Texas Jews may be only a small proportion of the state's population, but their leaders have often shone as unlikely stars in this Bible Belt state. Grounded in the culture that gave rise to Christianity and thus sharing many of the community's values, rabbis schooled outside the region brought erudition and an exotic individuality to the frontier. Furthermore, a rabbi's prophetic sense of social justice, honed through centuries of Talmudic thought, gave a Hebrew minister moral clout in a vigilante climate. Because Texas synagogues were small, rabbis served entire communities, evolving into public figures recruited for an array of roles. They blessed stock shows and rodeos. They founded hospitals, symphonies, and charities. They broadcast Sunday sermons over the radio. They challenged the Ku Klux Klan and fought for academic freedom and prison reform. Their names are etched on cornerstones and scrawled on state documents. Welcomed as leaders of the Chosen People, rabbis thrived, and many stayed their entire careers. Rabbis who accepted a call to the Lone Star State when it was still on the edge of the frontier often ventured out West as a last resort. Some were freelancers, never ordained. Others came because they had no better pulpit offers. A number had left Europe as rebels, seeking to escape traditional religious practices. These maverick rabbis were drawn to places with little Jewish history or hierarchy -- communities such as Beaumont, Galveston, Fort Worth, Lubbock, El Paso, and Tyler -- where they created their own religious blueprints. This thoroughly researched and engaging volume, covering a time span from the 1870s through the 1920s, tells the lively stories of elevenrabbis, their lives, and their Texas towns, from big cities such as Dallas, Houston, and San Antonio to the remote locales of Hempstead and Brownsville. Sit back and enjoy Texas history through rabbinical eyes.

NATIONAL BOOK CRITICS CIRCLE AWARD FINALIST • The Pulitzer Prize-winning author of The Looming Tower—and a Texas native—takes us on a journey through the most controversial state in America. • “Beautifully written…. Essential reading [for] anyone who wants to understand how one state changed the trajectory of the country.” —NPR Texas is a red state, but the cities are blue and among the most diverse in the nation. Oil is still king, but Texas now leads California in technology exports. Low taxes and minimal regulation have produced extraordinary growth, but also striking income disparities. Texas looks a lot like the America that Donald Trump wants to create. Bringing together the historical and the contemporary, the political and the personal, Texas native Lawrence Wright gives us a colorful, wide-ranging portrait of a state that not only reflects our country as it is, but as it may become—and shows how the battle for Texas’s soul encompasses us all.

The author tells her family's history and provides more than one hundred recipes for a variety of dishes, including appetizers, breads, desserts, and more.

“A wonderfully satisfying finale to Lyn Cote’s fascinating saga of Texas history. Riveting, engaging, unpredictable….Not to be missed!” —Kathy Herman, author of the Phantom Hollow and Sophie Trace Trilogies Her Abundant Joy is the third and final book in the Texas: Star of Destiny series by Lyn Cote, a RITA Award-winning author in 2006 for Best Inspirational Romance. Following The Desires of Her Heart and Her Inheritance Forever, Her Abundant Joy is a heart-soaring story of love and faith as a beautiful German immigrant tries to escape her past and find peace in the arms of a Texas Ranger.

Declared Texas State Photographer for 1997, the author celebrates his native state with a collection of some 114 pages of color photographs, along with a thoughtful, accompanying essay by John Graves that captures the essence of Texas. UP.

Mason Richardson is a 40-year-old oil and gas engineer whose life gets overturned when he meets a billionaire with an unexpected secret in Vegas. After receiving a gift from the older oilman, Mason is thrust into a world where Texas folklore and the idiosyncrasies of the Lone Star State's history unfold to reveal secret orders, mystical powers, and an unexpected destiny he never chose. As he discovers his purpose, he navigates lawyers, the FBI, and the Ghost of a Headless Horseman killed by the Texas Rangers. A contemporary urban fantasy novel, "The Stars At Knight" reads in a similar style to "The Dresden Files" series by Jim Butcher or "The Iron Druid" series by Kevin Hearne. The "The Stars At Knight" is the first of a 5 books series.

This collection is a uniquely Texas cookbook where the gracious South, expansive Great Plains, and rugged Southwest come together to create a climate of culinary diversity that is accurately reflected in the 500+ recipes and featured menus.

The second book in the Texas: Star of Destiny series by Lyn Cote, Her Inheritance Forever is an unforgettable story of faith, duty, destiny, and love that unites a proud Tejano lady and an American cowboy in a time of great upheaval in the West. A 2006 Rita Award finalist, author Lyn Cote demonstrates the great power and range of inspirational fiction in Her Inheritance Forever, as two hearts are joined and tested amid the historic events—including the legendary stand at the Alamo—that would ultimately lead to Texas statehood.

Their past never faded—and neither did their passion. Between running his family ranch and dealing with far too many needy relatives, Shaw Jameson doesn’t have time for more trouble. But when his first love, former-child-star-turned-businesswoman Sunny Dalton, returns to Lone Star Ridge, Shaw senses things are about to get a whole lot more interesting. Shaw isn’t prepared for the memories that come flooding back now…or the reignited spark between them that turns into a raging inferno. Still, this gorgeous cowboy will do everything he can not to get burned a second time. Because Sunny never promised this visit was permanent and Shaw has no intention of giving up the land he loves. Letting Sunny go again is certain to leave a Texas-sized mark on his soul—and a permanent wall around his heart. Unless he can prove their small town holds the promise of the future they both always imagined.