Winner of the 2023 Will Rogers Medallion for Excellence in Western Photographic Essay. Adventures Down the Texas Rabbit Hole is a collection of personal essays and photographs that embodies a true sense of the West, with Alice Liles’ clear Texas twang echoing through the pages. Through her eyes, we are given a tour of small town Texas, as if she were there with you personally introducing you to her neighbors, the local shop owners, businesses breathing life into the American experience outside the big city.
The stories are just like Alice, straightforward, honest, and rife with humor and grit from the dusty South Plains of Texas. From the country doctor to the saddle maker, horny toads to tumbleweeds, cats and dogs, family memories and special times, Adventures Down the Texas Rabbit Hole embodies middle America and Texas in all of its beauty, heartache, and promise. You don’t have to be from Muleshoe or Texas to find a story that you can relate to because we all share something called the human experience.
Alice's first book, The Bright Lights of Muleshoe, featured the people, history, and events of that small town. Her second book expands the horizons providing a glimpse beyond the borders of her hometown, all around parts of Texas, and as far as her trek to the top of Mount Kilimanjaro, and beyond.
What readers are saying:
"This book verbalizes everything I love about the place I have called home my entire life. Admiration for the people and the environment are hard to explain to others and Alice does just that in Adventures Down the Texas Rabbit Hole.”
-Dani Heathington, Retired Educator, Muleshoe ISD
“In her book, “Adventures Down the Texas Rabbit Hole,” Alice Liles offers insights into people, animals, and travels that make you feel like you know each of these personally. It stirs memories, recollections, and reflections you may have forgotten. This is a delightful read that makes you smile as you enjoy each story."
LeAnn Gallman, TRMC, MMC, Muleshoe Retired City Manager, Consulting City Secretary, City Manager
“Alice Liles is a gifted storyteller who weaves her tales with humor and insight. This book is a wonderful compilation of interesting descriptions of all that makes Texas unique, of memorable people in Muleshoe 'small-town, America,' and personal memories that will tug at your heartstrings. Her animal stories are bittersweet, filled with the joy in their companionship and the pain in their loss. As a much-loved retired teacher, she still inspires readers to be inquisitive about the nature of animals and people placed in our paths and appreciate the chance meetings along the way. You will enjoy this book, and it will awaken your memories about your town and the people and pets that played a part in your own history. Each story stands alone as a short read, but you will return, again and again, to this delightful book for its warmth and down-home style that invite you to take a closer look at the world around you and see the wonder that is there."
-Vickie Street Burch, Muleshoe graduate and retired English teacher
"Alice Liles captures the wit and wisdom of the finest people of the Texas High Plains. Her stories show not only show her love for the people and places of the south plains, but her love for the great state of Texas."
Wes Underwood, Photographer, Educator; Lubbock, Texas
