Whether you’re a local or just planning a visit, these Texas Hill Country books will give you better sense of the region’s culture.
New here? Get our free newsletter.
Disclosure: the remainder of this post contains Amazon Affiliate links for which this website receives a small kickback for the referral.
Every autumn the Texas Book Festival kicks off up in Austin, but you can start stocking your own book shelf now with the following recent reads.
For the Traveler:
Denise Richter’s 100 Things to Do in San Antonio Before You Die (Reedy Press, 2016) offers readers a taste of San Antonio’s cultural, artistic, and natural highlights. Richter is also the founder of San Antonio Tourist, a blog “for folks who want to get beyond the Alamo and the River Walk.” It’s worth a read, too.
For the Tween/Teen:
Hill Country resident Nikki Loftin ’s book, Wish Girl (Razorbill, 2016), is set in the area and weaves magical realism, the natural environment, and a heart-wrenching tale of two young friends facing together one of life’s greatest challenges. The Texas Center for the Book featured Wish Girl as the state’s official “Great Read” during the Library of Congress’s 2016 National Book Festival.
For the History Buff:
Kenneth Hafertepe chairs Baylor University’s museum studies department and brings to his latest book, The Material Culture of German Texans (Texas A&M University Press, 2016), a thoughtful, comprehensive approach to examining the architecture, furniture, and decorative arts of German settlers in the region’s rural and urban areas.
For the Romantic:
San Antonio resident Pamela Humphrey began her career as an indie author writing about her family’s genealogy. Then one day, en route to a family vacation destination, she found inspiration in the Hill Country landscape to launch a romantic suspense series. This summer, Humphrey released her second book, Finding Kate (Phrey Press, 2017), the first of two sequels to 2016’s Finding Claire. Both books pair love, fear, and deep secrets to captivate readers.
For the Child in Each of Us:
Although Pat Mora now makes her home in Santa Fe, the award-winning Texas native wrote The Remembering Day (Arte Público Press, 2015), a sweet story explaining the significance of Día de los Muertos—an autumn holiday of great importance to Hill Country folks with strong ties to Mexico and Mexican culture.
