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Author Archives: Tessa Timperley
#BookFaceFriday “Beowulf”
There’s nothing more epic than #BookFaceFriday!
Feeling inspired after watching the latest rendition of The Odyssey? Voyage into classic literature and mythology with this week’s #BookfaceFriday. Check out Beowulf by Anonymous
( Signet, 2008), it’s available as a Book Club Kit from the Nebraska Library Commission, with 10 copies for your reading group to borrow. You can also find “Beowulf” as both an audiobook and eBook through Nebraska OverDrive Libraries. Nebraska OverDrive Libraries also features a curated collection this month, The Odyssey Read-Alikes, where you can find both Beowulf and The Odyssey along with 30+ related titles. NLC does have “The Odyssey” by Homer available in book club kits, but sadly only four copies.“Beowulf is one of the earliest extant poems in a modern European language, composed in England before the Norman Conquest. As a social document this great epic poem is invaluable—reflecting a feudal world of heroes and monsters, blood and victory, life and death. As a work of art, it is unique. Beowulf rings with beauty, power, and artistry that have kept it alive for a thousand years. The noble simplicity of Beowulf’s anonymous Anglo-Saxon singer is recaptured in this vivid translation by Burton Raffel.”
— from the book jacket
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
Libraries participating in the Nebraska OverDrive Libraries Group currently have access to a shared and growing collection of digital downloadable audiobooks and eBooks. 196 libraries across the state share the Nebraska OverDrive collection of 29,164 audiobooks, 45,416 ebooks, and 6,269 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? We suggest checking out all the titles available for book clubs at http://nlc.nebraska.gov/ref/bookclub. Check out our past #BookFaceFriday photos on the Nebraska Library Commission’s Facebook page!
Posted in Books & Reading, General, Youth Services
Tagged Beowulf, Book Club, Book Covers, bookface, bookfacefriday, books, Ebook, Homer, Nebraska OverDrive Libraries, Reading, The Odyssey
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#BookFaceFriday “Braiding Sweetgrass for Young Adults” by Robin Wall Kimmerer and Monique Gray Smith
This #BookFace is a jack of all braids.
We’re keeping the America 250 theme rolling, weaving a nation, if you will, with this week’s #BookFaceFriday, “Braiding Sweetgrass for Young Adults: Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge, and the Teachings of Plants” by Robin Wall Kimmerer, adapted by Monique Gray Smith, and Illustrated by Nicole Neidhardt (Zest Books, 2022). This title is available as an eBook through Nebraska OverDrive Libraries, and is a part of the “Made By Us: Voices that Shape America” collection on the Nebraska OverDrive Libraries main page. This is a collection that defines, challenges, and re imagines the American experience — across generations, cultures, and genres. Kimmerer’s book “Braiding Sweetgrass,” is also a part of this OverDrive collection, it’s available as both and eBook and Audiobook, along with a Spanish Audiobook version.
“[F]illed with legends, reminiscences, bits of history, sidebars, drawings, and gentle challenges to readers, encouraging them to consider making changes in their actions, beliefs, and values. Truly, a lovely, calming addition for collections.”
―Booklist
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? We suggest checking out all the titles available for book clubs at http://nlc.nebraska.gov/ref/bookclub. Check out our past #BookFaceFriday photos on the Nebraska Library Commission’s Facebook page!
#BookFaceFriday “Bicentennial Summer” by Chris Poore
I pledge allegiance to the #BookFace.
Start the weekend off with a bang with this week’s #BookFaceFriday, “Bicentennial Summer” by Chris Poore (Fourth Chance Press, 2024). This young adult, coming-of-age novel is available as a book club kit for your library.
It’s a new addition to the book club kit collection, thanks to a donation. Our Book Club Kit collection has 2,491 titles, and is bolstered by generous donations from book clubs and libraries across Nebraska. If you want to find out what titles have been recently added to the collection, you can find a search in the Browse Options section for New Additions.“Bicentennial Summer is everything I want in a small town coming-of-age story; sweet, melancholy, and as Proustian as the smell of cornfields in July. Chris Poore is a welcome new voice in midwestern fiction.”
