Tag Archives: Book Covers

#BookFaceFriday “The Boy in the Black Suit”

Everybody’s crazy for a sharp-dressed #BookFace!

We’re throwing back to this #BookFace as we celebrate Black History Month. The author, Jason Reynolds, was recently selected as the National Ambassador for Young People’s Literature by the Library of Congress! We highly recommend “The Boy in the Black Suit” by Jason Reynolds (Atheneum Books for Young Readers, 2015.) Not only was it the 2019 One Book for Nebraska Teens selection it’s also available as a part of the NLC Book Club collection. This excellent YA novel is also a 2016 Coretta Scott King Author Honor book. You can reserve this kit today for your youth book club!

“Matt is a wonderfully sympathetic, multidimensional character whose voice is a perfect match for the material and whose relationships with Love and Mr. Ray—also a fascinating character—are beautifully realized. This quiet story is clearly a winner.” -Booklist

This week’s #BookFace model is one of our Commissioners, Vernon J. Davis! He began his three-year term as Commissioner this past July after his appointment by Governor Pete Ricketts.

Love this #BookFace & reading?  Check out our past #BookFaceFriday photos on the Nebraska Library Commission’s Facebook page!

Posted in Books & Reading, General | Tagged , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

#BookFaceFriday – “Crushed”

It’s just ahh little crush on #BookFaceFriday!

Happy Valentine’s Day readers! Don’t let the lack of the perfect book club read get you down. We promise there’s a book out there for everyone, like “Crushed” by Laura and Tom McNeal (Knopf Books for Young Readers, 2006) This YA novel is written by a husband and wife duo from Nebraska and can be reserved for your book club!

“A sympathetic documentary of human interrelationships and the consequences of choices, with an underlying emphasis on the value of real connection. McNeal fans and other young believers in human possibility will find food for thoughtful hope here.”—The Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books

This week’s #BookFace model is our new Library Innovation Studios Staff Assistant Chelsea Lemburg! She started just a few weeks ago and will be assisting all of our LIS makerspace libraries!

Love this #BookFace & reading? Check out our past #BookFaceFriday photos on the Nebraska Library Commission’s Facebook page!

Posted in Books & Reading, General | Tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment

#BookFaceFriday – “The Autobiography of Malcolm X”

#BookFaceFriday celebrates Black History Month!

We’re throwing back to one of our first-ever #BookFace photos with “The Autobiography of Malcolm X: As told to Alex Haley” by Malcolm X (Grove Press, 1963.) We originally featured this title as a Nebraska 150 Books List selection, and it’s available in our book club kit collection. Check out this Nebraska Author of color for your book club!

“Malcolm X’s autobiography seemed to offer something different. His repeated acts of self-creation spoke to me; the blunt poetry of his words, his unadorned insistence on respect, promised a new and uncompromising order, martial in its discipline, forged through sheer force of will.”—Barack Obama, Dreams from My Father

“The most important book I’ll ever read, it changed the way I thought, it changed the way I acted. It has given me courage I didn’t know I had inside me. I’m one of hundreds of thousands whose lives were changed for the better.”—Spike Lee

Love this #BookFace & reading? Check out our past #BookFaceFriday photos on the Nebraska Library Commission’s Facebook page!

Posted in Books & Reading, General | Tagged , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

#BookFaceFriday – “The Lady and the Panda” by Vicki Croke

We can all be explorers with a good #BookFaceFriday!

There’s nothing like adding a little non-fiction to your reading list! “The Lady and the Panda: The True Adventures of the First American Explorer to Bring Back China’s Most Exotic Animal” by Vicki Constantine Croke (Random House, 2005) is a part of our book club kit collection. Reserve it for your book club to read today!

“A remarkable journey beautifully described, The Lady and the Panda brings to life one of the most astonishing and overlooked stories of American adventure, the 1936 quest by Ruth Harkness to bring a giant panda to America. Vicki Constantine Croke’s canvas is the mystical and wondrous China of the 1930s, her heroine a most remarkable woman, and her gift the ability to understand that this is a great love story.”
ROBERT KURSON, author of Shadow Divers

This week’s #BookFace model is Cynthia Nigh, our new Infrastructure Support Technician! She was previously working as the Library Innovation Studios grant assistant. In her new position, she will be working on the Better Broadband For Public Libraries initiative, to help libraries improve their broadband speed.

