgettable Dust Bowl Books.
Also Featured on These Book Lists:
Best Kristin Hannah Books
Unforgettable Dust Bowl Books
Best Books of 2021
Books Set in the 1930s
Book Girls’ Readers Rate This Book
100% Would Recommend to a Friend
Book Summary
Hannah may look like a kindergarten teacher who could only wrangle young children, but she’s more dangerous than she seems. Her excellent skills as an Executive Protection Agent (aka bodyguard) just earned her a job protecting a superstar actor, Jack. He has some unlikely enemies – like a middle-aged, corgi-breeding stalker and a brother who seems to hate him.
When Jack has to return to the family ranch in Texas during his mom’s cancer treatment, he doesn’t want her to find out about the stalker. This means she can’t know he needs a bodyguard to be safe. What could go wrong when Hannah has to pretend to be his girlfriend in front of his whole family?
The Book Girls Say…
While many of Center’s other books are best classified as contemporary fiction with an element of romance, this one is shamelessly romantic and swoon-worthy (but NOT steamy – any romance scenes are closed-door). She said that she wrote the book as her own escape during the pandemic, and wanted it to be lighter. We really enjoyed that it still felt like her writing, but with a bit more humor. However, she doesn’t totally depart from mixing in challenging issues, so the characters still feel real.
Katherine Center was born and raised in Houston, Texas, where she is now raising a family of her own. Her love for her home state is evident in many of her novels.
The Promise
Book Summary
In the wake of a scandal, young pianist Catherine Wainwright flees Dayton, Ohio, and accepts a marriage proposal from Oscar Williams, a widowed dairy farmer and her former childhood admirer. When she arrives on his farm on Galveston Island, in Texas, she finds a harsh, unfamiliar environment and a less-than-welcoming household. Oscar’s young son mourns his mother, while the devoted housekeeper harbors unspoken feelings for Oscar.
Although Oscar tries hard to please his new wife, the secrets of the past sit uncomfortably between them. As tensions rise, the characters confront their own personal and emotional storms, culminating in the devastating Galveston hurricane of 1900, the worst storm in a generation.
The Book Girls Say…
If you are interested in reading a contemporary novel set in Galveston, we recommend What You Wish For by Katherine Center. While the first few chapters of this book may have you convinced that you’ve picked up just another romance, as the story unfolds, you’ll find so much more, including some very traumatic events in the characters’ pasts. You’ll alternate between laughing out loud and reaching for the tissues, but this story is ultimately uplifting.
The Local
Book Summary
In the town of Marshall, Texas, where the courthouse is flooded with patent litigation, local lawyers serve as the voice for the big-city lawyers seeking to sway the small-town jurors. One of the best of these local lawyers is James Euchre.
Euchre finds his world upended when his client, tech CEO Amir Zawar, is accused of murdering Judge Gerald Gardner, a respected figure and Euchre’s mentor. Despite his inexperience in criminal law, Euchre takes on Zawar’s defense, teaming up with former prosecutor Layla Stills and private investigator Lisa Morgan. As the trio delves deeper into the case, they uncover a web of secrets and conflicting motives, challenging their perceptions of justice and loyalty.
The Book Girls Say…
While The Local is a work of fiction and not based on any specific legal case, the novel draws inspiration from the unique legal landscape in Marshall, Texas. Throughout the first two decades of the 21st century, the towns of Waco and Marshall in Texas became preferred venues for patent litigation due to favorable local rules and perceived efficiency in the trial process. Combined, the courts in these two towns handled a significant portion of all U.S. patent litigation in 2021.
Since that time, venue requirements for patent litigation have been tightened, and a new system was introduced to redistribute patent litigation more evenly across jurisdictions.
Book Summary
Josephine Davis has worked throughout her twenties to build a sustainable fashion brand, Revenant, in downtown Austin. Josie’s meticulously curated life is upended when her biggest investor insists she hire a consultant to help with a corporate certification, and the consultant turns out to be Will Grant, the twin brother of her former best friend and the man she kissed during senior spring break nine years ago.
As Josie and Will navigate their professional relationship, old tensions resurface, and unexpected sparks fly. All the while, Josie is grappling with the pressures of maintaining her brand’s image and the realization that her lack of work-life balance has nearly burned her out at the age of 27.
