Books

Chron • 21st September 2023

Texas ranks second in the country for successful book bans

The study, which was released Sept. 21 and compiled by free expression nonprofit PEN America, shows that over the 2022–23 school year, 625 titles were banned by public school districts in the state, including titles by Toni Morrison, Margaret Atwood, and John Green. That's second in the country, behind only Florida, which banned a whopping 1,406 titles.

The study also shows that book bans are becoming more common throughout the country, with 33 percent more bans happening in the 22–23 academic

Chron • 19th September 2023

Judge issues order barring Texas’ book rating law

Nearly three weeks after issuing an oral ruling temporarily pausing enforcement of HB 900, also known as the Reader Act, U.S. A District Court Judge Alan D. Albright has issued a formal written order barring implementation of the law, writing that it "violates the Free Speech Clause of the First Amendment.”

Meanwhile, the state has indicated its intention to appeal the ruling by Albright. Prior to the release of Albright's written order, the state also asked Albright to allow the law to go into

Chron • 15th September 2023

Houston's book club wraps with panel featuring Nikole Hannah-Jones

Hannah-Jones is the creator of the 1619 Project, which looks at the consequences of slavery on American culture and politics. She'll be leading a discussion with authors Maria Hinojosa, Dr. Yusef Salaam and Ibi Zoboi. Mayor Sylvester Turner and HPL director Rhea Brown Lawson will host the event. The panel, which takes place Sept. 21 at the Hobby Center, will be free to the public, but registration is encouraged. There will also be an online screening of the discussion.

"One Houston One Book — D

Chron • 31st August 2023

Judge pauses enforcement of Texas book rating law

A judge has paused enforcement of a new law that would require any book vendor who sells to Texas public schools to rate every publication in their stock on the basis of sexual content.

The law, Texas House Bill 900, also known as the Readers Act, was passed this spring during the state's biannual legislative session, and was set to go into effect Sept. 1. During a Zoom status call on Aug. 31, U.S. District Court Judge Alan D. Albright indicated that he would also issue a written order in the n

Chron • 4th August 2023

Houston bookseller speaks out against new book rating law

Valerie Koehler is no stranger to giving book recommendations. As the longtime owner of Blue Willow Bookshop in West Houston, readers frequently turn to her for advice on what to read next. Especially parents, she said, who are often looking for guidance on the age-appropriateness of various titles.

But what the Texas government is now compelling Koehler to do—as well as nearly every other bookseller in the state—is something that could bankrupt the already fragile business of independent books

Chron • 19th July 2023

Barack Obama makes cameo in Harris County Library TikTok

Curbside Larry is back, and this time he's called in the big guns to help promote Harris County Public Library's new Library for All initiative. In a TikTok posted Tuesday, Curbside Larry gets a special call from former President Barack Obama, famously known for his love of reading and his annual list of book recommendations.

In the video, the library hype man gets a little too hyped up while talking about the library's new program to make reading more accessible to all Houstonians, including t

Chron • 16th May 2023

New book club will get all of Houston on the same page

One of the best things about joining a book club is that it takes reading, normally a solitary pastime, and turns it into a fun activity that can be shared with friends and loved ones. This summer in Houston, that fun is taking on a truly communal scope with a massive, city-wide read-along meant to be accessible to readers of all levels.

One Houston, One Book - Diverse Stories for a Diverse City, which was announced on May 15 by the Houston Public Library, is a program meant to "promote literac

Chron • 3rd March 2023

A SZA parody by the Harris County Library has gone viral on TikTok

Harris County Public Library is going viral on TikTok just a few weeks after joining the popular video-sharing social media app.

The viral post is a play on SZA's Saturday Night Live musical skit "Big Boys," which has become a popular meme on the app for appreciating full-figured men. Instead of men, HCPL's post extols the virtue of the hefty, large-print books made for people with visual impairments.

In the video, a woman (Kathleen O'Connor, a library specialist at the Spring Branch/Memorial

Chron • 23rd February 2023

Chip Gaines has bought Larry McMurtry's beloved bookstore

Television handyman Chip Gaines, half of the couple behind HGTV's home renovation blockbuster Fixer Upper, has bought legendary author Larry McMurtry's former bookstore, Booked Up, in Archer City, Texas.

Gaines, the husband of Magnolia Network mega-star Joanna Gaines, quietly bought the buildings that housed the massive used-books store in November, as first reported by Archer County News late last year. CNN reported a follow-up on the sale this week with additional details, including that the

Houstonia Magazine • 29th March 2021

An Ode to Larry McMurtry’s Enduring Houston

Frustrated by the types of voices the American literary establishment chose to elevate, I made a commitment a few years ago to myself not to read any more books by straight white men.

The months since have been some of my most fulfilling as a reader, allowing me to discover writers like Ottessa Moshfegh and Silvia Moreno-Garcia. I reveled in the guilty pleasure that was Crazy Rich Asians and the work of Gillian Flynn. I even read some classics for the first time— Jane Eyre and The Haunting of H