I’m breaking with tradition and using my Friday Reads post to talk about the three books on the short list for the 2026 One Book One Nebraska selection. We wanted to give a short overview of each book, some author information, and include comments by the readers on the selection committee. The winner will be announced Saturday, November 15th at the Nebraska Celebration of Books literary festival’s awards ceremony. Let us know which book you would pick to be the next One Book One Nebraska read, or nominate a book to be considered for 2027.
Our Souls at Night, Kent Haruf. Vintage Books/Penguin Random House, 2015. Genre: Fiction
Set in contemporary Colorado, Haruf has crafted a love story between a widow and her widower neighbor. Life has given them a second chance to find happiness despite the nosiness of the townsfolk and a lack of support from family members. Readers found it consistent with Haruf’s previous novels. One evaluator described this love story as “genuine.”
Haruf authored six novels. He previously lived in Lincoln while teaching at Nebraska Wesleyan. He was a finalist for the National Book Award, the Los Angeles Times Book Prize, and the New Yorker Book Award. He died in 2014. The book was published posthumously and was adapted into a film.
Lisa Kelly previously reviewed this title for Friday Reads, and you can read that review here.
The Antidote, Karen Russell. Knopf, 2025. Genre: Fiction
Set in western Nebraska in the 1930’s, Russell’s novel includes two actual events—the Black Sunday dust storm and the flooding of the Republican River. The main character is the Antidote who magically handles memories. The novel includes a variety of interesting characters whose lives intersect in dramatic ways. One evaluator noted that the book “has lots of good topics for discussion.”
Russell has authored six books of fiction. She was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize in 2012 for her novel Swamplandia! She also received the Shirley Jackson Award and the 2024 Mary McCarthy Prize. The Antidote is on the long list for the 2025 National Book Award for Fiction. Russell lives in Portland, Oregon.
Rod Wagner previously reviewed this title for Friday Reads, and you can read that review here.
Nebraska: Under a Big Red Sky, Joel Sartore. Nebraska Book Publishing, 1999. Genre: Photography/Nonfiction
This is Joel Sartore’s second book. It contains photographs of Nebraska from every section of the state. Compiled early in his career, it was prompted by his desire to show others the full range of his home state. Photos range from Sandhill cranes to the Sower to small town sports to rodeos to Carhenge to Memorial Stadium–to mention just a few. One committee member liked both the photos and Sartore’s humor, adding “I think there could be some good discussions about living in Nebraska.”
Joel Sartore lives in Lincoln, Nebraska and has been a contributor to National Geographic as well Audubon Magazine, Time, Lif
Nebraskans should bookmark their calendars for the 2025 Nebraska Celebration of Books (N.COB) Literary Festival. Held on Saturday, November 15th, from 10:00am-5:30pm, this literary event will be on the second floor of the UNL City Campus Union and Jackie Gaughan Multicultural Center in downtown Lincoln. The event aims to celebrate Nebraska’s literary heritage and contemporary authors, the festival will honor the 2025 Nebraska Book Award authors, and will feature the State Poet Jewel Rodgers and past State Poet Matt Mason, 2025 One Book One Nebraska author Tosca Lee, writing workshops, book vendors, publishers, independent authors, presentation of the Nebraska Center for the Book’s Nebraska Book Awards, Mildred Bennett Award and Jane Geske Award, and announcement of the 2026 One Book One Nebraska selection.
Winners of the 2025 Nebraska Book Awards will be honored at the celebration which will include author roundtables, book signings, and a reception, with the awards ceremony directly after at 4:30. The ceremony will feature short acceptance speeches and readings by the winning authors and illustrators. Book award categories include fiction, nonfiction, children/young adult, poetry, and cover/design/illustration, all winning books have a Nebraska connection and were published in 2024. The ceremony will also feature the presentation of the Mildred Bennett and Jane Geske Awards. For more information about the festival and to stay up to date on the featured authors and speakers visit bookfestival.nebraska.gov
The festival will have a kickoff event Friday evening at White Elm Brewing, 720 Van Dorn Street in Lincoln. This event begins at 5:30 and will feature literary trivia, drinks, and good conversations.
