In the Texas Book Club, we’re wrapping our discussion of Mary Karr’s The Liars’ Club and looking ahead to what we’re grabbing off the shelf next.
For our April Texas Book Club selection, we head to East Texas via U.S. 59 with the acclaimed crime thriller Bluebird, Bluebird, by Texas Writer Award winner Attica Locke. Locke was born and raised in Houston. Her writing is, in part, inspired by the work of her parents, who were active in the civil rights movement in Texas in the sixties and seventies.
“The first book in Locke’s Highway 59 series, Bluebird, Bluebird, is both a gripping whodunit as well as a powerful exploration of race, justice, identity, and what it means to love a place that doesn’t always love you back,” said Hannah Gabel, the literary director at Texas Book Festival. “The story follows Darren Mathews, a Black Texas Ranger caught between conflicting loyalties as he investigates two seemingly connected murders in a small town shaped by deep-rooted racial tension. Haunting, timely, and impossible to put down, this is a novel that will stay with you long past the final page.”
Below is a suggested reading schedule.
Week 1 (April 6–12), Part 1: pp. 1–52
Week 2 (April 13–19), Part 2: pp. 55–93
Week 3 (April 20–26), Part 3: pp. 97–189
Week 4 (April 27–May 3), Part 4: pp.193–303
If you aren’t yet a member of the Texas Book Club, you can become one by joining our Instagram broadcast channel or Facebook group. Make sure to grab a copy of Bluebird, Bluebird—whether it be from a beloved independent bookstore, your local library, or online—and remember, you’re not reading this one alone.