Blogs

If You Loved Faculty Lounge...

This blog was contributed by Kristen S, Reference Librarian for the Brazoria County Library System

If you loved reading “The Faculty Lounge” please try these books. Read the first section for a similar setting! If you really liked the novel is vignettes or stories, try something from the second section. If you are vibing with the book in general, take a book from the third round!

Check your library for these titles' availability!

Gulf Coast Reads 2025 Kicks Off (and Here's Everything You Need to Know)

Cover Art: The Faculty Lounge by Jennifer MathieuGulf Coast Reads 2025: The Faculty Lounge

If you’ve ever wondered what teachers really talk about when the classroom door closes, or wished you could pull up a chair in the teachers’ lounge, Jennifer Mathieu’s The Faculty Lounge is your backstage pass. It’s sharp, funny, tender, and, honestly, one of those books that makes you want to corner your friends and say, “Have you read this yet? We need to talk.”

That’s exactly why we’re so excited that The Faculty Lounge is this year’s Gulf Coast Reads selection. It’s the book everyone across nine counties will be picking up this October, and you’re invited to join the conversation.

Grading the Graders: Good and Not-So-Good Teachers in Classic TV and Film

A Still from Dead Poets Society. Robin Williams as Mr. Keating straddles students' desks while delivering another big ol' dollop of inspirationThis blog was contributed by Anjela M. Youth Services Assistant Manager in Harris County Public Library's Programs, Partnerships & Outreach Division.

There is a wide range of portrayals of teachers in films or television series. Some fictional teachers act as inspiration for their students while others are the foil in their story. Inspired by the 2025 Gulf Coast Reads selection, The Faculty Lounge by Jennifer Mathieu, here’s our list of teachers on screen that inspire and others that need improvement:  

6 Powerful Reasons Shared Reading Events Like Gulf Coast Reads Matter More Than Ever

Book Club members relax with cold beverages and discuss their book at No Label BrewingGulf Coast Reads Is About Community

When I was a kid, Houston had only three network-affiliated TV stations (four if you count PBS) and a scrappy UHF channel that mostly showed reruns and wrestling. Which sounds limiting now, but there was something powerful about having so few options: everyone experienced the same things. We all watched Roots. We all saw the Fonz jump the shark. We all tuned in to find out who shot J.R.

Today, our screens offer us an infinite buffet of content, personalized by algorithms and delivered on demand. We don’t just choose what we like—we’re insulated from everything we didn’t choose. It’s rare now for large groups of people to experience the same story at the same time.

And that’s exactly why Gulf Coast Reads exists.

Thanks to Houston Great Books!

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!

Gulf Coast Reads Committee Announces 2025 Selection

Cover Art: The Faculty Lounge by Jennifer MathieuAbout the Selection

Get ready to fall in love with a book and the people in it. The Gulf Coast Reads Committee is delighted to announce that the 2025 Gulf Coast Reads selection is The Faculty Lounge by acclaimed Houston author Jennifer Mathieu!

Gulf Coast Reads 2024

Thanks for voting!

Gulf Coast Readers have spoken! We will announce the winner of the 2024 Gulf Coast Reads public vote in August!

Welcome to Gulf Coast Reads 2019!

To say we are excited about Gulf Coast Reads 2019 is an understatement. We are positively geeking at the seams. It's not just because Susan Orlean's The Library Book is the selection and a lot of us are librarians.

Gulf Coast Reads The Library Book by Susan Orlean

Cover: The Library Book by Susan OrleanGulf Coast Reads is delighted to announce that The Library Book, Susan Orlean’s bestseller about the mysterious 1986 Los Angeles Public Library fire, is the 2019 selection for our annual regional read-along.  Gulf Coast Reads may best be described as a friendly neighborhood book club on steroids. This October, public and academic libraries along with private and public community partners will encourage everyone across southeast Texas to read and discuss The Library Book, attend special events and generally engage with the region's vast community of readers.

In The Library Book, Orlean chronicles the Los Angeles Public Library fire and its aftermath to showcase the larger, crucial role that libraries play in our lives. The author delves into the evolution of libraries across the country and around the world, from their humble beginnings as a metropolitan charitable initiative to their current status as a cornerstone of national identity. Orlean brings each department of the library to vivid life through on-the-ground reportingstudies arson, and reexamines the case of Harry Peak, the blond-haired actor long suspected of setting fire to the LAPL more than thirty years ago. 

This October, along with book discussions, libraries and partner organizations will host a wide variety of special programs and events drawing on The Library Book’s subject and themes. Stay tuned here for more details about Gulf Coast Reads events in your neck of the woods and across southeast Texas.

Follow Gulf Coast Reads on Facebook & Twitter @GulfCoastReads

Attica Locke on Family, Hwy 59, and Becoming a Writer

Excerpt from Attica Locke's visit to Clear Lake City - County Freeman Branch Library

Pages