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Tag Archives: series
#BookFaceFriday “Finlay Donovan Rolls the Dice” by Elle Cosimano
Feel the wind in your hair with #BookFaceFriday!
You know what every good road trip needs? A great read, like this week’s #BookFace, “Finlay Donovan Rolls the Dice: A Novel” by Elle Cosimano ( Minotaur Books, 2024.) The fourth book in Cosimano’s Finlay Donovan series, it’s available for checkout as an eBook and as an Audiobook from Nebraska Overdrive Libraries, along with the first three books in the series. This oddball adventure, featuring themes of friendship, motherhood, and complicated relationships keeps Finlay and her nanny/partner-in-crime Vero’s story rolling.
“Cosimano’s fourth Finlay Donovan novel is brilliantly plotted, bringing the witty humor and thrilling, nail-biting action the series is known for while also tackling emotional family dynamics. Cosimano knocks this one out of the park. Highly recommended for all fans of the series.”
— Booklist (starred review)
Find this title and many more through Nebraska OverDrive! Libraries participating in the Nebraska OverDrive Libraries Group currently have access to a shared and growing collection of digital downloadable audiobooks and eBooks. 194 libraries across the state share the Nebraska OverDrive collection of 26,898 audiobooks, 36,794 ebooks, and 5,133 magazines. As an added bonus it includes 130 podcasts that are always available with simultaneous use (SU), as well as SU ebooks and audiobook titles that publishers have made available for a limited time. If you’re a part of it, let your users know about this great title, and if you’re not a member yet, find more information about participating in Nebraska Overdrive Libraries!
Love this #BookFace & reading? Check out our past #BookFaceFriday photos on the Nebraska Library Commission’s Facebook page!
#BookFaceFriday “Defiant” by Brandon Sanderson
Adventure awaits for this #BookFaceFriday!
With another school year ending, that can only mean one thing: Summer Reading Program is upon us! This week’s #BookFace is “Defiant” by Brandon Sanderson (Random House Children’s Books, 2023), the fourth book in his Skyward series.
It’s available for checkout as an eBook from Nebraska Overdrive Libraries; it can be found in the “Adventure Begins at your Library” collection. This action-packed epic Sci-fi series is an excellent YA pick for both boys and girls and fits perfectly in this year’s Summer Reading Program theme.“Sanderson delivers a cinematic adventure that explores the defining aspects of the individual versus the society…[and] fans of [his] will not be disappointed.”
— School Library Journal
Find this title and many more through Nebraska OverDrive! Libraries participating in the Nebraska OverDrive Libraries Group currently have access to a shared and growing collection of digital downloadable audiobooks and eBooks. 194 libraries across the state share the Nebraska OverDrive collection of 26,174 audiobooks, 36,611 ebooks, and 5,210 magazines. As an added bonus it includes 130 podcasts that are always available with simultaneous use (SU), as well as SU ebooks and audiobook titles that publishers have made available for a limited time. If you’re a part of it, let your users know about this great title, and if you’re not a member yet, find more information about participating in Nebraska Overdrive Libraries!
Love this #BookFace & reading? Check out our past #BookFaceFriday photos on the Nebraska Library Commission’s Facebook page!
Friday Reads: Will Trent Novels
I don’t know about you, but I am a sucker for a good book series. I blame my favorite childhood series, because once I find a character I like I just want their story to continue. Lately I’ve been deep into mystery and detective novels, including Karin Slaughter’s Will Trent series, Triptych, Fractured, Undone, and Broken. I’m currently on the fourth book in this twelve book series, and have enjoyed the world and characters that Karin Slaughter has created with character crossovers from her other book series including The Grant County Series.
Set mainly in Atlanta, Karin Slaughter’s Will Trent series begins with Triptych, where you meet Georgia Bureau of Investigation (GBI) Special Agent Will Trent and a slew of other characters that will continue throughout the series. Including his hard as nails GBI boss, Amanda Wagner, various childhood acquaintances, and other law enforcement officers. Orphaned as an infant, Will Trent spent his entire childhood as a ward of the state, growing up in group homes and foster care. And for his entire adult life, Trent has been concealing that he is barely able literate. Due to his unconventional childhood, he’s been living with undiagnosed dyslexia, finding creative ways to work around this problem, and keep it a secret. In spite of all this, or perhaps because of it, he’s an observant, thoughtful, and dedicated detective, solving crimes and seeing what others do not.
