November|December 2016 Good Reads

By Alcalde Staff in 40 Acres, Good Reads, Nov | Dec 2016 on November 1, 2016 at 12:23 pm | No Comments

New books of interest to the Longhorn Universe

The Texas Landscape Project: Nature and People

by David Todd and Jonathan Ogren, BA ’96, MA ’08

Cartographer and School of Architecture lecturer Jonathan Ogren joins forces with writer and conservationist David Todd in this new map book on conservation and land use in Texas. Each chapter explores an ecology-related topic—from urban sprawl and water rights to fire ants and light pollution—using more than 300 color maps and 100 photographs to tell the story. Readers will find themselves poring over subjects like Houston’s fight against billboards and the comeback of the world’s rarest sea turtle, the Kemp’s ridley.

The War at Home: A Wife’s Search for Peace (and Other Missions Impossible)

by Rachel Starnes, BA ’01

The life of a military spouse can be simultaneously lonely, rewarding, difficult, and adventurous, as Starnes, who is married to a Navy fighter pilot, recounts in this candid memoir. With humor and grace, Starnes recounts how she faced challenges like frequent moves and deployments, parenting, and building her own career in the shadow of her husband’s.

Unsportsmanlike Conduct: College Football and the Politics of Rape

by Jessica Luther, MA ’04

A freelance journalist who helped break the story of Baylor University’s mishandling of rape cases, Luther examines how coaches, administrators, and athletes at universities across the country cover up and minimize these crimes. In the second half of the book, Luther presents a new playbook for how we could do better—such as by teaching consent, firing responsible parties, and changing how the media responds.

Comfort & Glory: Two Centuries of American Quilts From the Briscoe Center

by Katherine Jean Adams, MLS ’81

You can read American history in the threads of a quilt, argues this colorful coffee-table book from UT Press. Featuring 115 quilts spanning 200 years of history, Comfort & Glory includes thoughtful essays by Briscoe Center quilt curator Katherine Jean Adams. One quilt is a kind of family tree inscribed with the names of 23 relatives; another, made during the Great Depression, is sewn entirely from cheap cotton tobacco sacks. Adams pays tribute to each quilter’s ingenuity and artistry.