Click each cover pic to order it, read more about it or visit the author’s website.
Marce Catlett: The Force of a Story
Wendell Berry
From Penguin Random House: “The power and depth of this story—and of the many stories within the history of the Port William Membership—resonate with love, kindness, and the held memory of family and community. In Marce Catlett: The Force of a Story, celebrated author Wendell Berry brings to life a tale that devoted readers of the series will cherish. This moving novel is a testament to the goodwill that lives within the human heart and a stirring reminder that standing up for what we believe in is always a cause worth fighting for.”
The Soul of Fonda San Miguel
Tom Gilliland
From University of Texas Press: “Celebrate 50 years of Austin institution Fonda San Miguel with The Soul of Fonda San Miguel. Owner Tom Gilliland tells the story of this iconic restaurant from its start in 1975 through the decades, highlighting its dedication to the traditional regional foods of the cuisine, passion for both contemporary Mexican art and classic artisan crafts, and its influence on restaurants on both sides of the border. Discover Fonda San Miguel as it is today through photographs of their gallery of Mexican art, 100 recipes, both classic and new, and soon-to-be classics from their upcoming breakfast/lunch restaurant, Tzintzuntzan.”
FIRE ANTS: Essays Around and About Texarkana
Cason E. O’Banion
From Stephen F. Austin University Press: “In Fire Ants, O’Banion delivers a witty, unvarnished portrait of growing up in that forgotten corner of the map where Texas, Arkansas, and Louisiana blur together—Texarkana, the town that can’t quite decide which state it belongs to, or if it even wants to. Born from the ashes of an offhand remark about ‘a man from nowhere,’ these essays took root and refused to die—like the stubborn ‘far aints’ of their title. What began as a detour from a stalled novel became a vibrant, darkly funny, and deeply human collection about small-town oddities, family legacies, fried turkeys gone wrong, four-wheeler flips dubbed ‘903ers,’ and the peculiar beauty of a place that exists halfway between myth and memory.
(See the excerpt “Bonjour Y’all.”)
Land of a Thousand Sessions:
The Complete Muscle Shoals Story
Rob Bowman
Just in time for your music-related holiday shopping (or treatin’ yo’self!): “more than 750 pages of insights across thirty chapters—and the definitive history of how this tiny northwest Alabama hamlet became ‘The Hit Recording Capital Of The World.’ In his years of research for Land of a Thousand Sessions, Bowman sat down with a truly unbelievable group of almost 100 key players in the Muscle Shoals story (from Mavis Staples to Mick Jagger)—many who have never spoken on the record before, and many who have sadly passed on since. Through those first-hand accounts—and his use of long-lost historical documents —a vivid picture forms of how Muscle Shoals’ nine recording studios became the epicenter of American popular music.”
Gary Stewart: I Am from the Honky Tonks
Jimmy McDonough
A great gift for the country music fan in your life is this much-anticipated, limited edition biography of the late great Gary Stewart. From the Wolf+Salmon press release: “In the mid-Seventies, Stewart’s crazed hits, including “She’s Actin’ Single (I’m Drinkin’ Doubles)” and “Drinkin’ Thing”, rocketed him to the top of the charts, earning him the admiration of Bob Dylan, the Allman Brothers, and Tanya Tucker. Within a few years, he had flamed out and all but vanished from the music scene. Until Jimmy McDonough barged his way into the spooky Florida double-wide Stewart was hiding out in, beginning a nearly forty-year obsession with the musician. This is a story of sex, drugs, and honky-tonk, told in McDonough’s inimitable, two-fisted style; the unique combination of oral history, vivid prose, and personal experience that made Shakey: Neil Young’s Biography a New York Times bestseller. It’s an epic tale of a wild Kentucky family who surfed success and rear-ended disaster in drug-soaked, Seventies Florida. At its core is the tempestuous, tragic love story of Gary Stewart and his wife, Mary Lou, that will leave you haunted long after you turn the last page.” This initial Cadillac Edition features a gold-stamped leather slipcover and photo print. (Mine is in transit! -Ed.) A second edition comes out in April 2026.
Here’s a great video of Gary singing “Flat Natural Born Good Timin’ Man.”