The Nebraska Celebration of Books (NCOB) sponsors include Nebraska Center for the Book, Nebraska Library Commission, University of Nebraska Press, Lincoln City Libraries, Omaha Public Library, Francie and Finch Bookshop, Flatwater Free Press, and Great Plains Audiobooks. Humanities Nebraska provides support for One Book One Nebraska program.
FOR MORE INFORMATION: Tessa Timperley 402-471-3434 800-307-2665
Shortlist for 2026 One Book One Nebraska Announced
What book will all Nebraskans be encouraged to read in 2026? We will all find out on November 15th at the Nebraska Celebration of Books (N.COB) literary festival. A mesmerizing dust bowl epic filled with magical realism, a photographic journey across Nebraska, a beautifully written novel about second chances — all stories with ties to Nebraska—are the finalists for the 2026 One Book One Nebraska statewide reading program. The finalists are:
The Antidote: A Novel by Karen Russell, Knopf, 2025.
Nebraska: Under a Big Red Sky by Joel Sartore, Bison Books, 2006.
Our Souls at Night by Kent Haruf, Knopf, 2016.
The One Book One Nebraska reading program is sponsored by the Nebraska Center for the Book, Humanities Nebraska, and the Nebraska Library Commission. It encourages Nebraskans across the state to read and discuss the same book, chosen from books written by Nebraska authors or that have a Nebraska theme or setting. A Nebraska Center for the Book committee selected the three finalists from a list of nineteen titles nominated by Nebraskans. In the coming weeks, Nebraska Center for the Book board members will vote on the 2026 selection.
Nebraskans are invited to take part in the Nebraska Celebration of Books (N.COB) Literary Festival where the choice for the 2026 One Book One Nebraska will be announced. Held on Saturday, November 15th, from 10:00 am – 5:30 pm, on the second floor of the UNL City Campus Union and Jackie Gaughan Multicultural Center, this event aims to celebrate Nebraska’s literary heritage and contemporary authors. The festival will honor the 2025 One Book One Nebraska with an author talk by Tosca Lee, in addition it will feature 2025 Nebraska Book Award winning authors, Nebraska State Poets Jewel Rodgers and Matt Mason, a writing workshop hosted by Larksong Writers Place, book vendors, and presentation of the Mildred Bennett Award and Jane Geske Awards. Visit https://bookfestival.nebraska.gov/ for more information about the N.COB festival programming and authors.
The Nebraska Center for the Book is housed at the Nebraska Library Commission and brings together the state’s readers, writers, booksellers, librarians, publishers, printers, educators, and scholars to build the community of the book, supporting programs to celebrate and stimulate public interest in books, reading, and the written word. The Nebraska Center for the Book is supported by the national Center for the Book in the Library of Congress and the Nebraska Library Commission.
As the state library agency, the Nebraska Library Commission is an advocate for the library and information needs of all Nebraskans. The mission of the Library Commission is statewide promotion, development, and coordination of library and information services, “bringing together people and information.”
FOR MORE INFORMATION: Tessa Timperley 402-471-3434 800-307-2665
Nebraska’s 2025 Book Award Winners Announced
Celebrate Nebraska’s 2025 Book Award winners with author readings and an awards presentation ceremony at the Nebraska Celebration of Book’s (NCOB) literary festival. Held at the UNL City Campus Union on November 15th, winners of the 2025 Nebraska Book Awards will be honored at the celebration which will include author roundtables during the festival and an awards ceremony. The ceremony will feature readings by some of the winning authors, designers, and illustrators of books with a Nebraska connection published in 2024. And the winners are:
Teen Novel: Quagmire Tiarello Couldn’t Be Better by Mylisa Larsen. Publisher: Clarion Books.
