Texas Great Read 2025

We’re so excited for you to read these books. The Texas Center for the Book at the Texas State Library and Archives Commission has chosen Matagorda Magic: The Hidden Life of a Texas Bay, written by Kimberly Ridley and illustrated by Rebekah Raye, as the 2025 Texas Great Read Youth Selection. Viva Texas Rivers! Adventures, Misadventures, and Glimpses of Nirvana along Our Storied Waterways, edited by Steven L. Davis and Sam L. Pfiester, is the 2025 Texas Great Read Adult Selection.

Every year, the Library of Congress asks each state Center for the Book to select titles that represent the state’s literary landscape to highlight at the National Book Festival, an event showcasing the importance of books and reading. This year’s festival will be held September 6 in Washington, DC, and online. Check out the Library of Congress website for details.

We also plan to have a Texas Great Reads #TXBookChat LIVE event in October, at the Lorenzo de Zavala State Archives and Library Building at 1201 Brazos Street in Austin. There will be an in-person author talk and an opportunity to purchase the books and have them signed; stay tuned for more details.

Reading the Books

Many libraries across Texas carry copies of Matagorda Magic and Viva Texas Rivers!; we encourage you to check them out! Viva Texas Rivers! is also available through E-Read Texas, TSLAC’s statewide program that provides e-books to small and medium-sized public libraries statewide. If your local library is part of this network, you can access the books this way. Both titles are also available in bookstores and from Texas A&M University Press.