Books
December 6, 2023
A Wild Trip Into the World of Far-Right Novels
Texas's Defiance Press publishes conservative broadsides that border on fiction. But it’s the company’s actual novels that are truly strange.
Books
Reviews, profiles, and interviews that capture the diverse voices adding to Texas’s rich literary tradition
Latest
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Books
December 6, 2023
Texas Is Bursting With Independent Books
Our state’s legacy of great writing has a publishing tradition to match. Here are a handful of the dozens of outfits producing great books in Texas.
Texas History
November 30, 2023
A Treasure Trove of Texas History Is Up for Auction. Here Are the Coolest Items.
An original broadsheet announcing the fall of the Alamo, the first book published in Texas, and other stuff that Phil Collins will probably buy.
News
November 21, 2023
Sixty Years After JFK’s Assassination, Two Authors Claim “Incontrovertible Proof” of a “Conspiracy”
In their new book ‘Chokeholds,’ researchers argue Lee Harvey Oswald was just one piece of a sprawling conspiracy—one that other investigators claim never existed at all.
Books
November 6, 2023
Elizabeth Crook’s Thrilling New Western
‘The Madstone,’ a sequel to 2018’s ‘The Which Way Tree,’ is a compelling read on its own terms.
Books
October 20, 2023
Belly Up to the Bar at Texas’s First-Ever Bookstore Speakeasy
Who wouldn’t want to drink a Murder on the Orient Espresso martini?
Books
October 19, 2023
How a Third Ward Bookshop Makes Black Readers the Main Characters
For me, the experience of shopping at Kindred Stories is more than just a transaction.
Books
October 19, 2023
For Your Next Book, Buy Used—Really Used
Much of the joy of a great used bookstore is in discovering the messages scribbled in a paperback’s margins.
Books
October 18, 2023
Texas Indie Bookstore Week
To celebrate the enduring power of the Texas bookstore, we’re publishing odes to shops old and new, essays by some of our favorite novelists, conversations with booksellers, and more.
Film & TV
October 18, 2023
Four Reasons November Will Be a Great Month in Texas Culture
A Texas legend finally gets top billing, Willie spills on his songs, the Black Pumas return, and Sugar Land hosts Honeyland.
Books
October 18, 2023
Larry McMurtry’s Bookstore Was Legendary. It Still Exceeded My Expectations.
"Bookseller" was one of the Pulitzer winner's core identities, and at Booked Up, it showed.
Books
October 18, 2023
How Dallas Became the National Capital of International Books
Sorry, New York. The largest U.S. publisher of literature in translation, plus a thriving global books scene, resides in the Metroplex.
Books
October 17, 2023
The Greatest Western You’ve Never Heard Of
A new movie adaption, starring Nicolas Cage, may finally bring the 1960 novel ‘Butcher’s Crossing’ the fame it deserves—right when we need to heed its message.
Books
October 17, 2023
How BookWoman Plays Matchmaker for Texas’s Avid Readers
At nearly fifty years old, the feminist bookstore remains a safe haven for those seeking a place to process the world.
Books
October 17, 2023
Dispatch From the Ghosts of Bookstores Past
The independent bookstores of sixties and seventies San Antonio, Houston, and Dallas created community and opened whole new worlds for Texans.
Books
October 17, 2023
A Celebrated Texas Author and the Indie Bookstores That Sustained Him
From McAllen to Austin, indie bookstores have provided Fernando A. Flores with far more than just reading material.
Books
October 17, 2023
“This Way to Nowhere,” San Antonio’s Community Bookshop
COVID put Texas author Katie Gutierrez’s book launch for her debut novel on hold. This San Antonio independent bookstore came to the rescue.
Books
October 17, 2023
8 Texas Bookstore Cafes Worth Digging Into
Whether you prefer to read Harry Potter with a stack of pancakes or ‘Jane Eyre’ with a charcuterie board, you’re encouraged to stick around awhile at these bookshop bistros.
Books
October 16, 2023
I Think a Crime Bookstore Is the Best in Texas, So Stab Me
Houston’s Murder by the Book serves up bloodshed with a smile.
Books
October 16, 2023
The Big Map of Texas Indie Bookstores
We scoured the state for every indie we could find. Texas readers, you’re going to want to bookmark.
Books
October 16, 2023
We Thought Amazon Killed Local Bookstores. We Were So Wrong.
And not just in big cities—in suburbs and in small towns, new shops are serving up classics, cocktails, and community.
Books
October 16, 2023
How Two Texas Bookstores Are Leading the Fight Against Book Bans
When I wrote my YA novel, I hoped to inspire teens to figure out their beliefs around complicated political questions. But amid a wave of book bans, my book could get prohibited from school shelves.
Health
September 19, 2023
Anti-Science Views Are Literally Killing Us, Peter Hotez Warns
In his new book, the Houston infectious disease expert raises the alarm about those who tout debunked claims about vaccines.
Film & TV
September 18, 2023
The Best Books, Film, TV, Art, and More Coming to Texas This Fall
From demon-possessed children to a world premiere ballet, our writers and editors share the art they’re most looking forward to this season.
Texas Country Reporter
September 14, 2023
A Small Children’s Book Publisher in North Texas Is Hoping to Make a Big Difference
Round House Paper in Cedar Hill aims to tackle reading-level disparities by centering little readers in Black communities.
Health
September 14, 2023
Racism Persists in Health Care. This Houston Bioethicist Aims to Change That.
At UTHealth’s McGovern Center, Keisha Ray works to combat the biases that lead to worse outcomes for Black patients.
