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Author Archives: Tessa Timperley
#BookFaceFriday – “Everyone is Lying to You” by Jo Piazza
Smile pretty it’s #BookFaceFriday!
Three can keep a secret if two of them are dead in this week’s #BookFaceFriday! This social media influencer thriller is sure to keep you on your toes; check out “Everyone is Lying to You: A Thriller” by Jo Piazza (Dutton, 2025.) This title is available as an eBook and Audiobook in Nebraska OverDrive Libraries and is a part of the curated collection, “Scare Up a Good Book: Horror and dark reads.” Find your perfect horror read in this collection of over 250 titles, available all October.
“Jo Piazza dazzles in Everyone Is Lying To You, pairing a witty, inviting tone with a pulpy, seedy mystery full of sharp twists–a combination as fun as it is clever. . . . Add to that Piazza’s deliciously ripped-from-the-headlines plot, and you have the makings of an edgy, juicy thriller that doesn’t let up until its explosive end.”
—Bookreporter
Libraries participating in the Nebraska OverDrive Libraries Group currently have access to a shared and growing collection of digital downloadable audiobooks and eBooks. 192 libraries across the state share the Nebraska OverDrive collection of 29,081 audiobooks, 44,746 eBooks, and 6,170 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 “1984” by George Orwell
Sometimes it feels like #BookFace is watching me!
“Censorship Is So 1984. Read for Your Rights!” is the theme of this year’s #BannedBooksWeek, and we are celebrating with a banned #BookFace! The Nebraska Library Commission supports readers and the freedom to read so we make sure our various collections reflect that. “1984” by George Orwell (Signet Classic, 1961) has been challenged and banned for its political themes, particularly being perceived as pro-communist or anti-government, its explicit sexual content, and its portrayal of surveillance and censorship. A book is considered challenged when calls are made for it to be banned or removed from the public’s access. This is one of many banned or challenged titles NLC has available in our Book Club Kit Collection, titles like The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky, Looking For Alaska by John Green, The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie, A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L’Engle, Beloved by Toni Morrison, and the Harry Potter Series by J.K. Rowling, just to name a few. This week’s #BookFace and other banned books can be found on the NLC Book Club Kit webpage. This service allows libraries and school librarians to “check out” multiple copies of a book without adding to their permanent collections, or budgets. NLC also has several banned or challenged titles available to our Nebraska OverDrive Libraries, including “1984” as both an ebook and an audiobook.
“This work remains as powerful, timely, and important now as it was when first published in 1949—even more so as Orwell’s totalitarian vision unfolds disquietingly in the present day. The novel challenges students with thought-provoking ideas that will spark discussion, composition, research, and debate. In one of the original dystopian cautionary tales, past history is changed to serve an agenda and independent thought is outlawed. Orwell’s text guides readers out of complacency so that they never slacken the vigil against oppression.”
— School Library Journal
You can find more information about Banned Books Week and the fight against censorship at ALA.org/advocacy/bbooks! What are you doing to celebrate Banned Books Week? Let us know!
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. 192 libraries across the state share the Nebraska OverDrive collection of 29,081 audiobooks, 44,746 eBooks, and 6,170 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 – “Tender is the Flesh” by Agustina Bazterrica
You’ll want to devour this #BookFaceFriday!
I ate this #BookFace with some fava beans and a nice Chianti! Spooky season is upon us and nothing sets the vibe like a scary story. This week’s #BookFaceFriday is the perfect way to get your adrenaline flowing; check out “Tender is the Flesh” by Agustina Bazterrica (Scribner, 2020.) This title is available as an eBook in Nebraska OverDrive Libraries and is a part of the curated collection, “Scare Up a Good Book: Horror and dark reads.” Find your perfect horror read in this collection of over 250 titles, available all October.
“From the first words of the Argentine novelist Agustina Bazterrica’s second novel, Tender Is the Flesh, the reader is already the livestock in the line, reeling, primordially aware that this book is a butcher’s block, and nothing that happens next is going to be pretty.”
—New York Times Book Review
Libraries participating in the Nebraska OverDrive Libraries Group currently have access to a shared and growing collection of digital downloadable audiobooks and eBooks. 192 libraries across the state share the Nebraska OverDrive collection of 29,081 audiobooks, 44,746 eBooks, and 6,170 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 Book Club for Troublesome Women” by Marie Bostwick
Well behaved #BookFaces rarely make history!
Well bless your heart it’s #BookFaceFriday! September is national Library Card Sign-up Month, this year’s theme is “one card, endless possibilities,” so we thought “The Book Club for Troublesome Women: A Novel” by Marie Bostwick (Harper Muse, 2025) was the perfect fit. This historical fiction novel set in the 1960s, celebrates nostalgia, female friendship, and breaking the mold, and is all about how books can open the door to more than just reading. It’s available as an eBook through Nebraska OverDrive Libraries or you can find other bookish reads featured in our “Library Card Sign Up Month” curated collection.
