Little Texas College
My Search for Ancestry and Identity
Carl Wallace is a student at Little Texas College, and he is extremely confused about his ancestry and identity. His parents also teach at LTC, his mother as a botanist, his father as an astronomer. They tell him he is an in vitro fertilization baby, but he suspects that's not the whole truth. His persistent search for the meaning of life, especially his own, leads him away from an expected science major to studies in literature, art, music, and religion. His guilt and anguish over a freak accident involving Ken, his roommate from Taiwan, bring him to the counselor Marv Cohen, an Iraq War veteran confined to a wheelchair.
Marv helps Carl cope with his sense of nothingness and estrangement and learn how to live an authentic life in what Carl believes is an absurd world. In his third year at LTC, Carl spends a term in Mexico and encounters a completely different way of life in a Zapotec weaving community. Is he falling in love with Juana, the daughter from the host family? Eventually, Carl and Juana sell the annual village output of rugs and blankets to wealthy tourists in a ghost town valley near Aspen, Colorado. But while he is there, a quick trip home to Texas at his mother's urgent request brings him face to face with the truth about his fathers. During the Covid-19 pandemic, Carl writes this serious but amusing story of his search for ancestry and identity at Little Texas College. Includes Readers Guide.
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Good book for high school graduates headed to college
"Very relatable story of a young man's experiences going to college, meeting people with different life stories, struggling with his choice of major, taking courses that make him think, making friends, learning about different cultures, and finding his soulmate. Story takes place in the present."
-Barbara Vollmer
Ranch Without Cowboys:
Recovery, Romance, and a Second Chance
Molly O'Reilly, the daughter of a Kansas dairy farmer, is raped by the hired hand. She blames herself. Her father tells her to get out and never come back. She leaves home the day of her high school graduation and lands a job at Horseshoe Ranch, a cattle, bison, and guest ranch adjacent to Great Sand Dunes National Park, nestled against the snow-capped Sangre de Christo Mountains in southern Colorado. Except for Wayne, the gentle manager, all of the employees are women--no cowboys--and when Molly's secret gets too big to hide, they take care of her. After all, they have a lot of experience birthing calves.
At Pepe's Cantina, Molly meets Carlos Ouray, a descendent of Ute Indians and Old Spanish settlers. She's definitely not ready for a relationship, but Carlos is persistent in caring for Molly and baby Norma Lou. He and Wayne help Molly through desperate times as a single mother. Carlos is part owner of a family potato farm in the San Luis Valley. But can Molly find a new home there? Shouldn't she go back to Kansas to settle up with her father? And what about Tommy Dawson, the guy who raped her. Is he just going to run free? As Molly loses one home and finds another, she discovers her own resilience and learns to love a different kind of man. But then she discovers that Carlos has a secret of his own. Includes Readers Guide.
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ loved the location & real life dilemmas
"I loved reading a book set in the San Luis Valley of southern Colorado. Our family vacationed there several years ago and really enjoyed Great Sand Dunes National Park. The characters are generally well developed and the moral challenges are real. However, having a ranch with all female ranch hands is a bit unrealistic. The friendships and the relational dynamics are interesting and made for a great read. Thanks, I will look for more titles by James R Davis!"
Timeless Questions
How World Religions Explore the Mysteries of Life
Timeless questions are the questions asked as we confront the mysteries of life: What is our origin, essential nature, best way to live a good life, and final destiny? The questions are timeless because each generation keeps asking them, and their mysteries are never fully resolved. The world religions, in their ancient forms, explore these mysteries and provide not so much answers as useful insight for thinking about human existence. Each chapter in this book explores a particular mystery and its related questions, drawing in the ideas of the religions as needed. These include chapters on God, creation, human nature, social order, the good life, suffering and death, and the fate of the world.
Through the persistent inquiry of the "questioner," in dialogue with a knowledgeable professor, the mysteries are explored in a practical way, relevant to life today, but leaving room for further discussion. Because there is often little opportunity to study religion in school, many people, through no fault of their own, don't know much about religion, especially world religions. This is not a book to foster belief or doubt. It is designed to provide basic information, enhance cross-cultural understanding, and aid in the development of a philosophy of life. Here you can feel the joy of learning something new while examining the mysteries of your own life through the timeless questions that nag us all.
"This book is great if you are looking for a way to explore the answers to age old questions through the lens of multiple wisdom traditions"
THE LAST RESORT
Going Back to Mexico
Marquito Gonzales, an outstanding student and high school track star, is going back to Mexico with his undocumented parents. He has lost everything - his chance to go to college, his girlfriend, and his dreams. Now he is a waiter at the five-star Sunset Point Hotel in Cabo San Lucas. Back in Mexico after ten years of being Americanized, Marquito doesn't know who he is or how to survive. Angry, confused, and vulnerable, he meets Ashley - a red-haired runaway radical, the tattoed gringa with the asymmetrical bob. She feeds his anger and resentment as they plan how to shut down the resort and terrorize the guests.
Time-share owners at Sunset Point, Vera and Ollie Webster sit at Marquito's table for breakfast each morning. Vera was a social worker and Ollie a successful corporate attorney, but now in retirement, he questions the value of his law career and ponders anew the purpose of life. Vera wants to do some good with their wealth before they die by helping the workers they have befriended, particularly Marquito who seems so lost and upset. Can she match him up with Maribel, the dimpled breakfast cook who watches him with loving eyes?
WHY I WROTE THIS BOOK
As time-share owners at several Mexican resorts, my wife and I have developed friendships through the years with many wonderful, generous, simpático people in Mexico, so we find it difficult to understand the hostile attitudes and puzzling prejudices directed toward Mexicans by so many of our fellow Americans today. I told my wife that I must write this novel to introduce our Mexican amigos, share the strengths of this rich culture, and lay bare the rather ugly and embarrassing history of our two countries.
I would prefer to put you in my suitcase and take you along to show you the Mexico I know, but the next best thing is traveling by book. Here you can catch a glimpse of the behind-the-scenes life at a five-star hotel, enjoy the colorful mall and marina at Cabo San Lucas, taste the fish ceviche, hear the mariachi bands, and begin to feel what it is like for a dreamer to lose his dream and build another. You will find young romance in this novel, but also the love story of an older couple, long-time pals who are helping each other to reexamine the purpose of their lives and do a little good before they die.