―Sean Doolittle, Device Free Weekend
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
Love this #BookFace & reading? We suggest checking out all the titles available for book clubs at http://nlc.nebraska.gov/ref/bookclub. Check out our past #BookFaceFriday photos on the Nebraska Library Commission’s Facebook page!
Posted in Books & Reading, General
Tagged Bicentennial Summer, book club kit, Book Covers, bookface, bookfacefriday, books, Chris Poore, Cottenwood Chronicles, Reading
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#BookFaceFriday “John Adams” by David McCullough
A government of #BookFaces, and not of men.
Start the celebration early for America’s 250th birthday with this week’s #BookFaceFriday, “John Adams” by David McCullough ( Simon & Schuster, 2002). You can find this title as well as McCullough’s “1776” and “The American Spirit” as a book club kit for your library. It’s also available as an Audiobook through Nebraska OverDrive Libraries. If you want to find more titles related to this topic check out the “America 250: Revolutionary Reads” collection on the Nebraska OverDrive Libraries main page.
Our model this week is a new addition to the Nebraska Library Commission! Welcome to Michael Richey, our new Library Technology Support Specialist. He came here from North Platte, Nebraska where he worked as a Technology Assistant at the North Platte Public Library. It was there that he discovered his passion for working with technology as well as designing and creating things. His favorite types of books are fantasy books, specifically ones that go into depth about the ecology of the fictional world and its inhabitants. His current favorite book is A Natural History of Dragons by Marie Brennan. In his free time he can often be found taking pictures with his camera, playing video games, making things, or whatever other hobby of the week he’s fallen into (which lately has been calligraphy). Welcome aboard Michael!
“In tracing Adams’s life from childhood through his many critical, heroic, and selfless acts during the Revolution, his vice presidency under Washington, and his own term as president, the full measure of Adams a man widely regarded in his time as the equal of Jefferson, Hamilton, and all of the other Founding Fathers is revealed. This excellent biography deserves a wide audience.”
―Library Journal
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
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? We suggest checking out all the titles available for book clubs at http://nlc.nebraska.gov/ref/bookclub. Check out our past #BookFaceFriday photos on the Nebraska Library Commission’s Facebook page!
Posted in Books & Reading, General
Tagged America 250, Biography, Book Covers, bookface, bookfacefriday, books, David McCullough, John Adams, Nebraska OverDrive Libraries, Reading
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Friday Reads: “Dungeon Crawler Carl” by Matt Dinniman
Welcome, Crawler. You have been designated Crawler #4,122,” Carl”. You are assigned the race of Human. You are currently level 1.
New achievement! You’ve entered the World Dungeon.
Reward: None! Haha. You are so dead.
Meet Carl, he’s recently found himself in a bit of a situation… and while this may be some kind of wild fever dream, the consequences seem all too real. As aliens have taken over Earth and subsequently destroyed all surface structures in a matter of moments, everyone that survived the collapse is given the choice to enter stairways down to the “World Dungeon”. A bit ominous, but if you were standing outside in the freezing cold with nothing but your boxers, a leather jacket, and a pack of cigarettes to your name, you’d probably enter the stairwell too. What ensues is a witty, irreverent story of survival and friendship, as former coast guard mechanic Carl, and his ex-girlfriend’s cat, Princess Donut, become the unwilling participants in a deadly game. It’s like if Running Man was orchestrated by Aliens, and all of Earths survivors were now the entertainment for entire galaxies. With the entire game being supervised and facilitated by an AI that just might have a bit of a foot fetish. At times devastatingly funny, and at others poignant, this action packed story will leave you immediately putting the next book on your holds list.
Part Dungeons and Dragons, Hunger Games, and Ready Player One, this epic tale is just the beginning. Dungeon Crawler Carl is book one in Matt Dinniman’s series of (so far) eight novels.
Dinniman, Matt. Dungeon Crawler Carl: A Novel. Crown. 2024.
