Becky Gomez

Becky serves as the Digital Content & Design Coordinator for the Texas Book Festival. She holds a bachelor’s degree from Stanford University in Industrial Engineering with a minor in Art & Art History. Prior to joining TBF, she worked as a product designer in New York City but decided to move her pursuits of a creative career to her hometown, Austin TX. As a creative with a passion for self-expression in many forms, she is excited to pursue her role with the hope of continuing to tell visual stories. Her love for reading can be traced to bedtime stories her parents would read to her, and memories made with TBF programming growing up. In her free time, she can be found collaging, crocheting, acting, or styling herself or others for her small personal styling business.

Jose Rodriguez

Jose serves as the Texas Book Festival’s Communications & PR Coordinator. He holds a B.B.A. in Marketing and a B.A. in English with a creative writing focus in fiction from Texas State University. Following graduation, he joined GoDaddy’s social media team helping hundreds of small businesses across the United States succeed online via marketing, branding, and paid advertising. He’s volunteered with local literary organizations including the Writers’ League of Texas and Austin Bat Cave. He serves as a reader for Story Magazine and continues working furiously to develop his own writing for publication. In his free time, Jose enjoys roller skating, dancing with his friends, enjoying a good piece of speculative fiction, and attempting to live inside the minds of the characters he’s invented.

Hannah Gabel

Hannah joined the Texas Book Festival as the Literary Director in 2023. She holds a double bachelor’s degree from Boston University in Advertising and History. Hannah has spent the majority of her professional career in corporate event management, marketing, and design. A native Austininte, she previously directed events and marketing strategy at The Real Estate Council of Austin (RECA) and Stream Realty Partners. Prior to joining TBF, Hannah founded HLG Creative, a freelance graphic design and marketing agency, where she worked with a variety of clients on everything from logos and branding to website design and content creation. She is also the founder of the book blog and social community, Bookmarkparty, which has enabled her to connect with authors, publishers, and fellow book lovers around the world. In her free time, she enjoys checking out the latest Austin hotspots, reading as much as possible, and pursuing various creative projects.

2022 TBF Holiday Gift Guide

‘Tis the season to be reading! The Texas Book Festival staff has recommended reads to add to your shopping lists this holiday season. The round-up includes books for everyone to cozy up and enjoy with your favorite warm beverage and festive treats. Check out the picks below.


The Miracle of Salt by Naomi Duguid
Recommended by Lois Kim, Executive Director

Remember that fairy tale where the king banishes his daughter when in response to being asked how much she loves him, she says as much as people like salt in their food. The king only comes to realize his mistake at a wedding banquet years later where the same princess serves unsalted food to the guests. Naomi Duguid’s The Miracle of Salt: Recipes and Techniques to Preserve, Ferment, and Transform Your Food takes her readers on a journey that details the importance of salt in our human story and the endless ingenuity with which people have preserved, pickled and seasoned with salt to make delicious and meaningful food. Ever since Duguid published Hot Sour Salty Sweet (with Jeffrey Alford) more than 20 years ago, I’ve admired her anthropological approach to writing about food and cooking. This is a great gift for the sophisticated cook in your life who loves to read about the history of food as much as they love to cook. Or who really wants to master a kickass kimchi or kraut.


Inciting Joy: Essays by Ross Gay
Recommended by Ke’ara Hunt, Communications & Marketing Coordinator


Though the holiday season is usually a time to be festive and surround yourself with those who love and support you, I cannot help but also get the holiday blues. Maybe it is a sort of grief that the year is ending and with it all of the highs and lows. It is safe to say that Inciting JoyEssays by award-winning poet and author Ross Gay was a much-needed spark to help me remember what brings me the most joy in life, at any given time of the year. In the essay “(Dis)Alienation Machinery / (Losing Your Phone: The Seventh Incitement),” Gay writes about trying to find a sense of direction or feeling aimless when you have to rely on yourself to lead the way and get you to where you need to be. For some reason, I felt very emotional reading this even though it is not outwardly trying to incite sadness. What I took from it was that reliance on yourself can be tiring and overwhelming and you will eventually get lost. However, being constantly connected to something like your phone, with its preinstalled hivemind, will likely be even more of an obstacle. Disconnect and get on your way!


