LONE STARS RISING compiled by the Editors of Texas Monthly is all about "The Fifty People Who Turned Texas into the Fastest-Growing, Most Exciting, and, Sometimes, Most Exasperating State in the Country." Since it is the golden anniversary of Texas Monthly's publication, they decided to compile some profiles of "fascinating personalities we've been blessed to write about over the past half century." The debates about whom to include would have been quite interesting, right? This text itself is very engaging, too. Sections correspond to decades and lists statistics like state population, the Democrat/Republican split in the Texas House, Austin's rank amongst US cities, and even the cumulative number of Willie Nelson albums! The end of each decade has a list of books, films/TV, music, and sports related to Texas. And in between are four to five page summaries (with an accompanying picture) of influential Texans; here are just a few of the names: Barbara Jordan, Tom Landry, Larry McMurtry, Bill Hobby, Charles Butt, Molly Ivins, Karl Rove, Selena, Beyoncé, Hugo Ortega, and Brené Brown. Filled with factoids (did you know that Texas' economy would rank "9th in the world, just behind that of Brazil and ahead of South Korea"?), LONE STARS RISING is a remarkable text to browse, and patterns emerge looking chronologically. Of course, the essays included here are rather short and it could have been fun (and informative!) to include additional references and resources about each of these individuals. For example, there is a new podcast about Lady Bird Johnson's life as well as the In Plain Sight podcast which was told in her own words. Yes, the LONE STARS RISING collection succeeded in making me more curious about Texas and its inhabitants. I am looking forward to learning more through Stephen Harrigan's Big Wonderful Thing.