Posted in Books & Reading, Friday Reads, General
Tagged Book Review, books, Dungeon Crawler Carl, Fantasy, Friday Reads, Matt Dinniman, Novel, Reading
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#BookFaceFriday “Something to Say” by Lisa Moore Ramée
Find your voice this #BookFaceFriday!
Happy Juneteenth readers! Explore all the African American stories available on Nebraska OverDrive Libraries, like “Something to Say” by Lisa Moore Ramée (HarperCollins, 2020). Recommended for kids in grades 3-7, this chapter book explores the complex social rules of middle school, overcoming fears, and finding friendship. At eleven years old Jenae doesn’t mind being a loner, but a new kid at school might just change all that, unless they let a class debate ruin it all. Find this story, and other African American fiction and nonfiction on Nebraska OverDrive Libraries. “Something to Say” is as both an audiobook and eBook, along with Ramée’s other works, “A Good Kind of Trouble,” and “The Everybody Experiment.”
“Reminiscent in writing style to works by Lauren Myracle and Jason Reynolds, this novel [shows] Shayla’s typical middle school problems, then switches to the very specific problems she faces as a young black girl in America…[For] middle grade readers who aren’t yet ready for Thomas’s The Hate U Give.”
— School Library Journal (starred review)
Libraries participating in the Nebraska OverDrive Libraries Group currently have access to a shared and growing collection of digital downloadable audiobooks and eBooks. 196 libraries across the state share the Nebraska OverDrive collection of 29,164 audiobooks, 45,416 ebooks, and 6,269 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? We suggest checking out all the titles available for book clubs at http://nlc.nebraska.gov/ref/bookclub. Check out our past #BookFaceFriday photos on the Nebraska Library Commission’s Facebook page!
#BookFaceFriday “Going Bovine” by Libba Bray
MOOOOve over, it’s #BookFaceFriday!
Don’t have a cow about this week’s #BookfaceFriday. Summer is the perfect time to start a teen/YA bookclub to help keep kids reading and engaged until school starts, because reading for pleasure and not just grades is what makes a lifelong reader. Check out “Going Bovine” by Libba Bray (Ember, 2010), recommended for kids in grades 9-12, is a YA novel that explores the meaning of life, even if it turns out it’s going to be a short one. When 16-year-old Cameron finds out he’s sick, and that he’s probably not going to make it. The dark, fantastical, and comedic journey that follows goes right to the heart of what matters most. It’s available as a Book Club Kit from the Nebraska Library Commission, with 16 copies for your reading group to borrow. You can also find “Going Bovine” as both an audiobook and eBook through Nebraska OverDrive Libraries: Kids & Teens. You can read more about “Going Bovine” in our Book Club Spotlight post.
“An unforgettable, nearly indefinable fantasy . . . wholly unique, ambitious, tender, thought-provoking, and often fall-off-the-chair funny.”
— Booklist, Starred Review
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
Libraries participating in the Nebraska OverDrive Libraries Group currently have access to a shared and growing collection of digital downloadable audiobooks and eBooks. 196 libraries across the state share the Nebraska OverDrive collection of 29,164 audiobooks, 45,416 ebooks, and 6,269 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? We suggest checking out all the titles available for book clubs at http://nlc.nebraska.gov/ref/bookclub. Check out our past #BookFaceFriday photos on the Nebraska Library Commission’s Facebook page!
#BookFaceFriday “The Other Bennet Sister” by Janice Hadlow
If any young men come for Mary or Kitty, send them in, for I am quite at my leisure this #BookFaceFriday.
If you’re a fan of the book to screen pipeline, and you’ve finished Hamnet, Wuthering Heights, and Bridgerton, might I suggest this week’s BookFaceFriday? “The Other Bennet Sister: A Novel” by Janice Hadlow (Macmillian Audio, 2020) is a regency era novel centered on the Jane Austen’s character, Mary Bennet and is now a drama series streaming on BritBox. It’s available as an Audiobook through Nebraska OverDrive Libraries. If you want to find out what’s new check out the “Latest 500 Titles Added” collection on the main page, updated monthly with what’s been added to Nebraska OverDrive Libraries.