Love this #BookFace & reading? Check out our past #BookFaceFriday photos on the Nebraska Library Commission’s Facebook page!

Posted in Books & Reading, General | Tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment

#BookFaceFriday – “The Unbearable Lightness Of Being” by Milan Kundera

Hold on to your hats, it’s #BookFaceFriday!

“The Unbearable Lightness of Being” by Milan Kundera (Harper & Row, 1984) is one of many classic titles your book club can reserve from our collection! You can browse our classics by using the “Search by Genre” drop-down list in our book club kit search options: http://nlc.nebraska.gov/ref/bookclub/.

“Kundera is a virtuoso . . . A work of the boldest mastery, originality, and richness.”– Elizabeth Hardwick, (Vanity Fair)

This week’s #BookFace model is Allana Novotny, our Technology & Access Services Librarian!

Love this #BookFace & reading? Check out our past #BookFaceFriday photos on the Nebraska Library Commission’s Facebook page!

Posted in Books & Reading, General | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

#BookFaceFriday – “Madness” by Zac Brewer

Mrs. Rochester’s got nothing on this #BookFace.

“We’re all mad here” for this week’s #BookFaceFriday, it’s “Madness” (Harper Teen, 2017) by Zac Brewer. “New York Times bestselling author Zac Brewer delivers his most honest and gripping novel yet, about a girl who believes she’s beyond saving—until she realizes the only person who can save her is herself.” -book jacket.

“Readers will cheer as [Brooke] navigates her way toward a degree of peace with her mental illness…Best-seller Brewer’s honest and highly personal story will speak to a wide audience.” (Booklist)

This title comes from our large collection of children’s and young adult books sent to us as review copies from book publishers. When our Children and Young Adult Library Services Coordinator, Sally Snyder, is done with them, the review copies are available for the Library System Directors to distribute to school and public libraries in their systems. Public and school library staff are also welcome to stop by and select some titles for their library collections. Contact Sally Snyder for more information.

This week’s #BookFace model is Amanda Sweet, our Technology Innovation Librarian!

Love this #BookFace & reading? Check out our past #BookFaceFriday photos on the Nebraska Library Commission’s Facebook page!

Posted in Books & Reading, General | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

#BookFaceFriday – “Midwestern Strange” by B.J. Hollars

The truth is out there… and it’s a #BookFace.

You see a lot of strange things in flyover country, unidentified drones, crop circles, Iowa fans. Learn all about them in “Midwestern Strange: Hunting Monsters, Martians, and the Weird in Flyover Country” (University of Nebraska Press, 2019) by B. J. Hollars. This title is published by the University of Nebraska Press, which we collect from for our state document program.

“Crazy tales, from the turtle the size of a dining room table, which turned an Indiana family’s life upside down, to stories of pancake-flipping visitors from outer space. Hollars meets some fascinating people in this quirky account that contends with the ways such oddities retain cultural footholds.”—Marjie Ducey, Omaha World-Herald

This week’s #BookFace models are Vern Buis, our Computer Services Director, and his trusty lieutenant, Janet Greser, Computer Help Desk Support !

Love this #BookFace & reading? Check out our past #BookFaceFriday photos on the Nebraska Library Commission’s Facebook page!

Posted in Books & Reading, General | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

#BookFaceFriday – “Conversations with Friends” by Sally Rooney

Raise your hand if one of your New Year’s resolutions is to read more! One of the best ways to accomplish that goal is by joining a book club, and have some great ‘conversations with friends’ about books! “Conversations with Friends: A Novel” ( Hogarth, 2017) by Sally Rooney is a part of our book club kit collection. It’s also available to our Talking Book & Braille customers who are looking for a new read in the new year! Check out all of our Book Club titles and TBBS services to start tackling your goals today!

“An insightful look at what it’s like to be young, smart, and deeply confused about friendship and love . . . It’s like an Ask Polly letter in the form of a novel, in the best possible way.”The Cut

This week’s #BookFace models are Anna Walter and Holly Atterbury, two of our Talking Book & Braille Service Library Readers Advisors!

Love this #BookFace & reading? Check out our past #BookFaceFriday photos on the Nebraska Library Commission’s Facebook page!