The Book Girls Say…
This novel promises all the makings of a winning rom-com, including witty banter, emotional depth, and a slow-burn romance.
Also Featured on These Book Lists:
News of the World
Book Summary
In the aftermath of the Civil War, Captain Jefferson Kyle Kidd travels through northern Texas, giving live readings from newspapers to paying audiences hungry for news of the world. An elderly widower who has lived through three wars and fought in two of them, Kidd lives a solitary existence. But when he is offered a $50 gold piece to transport an orphan who has been held captive by the Kiowa back to her relatives in San Antonio, he sets out on a 400-mile journey with the young girl.
It’s a treacherous journey, made more so by the fact that Johanna has forgotten the English language and tries to escape at every chance. But slowly, Kidd begins to earn her trust. When they finally arrive in San Antonio, the reunion with Johanna’s extended family is neither happy nor welcome, and Kidd will face a difficult dilemma.
The Book Girls Say…
This 2016 National Book Award Nominee was adapted into a 2020 film starring Tom Hanks as Captain Jefferson Kyle Kidd.
Fear No Truth
Book Summary
Faith McClellan comes from a prominent Texas political family and was raised to be the perfect trophy wife. Eager to prove herself beyond her lineage, she pursues a career as a Texas Ranger. She works day in and day out with the goal of landing a coveted assignment on the cold case unit.
When Tenley Andre, a celebrated high school athlete, is found dead on the shore of Lake Travis under suspicious circumstances, Faith suspects foul play despite the case being labeled a suicide. As she delves deeper, Faith uncovers connections between Tenley’s death and an earlier unsolved murder, revealing a web of secrets that powerful individuals are desperate to keep hidden.
The Book Girls Say…
This is the gripping first installment in the Faith McClellan Mystery Series, which currently includes seven books.
The Madstone
Book Summary
Nineteen-year-old carpenter Benjamin Shreve leads a quiet life in the Hill Country town of Comfort until a chance encounter with a stranded treasure hunter draws him into a perilous journey.
They soon discover Nell, a pregnant woman, and her young son, Tot, fleeing from her violent husband and his gang, outlaws notorious for terrorizing Black citizens.
Determined to help, Benjamin offers to escort Nell and Tot to safety on the Gulf Coast. Joined by a Black Seminole veteran with his own secrets, the group faces relentless danger, including vengeful pursuers and hidden pasts.
The Book Girls Say…
This novel is said to incorporate elements of both Lonesome Dove and News of the World. With a blend of adventure, romance, and suspense, it explores themes of courage and redemption.
No Country for Old Men
Book Summary
When Llewelyn Moss stumbles upon a drug deal gone wrong and takes off with a suitcase of cash, he becomes the target of Anton Chigurh, a remorseless hitman with a twisted moral code. As Sheriff Ed Tom Bell investigates the escalating violence, he reflects on a world that seems to have grown beyond his understanding.
The Book Girls Say…
Cormac McCarthy, who passed away in 2023, was a Pulitzer Prize-winning author known for his dark, sparse prose, minimal punctuation, and stark depictions of the American Southwest.
While No Country for Old Men is set in the 1980s, another Texas modern classic – Lonesome Dove – was written in the 1980s. This novel follows two retired Texas Rangers who lead a perilous cattle drive from Texas to Montana in the late 1870s. The story begins in the fictional border town of Lonesome Dove, Texas, and approximately the first third of the novel is set in the Lone Star State.
Also Featured on These Book Lists:
Love is for the Birds
Book Summary
In the aftermath of a hurricane on the Texas Gulf Coast, residents are returning to devastation. Teddy finds Bird Isle in shambles, including her mother’s candy store. Jack is a widower who owns a BBQ chain and arrives to feed the islanders as they start the long road of repairs.
Bird Isle residents fear the Aransas Wildlife Refuge will not be ready for the whooping cranes’ annual migration south. Teddy, Jack, and Pickles (a dog they’ve rescued) work together to rebuild before the arrival of the whooping cranes. But Jack has a secret that may ruin his new connection with Teddy.
The Book Girls Say…
While this is a romance novel, it also explores difficult topics, including grief and loss, before ultimately becoming an uplifting story.