“[A] spectacular debut. . . . Writing in prose with the crisp liveliness of Austen’s own, Hadlow remains true to the characterizations in Pride and Prejudice without letting them limit her. . . . This will delight Janeites as well as lovers of nuanced female coming-of-age tales.”
―Publishers Weekly (starred review)
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? We suggest checking out all the titles available for book clubs at http://nlc.nebraska.gov/ref/bookclub. Check out our past #BookFaceFriday photos on the Nebraska Library Commission’s Facebook page!
#BookFaceFriday “The Witch Elm” by Tana French
A tree grows in #BookFaceFriday!
The time is upon us for lounging around with a great summer read, whether that’s on the beach, a hammock in your backyard, poolside, or at the foot of a great big tree. And the NLC book club kit collection has a great list for your book club to pick from. This week’s #BookFace is “The Witch Elm: A Novel” by Tana French, is a classic book club pick. Full of intrigue, family drama, and secrets, it’s ten copies are available, along with two of her other titles in our Book Club Kit collection. “The Witch Elm” is also available as an Audiobook in Nebraska OverDrive Libraries, along with nine more of French’s novels.
“Edgar-winner French is at her suspenseful best in this standalone, in which an Irishman, who’s always considered himself a lucky person, has to reassess his past in the light of a gruesome find on the grounds of his family’s ancestral home.”
— Publishers Weekly
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
Love this #BookFace & reading? Check out our past #BookFaceFriday photos on the Nebraska Library Commission’s Facebook page!
Libraries participating in the Nebraska OverDrive Libraries Group currently have access to a shared and growing collection of digital downloadable audiobooks and eBooks. 196 libraries across the state share the Nebraska OverDrive collection of 30,262 audiobooks, 46,663 ebooks, and 6,506 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!
#BookFaceFriday “Arsenic and Adobo” by Mia P. Manansala
What’s cookin’ this #BookFaceFriday?
May is Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month (AAPI), so we’re highlighting just one of the many Asian authors in our collections. “Arsenic and Adobo” by Mia P. Manansala (Books on Tape, 2021) is a culinary cozy mystery, full of humor, cooking, and murder. It’s available as an Audiobook through Nebraska OverDrive Libraries. It’s the first novel in a series of six, and you can find all the “Tita Rosie’s Kitchen Mysteries” in Nebraska OverDrive. If you’re interested in more AAPI stories to explore in specially curated “Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage” collection on the main page.
“This breeze-right-through-it mystery mystery follows baker Lila Macapagal as she investigates the murder of her ex-boyfriend, the town’s too-mean food critic, after he dies over a meal in her aunt’s flailing Filipino restaurant. Finding out whether or not Lila can solve the crime and save the restaurant is as satisfying as it is climactic with just the right amount of drama.”
— Bon Appetit
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!
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
Love this #BookFace & reading? We suggest checking out all the titles available for book clubs at http://nlc.nebraska.gov/ref/bookclub. Check out our past #BookFaceFriday photos on the Nebraska Library Commission’s Facebook page!
#BookFaceFriday “¿Eres tú mi mamá?” by P.D. Eastman
¡Feliz Día de la Madre de parte de #BookFaceFriday!
You don’t have to go looking for this #BookFaceFriday! We’re celebrating Mother’s Day like we do every holiday, with a good book. In this case one of the Spanish language titles in our Book Club Kit Collection, “¿Eres tú mi mamá?” by P.D. Eastman ( Random House Books for Young Readers, 2016). Browse all available titles using the keyword “Spanish” in the keyword search field. For kits that were already available in English, the title will be shown in English; for titles only available in Spanish, the Spanish title will be shown. For both types of kits, the number of Spanish copies is listed at the bottom of the title’s record. At the present time, most of our new Spanish-language kits are geared towards younger readers, but we hope to expand this selection in the future.
Un pajarito que va en busca de su mamá es el argumento de esta divertida adaptación del clásico de P. D. Eastman, ahora en un nuevo formato de libro cartón más grande, perfecto para bebés y niños pequeños.
