Six books I’ve bought and given away
A more full title, ‘six books I’ve bought and given away time and again.’ Bought it once, read it, then gave it away, then wanted a copy for my own library, and so on.
“Borrowers of books are frequently crooks.”
(cf., Pink Cake)
6. Snow Crash – the story, possibly apocryphal now, is that the novel started as a comic book. Fredlet remembers selling me my first copy.
5. Big Red Tequila by SA native, later super star for another series, but this first novel was cooler. Slick, very San Antonio, and the namesake, “Big Red Tequila,” refers to a strange brew of Big Red mixed with cheap tequila, certainly a local flavor.
4. Florida Roadkill The first of the Serge series. “I follow no one,” the mantra of the devoted.
3. The Truth Will Out Ripping yarn, might be a whole fabrication, who cares? Covers Shakespeare, history, scholarship, and integrity. With a nod to the grassy knoll.
2. Step Inside This House Covers of Texas music by Lyle Lovett, certainly not a book, but as poetry, one of the finest collections ever, and one I’ve bought and given away a number of times. One of the most powerful collections of songs, part of a soundtrack to my life.
1. Live #2 by Robert Earl Keen. Recorded live at Floore’s Country Store, a remarkable venue in itself, the album captures a hot, sticky night under the oaks, with a songwriter who evokes the very feelings… It’s a lot of Texas in one place. Loss, lament, love, immigration (before it was an issue), all of that plus an anthem to the five-pound bass. Since I’ve been introduced, it’s a integral part of my life’s soundtrack. Again and again.
