TCMA Book Review Annual Recap 2024

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12/24/2024

Irving, TX

I couldn’t damn sleep on my day off.  It’s always the days when you may sleep in that you can’t…so I decided to get a 5:00 AM coffee from the lobby of the hotel and write a recap of our book reviews that I’ve been meaning to write now for weeks.  You keep me up at night!

Every review deserves another review.  Our reviews this Fall/Winter of 2024 have left my notebook full of new book recommendations and tangential thoughts that I felt compelled to share.  

Nay. Obliged to share.  It’s my duty.   

The Day We Cried at the Seaquist’s

Peggy R's review of The Time it Never Rained by Elmer Kelton tackled the vast literary category of Western Literature through the author’s eyes and words, sourced from his lecture series and notable audio file of Elmer Kelton Tells the Truth.  With testimony from Dr. Jack S., we heard first-hand of the hardships of the seven year drought that plagued 1950’s West Texas and the impacts it had on the Seaquist family and others.  

The testimony brought a tear to more than one eye, and provided heavy context to the novel and Peggy’s review.  

Western literature should manifest a hero who always does what is right, and we saw that in our protagonist Charlie Flagg.  Kelton, a Western purist and arguably the best at the Western novel, does not serve up gratuitous violence, but allows natural conflict to arise through villainy, rascality, and the natural elements.  

The story is a long, dry burn of steady reality with ever relatable characters and socio-economic and geo-political relevance to a modern Texan.  If one ever needed convincing that ranching and farming is hard, dive into Kelton’s novels and give the lecture series a listen to hear more anecdotes and agricultural journalism at its finest.

Thank you Peggy for your research and educational prose in introducing us to proper Western literature.

Other Western novels discussed

The Virginian by Owen Wister // 1902

The Rounders by Max Evans // 1960

Lonesome Dove by Larry McMurtry // 1985

12/31/2024

Austin, TX

Jazz Hands at Shell's

Beth S. gets the 2024 prize for the most difficult book review.  Like jazz music to most non musician’s ears, The Heaven and Earth Grocery by James McBride had us all wondering when the noise would finally start making some sense.  It was a resounding tough read which made it a fascinating review.  

The author has had a string of mega hits with Deacon King Kong, The Color of Water, and even a Showtime show called The Good Lord Bird starring Ethan Hawke.   Beth brought clarity and reason to the sometimes jumbled story telling in describing the multi-talented author, who is also a jazz musician.  

McBride is no doubt a genius and draws on his personal life experiences of being raised in a mixed ethnic family and growing up in Red Hook in Brooklyn.  

“The book is like verbal jazz.”  source unknown…maybe I thought this?…but I did write it down.

The characters were so unforgettably strong that the reader forgets about the original mystery introduced in the first chapter.  Monkey Pants, Chona, Dodo, Son of Man and the whole crew on Chicken Hill will remain long in my thoughts as a reader.  Just like the community of Chicken Hill, our book club and reviewer came together and helped each other figure this one out together.  Thanks Beth for showing us the jazz hands to get us there!

12/31/2024

Christmas Luncheon

We were welcomed by Marina S. at her beautiful home to discuss the year and our future reads.  Here is a list of recommended books from our group. I’ve highlighted a couple for suggested reading to get us started in 2025 as we need to complete our list through May.

Let’s discuss on January 22nd if you are all on board and who will review and where for March through May!

Be well,

Greg Gottsacker

• Lonesome Dove by Larry McMurtry pages 960

• The Wide Wide Sea: Imperial Ambition, First Contact and the Fateful Final Voyage of Captain James Cook by Hampton Sides pages 408

• Old Babes in the Woods: Stories by Margaret Atwood pages 272

• Fever in the Heartland: the KKK’s Plot to Take Over America, and the Woman Who Stopped Them by Timothy Egan pages 432

• A Walk in the Park: The True Story of a Spectacular Misadventure in the Grand Canon by Kevin Fedarko pages 512

• The Frozen River by Ariel Lawhon pages 432

• The Beekeeper of Aleppo by Christy Lefteri pages 317

• Empire of the Scalpel by Ira Rutkow pages 416

• The Amish Wife by Gregg Olson pages pages 387

• Remarkably Bright Creatures by Shelby Van Pelt pages 368

• The Covenant of Water by Abraham Verghese pages 724

• The Seven Sisters (series) by Lucinda Riley

• The Wise about Texas Podcast by Ken Wise

• Shantaram by Gregory David Roberts pages 936