– Back cover
A baby bird goes in search of his mother in this hilarious Board Book adaptation of P.D. Eastman’s classic story, perfect for babies and toddlers.
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
Love this #BookFace & reading? Check out our past #BookFaceFriday photos on the Nebraska Library Commission’s Facebook page!
#BookFaceFriday – Nebraska Book Awards Submissions Open
These #BookFace‘s are all winners!
What do all of these #BookFace picks have in common? They’ve all received a Nebraska Book Award! You could join this excellent group of authors, publishers, and illustrators, but you have to submit your book for consideration. You’ll have to act fast because the deadline for entries is May 31, 2026. The Nebraska Book Awards recognize and honor books that are written by Nebraska authors and illustrators, published by Nebraska publishers, set in Nebraska, or relate to Nebraska. Books published in 2025, as indicated by the copyright date, are eligible for nomination. They must be professionally published, have an International Standard Book Number (ISBN), and be bound. Books may be entered in one or more of the following categories: Nonfiction, Fiction, Children/Young Adult, Cover/Design/Illustration, and Poetry. The entry fee is $40 per book and per category entered.
Winners of the 2026 Nebraska Book Awards will be featured at the Nebraska Celebration of Books (NCOB) Literary Festival. Held on Saturday, November 14th, 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. For more information about the Nebraska Book Awards visit centerforthebook.nebraska.gov/awards/nebookawards.html .
Love this #BookFace & reading? Check out our past #BookFaceFriday photos on the Nebraska Library Commission’s Facebook page!
#BookFaceFriday “Now Is the Time for Trees” by the Arbor Day Foundation’s Dan Lambe and Lorene Edwards Forkner
Branch out with this week’s #BookFaceFriday!
It’s every Nebraskan’s favorite holiday, Arbor Day! Celebrating the trees shouldn’t just be for one day out of the year. Here at the library, you can explore Arbor Day any time with a wide variety of great books! Like “Now is the Time for Trees” written by the Arbor Day Foundation’s Dan Lambe and Lorene Edwards Forkner (Timber Press, 2022). From advice on choosing the right size and type of tree to tried-and-true tips for planting success, this book will help you plant a tree today and leave your own legacy of hope. You can find this title as and eBook on Nebraska OverDrive Libraries, it has a huge collection of nonfiction, fiction, and children’s books, including biographies and autobiographies, memoirs, self-help books, study-aids and workbooks, reference titles, travel books, and so much more.
“Celebrates the power of trees to oxygenate the planet, purify water and air, lower city temperatures, provide habitat, nurture the soul, and provide essential food sources.”
— Booklist
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. 188 libraries across the state share the Nebraska OverDrive collection of 21,696 audiobooks, 35,200 eBooks, and 3,964 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 “Mansfield Park” by Jane Austen
Life seems but a quick succession of #BookFaces!
“A large book collection is the best recipe for happiness I ever heard of”… Okay, so the quote is actually “A large income,” not book collection, but for us, that pretty much means the same thing. Our Book Club Kit collection has 2,491 titles, and is bolstered by generous donations from book clubs and libraries across Nebraska. This week’s pick is “Mansfield Park” by Jane Austen, it’s available, along with five other Austen titles in our Book Club Kit collection. “Mansfield Park” is also available as an eBook and Audiobook in Nebraska OverDrive Libraries.
In Mansfield Park, first published in 1814, when the author had reached her full maturity as a novelist, Jane Austen paints some of most witty and perceptive studies of character. Against a genteel country landscape of formal parks and stately homes, the gossipy Mrs Norris becomes a masterful comic creation; the fickle young suitor Henry Crawford provides an unequaled portrait of an unscrupulous young man; and the complexly drawn Fanny Price emerges as one of Jane Austen’s finest achievements–the poor cousin who comes to stay with her wealthy relatives at Mansfield Park and learns how the game of love can too easily turn to folly. More intricately plotted and wider in scope than Austen’s earlier works, Mansfield Park continues to enchant and delight us as a superb example of a great author’s craft.
