Gulf Coast Reads

Need another reason to love Gulf Coast Reads? Take a break from your Monday morning, refill your coffee and check out the latest blog: "6 Powerful Reasons Shared Reading Events Like Gulf Coast Reads Matter More Than Ever." https://www.gulfcoastreads.org/blog

On Friday Wendy W. from Houston Great Books hosted a fantastic Book Club Facilitator Training for the Gulf Coast Reads Committee and Staff! She went over best practices, questions, and tips in case we get stuck. Thank you, Wendy! The committee also had time to share the themes, program ideas, the youth companion reading list and the author event coming up that we worked on over the summer! We also got fresh ideas from new people in the audience. What type of programming are you interested in seeing??

News of the World by Paulette Jiles was the 2017 Gulf Coast Reads Selection. Paulette's contributions to the literary world will be missed!

We are saddened to hear about the recent death of author Paulette Jiles on July 9. Her novel, "News of the World" was our Texas Center for the Book Texas Great Read in 2017, The novel was a finalist for a National Book Award, won the Jesse H. Jones Award for Best Book of Fiction from the Texas Institute of Letters, and was turned into a movie starring Tom Hanks.

Our Talking Book Program has a new blog post listing Jiles' titles available in their collection. Read more about Jiles and her books: www.tsl.texas.gov/texastalkingbooks/2025/07/23/paulette-jiles/

It's finally time! The votes were counted, and your 2025 Gulf Coast Reads selection winner is The Faculty Lounge by Jennifer Mathieu! We are so pleased and excited for the next GCR season in October. Read more about your selection at gulfcoastreads.org!