Critters
April 15, 2021
Chasing Down Birds of Prey With Ornithologist and Musician Jonathan Meiburg
His new book traces the evolution of caracaras—a strange and beautiful type of falcon.
Books
Reviews, profiles, and interviews that capture the diverse voices adding to Texas’s rich literary tradition
Books
April 13, 2021
The Rise (and Occasional Dips Into Despair!) of Jenny Lawson
In her best-selling memoirs, her eclectic, taxidermy-filled San Antonio bookstore, and her unvarnished tweets, the author makes light of her darkest times—and helps her readers make light of theirs.
Books
April 13, 2021
In Her Debut, ‘Leaving Isn’t the Hardest Thing,’ Author Lauren Hough Keeps Returning to Texas
In her funny, vulnerable essay collection ‘Leaving Isn't the Hardest Thing,’ Hough takes on the cult she grew up in, coming to terms with being a closeted lesbian, and her complex relationship with her home state.
Books
April 9, 2021
When the Political Gets Personal
Veteran Austin journalist Bill Minutaglio’s latest book is a crowd-pleasing account of heated political battles in Texas over the past 150 years. But does it get the big picture right?…
Books
April 5, 2021
How the Elephants at the Houston Zoo Helped an Austin Author
S. Kirk Walsh used her time with the animals and their caretakers for her new book, ‘The Elephant of Belfast.’…
Books
March 26, 2021
The Larry McMurtry I Knew
I caught my first glimpse of the 'Lonesome Dove' author on the streets of Archer City when I was a teenager. It was an encounter that shaped the rest of my life.
Books
March 22, 2021
My Life With Conan the Barbarian
Growing up in a community not even big enough for a post office, I lost myself in the stories of the warrior who launched the sword and sorcery genre. It would be years before I learned that his creator had also been raised in small-town Texas.
Books
March 22, 2021
Even at a Funeral, LBJ and Lady Bird Couldn’t Make Their Peace With the Kennedys
This exclusive excerpt from a new biography of the late first lady chronicles an emotionally fraught experience in the wake of Robert F. Kennedy’s assassination.
Books
March 19, 2021
New Book Explores the Hidden History of Black Pitmasters
Award-winning food writer Adrian Miller highlights their contributions in ‘Black Smoke.’…
Books
March 5, 2021
Texas Monthly Recommends: An Old-fashioned General Store in Houston
Plus: a coming-of-age novel set in El Paso and new music from Post Malone and Black Pumas.
Books
March 2, 2021
How Hank the Cowdog Made John R. Erickson the King of the Canine Canon
He wanted to become a serious literary novelist, like Faulkner or Hemingway. Fortunately for millions of Hank the Cowdog fans, he failed.
Books
March 2, 2021
Meet the Comedian Whose New Poetry Book Is as Discomfiting as Her Cabaret Act
Houston-raised actor and stand-up star Catherine Cohen confronts anxiety and narcissism in a self-deprecating collection of poems.
Books
January 28, 2021
Why Is the Death Penalty on the Decline in Texas?
Maurice Chammah’s “Let the Lord Sort Them” is a searing history of the rise and fall of capital punishment.
Books
January 20, 2021
Texas’s Most Famous Historian Looks Back at His Own, Legendary Life
Walter Prescott Webb’s previously unpublished memoir recounts the experiences that shaped his best-known—and most controversial—works.
Books
December 26, 2020
Ten Texas Books We Loved in 2020
Looking for a great read over the holidays? From fiction to memoir, cooking to comics, Texas Monthly writers recommend a few favorites.
Books
December 16, 2020
From the Editor: Books Are Back
We signed a deal to produce four books over the next four years. The first volume will go on sale next fall.
Books
December 16, 2020
The Best Things in Texas, 2021: Matthew McConaughey’s ‘Greenlights’
In one of the year's best memoirs, truth is often stranger than fiction.
Books
December 14, 2020
Remembering Karl Kilian, Founder of Houston’s Brazos Bookstore
He helped make the city the literary powerhouse it is today.
Books
December 12, 2020
We Need to Talk About Secession
With chatter about Texas leaving the union on the rise, two new books remind us what it was like the last time we tried to go it alone.
Books
November 28, 2020
In Her Tender Poetry Collection, Lucy Griffith Commemorates a West Texas Figure
The San Antonio native's debut book, about a woman known for riding her burro along remote roads, recently won two major poetry awards.
Books
November 20, 2020
The Thrills of Houston’s 1970s-Era Friday Night Wrestling Come Alive in a Stunning Photo Book
Nearly fifty years ago, photographer Geoff Winningham spent months documenting wrestlers, and the fans who cheered them on, for his book ‘Friday Night in the Coliseum.’…
Books
November 13, 2020
A Riveting New Photo Book Shares Vulnerable Portraits of the Football Team That Inspired ‘Friday Night Lights’
Thirty years after Buzz Bissinger’s bestseller chronicled the Permian Panthers’ 1988 season, these black and white photos are as compelling as ever.
Books
November 10, 2020
Emmanuel Acho on His New Book, ‘Uncomfortable Conversations With a Black Man’
"My advice for allies is to just let people know, first and foremost, that you care," says the Dallas native.
Books
October 30, 2020
Texas Monthly Recommends: A Soothing Japanese Bookstore in Houston, Austin, and North Texas
Plus, a psychedelic music festival, Fat Tony's new album, and a book that casts a critical eye on the true-crime genre.
Film & TV
October 30, 2020
How to Scare Yourself Like a Texan
A selection of Texas-bred horror films, books, and TV episodes to indulge in during the spooky times.