Now a series on the Hulu streaming service, Will Trent and his dog Betty are out there for everyone, even those non-readers, and it is a great TV show.
Slaughter, Karin. Triptych. Delacorte Press. 2006
Posted in Books & Reading, General
Tagged books, Crime, Fiction, Friday Reads, Karin Slaughter, mystery, Novel, Reading, series, Will Trent Series
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#BookFaceFriday “The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe” by C.S. Lewis
The Lion, the Witch, and the #BookFace!
Pass the Turkish Delight! There’s nothing like a great series to while away the winter months. This week’s BookFace, “The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe” by C. S. Lewis (HarperCollins, 1994), is the second book in the fantasy series The Chronicles of Narnia. This title is available as a Book Club Kit for Nebraska libraries to check out; we have the entire series in the collection. You can also find the series in Nebraska OverDrive Libraries. If you’re looking for more information about a book series, check out the Commission’s Books in Series Database. It’s a one-stop shop for information on all the different books series out there!
“Although metaphysical rumblings may disturb adults, this wily symbolism-studded fantasy should appeal to children of an imaginative turn. While exploring an old English mansion, the four children—Peter, Susan, Edmund and Lucy—discover through passing into a wardrobe, the strange land of Narnia, where it is winter without ever becoming Christmas.”
— Kirkus Reviews
A big shout-out to this week’s model Mittens and her person Mackenzie Marrow for this week’s Bookface photo! You’re a natural Mittens!
Book Club Kits Rules for Use
- These kits can be checked out by the librarians of Nebraska libraries and media centers.
- Circulation times are flexible and will be based upon availability. There is no standard check-out time for book club kits.
- Please search the collection to select items you wish to borrow and use the REQUEST THIS KIT icon to borrow items.
- Contact the Information Desk at the Library Commission if you have any questions: by phone: 800/307-2665, or by email: Information Services Team
Find this title and many more through Nebraska OverDrive! Libraries participating in the Nebraska OverDrive Libraries Group currently have access to a shared and growing collection of digital downloadable audiobooks and eBooks. 194 libraries across the state share the Nebraska OverDrive collection of 26,174 audiobooks, 36,611 ebooks, and 5,210 magazines. As an added bonus it includes 130 podcasts that are always available with simultaneous use (SU), as well as SU ebooks and audiobook titles that publishers have made available for a limited time. If you’re a part of it, let your users know about this great title, and if you’re not a member yet, find more information about participating in Nebraska Overdrive Libraries!
Love this #BookFace & reading? Check out our past #BookFaceFriday photos on the Nebraska Library Commission’s Facebook page!
#BookFaceFriday “My Best Friend’s Boyfriend” by Camilla Isley
My best friend’s #Bookface!
All’s fair in love and #BookFaceFriday! Fun and lighthearted, this week’s selection is written for the post-teen, but pre-adult reader. Check out “My Best Friend’s Boyfriend: A New Adult College Romance” by Camilla Isley (CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform, 2018). This title is available as an eBook on Nebraska Overdrive Libraries, along with the entire four-book Just Friends series!
“My Best Friend’s Boyfriend is a fun and interesting story about true love, friendship and honesty. As a reader you learn about who will be a better match and I wished I could play Cupid, just a little bit. The main characters of My Best Friend’s Boyfriend have already been introduced in the first two books of the Just Friends series, Let’s Be Just Friends and Friend Zone. Camilla Isley never disappoints with her lighthearted romantic novels.”
— Anniek – With Love for Books
Find this title and many more through Nebraska OverDrive! Libraries participating in the Nebraska OverDrive Libraries Group currently have access to a shared and growing collection of digital downloadable audiobooks and eBooks. 194 libraries across the state share the Nebraska OverDrive collection of 26,174 audiobooks, 36,611 ebooks, and 5,210 magazines. As an added bonus it includes 130 podcasts that are always available with simultaneous use (SU), as well as SU ebooks and audiobook titles that publishers have made available for a limited time. If you’re a part of it, let your users know about this great title, and if you’re not a member yet, find more information about participating in Nebraska Overdrive Libraries!