Also Featured on These Book Lists:
Forget Me Never
Book Summary
China Bayles’s friend, Olivia Andrews, known for her true-crime blog and podcast, is killed in a suspicious hit-and-run just as she is about to expose a decades-old murder involving a prominent local figure.
As China investigates, she uncovers a web of secrets, including a mysterious scrapbook with missing photographs and another unexpected death.
The Book Girls Say…
This long-running cozy mystery collection set in the fictional town of Pecan Springs, Texas, comes highly recommended by one of our readers. The series follows China Bayles, a former high-powered Houston attorney who leaves her legal career to open an herb shop. Each book centers around a specific herb, intertwining botanical knowledge with murder investigations.
The series began in 1992 with Thyme of Death. Forget Me Never, the 29th installment, is currently the most recent in the series.
The Mad for Mod Mysteries by Diane Vallere is another fun cozy series set in Texas. This series centers on interior designer Madison Night, who embodies a 60s-inspired style reminiscent of Doris Day, yet as a business owner, proves herself to be a modern and independent woman.
The Sawmill Book Club
Book Summary
After leaving her big-city job in Austin, Libby accepts a temporary position organizing an antique store in Sawmill, Texas. There, she meets her charming new boss, Benny Taylor, and his loyal three-legged dog, Elvis.
Across the street, Benny’s surrogate grandmothers, Minilee and Opal, welcome Libby with homemade treats and an invitation to their book club—a lively gathering more focused on matchmaking than literature. In fact, the book club’s main agenda seems to be finding Benny a wife.
The Book Girls Say…
This is described as a slow-burn, closed-door romance perfect for those who enjoy a clean read set in a small town. Just don’t go in expecting the “book club” to discuss a lot of books.
Carolyn Brown has authored numerous other books set in Texas, including The Party Line, Meadow Falls, The Hope Chest, and Riverbend Reunions.
11-22-63
Book Girls’ Readers Rate This Book
96% Would Recommend to a Friend
Book Summary
English teacher Jake Epping is recruited by his friend Al, the owner of the local diner, to help with an unlikely request. Al discovered a portal in the diner’s storeroom that transports him back in time to the era of Ike and Elvis. He becomes obsessed with using the portal to go back in time and stop the assassination of John F. Kennedy. But when he realizes he won’t be able to complete the mission, he enlists Jake for the job.
Jake reluctantly agrees to go back to 1958 and live the early years of the 1960s in the small town of Jodie, Texas, while devising a plan to prevent JFK’s assassination on 11/22/63.
The Book Girls Say…
This book is NOT what you’d expect from Stephen King. Instead of horror, you’ll find suspenseful historical fiction crossed with science fiction (and even a twist of romance) that addresses the most compelling aspect of time travel. How do actions taken in the past affect the same future you started in?
The first part of this book takes place in Derry, Maine ( a frequent setting for Stephen King novels), where Jake first arrives each time he travels back to 1958. His journey restarts in Maine numerous times as he comes to understand the implications of his actions while visiting the past. He then moves to the fictional town of Jodie, Texas, near Dallas, as he begins to monitor Lee Harvey Oswald’s activities in the years leading up to the assassination of JFK.
We also recommend The Measure of Silence by Elizabeth Langston. This Kindle Unlimited book also takes you back to Dallas’s Dealey Plaza in 1963. Nineteen-year-old Mariah is an aspiring photographer and eagerly waits for the Kennedys to drive past. But, in an instant, her life is split into before and after that fateful day. Sixty years later, Mariah’s husband has passed away and left their granddaughters a letter with a key to Mariah’s hope chest and a last wish for them to explore the contents and follow where they lead.
Also Featured on These Book Lists:
Books Set in the 1960s
Best Audiobooks for Road Trips
27 Fabulous Books Like The Midnight Library
Books Like Outlander
Blind Tiger
Book Girls’ Readers Rate This Book
97% Would Recommend to a Friend
Book Summary
In the 1920s, Prohibition created more problems than it solved, especially in the heart of Texas. Tired soldier Thatcher Hutton finds himself in trouble when he returns to Texas because a local woman goes missing the same day he arrives. Meanwhile, Laurel Plummer is willing to do anything to improve life for herself and her young daughter. This includes helping her father-in-law expand his moonshine production.
Soon, Thatcher and Laurel find themselves on different sides of prohibition, but being at odds is hard when you’re also drawn to each other.