Posted in Books & Reading, General, Talking Book & Braille Service (TBBS) | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

#BookFaceFriday – “Curmudgeons, Drunkards, & Outright Fools by Thomas P. Lowry

As you prepare to ring in the new year, don’t get caught in a compromising position like those in our #BookFaceFriday, Thomas P. Lowry’s “Curmudgeons, Drunkards, & Outright Fools: Courts-Martial of Civil War Union Colonels” (Bison Books, 2003). Lowry details the misdeeds and misfortunes of fifty colonels and lieutenant colonels during the war between the North and South. This title is published by Bison Books, an imprint of University of Nebraska Press, which we collect from for our state documents program.

Lowry has taken the genre of the historical underside to its proper scholarly limits; he has coupled the lurid and the weird with excellent research and analysis. – Civil War Times

This week’s #BookFace model is neither curmudgeon, nor drunkard, nor fool. It’s Matt Hier, our new Audio Production Studio Manager!

Love this #BookFace & reading? Check out our past #BookFaceFriday photos on the Nebraska Library Commission’s Facebook page!

Posted in Books & Reading, General | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

#BookFaceFriday – “Mr. Dickens and His Carol” by Samantha Silva

Bah! Humbug! and Happy Holidays from #BookFaceFriday!

Don’t let the ghost of Jacob Marley get you down! A good book, a cozy blanket, something warm to drink. This is the perfect recipe to put any Scrooge into the holiday spirit. We have ten copies of “Mr. Dickens and His Carol: A Novel” by Samantha Silva (Flatiron Books, 2017) and an audio version for our TBBS users as well. Reserve it for your book club to read next holiday season! You should also take a peek at all of our holiday-themed book club kits!

In the collection we have 114 holiday titles, 81 of which have 4 or more copies. If a library is looking to weed some of their holiday titles – they can think of us because we’re always happy to add to this particular collection!

These titles are very popular in November and December, with some book club groups reserving their choices up to a year in advance! NLC staff keep their eyes peeled for holiday-themed books year-round in order to meet the demand come the first snowfall.

Mr. Dickens and His Carol is a charming, comic, and ultimately poignant story about the creation of the most famous Christmas tale ever written. It’s as foggy and haunted and redemptive as the original; it’s all heart, and I read it in a couple of ebullient, Christmassy gulps.”
―Anthony Doerr

This week’s #BookFace model could be considered by some, our very own office Scrooge, but with a heart of gold. It’s Jerry Breazile, our Business Manager!

Love this #BookFace & reading? Check out our past #BookFaceFriday photos on the Nebraska Library Commission’s Facebook page!

Posted in Books & Reading, General | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

#BookFaceFriday – Holiday Collection

We’re rockin’ around the Christmas tree with this week’s #BookFaceFriday!

Our holiday books are right at home among the twinkle lights and sparkling ornaments! Reserve a holiday read like “The Christmas Train” by David Baldacci (Grand Central Publishing, 2014) or “The Christmas Thief” by Mary Higgins Clark & Carol Higgins Clark (Simon & Schuster, 2004) for your book club! Take a peek at all of our holiday-themed book club kits today!

In the collection we have 114 holiday titles, 81 of which have 4 or more copies. If a library is looking to weed some of their holiday titles – they can think of us because we’re always happy to add to this particular collection!

These titles are very popular in November and December, with some book club groups reserving their choices up to a year in advance! NLC staff keep their eyes peeled for holiday-themed books year-round in order to meet the demand come the first snowfall.

“David Baldacci’s THE CHRISTMAS TRAIN is filled with memorable characters who have packed their bags with as much wisdom as mischief…and shows how we do get second chances to fulfill our deepest hopes and dreams, especially during this season of miracles.” – book jacket

“Mary Higgins Clark, America’s Queen of Suspense, and her daughter, bestselling mystery writer Carol Higgins Clark, have again joined forces to create a suspenseful and humorous holiday tale. The Christmas Thief is filled with suspense, comic characters, and holiday cheer, and is sure to delight its readers.” – book jacket

This week’s #BookFace model is Aimee Owen’s Christmas tree, she’s NLC’s Information Services Librarian.

Love this #BookFace & reading? Check out our past #BookFaceFriday photos on the Nebraska Library Commission’s Facebook page!