— book jacket
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
Love this #BookFace & reading? Check out our past #BookFaceFriday photos on the Nebraska Library Commission’s Facebook page!
Libraries participating in the Nebraska OverDrive Libraries Group currently have access to a shared and growing collection of digital downloadable audiobooks and eBooks. 196 libraries across the state share the Nebraska OverDrive collection of 30,262 audiobooks, 46,663 ebooks, and 6,506 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!
#BookFaceFriday “Floret Farm’s a Year in Flowers” by Erin Benzakein and Chris Benzakein
In full bloom this #BookFaceFriday.
Talk about spring fever, this week’s #BookFace has us prepared to sneeze, and like it. Learn how to expertly style and create seasonal flower arrangements with “Floret Farm’s a Year in Flowers: Designing Gorgeous Arrangements for Every Season” by Erin Benzakein, Jill Jorgensen, Julie Chai, and photographs by Chris Benzakein (Chronicle Books LLC, 2020), available as an eBook in Nebraska OverDrive Libraries. Find this title and many more through Nebraska OverDrive’s curated collection “Wild About Reading: Science and nature nonfiction and memoirs.” Get back into nature in this collection of over 80 titles, available all April.
Libraries participating in the Nebraska OverDrive Libraries Group currently have access to a shared and growing collection of digital downloadable audiobooks and eBooks. 196 libraries across the state share the Nebraska OverDrive collection of 30,262 audiobooks, 46,663 ebooks, and 6,506 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!
“Photography throughout this coffee-table-sized book is stunning, and you can’t help but get lost in the images of flowers in the field and in the vase. If you are thinking about a cutting garden for next year, or just want to create arrangements for your home, A Year in Flowers is a helpful guide.”
Love this #BookFace & reading? Check out our past #BookFaceFriday photos on the Nebraska Library Commission’s Facebook page!
#BookFaceFriday “Ain’t Nobody’s Fool” by Martha Ackmann
This #BookFace is working 9 to 5.
We hope everyone had a good April Fool’s Day, unless you’re the indomitable Dolly Parton, who ain’t nobody’s fool. “Ain’t Nobody’s Fool: The Life and Times of Dolly Parton” by Martha Ackmann (St. Martin’s Press, 2025) is available as an eBook and audiobook in Nebraska OverDrive Libraries. Ackmann is a journalist who writes about women who have changed America. 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. 196 libraries across the state share the Nebraska OverDrive collection of 30,262 audiobooks, 46,663 ebooks, and 6,506 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!
“This smart, sparkly, and fun biography is as irresistible as Parton herself.”
―Library Journal, starred review
Love this #BookFace & reading? Check out our past #BookFaceFriday photos on the Nebraska Library Commission’s Facebook page!
#BookFaceFriday “Rebound” by Kwame Alexander
Buh-buh-buh-buh-buh #BookFace!
Gimme gimme gimme gimme the ball, because I’m gonna, dunk it! This week’s #BookFaceFriday was the perfect choice for March Madness. “Rebound” by Kwame Alexander (Clarion Books, 2021), is the prequel to Alexander’s Newbery Award–winning novel The Crossover. You can find it as an eBook on Nebraska OverDrive Libraries. Kwame Alexander is a New York Times bestselling author and along with the Newbery Award has also received the Coretta Scott King Award. You can find the entire Crossover series in the Nebraska OverDrive collection, along with six other titles by Kwame Alexander.
As in his previous novels in verse, Alexander shows off his expert command of the format, employing staccato breaks with smooth rhymes that mimic the bounce and flow of the sport.”
— School Library Journal, 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 26,174 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 “The Girl in the Green Dress” by Mariah Fredericks
This #BookFace has us green with envy!
Nobody in this week’s #Bookface is going to get pinched! Part of our reading challenge for March is to read a book with Green in the title. So we picked, “The Girl in the Green Dress: A Mystery Featuring Zelda Fitzgerald” by Mariah Fredericks (St. Martin’s Publishing Group, 2025) a 1920s murder mystery featuring Zelda Fitzgerald and Morris Markey. It’s available as a as an ebook and audiobook through Nebraska OverDrive Libraries. We’d love to know what titles you picked to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day.