Civil Service by Claire Schwartz
Recommended by Dalia Azim, Deputy Director


It was a highlight of my 2022 Texas Book Festival to have a chance to moderate a conversation with Whiting Award winners Megha Majumdar and Claire Schwartz. Schwartz’s debut poetry collection is not only stunning and thought-provoking but also raises essential questions about the relationship between art and social change. This is a book that seduces you with its precise and beautiful language—every word feels essential and urgent—and once it has absorbed you in its pages, inspires you to look at our troubled world and think about how to change it.


Also a Poet: Frank O’Hara, My Father by Ada Calhoun
Recommended by Matthew Patin, Literary Director


Some of the memoirs that most attract me center on an author’s relationship, whether personal or intellectual/emotional/creative, with a literary figure or their works. Still others center on an author’s relationship with a parent. Festival 2022 alum Ada Calhoun’s Also a Poet—one of my favorite memoirs of 2022—centers both, and beautifully. A moving, rewarding read anytime, but perhaps especially so during an end-of-year season of reflection and family reunions.


The Family Izquierdo by Ruben Degollado
Recommended by Susannah Auby, Development Manager

Meet the Izquierdos and I promise you won’t forget them. Set in the Rio Grande Valley and spanning three generations, this book introduces you to characters one by one in a series of Interlocking chapters. Their lives are filled with misfortune but their perspectives are rich. I finished the book and immediately started re-reading it.


Kicks by Van G. Garrett
Recommended by Michelle Hernandez, School & Community Programs Coordinator

Though this book is the perfect gift for the sneakerhead in your life, it is also a fun and vibrant picture book that anyone can enjoy. Van G. Garrett’s lyrical style paired with Reggie Brown’s joyful illustrations beautifully capture the way that sporting a fresh new pair of kicks can make you feel like you can run a little faster, jump a little higher, and express yourself without saying a word.


Nubia: The Awakening by Omar Epps
Recommended by Ke’ara Hunt, Communications & Marketing Coordinator

BONUS ROUND: Though this novel is laced with fantasy, the topics of class, climate change, family, and culture allowed me to not only enjoy reading the more ‘epic adventure’ parts of the story but to also connect with the main characters: Zuberi, Uzochi, and Lencho. I love sharing these types of stories with my teen brother, who is coming into his own self, day by day. We have read and watched the Black Panther comics and films together and I specifically remember having a discussion about how painful it is to know that we are disconnected from our African heritage due to history. Of course, he was a bit too young to fully grasp what I meant, but he agreed that he would love to have lived in a place like Wakanda – full of community, pride, and overall joy. 

This will be my gift to him this holiday season. I am sure that he will enjoy learning about the story of Nubia and how the characters fight to hold onto their identities and uplift one another despite oppression by those living ‘Up High’. 

Side note: I’m a huge fan of Omar Epps’ film and television work, including House, M.D. It was wonderful to see him in person at the Texas Book Festival. He is inspiring the next generation of storytellers through yet another medium which is very cool!


The Tryout by Christina Soontornvat
Recommended by Olivia Hesse, Event Production & Logistics Coordinator

While I wasn’t able to attend the whole session at the Texas Book Festival this year, I did get to sit in on a few minutes of the Graphix Con panel to learn a bit more about graphic novels, and I made it my mission to read one from the festival before the end of the year. While I was initially unsure about The Tryout, I’m so glad it ended up in my hands.

I think everyone can agree that middle school is hard; you’re not an adult but you’re not a little kid anymore either, classes are increasing in difficulty, and you start to cultivate friends based around interests rather than convenience. You start developing who you are, and Christina Soontornvat captured this experience, and the growing pains that come along with it, perfectly. 

She tells the story of her childhood as a nerdy Thai Texan girl desperate to make the Cheerleading team and fit in. Young Christina faces racism from classmates, changing friendships, changing interests, and identity struggles all within the colorful pages of this quick read, and I think it would be the perfect gift for any girl who has experienced, or is experiencing, the trials of 7th grade.


American Reboot by Will Hurd
Recommended by Anna Dolliver, Operations Coordinator

The holidays often bring large gatherings and family reunions, which can mean interacting with people whose views diverge from your own. While these conversations may feel tense at first, they can provide opportunities for deeper understanding and connection. In American Reboot, former US congressman Will Hurd reflects on the polarized state of American politics and proposes ways to address current problems our country faces. Salient threads in the book include Hurd’s endeavors to represent the diversity of Texan views while in Congress, his prioritization of personal ethics and integrity over partisan goals, and his collaboration with people across the aisle to work toward solutions.