“Bostwick’s latest is ideal for fans of historical fiction and those who enjoyed Bonnie Garmus’s LESSONS IN CHEMISTRY, Kristin Hannah’s THE WOMEN, or Kate Quinn’s THE BRIAR CLUB, which explore the historical roles of women and the challenges they faced within a society structured to define and limit their roles in and out of the home.”
— 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. 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 “George Norris, Going Home: Reflections of a Progressive Statesman”
In order to form a more perfect #BookFace!
This past Wednesday, September 17th, was Constitution Day, celebrating the ratification of the U.S. Constitution in 1787. What better way to celebrate here in Nebraska than highlighting our own contributor to the Constitution, Senator George Norris? Senator George William Norris was the main author and sponsor of the Twentieth Amendment to the Constitution (the “Lame Duck” amendment), which shortened the time period between the November election and the date when the newly-elected officials take office. He was also instrumental in the creation of the Tennessee Valley Authority and the Rural Electrification Act. Closer to home, he secured the funding for the Tri-County Project that helped create the Kingsley Dam and Lake McConaughy, and he led the conversion of Nebraska’s legislature from a bicameral to unicameral system, which remains the only one-house legislative system in the United States. Check out “George Norris, Going Home: Reflections of a Progressive Statesman“ by Gene A. Budig and Don Walton (Bison Original, 2013), with a preface by George W. Norris, is one of many titles about Senator Norris available in the Nebraska Library Commission’s government documents collection, as well as Nebraska Overdrive Libraries.
One of the most prestigious academic presses in the country, the University of Nebraska Press sends us around 75 select titles per year, which are added to the Nebraska Publications Clearinghouse, also known as the Nebraska State Documents Collection. This collection is comprised of publications issued by Nebraska state agencies, ensuring that state government information is available to a wide audience and that those valuable publications are preserved for future generations. University of Nebraska Press books, as well as all state documents, are available for checkout by libraries and librarians for their patrons.
“A remarkable account of the life of one of the most influential politicians in the last hundred years. . . . His extraordinary achievements for all American people offer a rare glimpse at what can be achieved when people and politicians put aside narrow interests. . . . Budig and Walton have produced a short and powerful document that draws on the reflections of the Senator and others who knew him at the end of his life. It would serve us well if a copy of this book were in every school library across the country.”
—Richard Sterling, former president of the National Writing Commission
This title can also be found as a eBook on Nebraska OverDrive Libraries. 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!
Posted in Books & Reading, General, What's Up Doc / Govdocs
Tagged Book Covers, bookfacefriday, George Norris, George Norris Going Home: Reflections of a Progressive Statesman, libraries, Nebraska History, Nebraska OverDrive Libraries, nonfiction, Reading, University of Nebraska Press
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#BookFaceFriday “Family Ties” by Gary Paulsen
As far as anyone knows we’re one big happy #BookFace!
Snap a picture, it’s time for this week’s #BookfaceFriday, “Family Ties” by Gary Paulsen (Wendy Lamb Books, 2014). Book five in his Liar Liar series, family antics and the ties that bind are put on center stage in this quirky, funny YA read. Family Ties is available as a book club kit from the Nebraska Library Commission. You can also find the first four books in the Liar Liar series as e-books through Nebraska OverDrive Libraries: Kids & Teens. Family ties is one of thirteen titles by Gary Paulsen available to schools and public libraries as a book club kit.
This title came to us via a donation from the John A. Stahl Library in West Point! We love that book clubs around the state regularly donate their books so that more book clubs can read them. So we want to say a big THANK YOU to all those who have sent us donations!
“The fifth book (following Vote) about now fourteen-year-old Kevin Spencer is funny and off-beat. He continues to see life through his self-centered lens, but, in a bid to impress the beautiful Tina, Kevin volunteers to plan his uncle’s wedding. The plot is a bit over-the-top, but since Kevin is not an entirely reliable narrator, readers won’t expect logic.”
— School 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!
#BookFaceFriday “Fish Out of Water” by Katie Ruggle
Dive in to #BookFaceFriday!
This #BookFace will have you gasping for air. Now that the kids are back in school, hopefully all of you moms out there have a little more time for reading, and if you enjoy a good romance novel you’ll want to check out “Fish Out of Water: A Novel” by Katie Ruggle (Sourcebooks Casablanca, 2024). It’s a slow burn to spicy romance novel set in the Colorado wilderness, with the classic tropes of grumpy hero, charming heroine, and only one sleeping bag. It’s available as an eBook through Nebraska OverDrive Libraries and is one of sixteen Katie Ruggle titles we have in the OverDrive collection.