Posted in Books & Reading, General | Tagged , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

#BookFaceFriday – “Christmas Lights”

It’s the hap-hap-happiest #BookFaceFriday!

Looking for a heart-warming Christmas tale, a holiday romance, or a good Yuletide murder mystery? Take a peek at all of our holiday-themed book club kits!

These titles are very popular in November and December, with some book club groups reserving their choices up to a year in advance! NLC staff keep their eyes peeled for holiday-themed books year-round in order to meet the demand come the first snowfall. Reserve a holiday read like “Christmas Lights: A Novel” by Christine Pisera Naman ( Skyhorse, 2017) for your book club!

Christmas Lights is an inspiring, warm and tender read which could set your mood for the upcoming holiday.” —The Lakeland Times

This week’s #BookFace model is Kayla Henzel, NLC’s Administrative and Communications Staff Assistant.

Love this #BookFace & reading? Check out our past #BookFaceFriday photos on the Nebraska Library Commission’s Facebook page!

Posted in Books & Reading, General | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

#BookFaceFriday – “Sport, Philosophy, and Good Lives”

Get your fat pants on and get ready to yell at the TV! It’s a football #BookFaceFriday!

Today, all across the state, families will get out the Thanksgiving leftovers and settle in to watch some football! And for those of you who aren’t, may we suggest settling in with a good book, like “Sport, Philosophy, and Good Lives” by Randolph Feezell (University of Nebraska Press, 2013.) The author is a professor of philosophy at Creighton University, who posits, “There’s more to sports than the ethos of competition, entertainment, and commercialism.” As part of our permanent collection, it’s available for check out to anyone. Just ask our amazing Information Services staff! This title is published by the University of Nebraska Press, which we collect from for our state document program.

Sport, Philosophy, and Good Lives provides illuminating discussion for those in sport studies (both undergraduate and graduate students, and scholars too) as well as general readers interested in reflecting on the meaning of sport.”—Douglas Hochstetler, Journal of Sport History

This week’s #BookFace model is Bruce Oorlog, NLC’s Mail/Material Specialist. He also happens to be quite the sports junkie, so we thought he was the perfect choice for this week’s model.

Love this #BookFace & reading? Check out our past #BookFaceFriday photos on the Nebraska Library Commission’s Facebook page!

Posted in Books & Reading, General | Tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment

#BookFaceFriday – “Small Public Library Management”

There’s nothing like a little Library Science on a #BookFaceFriday!

Did you know the Commission has a collection of library science titles? Our Library Science Collection provides professional and reference materials for Nebraska librarians and library science programs. This includes all librarians and library science students. Checkout period is 4 weeks, and items can be sent through the mail or picked up in person. An especially pertinent title for Nebraska is “Small Public Library Management” by Jane Pearlmutter and Paul Nelson (American Library Association Editions, 2012.)

“Highly recommended to any small public library administrator it will have a permanent place on this reviewer’s nightstand.”Booklist

This week’s #BookFace model is Cathy Hatterman, NLC’s Acquisitions Librarian. Cathy orders books and magazines for the Library of Congress collection, as well as for the Reference collection, and any special orders needed.

Love this #BookFace & reading? Check out our past #BookFaceFriday photos on the Nebraska Library Commission’s Facebook page!

Posted in Books & Reading, Education & Training | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

#BookFaceFriday – “Cold Shot” by Dani Pettrey

After this week’s chilly temps, we’re ready for a smokin’ hot #BookFaceFriday!

This #BookFaceFriday is the first installment of the Chesapeake Valor series by romantic suspense author Dani Pettrey. Is your book group in the mood for a suspenseful thriller or fast-paced mystery? You can search our book club kit by genre: http://nlc.nebraska.gov/ref/bookclub/.

“An intricate plot, a reunion of friends and an appealing lead couple make this a standout.”–Booklist

This week’s #BookFace model is Lowell Owen, spouse of Information Services Librarian, Aimee Owen. He will probably hesitate to visit her at work in the future.

Love this #BookFace & reading?  Check out our past #BookFaceFriday photos on the Nebraska Library Commission’s Facebook page!