Love this #BookFace & reading? Check out our past #BookFaceFriday photos on the Nebraska Library Commission’s Facebook page!
Friday Reads: “The Wheel of Time Series” by Robert Jordan
I’ve been reading this series since I was a freshman in high school, and by then the first books were almost 15 years old, so you know they pass the test of time. I’ve been reading and rereading this series off and on ever since. It’s one of my favorite fantasy series, full of flawed characters, adventure, love stories, and tragedies. The first book in the series is The Eye of the World, It follows a group of young adults, childhood friends, as they’re pulled out of the comfortable small village they’ve always known and thrown into a fight between good and evil and the possible destruction of the world as they know it. It’s a long series, 14 books, and Lincoln City Libraries and Nebraska Overdrive Libraries both have all of them in eBook and Audiobook format available on Libby. If you were a fan of Game of Thrones with its multiple character story lines and young heroes and heroines, this is a great series for you. Prime Video came out with a TV series last year, and while I enjoyed it, I will always urge someone to read the books. They are infinitely better.
Jordan, Robert. The Eye of the World. Tor Books. 1990.
Posted in Books & Reading, General
Tagged A Hawthorne and Horowitz Mystery, Anthony Horowitz, Book Review, Friday Reads, mystery, Reading, series, The Word is Murder
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Friday Reads: “The Word is Murder: A Novel” by Anthony Horowitz
Anthony Horowitz is the author of over forty-five novels, including the Magpie Murders Series which has been made into a BBC TV series. He’s also a writer for BBC Television including series like Midsomer Murders and Foyle’s War. Horowitz has written this new semi-autobiographical murder mystery series as a new spin off on the Sherlock Holmes and Watson partner dynamics.
Writing himself into the book as the one of the main characters, Anthony Horowitz is a TV writer and author living his life in London when he’s approached by private detective and police consultant Daniel Hawthorne, with the proposition to write about his interesting cases for a new book series. In a very Holmes like way, Hawthorne is brilliant with his deductions but has a personality that is hard to like.
Hawthorne comes with a case, Diana Cowper, the mother of a famous actor with a troubled past has been murdered in her own home, the day before she visited a mortuary to make her own funeral arrangements. As if she knew what was coming or even planned it herself. This unlikely duo will investigate the case together, Horowitz will follow all the twists and turns of the case with Hawthorne leading the way.
The Word is Murder is the first novel in the Hawthorne and Horowitz Mystery Series. There are now three books in the series, including The Sentence is Death and A Line to Kill.
Horowitz, Anthony. The Word is Murder: A Novel. Harper.2018.
Friday Reads: “The Diving Bell and the Butterfly: A Memoir of Life in Death” by Jean-Dominique Bauby
For me, the hallmark of all my favorite books is that I enjoy reading them over and over again. Maybe years apart or for some I revisit them every year, but I always come back. If I like a book enough that I want to re-read it, I know it’s a classic for me. This is one of those books. Written entirely by a man bed-bound and paralyzed, Jean-Dominique Bauby, suffered a massive stroke and was left in what doctors thought was a completely vegetative state. In truth, his mind was intact but he could no longer communicate with the rest of his body, what is now known as locked-in syndrome. Yet through blinking and eye-movement alone, he wrote what is one of the most beautiful books I have ever read. It is both his memoir and treaties on life and death and how he copes with the hand he’s been dealt. Translated from Bauby’s original french by Jeremy Leggatt, this short (only 131 pages) but poignant book will make every reader look at the world differently.
Bauby, Jean-Dominique. The Diving Bell and the Butterfly: A Memoir of Life in Death. Vintage. 1998.
