Texas Talking Book Program Author Talk: Tim Hemlin

Join the Talking Book Program for an author talk on Tuesday, June 16 at 7:00 p.m. (Central) with author and educator, Tim Hemlin.

Reader’s Advisory Librarian, Laura Jean, will discuss Mr. Hemlin’s career and his Neil Marshall Series, starting with the first book, IF WISHES WERE HORSES (DBC 18230). Following the talk, there will be a Q&A session.

Our Author Talks are held via Zoom, but you can join using just a telephone!

Participating is easy:

  • Use your landline to dial in via phone.
  • Use the “one-tap” number on your smartphone.
  • Alternatively, join via computer using the Zoom invitation we’ll send a week prior to the event.

To ensure you receive the necessary details, please RSVP in advance.

We invite you to ask Tim Hemlin questions about his book. Please submit your questions by June 9. We will select questions based on the responses to this form, and they may be asked during the event! Fill out the form here: Author Questions

To RSVP, you can fill out our online registration form: Register Here.

Or if you prefer, reply to this email, or call the Talking Book Program at 1-800-252-9605.

Please indicate if you would like us to mail you a digital cartridge with his book or if you prefer to download it from BARD. Also, please let us know if you would like a reminder via email or phone-call (or both).

IF WISHES WERE HORSES: NEIL MARSHALL SERIES, BOOK 1 by Tim Hemlin (DBC 18230)

NLS Annotation: Neil Marshall is a creative writing graduate student at the University of Houston, a struggling poet, and a soon-to-be-divorced man. To make ends meet, he moonlights as a chef for a high society caterer. When his oldest friend, racehorse breeder Jason Keys is murdered, Neil finds himself also moonlighting as a private eye just to stay out of jail. The police view him as their prime-suspect but Neil has an even bigger worry–can he find Jason’s killer before becoming the next victim? Violence, strong language, and descriptions of sex. 1996.

We look forward to having you join us on Tuesday, June 16!

2026 Walter Scott Prize for Historical Fiction Longlist

Founded in 2009, The Walter Scott Prize for Historical Fiction celebrates quality, innovation, and ambition of writing for books published in the last year in the previous year in the UK, Ireland or the Commonwealth. In order to qualify, the majority of the storyline must have taken place at least 60 years ago. The winner will be announced at the Borders Book Festival on Friday June 12.

For more information check out the Prize’s website.

Longlisted titles in the NLS Collection are:

VENETIAN VESPERS by John Banville (DB 133275)
HELM by Sarah Hall (DB 134025)
PRETENDER by Jo Harkin (DB 129104)
ARTIST AND THE FEAST by Lucy Steeds (DB 134519)
SEASCRAPER by Benjamin Wood (DB 134024)

April 30 is Children’s Day/Book Day (El Día de los Niños/Libros)

Two images one with a child's hand reading along with their finger on a book. The other is a child reading a picture book.

Every child deserves a story. The Talking Book Program offers books for kids in multiple formats.

From the library:

KIKIRIKÍ, STORIES AND POEMS IN ENGLISH AND SPANISH FOR CHILDREN (DBC 26967)

ONCE UPON A TIME: CELEBRATING THE MAGIC OF CHILDREN’S BOOKS IN HONOR OF THE TWENTIETH ANNIVERSARY OF READING IS FUNDAMENTAL (DB 30836)

WILD THINGS: THE JOY OF READING CHILDREN’S LITERATURE AS AN ADULT (DB 86992)

2026 Disaster Resilience Survey of Texans with Disabilities

Disability Rights Texas is conducting the 2026 Disaster Resilience Survey of Texans with Disabilities.

The survey will collect data on how prepared you are for disasters, what you are concerned about, and what you need to be more prepared.

The survey is for people with disabilities and people connected to the disability community. Your feedback could help emergency managers and policy makers create new resources, develop community trainings, and provide education about the disability community’s needs.

The deadline to complete the survey is May 31, 2026. If you need help completing the survey, or need it in a different format, email disaster@drtx.org, or call 1-800-948-1824.

Here are the links to the survey:

English: www.surveymonkey.com/r/2026Ready

Spanish: www.surveymonkey.com/r/2026Listo

American Sign Language (ASL) users can complete the survey by calling:

Video Phone: 1-866-362-2851

Purple 2 Video Phone: 512-271-9391

2026 Indies Choice Book Award

Originally established in 1991 as the American Bookseller Book of the Year, the Indies Choice Book Award celebrates the best Adult Fiction, Adult Nonfiction, Children’s Picture Books, Middle Grade, Young Adult, Debut Adult and Debut Children’s voted by indie booksellers. After a brief hiatus the awards are back for 2026! The shortlist was announced on March 11 and the winners were announced April 8.

For more information check out the Award’s website.

Adult Fiction

CORRESPONDENT by Virginia Evans (DB 129105, en español DB 132482)

Adult Nonfiction

ONE DAY, EVERYONE WILL HAVE ALWAYS BEEN AGAINST THIS by Omar El Akkad (DB 127850, LB 0001346)

Children’s Picture Books

DON’T TRUST FISH by Neil Sharpson (DB 130282)

Middle Grade

TROUBLE WITH HEROES by Kate Messner (DB 130798, LB 0005921)

Young Adult

THEY BLOOM AT NIGHT by Trang Thanh Tran (DB 128117)

Debut Adult

BLACK-OWNED: THE REVOLUTIONARY LIFE OF THE BLACK BOOKSTORE by Char Adams (DB 133707)

Debut Children’s

WHALE EYES: A MEMOIR ABOUT SEEING AND BEING SEEN by James Robinson (DB 134716)

Women’s Prize for Fiction Longlist 2026

The Women’s Prize for Fiction celebrates excellence, originality and accessibility in Fiction written by women. The Prize celebrates ambitious, inspiring, and thought-provoking novels written by women in English and is awarded for books published in the previous year. The shortlist will be announced on April 22 and the winner will be announced on June 11, 2026.