Cover/Illustration: Animal Climate Heroesby Alison Pearce Stevens, illustrated by Jason Ford. Publisher: Godwin Books.
Cover/Illustration Honor: Do You Know the Value of You? by Isabelle Hall, illustrated by Megan Earley. Publisher: Joyful Page Press.
Design: Creative Genius: The Art of the Nebraska Capitol by Susanne Shore, Kevin Moser, and Drew Davies. Publisher: Bison Books.
Fiction: Isamu’s American Dream by D. D. Davenport. Publisher: Donald D Davenport.
Fiction Honor: Sacrificial Animals: A Novel by Kailee Pedersen. Publisher: St. Martin’s Press.
Nonfiction Biography:Most Honorable Son: A Forgotten Hero’s Fight Against Fascism and Hate During World War II by Gregg Jones. Publisher: Citadel Press.
Nonfiction Conservation:Into Whooperland: A Photographer’s Journey with Whooping Cranes by Michael Forsberg. Publisher: Michael Forsberg Photography.
Nonfiction History: Journey to Freedom: Uncovering the Grayson Sisters’ Escape from Nebraska Territory by Gail Shaffer. Publisher: University of Nebraska Press.
Nonfiction Memoir:Running Naked: Surviving the Legacy of Family in Rural Nebraska by Colby Coash. Publisher: Cahoy & Crook.
Nonfiction Nebraska as Place: The Nebraska Sandhills edited by Monica M. Norby, Judy Diamond, Aaron Sutherlen, Sherilyn C. Fritz, Kim Hachiya, Douglas A. Norby, and Michael Forsberg. Publisher: Bison Books.
Poetry: The Watching Sky by Judy Brackett Crowe. Publisher: Cornerstone Press.
Poetry Honor: Those We Can No Longer See: New and Selected Poems by Bob Ross. Publisher: Stephen F. Austin University Press.
This year’s Book Awards winners will be honored at the Nebraska Celebration of Books, which aims to celebrate Nebraska’s literary heritage and contemporary authors. Held, Saturday, November 15th, from 10:00am-4:30pm, on the second floor of the UNL City Campus Union and Jackie Gaughn Multicultural Center. The event will feature 2025 One Book One Nebraska author Tosca Lee, past and present State Poets Matt Mason and Jewel Rodgers, book vendors, publishers, and presentation of the Nebraska Book Awards, Mildred Bennett Award and Jane Geske Award, and the 2026 One Book One Nebraska announcement.
The 2025 One Book One Nebraska selection, The Long March Home: A World War II Novel of the Pacific by Marcus Brotherton and Tosca Lee (Revell, 2023) will be featured with an author talk by Nebraska Author Tosca Lee.
The Nebraska Book Awards are sponsored and facilitated by the Nebraska Center for the Book and the Nebraska Library Commission.
The Nebraska Celebration of Books (NCOB) host sponsors include Nebraska Center for the Book, Nebraska Library Commission, University of Nebraska Press, Lincoln City Libraries, and Francie and Finch Bookshop. Humanities Nebraska provides support for One Book One Nebraska program.
The Nebraska Center for the Book is housed at the Nebraska Library Commission and brings together the state’s readers, writers, booksellers, librarians, publishers, printers, educators, and scholars to build the community of the book, supporting programs to celebrate and stimulate public interest in books, reading, and the written word. The Nebraska Center for the Book is supported by the national Center for the Book in the Library of Congress and the Nebraska Library Commission.
As the state library agency, the Nebraska Library Commission is an advocate for the library and information needs of all Nebraskans. The mission of the Library Commission is statewide promotion, development, and coordination of library and information services, “bringing together people and information.”