Posted in Books & Reading | Tagged , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

#BookFaceFriday “The Tattooist of Auschwitz” by Heather Morris

The Tattooist of Auschwitz: A Novel” by Heather Morris (Harper, 2018) is a part of the NLC Book Club collection! Even better, your book club can celebrate Veteran’s Day all month long with our book club search engine’s Category setting. Quickly find fiction and non-fiction books covering the topic of War and Military Service. The Tattooist of Auschwitz: A Novel” is based on the real-life experiences of a Holocaust survivor, historical fiction doesn’t get any better than this.

To many, this book will be most appreciated for its powerful evocation of the everyday horrors of life as a prisoner in a concentration camp, while others will be heartened by the novel’s message of how true love can transcend even the most hellishly inhuman environments. This is a perfect novel for book clubs and readers of historical fiction.” (Publishers Weekly)

This week’s #BookFace models are current NLC Commissioner Arunkumar Pondicherry, and past NLC Commissioner Sandy White! Arun was appointed in 2018 to his first three-year term and Sandy just finished her three-year term just this month. A big thank you to all of our NLC Commissioners for their service on our board!

Love this #BookFace & reading?  Check out our past #BookFaceFriday photos on the Nebraska Library Commission’s Facebook page!

Posted in Books & Reading, General | Tagged , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

#BookFaceFriday – “Komi Can’t Communicate” by Tomohito Oda

Is our quiet #BookFaceFriday coolly aloof…or just super awkward?

This #BookFaceFriday is also this week’s Friday Read’s post by our Youth Services Coordinator Sally Snyder! Read all about the first volume in this Manga series in her review.

“The journey to 100 friends begins with a single conversation.” book cover

This week’s #BookFace model is Library Development Staff Assistant, Linda Babcock!

Love this #BookFace & reading?  Check out our past #BookFaceFriday photos on the Nebraska Library Commission’s Facebook page!

Posted in Books & Reading | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

#BookFaceFriday – “Dracula” by Bram Stoker

Velcome to #BookFaceFriday!

Grab your garlic and wooden stakes, we’re wrapping up October with this classic tale of horror (Puffin Classics, 1994, first published 1897). Written as a series of journal entries and letters, it tells the story of the quest to destroy the evil Count Dracula and end his reign of terror.

“Those who cannot find their own reflection in Bram Stoker’s still-living creation are surely the undead .” New York Times Review of Books

This week’s #BookFace model is our new TBBS Circulation Technician, Amy Irons!

Love this #BookFace & reading?  Check out our past #BookFaceFriday photos on the Nebraska Library Commission’s Facebook page!

Posted in Books & Reading | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

#BookFaceFriday “Skeleton Man” by Joseph Bruchac

This #BookFace is sure to get your blood pumping!

We are hitting our Halloween stride with this week’s #BookFaceFriday! “Skeleton Man” by Joseph Bruchac (HarperCollins, 2003) is a chilling middle-grade read. Full of missing parents, nightmares, and spooky stories this book club kit is a great way to learn about tribal legends. Reserve it for your youth book club today!

Although it’s steeped in Mohawk lore and tradition, Bruchac’s story is contemporary both in its setting and its celebration of the enduring strength and courage of Native American women. – (ALA Booklist)

This week’s #BookFace model is our new TBBS Director, Gabe Kramer!

Love this #BookFace & reading?  Check out our past #BookFaceFriday photos on the Nebraska Library Commission’s Facebook page!

Posted in Books & Reading, General | Tagged , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

#BookFaceFriday “The Ghost of Fossil Glen” by Cynthia Defelice

This #BookFace is a graveyard smash!

We are getting into the Halloween spirit with “The Ghost of Fossil Glen” by Cynthia Defelice (Square Fish, 2010.) It’s a 3-7 grade read with a teacher’s guide available. Just like a Nancy Drew mystery if she’d had a little paranormal help. Get it reserved for your youth book club today!

An imaginative and adventurous sixth grader makes a connection with the ghost of the victim of an unsolved murder and puts her own life in jeopardy to find the killer…Fans of ghost stories…will find this excellent book difficult to put down. ―Starred, School Library Journal

This week’s #BookFace model is Cathy Hatterman, NLC’s Acquisitions Librarian! Unfortunately, we did not have access to a graveyard so our stacks had to suffice for this week’s #BookFace photo.

Love this #BookFace & reading?  Check out our past #BookFaceFriday photos on the Nebraska Library Commission’s Facebook page!

Posted in Books & Reading, General, Youth Services | Tagged , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment