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Recent Book Acquisitions at Roberts
As the cataloging and serials librarian at the Butler Center for Arkansas Studies, I have the privilege of getting up close and personal with new acquisitions for the Research Room of the CALS Roberts Library of Arkansas History & Art.
I will admit that getting some items cataloged can be tedious and time consuming, but all that behind-the-scenes work to make books and serials available to patrons is crucial for my role here. With the upcoming re-opening of the CALS Main Library (come celebrate with us on Oct. 4!) and the highly anticipated Six Bridges Book Festival (happening Sept. 28 through Oct. 5), I wanted to share some books that we have recently acquired. Though our materials are for in-library use only, we are happy to be able to share them with you when you visit us on the second-floor Research Room in Roberts.
Here are a few interesting titles that stuck out to me as I cataloged them:
Isaac’s Song by Daniel Black
Native Arkansan Daniel Black released a new novel earlier this year that explores the complexities of identity in the American South. Isaac’s Song was selected as the Best Book of January 2025 by the Washington Post and the Best Southern Book of January 2025 by the Southern Review of Books.
From the publisher:
Isaac is at a crossroads in his young life. Growing up in Missouri, the son of a caustic, hard-driving father, he was conditioned to suppress his artistic pursuits and physical desires, notions that didn’t align with a traditional view of masculinity. But now, in late 1980s Chicago, Isaac has finally carved out a life of his own. He is sensitive and tenderhearted and has built up the courage to seek out a community. Yet just as he begins to embrace who he is, two social catalysts—the AIDS crisis and the attack on Rodney King—collectively extinguish his hard-earned joy. At a therapist’s encouragement, Isaac begins to write down his story. In the process, he taps into a creative energy that will send him on a journey back to his family, his ancestral home in Arkansas and the inherited trauma of the nation’s dark past. But a surprise discovery will either unlock the truths he’s seeking or threaten to derail the life he’s fought so hard to claim.
Poignant, sweeping and luminously told, Isaac’s Song is a return to the beloved characters of Don’t Cry for Me and a high-water mark in the career of an award-winning author.
The Arkansas Barbecue Traveler: A Roadside Companion for Hungry Wanderers by Kat Robinson
Some might say that Kat Robinson “wrote the book” on Arkansas food…because she has in fact written thirteen books on the topic! Released in 2024, The Arkansas Barbecue Traveler introduces the reader to barbecue joints across Arkansas’s seventy-five counties.
From the back cover:
Pulled pork in the Delta. Sliced brisket in the Ozarks. Juicy ribs. Savory chicken thighs. Arkansas is far more than a crossroads between barbecue giants. It’s a land with multiple barbecue traditions that originated right here in The Natural State. Kat Robinson set out on a journey to determine Arkansas’s barbecue style and history. She discovered meat smoking traditions that vary with the landscape – from 16th century smoking practices to Reconstruction era culinary shifts, from post-refrigeration practices to how food channels changed how we consume these meats. Along the way, she found far more barbeque restaurants, food trucks, catering operations, and family eateries that specialize in smoked meats than any expert ever expected. With well over 350 different spots across Arkansas offering house-smoked meats, not including the regional and national chains that also offer barbecue dishes, The Natural State could legitimately be called The Barbecue State.
In this guide, the first in Robinson’s barbecue series, enjoy pork steaks along Crowley’s Ridge, smoked and fried bologna in West Memphis, wood smoked hanger steak in Gravette, smoked catfish in Sherwood, smoked prime rib in Horatio, vegan barbecue creations in Fayetteville, pork belly candy in Searcy, and so many more. Read this book twice – once to see where to go and what to get, and again when you pull it out of your glove compartment when you’re on the road – and savor these tantalizing flavors of Arkansas!
Don’t miss Robinson’s event for the Six Bridges Book Festival!
TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 30 @ 12:00 PM
Six Bridges Book Festival: Kat Robinson
Whole Hog Café – Riverdale, Moderated by Rex Nelson
Abandoned Arkansas: Eaker Air Force Base by Gage Fears
This historical and pictorial exploration of Blytheville’s Eaker Air Force Base is remarkably engaging. Including both rare and more recent photos, Gage Fears has constructed an account of the property’s history and a glimpse of what’s to come.
From the publisher:
For fifty years, Blytheville was home to a fleet of one of the most versatile pieces of machinery in history. From the Cuban Missile Crisis, through the Vietnam War and Korean Conflict, to the fall of the Iron Curtain in the early nineties, B-52 Stratofortresses cruised the sky, and stayed on alert to be America’s first line of defense. Now that America no longer has a need for its “Global Shield,” many United States Air Force bases lay dormant and decaying, sinking into the earth from which they came.
From its early beginnings as farmland to a highly secure, fiercely patrolled Strategic Air Command base, to overgrown lawns and decrepit buildings filled with asbestos, to becoming the site of the National Cold War Center, follow along as author Gage Fears digs up history on a crucial part of Arkansas and military history to tell the story of the long abandoned Eaker Air Force Base.
Storytelling for Genealogists: Turning Family Lineage into Family History by Doug Tattershall
After years of researching your family, gathering the facts, documents, photos, and oral histories, you might wonder what to do with all that you’ve found. Doug Tattershall’s practical guide can help you turn your collected research into a compelling story of your family’s history.
From the publisher:
Genealogy is about solving puzzles. Who is related to whom? Who was my immigrant ancestor? How far back in time can I go? Do I have a famous ancestor? And so on.
Family history is different. If you want others to learn about where you and they came from, you must command their attention. As Doug Tattershall states in the Introduction to his new book, “We work hard to discover our family tree. But what we [and the people we are writing for] really want to know is our family story.” So, how does a genealogist transition to family history? You will find the answers here. In fewer than one hundred pages, Doug shows how to start and stay on track in transforming the skeletal outline of a genealogy into an engaging family story….As Doug Tattershall reminds us, “We research our family histories to satisfy our own curiosity about our past, but we quickly find that we want to share what we have found….Telling your family story deserves an effort that incorporates the best practices of the dedicated storyteller….Your family history is a story worth telling and, therefore, a story worth telling well.”
Messerschmitt: History with a Twist of Fiction by L. K. Tompkins
Historical fiction meets spy thriller in L. K. Tompkins’s book, Messerschmitt. This is the second publication from Tompkins, who is from Fort Smith.
From the publisher:
Following Czech Republic’s struggle to liberate itself from Soviet oppression, covert intelligence agent Jack Kirkpatrick travels to Nachod, Czech Republic on a mission to uncover a deadly technology the Russians stole from the Nazis after WWII. There he teams up with the savvy and stunning Eva Fridrich, an mI6 agent connected with Czechoslovakian resistance force “Freedom Radio.” Kirkpatrick’s mission leads him on a winding path across continents and Europe as he endeavors to uncover this mystery. Messerschmitt is steeped in intrigue and adventure intertwined with true events.
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If any of these books have piqued your interest, I invite you to view them when you visit the Research Room on the second floor of the Roberts Library. (We also have about 22,550 more in our collection at Roberts, many with Arkansas connections!)
If you want to read any of these at home, click on the title of the book to see if there are copies available for checkout through another CALS location. If CALS only has in-library use copies, you can request the title through CALS’s interlibrary loan services by calling 501-918-3000 or by making a request through your preferred CALS location.
By Bekeh Ervin, cataloging and serials librarian, CALS Butler Center for Arkansas Studies/Roberts Library
