Author Archives: Lisa Kelly

Early this month, Oprah announced two Charles Dickens titles as her book club selections. The Library Commission has 10 copies of A Tale of Two Cities coupled with Great Expectations – all in one volume. Please contact the Reference Desk if you would like to borrow or reserve these for your book club.

In the last week, we’ve added 9 new book club kits to our collection:

A Ceiling of Stars by Ann Howard Creel – 11 copies
Color of Water by James McBride – 3 copies
Comrades by Stephen E. Ambrose – 13 copies
Elegance of the Hedgehog by Muriel Barbery – 5 copies
Father Joe: the Man Who Saved My Soul by Tony Hendra – 13 copies
Finding Nouf by Zoe Ferraris – 8 copies
In the Castle of the Flynns by Michael Raleigh – 11 copies
Loving Frank by Nancy Horan – 8 copies
Say Good-Bye by Laurie Halse Anderson – 11 copies

Contact the Reference Desk to reserve any of these kits.

We’ve added several new titles to the Book Club Kit Collection that have Nebraska connections. When a Nebraska State Logo is included in an entry, it indicates a Nebraska author and/or setting. After you’ve read Cather and Sandoz, you may wish to consider some newer Nebraska authors like Stephanie Kallos or Alex Kava. Check out our list to consider new titles for your book club group. If you have any questions, please contact the Reference Desk.

Local Wonders by Ted Kooser has just been selected as the One Book One Nebraska. The Nebraska Library Commission has a book club kit of 15 copies that can be reserved for your book club’s use. Please contact the Reference Desk or your system office to make your reservation for this delightful and seasonal read.

The Nebraska Library Commission just received 9 copies of Jonathan Franzen’s new bestseller, Freedom for use by your book clubs! This is the 2010 Oprah Book Club Selection. Please contact us us to make your reservations.

Check out our recently updated Book Club Kit page: http://nlc.nebraska.gov/ref/bookclub/
Not only have we added new titles, we’ve also acquired additional copies of existing titles!
You may notice that some of our book club kits contain only a few copies of a title. When we run across just a few copies of an excellent title we’d like to add to our book club kit program we will go ahead and acquire those copies with the intent of growing the kit over time. If your library is discarding copies of one these titles, please consider adding them to our kit so that they may be used by book groups throughout Nebraska. Contact the Reference Desk for more information.
New Book Club Titles:
Cold Mountain by Charles Frazier 7
The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold 5
Marley and Me by John Grogan 5
The Road by Cormac McCarthy 4
Seabiscuit by Laura Hillenbrand 7
Snow Flower and the Secret Fan by Lisa See 2
Three Cups of Tea by Greg Mortensen 2
The Time Traveler’s Wife by Audrey Niffenegger 2
What is the What by Dave Eggers 8
Where the Heart Is by Billie Letts 3
Widow of the South by Robert Hicks 6

Looking for new ideas for your book group? Consider checking out one of our Big Read Book Club Guides when selecting your next title. Each kit includes a Teacher’s Guide, A Reader’s Guide and an Audio Guide. The National Endowment for the Arts created all of these guides hoping to inspire readers to pick up a good book and have a great discussion. Contact the Information Desk for more information.

We have added MANY new book club kits to our collection for younger readers to adults. Here is our complete listing and here are our new titles:
The Amazing Maurice and his Educated Rodents by Terry Pratchett
The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman by Ernest J Gaines
The Chocolate War by Robert Cormier
Hondo by Louis L’Amour
The Color Purple by Alice Walker
Congratulations! Now What? A Book for Graduates by Bill Cosby
A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court by Mark Twain
The Daybreakers (The Sackett Series) by Louis L’Amour
A Family Trait by Terri L. Martin
Finding Buck McHenry by Alfred Slote
Frindle by Andrew Clements
The Good Earth by Pearl S. Buck
Harris and Me by Gary Paulsen
Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone by J. K. Rowling
Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets by J.K. Rowling
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban by J. K. Rowling
Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire by J. K. Rowling
The Heart is a Lonely Hunter by Carson McCuller
The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien
Hondo by Louis L’Amour
I’m Nobody! Who Are You? Poems by Emily Dickenson
In God We Trust: All Others Pay Cash by Jean Shepherd
Last of the Breed by Louis L’Amour
My Antonia by Willa Cather
Peace Breaks Out by John Knowles
People of the Book by Geraldine Brooks
Roll of Thunder Hear My Cry by Mildred D. Taylor
Rubber Legs and White Tail-Hairs by Patrick F. McManus
Shingling the Fog and Other Plains Lies by Roger Welsch
Still Alive: A Holocaust Girlhood Remembered by Ruth Kluger
When My Name was Keoko by Linda Sue Park
Please contact the Reference Desk to make your reservations!