Texas Pages

The Texas Library Association convention lineup has been firmed up.

As noted, the group meets April 15-18 at the Dallas Convention Center. Dave Barry and Jenna Bush remain the headliners, but the overall lineup is not shabby at all, with several well-known Texas authors.

The press release explains: "The standard three-day pass can be purchased for $135 throughout the conference, and one-day tickets and exhibits-only passes are also available. For more information go to www.txla.org, call 512-328-1518 or email tla@txla.org."

The schedule looks like this:

Everyone had a grand time the last time I posted something that made fun of bad book reviews. Well, in private e-mails to me, at least.

So let's try it again: as noted on Critical Mass, the Old Hag blog is looking for "the best word or phrase to describe when a reviewer commences with a personal anecdote, generally of dubious relevance, that just-so-happenstancedly manages to contain certain tangential and ill-concealed references to the reviewer's own achievements/successes. (See: "At the end of our freshman year at Harvard, my roommates and I...") "

Would love to hear your suggestions. This blogger should definitely not be casting stones through the walls of this glass house (he said, while relishing last night's overtime victory by the National Champion Kansas Jayhawks.)

But I do know of a term that's sort of related.

Whan that Aprille, with hise shoures soote,
The droghte of March hath perced to the roote
And bathed every veyne in swich licour,
Of which vertu engendred is the flour;
...
Thanne longen folk to goon on pilgrimages

From this week's literary banquet:
* The Third Angel, by Alice Hoffman (Shaye Areheart
Books, $25). Follows three women facing important life choices.
* Ladies of Liberty: The Women Who Shaped Our Nation, by Cokie
Roberts (Morrow, $26.95). Chronicles the adventures of the United States' founding mothers. Yes, there were a few.
* Certain Girls, by Jennifer Weiner (Atria, $26.95). Examines a mother's struggles with her daughter and husband in a sequel of sorts to Ms. Weiner's first novel, Good In Bed.
* Where Are You Now?, by Mary Higgins Clark (Simon & Schuster,
$25.95). A woman investigates a family tragedy.
* Zapped by Carol Higgins Clark (daughter of Mary; it's a busy week for that family) (Scribner, $24). Follows the aftermath of a fictitious New York City
blackout.
* The Last Lecture by Randy Pausch and Jeffrey Zaslow (Hyperion, $21.95). Tells the story behind the famous "last lecture"given by Mr. Pausch, a professor who was -- and remains -- terminally ill. Have your hankies ready for this one.
* War and Decision: Inside the Pentagon at the Dawn of the War on Terrorism, by Douglas J. Feith (Harper, $27.95). A memoir by the neoconservative who worked at the Department of Defense under Donald Rumsfeld.
Also, out in trade paperback this week:
* Loving Frank, by Nancy Horan (Ballantine, $14). A brilliantly moving dissection of architect Frank Lloyd Wright's scandalous affair with Mamah Cheney.