Texas Book Festival

You should look through the list of the authors coming to the Texas Book Festival to find who you would like to hear speak. I have chosen my favorites – a mystery writer, a painter, a cartoonist, and a book critic. While you enjoy the festive air of book signings, music, and interviews, you are also helping Texas libraries. The 2006 Texas Book Festival awarded a total of $200,000 to 60 libraries throughout the state.

Michael Connelly – Overlook is his latest mystery about an LA detective, but my favorite is The Concrete Blonde.

Melissa Miller – Her expressionistic animal paintings can be seen in a new UT Press book.

Tom Perotta – His entertaining books about suburban life are often made into movies – The Election, and Little Children. The Abstinence Teacher, his most recent, is on order for APL.

Roz Chast– Her cartoons of the neurotic and clueless appear in the New Yorker, and APL has one collection.

Alan Cheuse - You might have heard him on NPR reviewing a new book. Like Jorge Luis Borges, he says, "I am more proud of the books I've read than I am of the books I've written." Listening to the Page is a collection of his criticism.