The Texas Book festival is, of course, all about Texas — but different readers will have different priorities. The Texas Book Festival's literary director, Hannah Gabe, is helping readers narrow down some of those focuses with her personal recommendations, including one book that's all about San Antonio.

Worth Repeating was a live storytelling event by Texas Public Radio turned into a podcast, and it has now been turned into an easy-to-flip-through book of 40 stories from Alamo City. The book is relatively new after being published this past August.

Like the popular old Chicken Soup for the Soul series (which still exists, by the way), Worth Repeating: San Antonio Stories covers all kinds of topics in all kinds of tones, from funny to deeply serious. Publishers Weekly also compared it to Humans of New York, another written storytelling series that gets to the heart of just one city.

Each of the stories included was first performed in front of a live audience as a part of the origin series, and even though all the stories don't take place in San Antonio, they all link back in some way. (This will be appropriate at the festival, which takes place in Austin but celebrates books written in or concerning all parts of the state.)

"There is the hilarious chronicle of being crowned Turkey Queen of Cuero, as well as stories of finding one’s place as an immigrant or refugee, the heartbreak of being on the AIDS epidemic’s front lines, and the redemption in writing My Little Pony fan fiction," lists the official book description.

It continues, "From the birth of a Freedom Rider to the origins of a literary legend, from the search for a murdered mother’s memories to passing our abilities and disabilities along to our children, the pieces here are as varied and nuanced as the city its authors have called home at one time or another."

The anthology appears in the following group of nonfiction books about or set in Texas, recommended by Gabe:

• George Bristol, Texas State Parks, The First 100 Years, 1923-2023
• Andrew Sansom, The Art of Texas State, A Centennial Celebration 1923-2023
• J Muzacz, ATX Urban Art (art book of Austin graffiti)
• Greg Beets & Richard Whymark, A Curious Mix of People (about the music / pop culture scene in Austin in 90s)
• Sarafina El-Badry Nance, Starstruck (memoir by someone who grew up in Austin and went on to become an astronaut)
• Alicia Roth Weigel, Inverse Cowgirl (memoir in support of intersex rights)
• Michael Granberry & Burk Murchison, Hole In The Roof (about the Dallas Cowboys)
• Jonathan Silverman, Astros and Asterisks (about Houston's sign-stealing scandal)
• Tori Pool, Burgin Streetman & Paul Flahive, Worth Repeating: San Antonio Stories (short stories about San Antonio)
• Mark K. Updegrove & Mark Atwood Lawrence (Editors), LBJ’s America: The Life and Legacies of Lyndon Baines Johnson (nonfiction / anthology)
• Asher Elbein & Cindi Collins, Dinosaurs and Other Ancient Animals of Big Bend (science)
• Gilberto Rojas, Unsettling: The El Paso Massacre, Resurgent White Nationalism, and the US-Mexico Border (analysis of mass shooting)
• Vievee Frances, The Shared World (poetry / history / memoir)
• Alicia Gaspar de Alba, Crimes of the Tongue: Essays and Stories (essays, history, politics)
• Ricardo Nuila, The People's Hospital (journalism, healthcare)
• Loren Grush, The Six: The Untold Story of America's First Women Astronauts (history, NASA)

San Antonio readers who wish to branch out may start with these recommendations from authors who are well-established in Texas:

• Justin Cronin, The Ferryman (sci-fi)
• Elizabeth Crook, The Madstone
• Ben Fountain, Devil Makes Three (historical fiction)
• Paulette Jiles, Chenneville: A Novel of Murder, Loss and Vengeance (historical fiction)
• Tim O'Brien, America Fantastica (literary fiction / satire)
• Lawrence Wright, Mr. Texas (literary fiction / satire)
• Edward Cary, Edith Holler (literary fiction)
• Roger Reeves, Dark Days (nonfiction, essays)
• H.W. Brands, Founding Partisans (nonfiction / history)
• Jeff Goodell, The Heat Will Kill You First (nonfiction / environment)
• Huda Fahmy, Huda F Cares (Young Adult, Fiction, graphic novel, shortlisted for the 2023 National Book Award)
• Mark K. Updegrove & Mark Atwood Lawrence (Editors), LBJ’S America: The Life and Legacies of Lyndon Baines Johnson (nonfiction / anthology)

Readers can also browse the author-speakers by type, genre, and audience age at texasbookfestival.org.

The Texas Book Festival is free to attend if readers choose to make the drive. The presence of a few super popular authors might be enough to convince San Antonians to make the drive, and ticketed sessions both guarantee space for people who need to plan a little more and provide income sources to keep the festival going.

There will be plenty to see at the festival from November 11-12, including panel discussions, author readings, book signings, and of course, browsing stacks upon stacks of sweet printed words. Of the more than 300 authors, three will be featured in ticketed sessions that wrap up some of the above perks in a little take-home package.

Each ticketed session, for $36 plus fees ($41.99), will include the book being discussed, admission to a talk with the popular author, and admission to a book-signing line. Each author's name links to Eventbrite for ticket purchases. Sales will also benefit Texas bookseller BookPeople.

Three authors will participate:

• Michael Cunningham talks about his novel, Day. The story set annually on one day over three years follows a family with complicated interpersonal dynamics through the 2020 pandemic, focusing on love and loss. According to Penguin Random House, Day officially debuts on November 14, so these copies are an early surprise.
• Roxane Gaydiscusses her essay collection Opinions : A Decade of Arguments, Criticism, and Minding Other People's Business. Topics will include "culture, politics, and everything in between," according to the description by Harper Collins, and it seems that topics will range from very heavy to on-the-surface silly. According to Amazon, this book comes out on October 10.
• Stacey Abrams examines her thriller Rogue Justice. In it, a Supreme Court clerk from Abrams' previous triumph, While Justice Sleeps, returns to try and solve an apparently politically-motivated case with lives on the line. Abrams is the person to tell the tale, as both an accomplished author and an elected politician. Rogue Justice was released on May 23, 2023.

More information about the Texas Book Festival (without the drive) is available at texasbookfestival.org.