FOR MORE INFORMATION: Tessa Timperley 402-471-3434 800-307-2665
Shortlist for 2025 One Book One Nebraska Announced
What book will all Nebraskans be encouraged to read in 2025? We will all find out on October 12th at the Nebraska Celebration of Books (N.COB) literary festival. A collection of nonfiction essays about Nebraska, a novel set in 1950’s about personal journeys, a historical fiction novel about the Pacific theater in World War II —all stories with ties to Nebraska—are the finalists for the 2025 One Book One Nebraska statewide reading program. The finalists are:
My Nebraska: The Good, the Bad, and the Husker by Roger Welsch, The Globe Pequot Press, 2006.
The Lincoln Highway: A Novel by Amor Towles, Viking Press, 2021.
The Long March Home: A World War II Novel of the Pacific by Marcus Brotherton and Tosca Lee, Revell, 2023.
The One Book One Nebraska reading program is sponsored by the Nebraska Center for the Book, Humanities Nebraska, and the Nebraska Library Commission. It encourages Nebraskans across the state to read and discuss the same book, chosen from books written by Nebraska authors or that have a Nebraska theme or setting. A Nebraska Center for the Book committee selected the three finalists from a list of nineteen titles nominated by Nebraskans. In the coming weeks, Nebraska Center for the Book board members will vote on the 2025 selection.
Nebraskans are invited to take part in the Nebraska Celebration of Books (N.COB) Literary Festival where the choice for the 2025 One Book One Nebraska will be announced. Held on Saturday, October 12th, from 10:00am-5:30pm, in the Regency Suite, Heritage Room, and Swanson Auditorium located on the second floor of the UNL City Campus Union, this event aims to celebrate Nebraska’s literary heritage and contemporary authors. The festival will honor the 20th anniversary of the One Book One Nebraska program with a panel of past authors, in addition it will feature Nebraska authors, a SLAM poetry showcase, book vendors, and presentation of the Nebraska Center for the Book’s Nebraska Book Awards, Mildred Bennett Award and Jane Geske Award.
This year’s One Book One Nebraska selection, Dancing with the Octopus: A Memoir of a Crime by Debora Harding, will be featured with a memoir writing workshop facilitated by Lucy Atkins from Larksong Writers Place. See http://onebook.nebraska.gov or https://www.facebook.com/OneBookOneNebraska for more information about ongoing 2024 One Book One Nebraska activities.
The Nebraska Center for the Book is housed at the Nebraska Library Commission and brings together the state’s readers, writers, booksellers, librarians, publishers, printers, educators, and scholars to build the community of the book, supporting programs to celebrate and stimulate public interest in books, reading, and the written word. The Nebraska Center for the Book is supported by the national Center for the Book in the Library of Congress and the Nebraska Library Commission.
As the state library agency, the Nebraska Library Commission is an advocate for the library and information needs of all Nebraskans. The mission of the Library Commission is statewide promotion, development, and coordination of library and information services, “bringing together people and information.”
FOR MORE INFORMATION: Tessa Timperley 402-471-3434 800-307-2665
Nebraska’s 2024 Book Award Winners Announced
Celebrate Nebraska’s 2024 Book Award winners with author readings and an awards presentation ceremony at the Nebraska Celebration of Book’s (NCOB) literary festival. Held at the UNL City Campus Union on October 12th, winners of the 2024 Nebraska Book Awards will be honored at the celebration which will include an author roundtable during the festival and the awards ceremony directly after at 3:30. The ceremony will feature readings by some of the winning authors, designers, and illustrators of books with a Nebraska connection published in 2023. And the winners are:
Children’s Picture Book: Ted Kooser: More Than a Local Wonder written by Carla Ketner, illustrated by Paula Wallace. Publisher: University of Nebraska Press.
Children’s Novel: The Adventures of Pearl and Monty: The Bait and Switch by E. Adams. Publisher: Jade Forest Publishing.
Teen Novel: The Unstoppable Bridget Bloom by Allison L. Bitz. Publisher: HarperTeen.
Cover and Design: Feisty Righty: A Cancer Survivor’s Journey by Jennifer D. James, Cover Art by Courtney Keller. Publisher: Self Published.