“Romance lovers will have no trouble rooting for this raunchy heroine and her strong, protective hero.”
— Publisher’s Weekly
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 Book Covers, bookface, bookfacefriday, books, Ebook, Fiction, Fish Out of Water, Katie Ruggle, Nebraska OverDrive Libraries, Novel, Reading, romance
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#BookFaceFriday & the Jane Austen Book Club
Resting #BookFace
It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a reader in possession of free time, must be in want of a #BookFaceFriday. “Northanger Abbey,” “Persuasion,” “Emma,” and “Pride and Prejudice” all by Jane Austen are this week’s #BookFaceFriday picks, and they are all available, along with “Mansfield Park,” and “Sense and Sensibility,” in our Book Club Kit collection. Inspired by the Jane Austen book club from Papillion utilizing our collection, we wanted to highlight what we have available in our Book Club Kits for groups interested in reading a single author. Other authors we have more than six titles by include: Debbie Macomber – 25; Jodi Picoult – 21; Elin Hilderbrand – 19; Nicholas Sparks – 16; Richard Paul Evans – 14; Elizabeth Berg – 13; Barbara Kingsolver 13; Carl Hiaasen – 12; Gary Paulsen – 12; Beverly Lewis – 11; Kristin Hannah – 10; John Grisham – 10; Louise Erdrich- 9; Fannie Flagg – 9; Neil Schusterman – 8; Toni Morrison – 8; Jerry Spinelli – 8; Sandra Dallas – 8; David Sedaris – 7; Liane Moriarty – 7; Jo Nesbo – 7; Ann Patchett – 7 ; Anne Tyler – 7; and Judy Blume – 7.
“witty, clever, and engaging – and easy to read despite being written over 200 years ago. Austen is adored to this day for her sharp social commentary, and her vivid, complex characters, creating novels that continue to entertain and enchant.”
— Penguin Random House
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 “My Ideal Boyfriend is a Croissant” by Laura Dockrill
Sink your teeth into #BookFaceFriday!
Well butter my #Bookface and call me a biscuit, because this week we’ve got something good a cooking. Just kidding, “My Ideal Boyfriend is a Croissant: A Novel“ by Laura Dockrill (Delacorte Press, 2019) isn’t a cookbook, it’s a funny teen drama centered around one sixteen year old’s relationship with food, her body, and life. It’s available as an audiobook through Nebraska OverDrive Libraries: Kids & Teens and is currently in the “Sunshine & Reading Time: YA beach reads” collection. Featured on the Kids & Teens main page, this collection has the 300 titles ranging from romance to sci-fi to thriller, and we think it’s the perfect way to soak up just a little more summer.
“BB’s honesty, her comfort with her own body, and her love for her family and best friend shine through. Full of heart, BB’s authentic voice will strike a chord with anyone who doesn’t want to be defined by the way they look.”
— School Library Journal
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 “Old Jules Country” by Mari Sandoz
Oh give me a home where the #BookFaces roam!
If you enjoy sunsets and long walks on the beach, this week’s #BookFace is for you. Actually, if you you enjoy the Sandhills, settlers literature, and slightly obscure writings of Nebraska authors, then this #Bookface is for you. Check out “Old Jules Country: A Selection from “Old Jules” and Thirty Years of Writing after the Book was Published” by Mari Sandoz (University of Nebraska Press, 1965) which includes selections from six volumes of Sandoz’s Great Plains Series The Beaver Men, Crazy Horse, Cheyenne Autumn, The Buffalo Hunters, The Cattlemen, and Old Jules and from her study of a great people, These Were the Sioux, also included are two essays, “The Lost Sitting Bull” and “The Homestead in Perspective,” a Cheyenne prayer and two sketches unavailable elsewhere—”Snakes” and “Coyotes and Eagles”—complete this collection. This title is part of the Nebraska Publications Clearinghouse, which receives documents every month from all Nebraska state agencies, including the University of Nebraska Press (UNP). UNP books, as well as all Nebraska state documents, are available for checkout by libraries and librarians for their patrons.
“This anthology provides a stimulating sampling for readers not yet acquainted with Sandoz’s work. For her extensive following, it offers the opportunity for a satisfying reappraisal of her overall achievement.”
— University of Nebraska Press
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 “Shane” by Jack Schaefer
Like a #BookFace Cowboy!
