What’s better than a good book? A good book written by your neighbor. Brew up a batch of your favorite cup of cup of tea from Café Crème or coffee from Greater Goods and get ready to meet your next read, because we’re talking about locally written books in Austin.
Fiction
“Nine Days” by Minerva Koenig | Release date: Sept. 9, 2014
Follow the story of “damned good criminal” Julia Kalas who is sent into witness protection after the Aryan Brotherhood makes her a widow.
“The Which Way Tree” by Elizabeth Crook | Release date: Feb. 6, 2018
Left traumatized and scarred after a panther attack in the remote Texas Hill Country, young Samantha vows to find and kill the beast that took her mother in a novel told through the voice of her brother, Benjamin.
“Where We Come From” by Oscar Cásares | Release date: May 21, 2019
This novel about a Mexican-American family in the border town of Brownsville, Texas, follows 12-year-old Orly as he stays with his godmother during the summer after the sudden death of his mother.
“The Roxy Letters” by Mary Pauline Lowry | Release date: April 7, 2020
Dismayed at her beloved city growing more and more corporate, 20-something Austinite Roxy takes it personally when a new Lululemon pops up at the intersection of Sixth and Lamar where the old Waterloo Video used to be.
“The Husbands” by Chandler Baker | Release date: June 30, 2021
This thriller centers around Nora Spangler, a successful attorney uncovering the secret to having it all and a mystery that is worth killing for.
“The Devil Takes You Home” by Gabino Iglesias | Release date: August 2, 2022
A lauded thriller and Shirley Jackson Award Winner, this book follows a hitman hijacking the cartel’s cash stash.
“The Hero of This Book” by Elizabeth McCracken | Release date: October 4, 2022
Take a journey alongside the Hero of This Book, who takes a trip to London to reflect on her late mother’s life.
“The Splendid Ticket” by Bill Cotter | Release date: December 6, 2022
Set in the Hill Country, this story follows Angie after she wins the lottery, and shows how she decides to spend the money.
For the family
“Uncertain Summer” by Jessica Lee Anderson | Release date: Sept. 1, 2017
Taking place in the real town of Uncertain in swampy East Texas, Everdil and her friends team up to snap a photo of Bigfoot in hopes of winning a $1 million prize.
“Let’s Go on Safari” by Kate Gilman Williams and Michelle Campbell
Release date: May 17, 2019 | Go on safari with two friends, one from America and the other from South Africa, as they learn about wildlife conservation.
“Rise! From Caged Bird to Poet of the People, Maya Angelou” by Bethany Hegedus and Tonya Engel
Release date: Aug. 13, 2019 | Introduce children to the work of writer, activist, trolley car conductor, and mother Maya Angelou in this picture book biography.
“Just Because” by Matthew McConaughey | Release date: Tuesday, Sept. 12, 2023
In this book, the acclaimed actor distills his life lessons to empower little ones.
Learn something new
“Unprocessed: My City-Dwelling Year of Reclaiming Real Food” by Megan Kimble | Release date: June 23, 2015
From the founding editor of Edible Baja Arizona, then 26-year-old Megan Kimble spent a year eating only unprocessed food, chronicling the changes to her body, and taking a deep dive into the American food system.
“How to Be a Texan: The Manual” by Andrea Valdez | Release date: May 3, 2016
From seasoned Austin journalist Andrea Valdez, this manual gives how-to instructions on Lone Star traditions from two-stepping, taking the perfect bluebonnet photo, and building a Día de los Muertos altar.
“The Secrets We Kept” by Lara Prescott | Release date: Nov. 8, 2019
A New York Times Bestseller and Reese Witherspoon Book Club pick was inspired by the true story of a CIA plot to smuggle “Doctor Zhivago” into the USSR, where it is banned.
Part of a series
“Holes” by Louis Sachar | Release date: August 20, 1998
In case you didn’t know, the author of this instant-classic, best-selling series calls Austin home, and frequents bridge clubs around town.
“The Evolution of Calpurnia Tate” by Jacqueline Kelly | Release date: May 12, 2009
This award-winning historical young adult fiction is part of a long series following 11-year-old Callie Vee.
“Destruction” by Sharon Bayliss | Release date: April 14, 2014
The first in a four-part series follows dark wizard David Vandergraff after his secret second family goes missing.
“Think Big” by Kat Kronenberg | Release date: May 12, 2020
The third installment of her Live Big kid’s series, readers are brought to the African savanna where animals must fight to survive.
“The Games Gods Play” by Abigail Owen | Release date: September 3, 2024
This series is a new take on the dynamics — and romances — between Greek gods.
Personal stories
“First Comes Love: A Memoir” by Marion Winik | Release date: April 2, 1996
From a northeasterner-turned-Austinite, this memoir details the marriage between the author and Tony Heubach, a gay man.
“If Only You Knew: My Unlikely, Unavoidable Story of Becoming Free” by Jamie Ivey | Release date: Jan. 30, 2018
A testament of turning failures into freedom and rediscovering her relationship with religion, podcaster Jamie Ivey lays the moments she’s not proud of out of all out on the table.
“97 Speaks: Lessons from the Decades” by Babette Hughes | Release date: Feb. 20, 2020
Learn the lessons of Austinite Babette Hughes, who, at nearly a century old, retells lessons she learned from Prohibition, The Great Depression, World War II, navigating feminism during the 1950s and ‘60s, and how to live agelessly.
“Greenlights” by Matthew McConaughey | Release date: Oct. 20, 2020
If you thought you knew everything there is to know about one of Austin’s biggest celebrities, you thought wrong. McConaughey details his childhood in Uvalde, his rise to stardom, and how to catch opportunities he calls “greenlights.”
“Corrections in Ink” by Keri Blakinger | Release date: June 7, 2022
A deeply personal story about competitive figure skating, addiction, a prison sentence, and redemption, Marshall Project reporter Keri Blakinger grapples with her own missteps as well as a broken justice system.
Need more recommendations? Stop by BookPeople, BookWoman, Half Price Books, or Black Pearl Books to get expert advice from Austin’s local booksellers. 📚