Design Honor: Horizons by Julie S. Paschold. Publisher: Atmosphere Press.
Fiction: The War Begins in Paris: A Novel by Theodore Wheeler. Publisher: Little, Brown and Company.
Nonfiction Nebraska as Place: Field Guide to a Hybrid Landscape by Dana Fritz. Publisher: Bison Books.
Nonfiction History: The First Migrants by Richard Edwards and Jacob K. Friefeld. Publisher: Bison Books.
Poetry: The Gathering of Bastards by Romeo Oriogun. Publisher: University of Nebraska Press.
Poetry Honor: The Book Eaters by Carolina Hotchandani. Publisher: Perugia Press.
This year’s Book Awards Celebration will be a combined event with the Nebraska Book Festival, called “The Nebraska Celebration of Books” which aims to celebrate Nebraska’s literary heritage and contemporary authors. Held, Saturday, October 12th, from 10:00am-4:30pm, on the second floor of the UNL City Campus Union in the Regency Suite, Heritage Room, and Swanson Auditorium, the event will honor the 20th anniversary of the One Book One Nebraska program with a panel of past authors. In addition it will feature Nebraska authors, a SLAM poetry showcase, book vendors, and presentation of the Nebraska Center for the Book’s Nebraska Book Awards, Mildred Bennett Award, Jane Geske Award, and 2025 One Book One Nebraska announcement.
The 2024 One Book One Nebraska selection, Dancing with the Octopus: A Memoir of a Crime by Debora Harding (Bloomsbury Publishing, 2020) will be featured with a memoir writing workshop facilitated by Lucy Adkins of Larksong Writers Place.
The Nebraska Book Awards are sponsored and facilitated by the Nebraska Center for the Book and the Nebraska Library Commission.
The Nebraska Center for the Book is housed at the Nebraska Library Commission and brings together the state’s readers, writers, booksellers, librarians, publishers, printers, educators, and scholars to build the community of the book, supporting programs to celebrate and stimulate public interest in books, reading, and the written word. The Nebraska Center for the Book is supported by the national Center for the Book in the Library of Congress and the Nebraska Library Commission.
As the state library agency, the Nebraska Library Commission is an advocate for the library and information needs of all Nebraskans. The mission of the Library Commission is statewide promotion, development, and coordination of library and information services, “bringing together people and information.”
The Nebraska Celebration of Books (NCOB) host sponsors include Nebraska Center for the Book, Nebraska Library Commission, University of Nebraska Press, Lincoln City Libraries, and Francie and Finch Bookshop, with supporting sponsors including Outskirts Press, KZUM 89.3FM, and Concierge Marketing at this time. Humanities Nebraska provides support for the One Book One Nebraska program.
FOR MORE INFORMATION: Tessa Timperley Communications Coordinator Nebraska Library Commission Email
Rosemary Sekora Marketing and Sales Manager University of Nebraska Press rsekora@unl.edu
Announcing a New Literary Festival Event to Take Place this Fall
Book lovers, get your calendars to save the date. A new literary festival is taking place in Lincoln.
The 2024 Nebraska Celebration of Books (NCOB) will take place on Oct. 12, 2024, in the University of Nebraska-Lincoln City Campus Union at 1400 R Street. Two presentations, a writing workshop, and a slam poetry competition will take place on second floor leading up to the presentation of the Nebraska Book Awards at 3:30 p.m. NCOB will also host local bookstores and other vendors throughout the day beginning at 10:00 a.m.
The event will officially kick off on Oct. 11 at White Elm Brewing with a literary trivia night at 5:30 p.m.
All events are free and open to the public. NCOB would like to thank the following organizations for making this new event possible: Nebraska Center for the Book, Zero Street Fiction series, Larksong Writers Place, Nebraska Writers Collective, Nebraska Library Commission, Lincoln City Libraries, and the University of Nebraska Press.