The Book Girls Say…
This is a slow-burning suspense, true to Sandra Brown’s style, despite it being a rare historical fiction from her. While the town of Foley is fictional, it is said to be in the same region as Glen Rose, Texas, where the terrain and climate were ideal for making corn liquor.
Warning: This book contains some graphic crimes, including a rape scene.
The Son
Book Summary
This epic, multigenerational saga traces the violent rise of a Texas family across nearly two centuries. In 1849, Eli McCullough is just 13 when he is taken captive by a band of Comanche who stormed his homestead and murdered his mother and sister. Eli adapts to Comanche’s life, learning the language and taking on the role of the chief’s adopted son.
Intertwined are the stories of Eli’s son, Peter, a reluctant rancher tormented by guilt over his family’s treatment of Mexicans, and his great-granddaughter, who becomes a shrewd oil baroness in the 20th century.
This novel vividly depicts the brutal conflicts between settlers, Native Americans, and Mexicans throughout more than a century of life for this Texas family.
The Book Girls Say…
This novel was nominated for the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction in 2014 and won the 2013 Writers’ League of Texas Book Award for Fiction.
Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe
Book Girls’ Readers Rate This Book
100% Would Recommend to a Friend
Book Summary
Dante and Ari are vastly different Mexican American teenagers living in El Paso. Ari has difficulty with words, struggles with self-doubt, and is overcome with thoughts of his brother in prison. He has built emotional walls to protect himself.
Dante is articulate and self-assured, loves poetry and art, and has an open and unique perspective on the world. He’s the last person Ari would ever think could break down his walls.
Against all odds, they form a special bond that will teach them the most important truths about their lives and who they want to become. But there will also be significant hurdles in their way.
The Book Girls Say…
In this YA coming-of-age novel, Ari and Dante help each other as they deal with struggles surrounding their racial and ethnic identities, sexuality, and family relationships. The film adaptation, starring Eva Longoria, Max Pelayo, and Reese Gonzales, debuted at the Toronto International Film Festival in early 2023. It was released theatrically later that year. You can rent it from Amazon.
Author Benjamin Alire Sáenz holds an MA in Creative Writing from the University of Texas at El Paso, where he later became a professor in the bilingual MFA program.
Also Featured on These Book Lists:
Perish
Book Summary
This literary novel explores the generational trauma within a Black family rooted in the rural town of Jerusalem, Texas. The story centers on Helen Jean, the family matriarch, whose life-altering decision as a teenager—after a traumatic experience—creates ripple effects that impact her descendants.
As she lies on her deathbed, her children and grandchildren return home, each grappling with their own burdens and the shadows of the past. Told through alternating perspectives, this novel paints a vivid portrait of a family striving to confront long-held secrets and seeking paths toward healing.
The Book Girls Say…
This is the debut novel from author LaToya Watkins, who was born in Texas and holds a PhD from the University of Texas at Dallas.
Roses
Book Girls’ Readers Rate This Book
100% Would Recommend to a Friend
Book Summary
This epic novel is set in a small town in eastern Texas, against the backdrop of the powerful timber and cotton industries controlled by the town’s founding families. Cotton tycoon Mary Toliver and timber magnate Percy Warwick should have married, but they did not. That choice leads to deceit, secrets, and tragedies for future generations. This is an immersive family saga covering a hundred years and three generations.
The Book Girls Say…
This book was first recommended to us by author Camille Di Maio when we were interviewing her about one of her historical fiction novels. She mentioned that she is from Texas, and one of our readers asked her to recommend her favorite books set there. She said that she first picked up Roses to support a fellow Texas author, but didn’t expect to like it. Instead, it became one of her all-time favorite novels.
Clocking in at over 600 pages, this book requires a major investment of time, but Camille and most reviewers assure us it’s well worth it. Meacham published Roses in 2010 and then wrote a prequel titled Somerset, in 2013.
Also Featured on These Book Lists:
Kiss Me, Catalina
Book Girls’ Readers Rate This Book
100% Would Recommend to a Friend
Book Summary
Catalina “Cat” Capuleta is an ambitious singer living in San Antonio. When she is given the opportunity to join superstar heartthrob Patricio Galán on his seven-week Mariachi concert tour, she knows it’s the chance of a lifetime. Patricio might be a superstar heartthrob, but he also turns out to be demanding and arrogant. He challenges Cat at every turn, but she’s determined to make him feel he’s met his match.
