Texas

R-Lo said, "Actually, one suggestion I have for Texas that I think is really great is John Phillip Santos' National Book Award finalist, Places Left Unfinished at the Time of Creation. A review of this can be found on my blog."

Part treasury of the elders, part elegy, part personal odyssey, part Book of the Dead, Places Left Unfinished at the Time of Creation is an immigration tale and a haunting family story. John Phillip Santos brings to life a pageant of unforgettable family figures: from Madrina -- touched with epilepsy and prophecy ever since, as a girl, she saw a dying soul leave its body -- to Teofilo, who was kidnapped as an infant and raised by the Kikapu Indians of northern Mexico. And he searches for answers to the mystery surrounding his grandfather's suicide in San Antonio in 1939. Combining lyrical prose, magic realism, and haunting confession into an unforgettable voice, Santos weaves together Mexican mythology and the history of Texas to create the story of how the soul of one Mexican family was passed down, and sometimes nearly lost, across borders and decades, into the present.

Texas

Gracie said, "Hi again, Bonnie. I'm so intrigued by this idea that I found myself thinking of books that seemed to me to be very specifically about a place. I will try not to be a blog hog, but wanted to share the following: TX - Terms of Endearment and The Last Picture Show by Larry McMurtry."

In Terms of Endearment a memorable mother and her fiesty daughter (Aurora Greenway and her daughter Emma) find the courage and humor to live through life's hazards and to love each other as never before. Aurora is the kind of woman who makes the whole world orbit around her, including a string of devoted suitors. Widowed and overprotective of her daughter, Aurora adapts at her own pace until life sends two enormous challenges her way: Emma's hasty marriage and subsequent battle with cancer.

Set in a small, dusty, Texas town, The Last Picture Show introduces the characters of Jacy, Duane, and Sonny: teenagers stumbling toward adulthood, discovering the beguiling mysteries of sex and the even more baffling mysteries of love. Populated by a wonderful cast of eccentrics and animated by McMurtry's wry and raucous humor, The Last Picture Show is a wild, heart-breaking, and poignant coming-of-age novel.

Hawaii, Texas, Colorado, Maryland, Alaska

Framed has suggested books for five states: "James Michener has written several books about different states that start at the beginning of time: Hawaii, Texas, Centennial (Colorado), Chesapeake (Maryland), and Alaska. I enjoyed Hawaii and Centennial the most, but they are really big books."



Maryland Colorado

All of Michener's books are big books! Good suggestions, thanks.