Books
October 28, 2020
Matthew McConaughey’s Memoir Doesn’t Dispel His Own Mythology—But Does Challenge It
In his recently released memoir, the Texan actor spins tall tales that just so happen to be true.
Books
October 28, 2020
This Lawyer Works to Free Incarcerated Victims of the War on Drugs. It All Started With Her Mom’s Arrest.
In a blistering memoir, attorney Brittany K. Barnett explores the traumatic aftermath of the war on drugs.
Books
October 26, 2020
Texas Book Festival 2020
The Austin-based celebration of literary culture begins October 31.
Film & TV
October 16, 2020
Selena Gomez Could Be Your Next Scream Queen
Plus, Demi Lovato releases an anti-Trump song, Sandra Bullock gets back into rom-coms, and the Legendary Stardust Cowboy gets the documentary treatment.
Books
October 14, 2020
Six Good Texas Book Festival Reads
This year’s festival is all-virtual, but its lineup is still all-star, as demonstrated by this trio of recent books from Texas authors.
Film & TV
October 9, 2020
Hollywood, Texas: ‘Dazed and Confused’ Cast to Reunite Online, Online, Online
Plus, Kacey Musgraves meets Scooby Doo, Borat meets Sid Miller, and Austin meets ‘Walker, Texas Ranger.’…
Books
October 8, 2020
MacArthur Fellow Cristina Rivera Garza Believes That Writing Is an Act of Hope
The Houston author, who blurs boundaries of genre, language, and culture, says she writes in part to imagine a better world.
Film & TV
October 7, 2020
‘News of the World,’ Tom Hanks’s First Western, Is the Perfect Role for ‘America’s Dad’
The film adaptation of Utopia author Paulette Jiles’s acclaimed novel finds Hanks shepherding a young girl across 1870s Texas.
Books
September 28, 2020
‘Loving Sports When They Don’t Love You Back’ Is an Ethical Guide for Fans
Authors Jessica Luther and Kavitha A. Davidson say it's time for sports fans to grapple with the industry's systemic injustices.
Books
September 20, 2020
Remembering Jan Reid, Distinctive Voice in Texas Letters
The longtime Texas Monthly contributor introduced the Austin music scene to the rest of the world.
Books
September 17, 2020
A North Texas Teacher Wanted a Superhero His Latino Students Could Relate to, so He Created One
Hector Rodriguez’s hit comic book series, El Peso Hero, is now set to become a film.
Books
September 16, 2020
The Late, Great Bud Shrake’s Last, Great Novel
The funny and brutal ‘Hollywood Mad Dogs’ was inspired by the Texas writer's experience working in Hollywood with the legendary—and very demanding—Steve McQueen.
Books
August 21, 2020
Texas Monthly Recommends: UT’s Summer Reading List
Plus: a free fridge project in Austin, novels by Jennifer duBois, and Garden Marcus’s soothing TikToks.
Books
August 19, 2020
Vivian Stephens Helped Turn Romance Writing Into a Billion-Dollar Industry. Then She Got Pushed Out.
Now, as the Romance Writers of America reckons with its history of racism, will she finally get her due?…
Politics & Policy
August 14, 2020
Paul Begala Wrote the Book on Defeating Donald Trump
On The National Podcast of Texas, the legendary Democratic strategist on whether Texas is swingable and what it’ll take for Joe Biden to win.
Books
July 31, 2020
Hollywood, Texas: Matthew McConaughey All Writes, All Writes, All Writes a Book
Plus, William Jackson Harper of “The Good Place” gets an Emmy nod, Joe Rogan is moving to Texas, and Miranda Lambert is number one again.
Books
July 24, 2020
Texas Monthly Recommends: Larry McMurtry’s ‘Texasville’
Plus, a podcast hosted by a UT alum and native North Texan, a restaurant with the best banh mi in Dallas, and a show about Austin’s roller derby scene.
Texas History
July 22, 2020
Meet the Unruly Clan That Once Ruled the Hill Country
Living hard and free, cedar choppers clashed with respectable townsfolk in the mid-20th century.
Books
July 21, 2020
With Her New Book, a Texas Author Wants You to Take Boy Bands Seriously
Music journalist Maria Sherman discusses why she wrote 'Larger Than Life,' her exhaustive guide to an enduring cultural phenomenon.
Books
July 2, 2020
A Guide to Living Decadently Without Alcohol
In their new book, ‘The Sober Lush,' Austin writers Amanda Eyre Ward and Jardine Libaire offer a booze-free road map to a rich, full lifestyle.
Books
June 23, 2020
In Her Poetry, Mónica Teresa Ortiz Immortalizes the Act of Remembering
The queer Texan writer's verses speak to the idea that because there is violence and injustice there is also beauty, love, and living to be done.
Books
June 18, 2020
Will Dystopian Times Inspire Utopian Art?
Texas science fiction authors Nicky Drayden and Christopher Brown contemplate the future of writing about the future.
Books
June 16, 2020
Is Houston a Prophetic City? Or a Pathetic City?
Rice sociologist Stephen Klineberg’s portrait of Houston focuses on the busts, not the booms—and still remains optimistic.
Books
May 20, 2020
What to Read Now
Stuck at home? Run out of shows to binge-watch? We have a few suggestions.
Books
May 20, 2020
‘Valentine’ Writer Elizabeth Wetmore’s Texas Roots
The best-selling debut author remembers the Permian Basin home she fled as soon as she could.