For more information check out the Women’s Prize for Fiction website.

FLASHLIGHT by Susan Choi (DB 129795, LB 0008519)
CORRESPONDENT by Virginia Evans (DB 129105, en español DB 132482)
HEART THE LOVER by Lily King (DB 133290)
MODERATION by Elaine Castillo (DB 131689)
WILD DARK SHORE by Charlotte McConaghy (DB 127669, BR 26326 IN PROCESS)
AUDITION by Katie Kitamura (DB 128873)
GARDIAN AND A THIEF by Megha Majumdar (DB 132989, LB 0005878)
DOMINION by Addie E. Citchens (DB 131990)

April 21 is San Jacinto Day

Image of the outside of the San Jacinto Monument located in Harris County, Texas.

Relive Texas history in accessible formats with the Talking Book Program!

From the library:

DAY OF SAN JACINTO (DBC 11923)

JUAN SEGUIN: A HERO OF TEXAS (DBC 28952)

SAM HOUSTON AND THE ALAMO AVENGERS: THE TEXAS VICTORY THAT CHANGED AMERICAN HISTORY (DB 97726) (LB 12663)

2026 PEN America Literary Awards Longlist

Since 1963, the PEN America Literary Awards have honored outstanding voices in translation, fiction, poetry, science writing, essay, sports writing, biography, children’s literature, and drama. The longlist of finalists was announced on January 29, and the winners were announced on March 31.

For more information check out the Pen Literary Awards website.

PEN/Jean Stein Book Award Finalists

DEVIL IS A SOUTHPAW by Brandon Hobson (DB 134023)
THINGS IN NATURE MERELY GROW by Yiyun Li (DB 130140)
INTO THE HUSH by Arthur Sze (DB 134100 – IN PROCESS, BR 26662 – IN PROCESS)

PEN Open Book Award

NATURAL HISTORY: POEMS by Brandon Kilbourne (DBC 31719)
MEDICINE RIVER: A STORY OF SURVIVAL AND THE LEGACY OF INDIAN BOARDING SCHOOLS by Mary Annette Pember (DB 129679)

PEN Translation Prize

ON THE CALCULATION OF VOLUME. III by Solvej Balle and translated from the Danish by Sophia Hersi Smith and Jennifer Russell (DB 133345 – IN PROCESS)
REMEMBERED SOLDIER by Anjet Daanje and translated from the Dutch by David McKay (DB 130894 – IN PROCESS)
SONS AND DAUGHTERS by Chaim Grade and translated from the Yiddish by Rose Waldman (DB 131557)

PEN/Diamonstein-Spielvogel Award for the Art of the Essay

THE HAVES AND HAVE-YACHTS: DISPATCHES ON THE ULTRARICH by Evan Osnos (DB 130978)

PEN/E.O. Wilson Literary Science Writing Award

THEY POISONED THE WORLD: LIFE AND DEATH IN THE AGE OF FOREVER CHEMICALS by Mariah Blake (DB 129168)
DINNER WITH KING TUT: HOW ROGUE ARCHAEOLOGISTS ARE RE-CREATING THE SIGHTS, SOUNDS, SMELLS, AND TASTES OF LOST CIVILIZATION by Sam Kean (DB 131815)
STRATA: STORIES FROM DEEP TIME by Laura Poppick (DB 131355)

PEN/Jacqueline Bograd Weld Award for Biography

BALDWIN: A LOVE STORY by Nicholas Boggs (DB 131983)
TROUBLEMAKER: THE FIERCE, UNRULY LIFE OF JESSICA MITFORD by Carla Kaplan (DB 134155 – IN PROCESS)
WHEN CAESAR WAS KING: HOW SID CAESAR REINVENTED AMERICAN COMEDY by David Margolick (DB 133737 – IN PROCESS)
STAN AND GUS: ART, ARDOR, AND THE FRIENDSHIP THAT BUILT THE GILDED AGE by Henry Wiencek (DB 131939)
ELECTRIC SPARK: THE ENIGMA OF DAME MURIEL by Frances Wilson (DB 134034 – IN PROCESS)

PEN/John Kenneth Galbraith Award for Nonfiction

BEING JEWISH AFTER THE DESTRUCTION OF GAZA by Peter Beinart (DB 127493)
A GREEK TRAGEDY: ONE DAY, A DEADLY SHIPWRECK, AND THE HUMAN COST OF THE REFUGEE CRISIS by Jeanne Carstensen (DB 129257)
THE ZORG: A TALE OF GREED AND MURDER THAT INSPIRED THE ABOLITION OF SLAVERY by Siddharth Kara (DB 133314)
NOTHING MORE OF THIS LAND: COMMUNITY, POWER, AND THE SEARCH FOR INDIGENOUS IDENTITY by Joseph Lee (DB 133424)
WE SURVIVED THE NIGHT by Julian Brave NoiseCat (IN PROCESS)