Superpower Sisters Jenna Bush Hager & Barbara Pierce Bush, Top Authors Embrace Houston’s Barbara Bush Reading Party

It will be a heyday for fans of the written word when the 28th annual Celebration of Reading, benefiting the Barbara Bush Houston Literacy Foundation, spotlights five best-selling authors in the annual evening of books, dinner and delicious conversation.

Maria and Neil Bush, co-founders of the foundation, will host the fundraiser to be held at the Post Oak Hotel on April 21.

New York Times best-selling author Brad Meltzer, with 13 chart-topping thrillers to his name, has been a regular on the Celebration of Reading fundraiser circuit from Maine, to Florida, Dallas and Houston. Audiences are always mesmerized when the talented fiction writer discusses his craft. This night, he will read from and discuss The Lightning Rod, which will publish in early March.

Making the evening a family affair, Jenna Bush Hager and Barbara Pierce Bush, twin daughters of former President George W. Bush and nieces of Neil Bush, will discuss their third book, The Superpower Sisterhood, which will publish only two days before the Celebration of Reading. Their books Sisters First and  Sisters First: Stories from Our Wild and Wonderful Life were New York Times best-sellers.

Alafair Burke, best-selling author of 18 crime books, will share insights on her creativity and her latest novel, Find Me, which was just released in January. (For fans of best-selling fiction author James Lee Burke, you might be interested to know that this talented writer is his daughter.)

Recognized as a best-selling author by USA Today, Amazon and the Wall Street Journal Dr. Rick Rigsby, an internationally recognized speaker and the author of Lessons from a Third Grade Dropout and Afraid to Hope, is scheduled to entertain and inspire the audience.

“My wife, Maria, and I are delighted to present another outstanding A Celebration of Reading featuring some of of our nation’s bestselling authors,” Neil Bush says in a statement. “We are grateful to the authors and the many sponsors who give so generously to support Mom’s namesake foundations who work tirelessly to help more children and adults have brighter futures and better lives through the transformative power of learning how to read.”

Contributing to the evening’s success, Phillips 66 will serve as title sponsor for the seventh year in a row and Quanex Foundation will serve as presenting sponsor. Additional sponsorship and event information is available here.