Posted in Books & Reading, General
Tagged Book Review, Friday Reads, Kassandra Montag, mystery, Reading, series, Those Who Return
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Friday Reads: “Those Who Return” by Kassandra Montag
Set in the Sandhills of Nebraska, this mystery centers around a children’s home for troubled youths and a psychologist who is trying to start a new life. Isolated and far off the beaten path, Hatchery House, is a treatment facility for orphaned children with psychiatric disorders. Lore Webber has left a job with the FBI in Omaha and moved out west to start over, but when one of her patients at Hatchery House is found murdered her old life and her new life will collide. This closed-door murder thriller will have readers guessing until the very end. The inherent remoteness of the setting has limited the suspect pool, and no one wants to think the people they live with are capable of murder. The beautifully written descriptions of the setting honor the unique beauty and seclusion of the Sandhills. Too many people who comment on the Nebraska landscape have only ever driven through on I80, it was good to read a book that looked deeper. The characters are complex and well-written, with interesting backstories that unfold throughout the story as you work alongside Lore to solve the crime. Thoroughly well-researched and compelling, this is Montag’s second novel, her first “After the Flood” was published in 2019, and is also a favorite read of mine. I would highly recommend both.
Montag, Kassandra. Those Who Return. Quercus. 2022.
Posted in Books & Reading, General
Tagged Book Review, Friday Reads, Kassandra Montag, mystery, Reading, series, Those Who Return
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Friday Reads: Troubled Blood by Robert Galbraith
I’ve been rereading the Cormoran Strike series by Robert Galbraith, in anticipation of the next book in the series. This is a tradition I have with this series and others, I love revisiting my favorite books. Right now I’m on the 5th book, “Troubled Blood.” I love the multidimensional characters that are both lovable but flawed, making them come to life for me. The combination of the personal lives and stories of the main characters and the professional pursuit of solving one major mystery in each book will keep readers invested in the story as the series continues. In Troubled Blood, the Strike Detective Agency is hired to look into a missing person’s case from 1974, and a trail that went cold decades ago. Without a body to even prove death or foul play, the possibilities of what happened to Margot Bamborough are seemingly endless. The search through old police files and the troubled mind of the original detective on the case will make their search for the truth even more difficult. This book and series are perfect for readers who love mysteries and procedural dramas. I highly recommend starting at the beginning with “The Cuckoo’s Calling,” for the full story.
Galbraith, Robert. Troubled Blood: A Cormoran Strike Novel. Mulholland Books. 2020.
Posted in Books & Reading, General
Tagged Book Review, Cormoran Strike, Friday Reads, mystery, Reading, Robert Galbraith, series, Troubled Blood
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Friday Reads: Migrations by Charlotte McConaghy
Beautifully written, with poetic prose, this novel is haunting in its storytelling. Set in a world where even the most common animals are on the verge of extinction, the skies are empty of birds, and the seas have been fished to nothing. Franny Stone has been tied to the ocean for as long as she can remember, her wandering spirit has always led her back to its cold embrace. Once again, she’s left everything behind, this time for a research trip. She’ll try and follow the only remaining flock of Arctic terns across the Atlantic, on what might be their last migration. Franny will have to convince a Captain and his eclectic crew to take her on this journey, with the lure of following the terns to herring. A desperate last-ditch effort to find fish in the sea. Told from Franny’s point of view, the story flashes back and forth from the present expedition to her past, explaining how her life has ended up here. Ornithology and natural sciences take a front seat in this story that is at times, both uplifting and heartbreaking. The perfect read for fans of strong and unique female main characters. “Migrations” is Australian author, Charlotte McConaghy’s, first foray into adult fiction. Her second novel “Once There Were Wolves,” published in August 2021, is next on my to-read list.
McConaghy, Charlotte. Migrations: A Novel. Flatiron Books. 2020.
Posted in Books & Reading, General
Tagged Book Review, Friday Reads, Jacqueline Winspear, Maisie Dobbs, mystery, Reading, series
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Friday Reads: Maisie Dobbs Series by Jacqueline Winspear
The Maisie Dobbs mystery series begins in 1929 with Dobbs, a psychologist and investigator, opening her own detective agency. With 16 books to date in the series, the 17th is set to be out this March, Winspear has been writing this character for over 18 years. The heroine, Maisie Dobbs, is a physiological detective solving all kinds of cases including murders and missing persons in the heart of London. Her inclusion of non-western methods such as meditation and intuition make for a thoughtful and all-encompassing approach to solving mysteries. Working as a nurse on the Front during WWI, war and its effects play a large role in Dobb’s storylines as well as crossing society’s class lines. As a fan of mysteries, procedurals, and detective books in general, I find a certain comfort in Winspear’s series. The thrill solving the mysteries is there without some of the more graphic aspects you might find in other crime novels. I love the female lead in a mostly male occupation as well as the thought-provoking nature of the stories. The Maisie Dobbs series is perfect for readers who already love Hercule Poirot, Sherlock Holmes, and Armand Gamache.
