Monday, June 5, marks the 180th anniversary of Houston's incorporation as a city. Starting as a few wooden structures whacked together near a bayou in 1836 and 1837, Houston now is America's fourth-largest municipality, behind New York, Los Angeles and Chicago.

A male model dressed as an astronaut, with two women representing Houston's international ties, in a 1962 image from Houston on the Move: A Photographic History, by Steven R. Strom. (Bob Bailey)

Indeed, H-Town, a.k.a. Space City, is bigger than New Jersey. Yet many Texans define Houston in barely helpful terms: Congested. Humid. NASA.

The Bayou City (another nickname) was declared "hard to pin down" by Ephemeral City, a 2003 book about Houston architecture. Many other books, however, can add more insights into Houston's difficult-to-define nature. I like these five:

Houston on the Move: A Photographic History, by Steven R. Strom, with photographs by Bob Bailey Studios. (University of Texas Press)

Houston on the Move: A Photographic History, by Steven R. Strom, with photographs by Bob Bailey Studios (University of Texas, $45): Between 1930 and 1991, commercial photographer Bob Bailey captured countless images of Houston and its people, from the Great Depression to the coming of the Houston Ship Channel, Astrodome, Texas Medical Center and Johnson Space Center. Most of this book's photos previously were unpublished. With Strom's descriptions, they help illuminate Houston's rise from backwater burg to international destination.

Sam Houston, by James L. Haley (University of Oklahoma Press)

Sam Houston, by James L. Haley.

(University of Oklahoma, $24.95):

Many biographies have spotlighted Sam Houston (1793-1863), first president of the Republic of Texas and Houston's namesake. My favorite is Austin historian Haley's well-written, heavily researched 2002 portrait of the man he called "a colossus astride the middle decades of the 1800s."

Sam Houston's resume is impressively long: Tennessee politician, Texas revolutionary army commander in chief, Republic of Texas president, a force behind Texas joining the United States, U.S. Senator and Texas governor. He even lived in Houston for two years, when it temporarily served as the republic's capital.

Books: A Memoir, by Larry McMurtry. (None Given / Digital File_UPLOAD)

Books: A Memoir, by Larry McMurtry

The Martian, by Andy Weir (Crown)

(Simon & Schuster, $15 paperback): Houston holds a special place in the heart of Pulitzer Prize and Academy Award-winning writer McMurtry. He has set at least six of his many novels there. He spent his early years on a Texas cattle ranch that had no books and attended public school in tiny Archer City. Once he was accepted at Rice University, he treasured its big Fondren Library and Houston's bookstores. Yet he kept failing math and realized he would have to go another university. In this 2008 memoir, he writes: "Once I accepted that Math 100 was a hurdle I was never going to clear, I put my mind to rest and felt free to explore Houston, my first city and one I still love, in part for its hustle and its welcoming spirit."

The Martian, by Andy Weir

100 Things to Do in Houston Before You Die, by A.J. Mistretta (Reedy Press)

(Crown, $25): For thrillers set in Houston and on Mars, it's hard to beat the tension, adventure and dark humor in Weir's 2014 sci-fi novel. We experience the terror of an astronaut stranded alone on an unforgiving planet. Yet we also cheer NASA's can-do heroics as managers and employees overturn bureaucratic blockades and create a rescue mission that will travel millions of miles with only one brief chance to succeed. The book mixes science lessons and R-rated language, but Broadway Books published a cleaned-up "classroom" edition last year.

100 Things to Do in Houston Before You Die, by A.J. Mistretta (Reedy, $16):

Whether you've lived in Houston for years, visit occasionally or are going for the first time, travel guidebooks can be helpful necessities. You may not like all of this guide's suggested outings, yet they help reveal Houston's wide possibilities. Soulful choices range from the Houston Art Car Parade, Texas two-step dancing and eating Korean-style dumplings to birding and visiting the Buffalo Soldiers National Museum and the National Museum of Funeral History.

Si Dunn, who lives in Austin, is an ex-Houstonite and a longtime reviewer of books about Texas.

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