Cat is also determined not to fall for him because her one and only goal is her own success so she can make her family proud. But when the duo hit the road, the chemistry is undeniable – even the audience can feel it.
The Book Girls Say…
This modern retelling of Taming of the Shrew is a follow up to Oliveras’ previous novel (West Side Love Story) about Cat’s sister, but they read as stand-alones. Readers say they especially love the infusion of Mexican culture through this novel.
Also Featured on These Book Lists:
Non-Fiction Books About Texas
Friday Night Lights
Book Summary
This narrative non-fiction chronicles the 1988 football season of the Permian High School Panthers in Odessa, Texas. The book, published two years later, explores the deep cultural significance of high school football in this economically struggling West Texas town, where Friday night games dominate the social calendar and offer a sense of identity and pride.
Bissinger followed the players, coaches, and community as they navigated intense pressure, racial and class divisions, and personal challenges. Through vivid storytelling and in-depth reporting, his book reveals how the pursuit of athletic glory both united and divided the town.
The Book Girls Say…
H.G. Bissinger is a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist, recognized for his investigative reporting. In addition to being a New York Times bestseller, in 2002, Sports Illustrated named this book the best football book of all time.
In 2004, this book was adapted into a movie, and then a television series adaptation, both of the same name. Peter Berg developed both the movie and TV series, but while the movie closely follows the events from the book, the television series reimagines the story with fictional characters and the fictional town of Dillon, Texas.
Waco: David Koresh, the Branch Davidians, and A Legacy of Rage
Book Girls’ Readers Rate This Book
83% Would Recommend to a Friend
Book Summary
In this true crime non-fiction, the author takes you alongside the ATF agents in Waco in 1993.
The Branch Davidians were a religious group living on a compound in Waco, Texas, under the leadership of David Koresh. The FBI and ATF believed that they were illegally stockpiling weapons. The government agencies obtained arrest warrants and raided the compound in February of 1993 in a siege that left four federal agents dead and dozens injured. Nearly 900 more law-enforcement officials descended on the compound and thus began a 51-day standoff. It ultimately came to a devastating end on April 19, 1993.
More than a dozen former ATF agents who participated in the initial raid spoke on the record for the first time in thirty years. Reporting their experiences, eyewitness reports, and other newly uncovered information, Guinn pens a narrative that allows you to understand this historical event like never before.
The Book Girls Say…
Author Jeff Guinn lives in Fort Worth, Texas, and is a member of the Texas Literary Hall of Fame. As a journalist, he won many awards for his investigative journalism. He is the bestselling author of numerous books about historical figures and events, including Bonnie and Clyde, the OK Corral, and Charles Manson.
Also Featured on These Book Lists:
Book Summary
From their childhood memories to how they met, and from their very first renovation project to the one that nearly cost them everything, this memoir takes fans of the HGTV show Fixer Upper behind the scenes to learn about Chip and Joanna Gaines.
Both Chip and Joanna attended Baylor University in Waco, but their paths didn’t cross until Chip took his car to the local tire shop where Joanna worked behind the counter. Soon, they were married, living in their first fixer-upper, and starting their family, which now includes five children.
In 2003, a decade before their TV show, Joanna opened the first Magnolia Market store in Waco, Texas. Since that time, the Gaineses have helped transform the city of Waco.
The Book Girls Say…
Fans of Fixer Upper may enjoy listening to the audiobook version, narrated by Chip and Joanna themselves.
Fun Fact: The idea for The Book Girls’ Guide was formed while Angela and Melissa ate lunch at Magnolia Table, Chip and Joanna’s restaurant in Waco, Texas.
Read Around the USA – Books Set in Other States
We hope you enjoyed this list of books about Texas and found some great titles to add to your TBR. If you’re participating in our Read Around the USA Challenge, be sure to check out our alphabetical index of books set in each state.
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Printable Version of This Book List
Readers who support The Book Girls’ Guide through our Buy Me a Coffee (BMAC) membership site can access printable versions of the reading challenge book lists.
As we create stand-alone book lists for the Read Around the USA Challenge throughout the year, each individual state book list will be available in a single-page printable format for both our Inner Circle and our BFF Level BMAC members.
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