Books
September 12, 2023
You’ve Never Seen the Big Thicket Like This
Photographer Keith Carter explores the otherworldly wetlands of East Texas in a stunning new book.
Books
September 7, 2023
How “America’s Best University President” Rose From the Cotton Fields of East Texas
In her new memoir, ‘Up Home,’ Ruth J. Simmons details how she defied the constraints of her segregated childhood and turned her humble origins into the key to her success.
TM Talks
September 6, 2023
What a Pulitzer Prize Winner Learned While Researching a Novel About Texas Politics
Lawrence Wright’s new book, ‘Mr. Texas,’ was inspired by what he discovered about corruption, political combat, and, yes, pig hunting.
Books
August 9, 2023
Did Larry McMurtry Really Like Texas All That Much?
A new biography makes clear that the acclaimed writer had an intense love-hate relationship with his home state. Which may have been the secret to his success.
Travel
July 12, 2023
These Booked-Up Hotels Offer Literary Respites
Guests-only libraries and themed bars beckon lovers of the written word to these three Texas hotels.
Best Thing in Texas
July 11, 2023
A Texas Novelist Couldn’t Find His Audience. Then Came BookTok.
Shawn Warner was at an empty book signing for ‘Leigh Howard and the Ghosts of Simmons-Pierce Manor’ when a Fort Worth TikToker took notice. The rest is history.
Books
June 29, 2023
As a Heat Dome Envelops Texas, a Bracing Look at Our Hotter Future
In his new book, ‘The Heat Will Kill You First,’ Austin-based journalist Jeff Goodell examines climate change in its most essential form: temperature rise.
Books
June 26, 2023
Five Great Texas Parks and Books to Read in Them
Is there anything better than a good story with a view?
Libations
June 26, 2023
Eight Things You Need to Know About the History of Texas Whiskey
Andrew Braunberg, author of ‘Fires, Floods, Explosions, and Bloodshed: A History of Texas Whiskey,’ shares some fascinating details from his book.
Art
June 21, 2023
The Best Books, Film, TV, Art, and More Coming to Texas This Summer
Meow Wolf finally opens! Jamie Foxx returns to Netflix! Erykah Badu is on tour! Vampires are at war?
Books
June 21, 2023
Six Essential Texas Young Adult Novels for Your Summer Reading
Texas Monthly reporter Dan Solomon just published his first work of young adult fiction, ‘The Fight for Midnight.’ These are the books that inspired him.
Books
June 19, 2023
How Wendy Davis’s Famous Filibuster Inspired a YA Novel
Texas Monthly staffer Dan Solomon discusses his first book, ‘The Fight for Midnight,’ which comes out as we approach the ten-year anniversary of a dramatic day (and night) at the Legislature.
Books
June 15, 2023
Eleven Texas Writers Remember Cormac McCarthy
Sarah Bird, Fernando A. Flores, Mary Helen Specht, Sergio Troncoso, James Wade, and six more Texas writers reflect on what McCarthy meant to them and to the state.
Books
June 15, 2023
Ryan Holiday, the Stoic King of Bastrop County, Is the Man of the Moment
From a small bookstore in Central Texas, the best-selling author rules over the booming Stoicism self-help movement. Why now? Why here?
Books
June 6, 2023
The George W. Bush I Knew
An exclusive excerpt from Texas Monthly’s new book, ‘Lone Stars Rising,’ reevaluates the legacy of the former governor and president.
Politics & Policy
May 16, 2023
The Killing of These Texas Children Was National News. But We Didn’t Know the Half of It.
Dallas journalist Roxanna Asgarian’s new book, ‘We Were Once a Family,’ examines a murder-suicide that made national news—and finds that the story behind the story is even worse than we thought.
Books
May 9, 2023
The Dog Had Ate the Hand
In this original short story, when two down-on-their luck Houston men try to steal copper pipes from a home, nothing goes quite as planned.
Books
May 1, 2023
Exclusive: View the Full Larry McMurtry Estate Auction Catalog
This month, fans have a chance to bid on books, guns, and a pinball machine owned by the definitive chronicler of twentieth-century Texas.
Books
April 18, 2023
An El Paso–Bred Children’s Author Illustrates Border Life for the Next Generation
Raúl the Third, the creator of the World of ¡Vamos! series, depicts a colorful childhood spent between El Paso and Juárez.
Books
April 11, 2023
Announcing Our Newest Book, ‘Lone Stars Rising’
In celebration of the fiftieth anniversary of Texas Monthly, our new book is a collection of original essays and portraits of fifty groundbreaking Texans.
Books
April 7, 2023
Why ‘Lonesome Dove’ Gives Me the Creeps
A nightmarish scene in Larry McMurtry’s epic novel triggered my unshakable—and completely illogical—fear of snakes.
Film & TV
April 4, 2023
The Best Books, Films, TV, Art, and More Coming to Texas This Spring
We have seven words for you: Owen Wilson in a Bob Ross wig.
Music
April 4, 2023
Hellhounds on His Trail: Mack McCormick’s Long, Tortured Quest to Find the Real Robert Johnson
For decades, the Houston folklorist labored over his biography of the legendary bluesman. Seven years after McCormick’s death, the book is finally out—and so are the secrets long kept by its troubled author.
Books
March 24, 2023
Her Grandfather Dug For Fossils in Big Bend. Now Her Photos Celebrate His Spirit of Adventure.
Sarah Wilson's ‘DIG’ combines photos, her grandfather’s Kodachrome teaching slides, and creatively staged paleontological artifacts.