I tend to fall in love with humanity every time I read an excellent book. Unfortunately, I didn’t find love in 2006, yet certain books impressed me. William J. Cobb‘s Goodnight, Texas (Unbridled) is a refreshing piece of contemporary fiction, wherein Cobb does not try to reinvent the wheel but instead tells an engaging story. Moving and informative, raúlrsalinas and the Jail Machine: My Weapon Is My Pen (University of Texas) is a collection of Raúl Salinas‘ writing as well as an homage to the Austin literary and political icon. My favorite graphic novels were Lucky (Drawn & Quarterly), the latest of Gabrielle Bell‘s fine artistic style and carefully constructed dialogue; Project: Romantic (AdHouse), an anthology of love comics, the most touching being “The Fart of Love”; and Mendel’s Daughter: A Memoir (Free Press), Martin Lemelman‘s non-Maus-like retelling of a Holocaust survivor’s tale.

This article appears in 2006.

A note to readers: Bold and uncensored, The Austin Chronicle has been Austin’s independent news source for over 40 years, expressing the community’s political and environmental concerns and supporting its active cultural scene. Now more than ever, we need your support to continue supplying Austin with independent, free press. If real news is important to you, please consider making a donation of $5, $10 or whatever you can afford, to help keep our journalism on stands.

SUPPORT US