I look forward to gifting this book to my father. Though our backgrounds and perspectives differ significantly, I find that our conversations help us grow and learn from each other. I anticipate that we’ll have contrasting approaches to solving the issues Hurd proposes, and I’m excited to see what insights emerge through our conversation. I recommend gifting American Reboot to someone with whom your views don’t quite align and using it as a springboard for those uncomfortable but rewarding discussions.

Dalia Azim

Dalia serves as the Texas Book Festival’s Interim Executive Director. She holds a bachelor’s degree in Modern Thought and Literature from Stanford University and published her first book, Country of Origin, in 2022. Her writing has appeared in The Washington Post, The New York Times, Texas Highways, American Short Fiction, Aperture, Glimmer Train, and Other Voices, among other places. Before joining TBF, she was the manager of executive initiatives and chief diversity and inclusion officer at the Blanton Museum of Art, where she helped oversee the realization of Ellsworth Kelly’s Austin, the Blanton’s new grounds initiative, and the museum’s DEAI priorities. She previously worked as a senior researcher at the Dedalus Foundation and as a curatorial assistant at the Museum of Modern Art. She was an Op-Ed Public Voices Fellow at the University of Texas at Austin and has received the First Star honor from American Short Fiction, the Staff Excellence Award from the Blanton Museum of Art, and the Lee Tenenbaum Award for exceptional curatorial work at MoMA. She is a member of the Austin Bat Cave Board of Directors and judged the 2022 Balcones Prize in Fiction for Austin Community College.

Anna Dolliver

Anna serves as the Texas Book Festival’s Operations & Literary Coordinator. She graduated from the University of Texas at Austin with a double major in Asian Cultures and Languages and English literature alongside a certificate in creative writing. After studying in Indonesia for a summer, Anna spent two years teaching English in Taiwan through the Fulbright program. Her favorite genres include experimental fiction, urban fantasy, graphic novel, poetry, and memoir. In her spare time, you’ll often find Anna drawing, learning languages, or keeping her book-eating cat Mothwing away from her reading materials.

Recommended National Book Foundation Reads

Since 1996, the Texas Book Festival has featured many National Book Award longlisters, finalists, and winners. And TBF has for years partnered with the National Book Foundation, the awards’ presenter, to feature honorees at the annual Festival.

With the 2022 National Book Award longlist announcement around the corner in early fall, the TBF staff got to thinking about some of the NBA honorees and winners featured in Festival lineups over the years, and what their critically acclaimed works meant to us. See our selections below.

Michelle Hernandez, School & Community Programs Coordinator

The Poet X by Elizabeth Acevedo
Winner, National Book Awards 2018 for Young People’s Literature
Featured Author, Texas Book Festival 2020

Elizabeth Acevedo’s debut YA book, The Poet X, introduced us to a much-needed voice in children’s literature. A novel written completely in verse, it is, by far, one of the most powerful examples of this style of storytelling I have come across.

Ghost by Jason Reynolds
Finalist, National Book Awards 2016 for Young People’s Literature
Featured Author, Texas Book Festival 2017


Jason Reynolds’ Track Series will always hold a special place in my heart as the soundtrack, if you will, of a series of Texas road trips my husband, daughter, and I enjoyed a few years ago. Ghost, the first book in the series, is filled with moments of hilarity and tenderness and is my favorite of the bunch. 

Ke’ara Hunt, Communications & Marketing Coordinator

The American Marriage by Tayari Jones
Longlist, National Book Awards 2018 for Fiction
Featured Author, Texas Book Festival 2018


This novel is deeply moving and I couldn’t help but think about the effects of America’s criminal justice system on the lives of Black families. The marriage between Celestial and Roy is challenged (to say the least) and you cannot help but mentally fight for them – as a couple and as individuals. The quote that really hit me in the feels: “A marriage is more than your heart, it’s your life. And we are not sharing ours.” 

The Underground Railroad by Colson Whitehead
Winner, National Book Awards 2016 for Fiction
Featured Author, Texas Book Festival 2019 and 2021


Colson Whitehead’s The Underground Railroad left me breathless. As a Black woman, I felt a kinship with protagonist Cora as bondage is a painful part of my ancestors’ history. Though this is a fictional story, it’s engraved in realism and is a reminder that slavery is not just a part of Black history, but is America’s history and foundation. There’s an unfortunate reverberation of its roots in our present day. I also highly recommend the series adaptation on Amazon Prime Video!