Posted in Books & Reading, General
Tagged Book Review, Friday Reads, Jacqueline Winspear, Maisie Dobbs, mystery, Reading, series
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#BookFaceFriday “Ramona and Her Father” by Beverly Cleary
#BookFaceFriday is honoring a legend this week!
In honor of beloved children’s author, Beverly Cleary, and her recent passing, we wanted to highlight all of her wonderful books we have in our collections. One such title is “Ramona and Her Father” by Beverly Cleary (HarperCollins Children’s Books, 1975), book four in the Ramona Quimby series. You can find it and five other Cleary titles in our Book Club Kit Collection. And don’t forget, the Nebraska OverDrive Libraries has forty-two Cleary titles available in both eBook and Audiobook format!
“Beverly Cleary’s Ramona and Her Father is a Newbery Honor Book and has been called “true, warm-hearted, and funny” by ALA Booklist. In this glowing edition with lively new illustrations by Jacqueline Rogers, Ramona’s spunky, generous spirit shines.”
—Book Jacket
Find this title and many more through Nebraska OverDrive. 173 libraries across the state share the Nebraska OverDrive collection of 17,165 audiobooks and 28,972 eBooks. As an added bonus it includes 130 podcasts that are always available with simultaneous use (SU), as well as SU ebooks and audiobook titles that publishers have made available for a limited time. If you’re a part of it, let your users know about this great title, and if you’re not a member yet, find more information about participating in Nebraska Overdrive Libraries!
Rules for Book Club Kits
- These kits can be checked out by the librarians of Nebraska libraries and media centers.
- Circulation times are flexible and will be based upon availability. There is no standard check-out time for book club kits.
- Please search the collection to select items you wish to borrow and use the REQUEST THIS KIT icon to borrow items.
- Contact the Information Desk at the Library Commission if you have any questions: by phone: 800/307-2665, or by email: Information Services Team
Love this #BookFace & reading? Check out our past #BookFaceFriday photos on the Nebraska Library Commission’s Facebook page!
Posted in Books & Reading, General
Tagged Beverly Cleary, Book Club Kits, bookfacefriday, Ebook, Nebraska OverDrive Libraries, OverDrive, Ramona Quimby, Reading, series
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Friday Reads: The Finishing School Series by Gail Carriger
Imagine yourself in lovely Victorian-era England with grand homes, elegant balls, and a large steam powered dirigible school floating by.
Wait…what?
The Finishing School Series by Gail Carriger is an absolutely lovely young adult series that follows one Miss Sophronia Temminnick through her time at Mademoiselle Geraldine’s Finishing Academy for Young Ladies of Quality. Classes include “Fainting in a crowd to attract attention” and “Buying poison and planning dinner on a limited budget”.
Hold on! What?
As the books progress we’re taken out of Mademoiselle Geraldine’s Finishing Academy into the greater world. In Scotland we’re introduced to Sophronias friend Sidhegs pack, her grandfather and uncles, all of whom are werewolves. And to London where the vampires are trying to undermine a plot they just know the Picklemen are trying to run against them.
STOP!!!! WHAT IS GOING ON HERE?!?
I absolutely love this series! The fantasy elements are done in such a way as to seem completely plausible and familiar. This is neither a dystopian set of novels, which seem to be so popular these days, or a “princess in need of rescuing” story. These girls can take care of themselves thank you very much! Not a fan of YA? Most of Gail Carrigers other books all take place in this same lovely world but are decidedly not YA.
Oh! I almost forgot my favorite part – the mechanicals! Simple household type tasks are carried out by these steam and gear-powered robots. Sophronia happens upon one, which happens to look like a dachshund, early on in the series whom she eventually carries around like a purse. Isn’t that just the cutest thing?
Posted in Books & Reading
Tagged #FridayReads, books, Fantasy, Friday Reads, Reading, series
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