Our Must-Read Books (And What’s TBR) This Back-to-School Season — A PaperCity Staffers’ Guide
From Fiction to Memoirs, Consider This Your Reading List
By Megan Ziots //
The back-to-school season is officially here, bringing packed calendars, fresh routines, and a familiar return to the rhythm of the academic year. Even for those who aren’t heading back to the classroom themselves, there’s something about mid-August that makes us want to turn a page — literally.
At PaperCity, we’ve gathered our staffers’ favorite must-read books from this summer, as well as the ones that are next on their TBR list. Many of these you can find at local Dallas and Houston bookstores.
Consider this your reading list for the new school year — no syllabus required.
Megan Ziots
Digital Managing Editor
Whistler by Ann Patchett — This is my favorite author, so whenever Patchett has a new book coming out, I pre-order it. I couldn’t put down her latest novel about two adults looking back at the life choices they made. Daphne Fuller runs into her former stepfather, Eddie, decades after her mother divorced him. Though they only spent a year together when Daphne was nine, the two reconnect when she’s 53 and revisit their past. I didn’t want this book to ever end.
The Calamity Club by Kathryn Stockett — I love a good historical fiction book, and this new one by the author of The Help did not disappoint. Set in 1933 Oxford, Mississippi, when Prohibition is fizzling and the Great Depression is taking hold, it follows Birdie, an unmarried, outspoken young woman who gets caught up in the drama of her sister, an 11-year-old orphan, and a woman who is looking to claim her daughter back.
TBR: The Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Olive Kitteridge and Tell Me Everything, Elizabeth Strout, returns with The Things We Never Say — just released this summer.
Melissa Smrekar
Digital Editorial Director, Dallas + Fort Worth
Famesick: A Memoir by Lena Dunham — “I don’t wanna freak you out. But I think that I may be the voice of my generation. Or at least a voice. Of a generation.” This is arguably the most famous line that Dunham’s character, Hannah Horvath, said in the Girls pilot episode. It proved to be a self-fulfilling prophecy; I consider Dunham one of the most razor-sharp, biting, lyrical writers of the past 15 years. Her chronicle of friendship, chronic illness, fame, and life as a famously polarizing figure captivated me from start to finish. Love her or hate her, you can’t diminish her talent as a writer.
Strangers: A Memoir of Marriage by Belle Burden — I suppose it’s not groundbreaking that a gal who writes non-fiction comedic essays picked two memoirs as her favorite books of 2026 (so far). One of the buzziest books of the year, Belle Burden’s Strangers is an important read for every woman. Period. It’s a cautionary tale that demanded to be told. In the process, it introduced us to a profoundly gifted writer. I’m unmarried, but if and when I get married, you better believe that I’m going to be INFORMED (on both a macro and micro level) about the state of our finances. Belle carried the burden to help future generations of women protect themselves.
TBR: For the lady, perhaps a palate cleanser? The Shampoo Effect by Jenny Jackson is next on my list!
Georgie Miller
Managing Director, Content Strategy & Operations
I’ll admit it: my reading time is filled with combing through magazines, my favorite Substack writers, and my daily online news scouring (NYT Arts section, always). Call it an obsession with my craft, perhaps. My TBR pile is much taller than my finished pile, but I keep a constant, ever-evolving list of books I’m excited to get to… whenever I finally have extra time (ha).
Why Hulk Hogan Matters by David Shoemaker
A random childhood fascination with watching wrestling on TV, followed by his quirky family MTV reality show, made me a lifelong fan of the late wrestling legend. I’m excited to read an explanation of a legacy filled with showmanship, larger-than-life character, and the highs and lows that come with being a cultural phenomenon.
Cork Dork by Bianca Bosker
After reading Get the Picture, Bosker’s firsthand account of her immersion (maybe even infiltration) into the exclusive, mysterious world of fine art, as a gift from a friend, I’m excited to go back to her first book, where she tackles the world of wine with the same fervor and true curiosity. The former journalist writes in a style that’s investigative yet compelling and humorous, putting you right there with her as she charts unfamiliar territory for the rest of us non-experts.
Laura Landsbaum
Digital Editor, The Woodlands
How to Walk Away. This Katherine Center novel came out in 2018, but was my entry to her work this summer. Center will be the featured artist for the 2026 John Cooper Signature Author Series, and I wanted to read this Houston-based author’s earlier works. The novel has a decidedly rom-com start, but has an immediate twist. After Maggie’s near-perfect engagement morning, her life moves in a direction that she never saw coming. With the help of her estranged sister, Maggie forges on with Ian, her burly Scottish physical therapist. The ending you didn’t know you wanted comes as a satisfying conclusion.
TBR: The Midnight Train, by Matt Haig. When The Midnight Library came out in 2020, I bought copies for several friends after I finished reading it. Florence Pugh is set to star in the upcoming film adaptation, set for 2027. Thinking about the different ways I could have lived my life made for an interesting exercise. The Midnight Train is a companion story and was released in May.
Edward Brown
Digital Writer, Fort Worth
The King of Diamonds by Rena Pederson — Local artist Nancy Lamb recommended this captivating book. I’m glad she did. Written by longtime Dallas journalist Rena Pederson, the meticulously researched book details the real-life exploits of an uncatchable cat burglar who stalked Dallas’ top millionaires throughout the ’50s and ’60s. Pederson’s book is as much about the excesses and private lives of North Texas’ wealthiest families as it is about a true crime story.
TBR: Blood and Money by Thomas Thompson. Now that I have a taste for high society capers, I may follow up with this 1975 true crime book about a Houston oil millionaire, a suspicious death, and murder.
Catherine D. Anspon
Executive Editor – Visual Arts + Features
Joyride by Susan Orlean — Two great photographer friends, Monica Sigmon and Michael Taylor of Gittings, unexpectedly dropped this book by this summer on a hunch that it would be useful. Joyride has indeed been transformative for a writer to follow the intrepid and brilliant career of Orlean, whose previous volumes included Orchid Thief — made into a film that garnered an Oscar nomination for Meryl Streep playing the part of Orlean. There are also riveting tales from Orlean’s decades with The New Yorker — notably when Tina Brown was editor — and how she navigated book deals and assignments as a fledgling writer with no connections in Manhattan.
TBR: Art Cure by Daisy Fancourt. The buzz on my beat at the moment is the arts — performing and visual — as anecdotes for physical and mental ailments and even a cure for loneliness and isolation. While this idea is not new (there have been healing arts programs for decades), British professor Fancourt’s informed take on the subject, based on actual cases, is extraordinarily relevant for our disconnected and disaffected time. So go to an opening or performance this weekend!
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