Claire Burrows, Deputy Director

The Secret Lives of Church Ladies by Deesha Philyaw
Finalist, National Book Awards 2020 for Fiction
Featured Author, Texas Book Festival 2020

The Secret Lives of Church Ladies by Deesha Philyaw is a stunning reminder of the power of short stories. This debut collection about the internal, honest, and vulnerable lives of Black women and girls is impossible to put down.

Matrix by Lauren Groff
Finalist, National Book Awards 2021 for Fiction
Featured Author, Texas Book Festival 2020 and 2015


Lauren Groff came to the Texas Book Festival in 2015 with the captivating and unsettling Fates and Furies, and Matrix continues to bring Groff’s powerful, sensual, and researching writing to the page in this historical novel.

Olivia Hesse, Event Production & Logistics Coordinator

All the Pretty Horses by Cormac McCarthy
Winner, National Book Awards 1992 for Fiction
Featured Author, Texas Book Festival 1996 and 2013


McCarthy’s sixth novel and breakthrough commercial success was a deserving winner of the 1992 National Book Award for Fiction as he captured the romanticism and wilderness of the Texas and Mexico frontiers. The coming of age touches on the powerful themes of struggling to adapt to modernizing world, love and loss, and our connection with nature. All that combined with complex characters and vivid descriptions of the American southwest will make it hard to put this book down. 

Lois Kim, Executive Director

The Good Lord Bird by James McBride
Winner, National Book Awards 2013 for Fiction
Featured Author, Texas Book Festival 2013


James McBride brought this book and a band to the 2013 Texas Book Festival and mesmerized everyone with both, and won the National Book Award a couple of weeks later. The Good Lord Bird is hilarious (as much as a novel that concerns slavery can be), with incredible dialogue and characters. This title connects to another great TBF alum, with Ethan Hawke as a fiery John Brown in the adapted Hulu series.

Trust Exercise by Susan Choi
Winner, National Book Awards 2019 for Fiction
Featured Author, Texas Book Festival 2019


Winner of the 2019 National Book Award, Trust Exercise is a novel that will stay with you long after you’ve finished, with its complex narrative structure, unreliable narrators, and layered treatment of adolescence, power, and abuse.

Matt Patin, Literary Director

The Looming Tower: Al-Qaeda and the Road to 9/11 by Lawrence Wright
Finalist, National Book Awards 2006 for Nonfiction
Featured Author, Texas Book Festival 2021, 2006, and more


Lawrence Wright—Austinite, Pulitzer Prize winner, and recipient of the Texas Writer Award—has visited the Festival many times. A session about his Going Clear (Knopf, 2013) was one of my favorites. But The Looming Tower, a definitive account of the events leading to 9/11, was what first got me hooked on his writing.

Caste: The Origins of Our Discontents by Isabel Wilkerson
Longlist, National Book Awards 2020 for Nonfiction
Featured Author, Texas Book Festival 2010 and 2020


A most-viewed session in 2020, and one my favorite conversations from two-time TBF alum Isabel Wilkerson.

How We Got to the Moon: The People, Technology, and Daring Feats of Science Behind Humanity’s Greatest Adventure by John Rocco
Longlist, National Book Awards 2020 for Young People’s Literature
Featured Author, Texas Book Festival 2020


Author-illustrator John Rocco is a brilliant presenter—his multimedia session in 2020 was rich with gorgeous imagery that painted a story of the people, ideas, and technology that sent humankind into space.

Susannah Auby, Development Manager

The Other Americans by Laila Lalami 
Finalist, National Book Awards 2019 for Fiction
Featured Author, Texas Book Festival 2019


Moroccan American Driss Guerraoui is killed in a hit and run on a Mojave Desert street. His story and the mystery around his death is processed through the alternating perspectives of the family members and other members of the community. Laila Lalami’s keen attention to detail and beautiful telling of one immigrant family’s struggle to make a life in America.

Disappearing Earth by Julia Philips
Finalist, National Book Awards 2019 for Fiction
Featured Author, Texas Book Festival 2019

This is not the Russia you have visited in books, movies, and travel. Set in remote Kamchatka Penninsula, Disappearing Earth follows the vanishing of not just two young girls but also the indigenous culture through the perspectives of the people whose lives are affected by the tragedy.

The mission of the National Book Foundation is to celebrate the best literature in America, expand its audience, and ensure that books have a prominent place in American culture.