“[A] riveting standalone… Fredericks brings the period to life beautifully, and the often-caricatured Zelda never feels less than three-dimensional. Add in an enthralling investigation and a complex, fame-hungry lead, and it’s undeniable: Fredericks has struck gold.”
— Publishers Weekly (Starred Review)
Libraries participating in the Nebraska OverDrive Libraries Group currently have access to a shared and growing collection of digital downloadable audiobooks and eBooks. 196 libraries across the state share the Nebraska OverDrive collection of 29,164 audiobooks, 45,416 ebooks, and 6,269 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? We suggest checking out all the titles available for book clubs at http://nlc.nebraska.gov/ref/bookclub. Check out our past #BookFaceFriday photos on the Nebraska Library Commission’s Facebook page!
#BookFaceFriday – “Notes of a Native Son” by James Baldwin
Notes on a #BookFaceFriday
Celebrate Black History Month with this week’s #BookFaceFriday, “Notes of a Native Son” by James Baldwin with an introduction by Edward P. Jones (Beacon Press, 2012.) You can find this title in the Nebraska OverDrive Libraries curated collection “Black History: Paying tribute to black history, culture, and contributions” created to help users find great reads to celebrate Black History Month. Its over 100 titles consist of literature, fiction, nonfiction, autobiographies, and biographies. Nebraska OverDrive has several James Baldwin titles available for readers, in both ebook and Audiobook format. You can also browse the Nebraska Library Commission’s Book Club Kits collections for African American voices!
“The wonderful thing about writers like Baldwin is the way we read them and come across passages that are so arresting we become breathless and have to raise our eyes from the page to keep from being spirited away.”
―Edward P. Jones“He named for me the things you feel but couldn’t utter . . . articulated for the first time to white America what it meant to be American and a black American at the same time.” ―Henry Louis Gates Jr.
Libraries participating in the Nebraska OverDrive Libraries Group currently have access to a shared and growing collection of digital downloadable audiobooks and eBooks. 196 libraries across the state share the Nebraska OverDrive collection of 29,164 audiobooks, 45,416 ebooks, and 6,269 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!
Posted in Books & Reading, General
Tagged Black History, Black History Month, Black Voices, Book Covers, bookface, bookfacefriday, ebooks, James Baldwin, OverDrive
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Friday Reads: “All the Colors of the Dark” by Chris Whitaker
Set in 1975, fellow outcasts, Saint and Patch are best friends, navigating high school in small town Missouri. Girls have been going missing, are they runaways, tired of small town life, or is it something much more sinister? When Patch witnesses an attack and attempted abduction of the local golden girl, Misty, he becomes a town hero with consequences that will last a lifetime. While trying to stop the abduction, Patch himself is wounded and taken, leaving Saint alone and reeling. The local police chief may have given up on finding Patch and the missing girls, but Saint can’t. Little does Saint know that looking for Patch and his kidnapper will shape her entire future. After being taken, Patch is kept in total darkness, his only companions are his own thoughts and Grace, a girl that brings him food and nurses him back to health. She tells him stories of the outside world, but while she seems so real to Patch, could she be just a figment of his fevered imagination? In this story, small town dynamics intersect with the secrets people keep, and how lives lived so close together can become inextricably intertwined, yet the question remains, do we ever really know our neighbors. Filled with tragedy and loss, survivor’s guilt and obsession, this novel follows Patch and Saint as they search for answers after that one fateful day where everything changed. A story that spans decades and told from the point of view of multiple characters, All the Colors of the Dark will take the reader on a journey of redemption, love, and loyalty.
Whitaker, Chris. All the Colors of the Dark. Crown. 2024.
Posted in Books & Reading, Friday Reads, General
Tagged All the Colors of the Dark, Book Review, books, Chris Whitaker, Friday Reads, Novel, Reading
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