Hot Library Reading

Check out the popular book that Dallas readers can't put down

What have you been reading, Dallas?

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Are you on-trend with your reading material? Fifteen cities across the U.S. reported their library records to Quartz, which then narrowed down the top two adult novels in circulation. Some of the results are predictable, but others are a bit surprising.

In Dallas, the most checked-out book is Paula Hawkins' mystery thriller The Girl on the Train. The book is the most popular in the country, the top pick in five other cities including New York and San Diego, and it was checked out enough to make 11 top 10 lists.

Coming in second is Harper Lee's controversially published Go Set a Watchman, the top read in Seattle, Phoenix, and Baltimore. Watchman was popular enough to be a top 10 most popular book at nine of the libraries.

Houston is devouring James Patterson's latest bestseller, Truth or Die. Some public libraries of well-known bookish cities, including Austin, Boston, Charlotte, and San Antonio, did not provide Quartz with rankings prior to publication.

Quartz notes that the time period for the checkout lists varied by library, but all were each library's most recent figures. Because Go Set a Watchman was released on July 15, its popularity could be underrepresented by some libraries' lists.

If we exclude Hawkins and Lee's books, then Dallasites can't get enough of Gray Mountain by John Grisham. Hollywood-inspired titles such as Gillian Flynn's Gone Girl and John Green's The Fault In Our Stars are also popular around the country, along with Janet Evanovich's Wicked Charms and All The Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr.

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Free Food

Food Bank to host summer food giveaway at UNT Dallas campus

Photo by Michael Martin

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Two Dallas organizations are partnering on a big summer food giveaway: The North Texas Food Bank is joining forces with the University of North Texas at Dallas (UNT Dallas) with a mobile food distribution event at the UNT Dallas campus on Friday, July 18.

UNT Dallas and the NTFB already host a drive-through mobile pantry each month, but this one is specifically focused on children who are out of school for the summer.

Each participating family will receive about 60 pounds of food, including fresh produce, to help fill the gap left when school-provided meals are unavailable.

So far this year, the monthly mobile pantry events at UNT Dallas have provided approximately 140,000 pounds of food to more than 1,500 families and 7,000 people. Long lines usually form on University Hills Blvd. well before the gates open.

UNT Dallas has partnered with NTFB since 2020, hosting monthly mobile food distributions on campus. Each event is supported by student, faculty, and staff volunteers, providing relief to campus and community members. The university also operates the Trailblazers Care Pantry, an on-campus resource that provides groceries, hygiene products, and a Career Closet for students preparing for interviews or internships.

A recent Feeding America study found that Texas has the highest number of food-insecure people of any state, and the Dallas-Fort Worth area ranks third in the nation. Within NTFB’s 12-county service area, nearly 744,000 people, including more than 250,000 children, don’t always know where their next meal will come from. Over 60 percent of that population lives in Dallas County.

The July 18 food distribution is first-come, first-served, and no ID or pre-registration is required. Participants must arrive in a vehicle, as this is a drive-through-only event. It'll run from 8-11 am, or while supplies last, at the UNT Dallas campus in southern Dallas, at 7300 University Hills Blvd.

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