Riding out on a horse in a star-spangled rodeo, this week’s #BookFaceFriday is sure to get you in the mood for the Nebraska State Fair or your county rodeo! “Shane” by Jack Schaefer (University of Nebraska Press, 1984) is a classic teen and YA western revolving around the Starrett family and the titular Shane’s arrival on their farm and how he shapes their lives. It’s available as an eBook and audiobook on through Nebraska OverDrive Libraries and is also available as a book club kit through the Nebraska Library Commission. The novel is also part of the Nebraska Publications Clearinghouse, which receives documents every month from all Nebraska state agencies, including the University of Nebraska Press (UNP). UNP books, as well as all Nebraska state documents, are available for checkout by libraries and librarians for their patrons.
“If you read only one Western in your life, this is the one.”
— (Roland Smith, author of the Peak Marcello adventure novels)
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
Contact the Information Desk at the Library Commission if you have any questions: by phone: 800/307-2665, or by email: Information Services Team
- 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 Book Art, Book Club Kits, Book Covers, bookface, bookfacefriday, books, Jack Schaefer, Novel, Reading, rodeo, Shane, University of Nebraska Press
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2025 Nebraska Makerspace Conference – Deadline for Session Proposals is July 23
Are you involved in a makerspace or want to work to develop a makerspace for your organization? The Nebraska Library Commission is coordinating the 2025 Nebraska Makerspace Conference to be held at the Nebraska Innovation Conference Center on November 4-5, 2025. The last Nebraska Makerspace Conference was held four years ago so these don’t come along every year. The planning team has been working on the conference agenda (which is shaping up nicely) and working to secure vendors and sponsors as well. Please note that the Call for Session Proposals will be closing on July 23rd and registration for the conference will be in early August.
Check out our conference website to access the Session Proposals Form, the Sponsorship Opportunity Form, and information on the tables that can be reserved by vendors, makerspaces, and makers. We plan to keep the two-day registration fee to under $100 so we hope you will “Save the Date” and join us at this exciting conference later this year. https://nlc.nebraska.gov/libraries/maker/index.2025.Conference.aspx
Friday Reads: “Bringing Up Bébé” by Pamela Druckerman
When I picked Bringing Up Bébé: One American Mother Discovers the Wisdom of French Parenting by Pamela Druckerman to read during my maternity leave, I thought was just in for a cute parenting book with a fun Parisian twist, but it turned out to be a fascinating study of French and American culture surrounding child rearing. Less of a how-to book and more of an anthropologist’s deep dive into french society and culture in a very baptism by fire approach. Newly married to a British sports writer covering soccer/football in France, fellow journalist, Pamela Druckerman moves from New York to Paris to start fresh and begin a whole new life with her partner. As she and her husband embark on this Parisian adventure and begin having children, Druckerman recounts her struggles with pregnancy and raising children in a foreign country as well as a study on the differences she see in the French approach to having and raising children. At times frustrating and lonely, Druckerman navigates prenatal care, french hospital births, newborn sleep issues, childcare, and even child etiquette in Paris. The deeply ingrained culture of raising children in France as additions to your current family and integrating children into your way of life contrasts with the American sensibility of having your life revolve around your children. Fascinating and at times eye opening, I enjoyed the authors honest and raw insights about their journey having children, navigating marriage, and adopting a new hybrid culture for her family.
Druckerman, Pamela. Bringing Up Bébé: One American Mother Discovers the Wisdom of French Parenting. Penguin Books. 2014.
#BookFaceFriday “The Peculiar Gift of July” by Ashley Ream
The Peculiar Gift of #BookFaceFriday!
Take a break from real life drama for something a little lighter with this week’s #BookFace. Check out “The Peculiar Gift of July: A Novel” (Dutton, 2025) by Ashley Ream, it’s a heartwarming, magical read featuring Anita Odom, a small town grocer, set in her ways and maybe just a little bit lonely, who’s life is turned upside down when her cousin’s fourteen-year-old daughter shows up on Anita’s doorstep. It’s available as an eBook and Audiobook through Nebraska OverDrive Libraries and is one of two Ashley Ream titles we have in the OverDrive collection.
“Few writers balance vulnerability and wit like Ream, and in The Peculiar Gift of July, she does so with a storyteller’s lightest touch…The setting may be fictional, but the emotional terrain of is rooted in real, lived feeling: grief, caregiving, community and the ways we find family in the most unexpected places…The book’s magical realism is subtle, more sparkle than spectacle…It’s also deeply funny. Ream has a sharp eye for the odd rhythms of community life…The shimmer is everywhere. It’s in the scent of cardamom from the bakery. In the lonely ache of people trying to do right by each other. In the way a town, however eccentric, can knit itself back together around the edges of a heartbreak.”
— The Seattle Times
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 “Miss Liberty” by Erin Moonyeen Haley
Miss Congeniality meets #BookFace!
Practice your pageant wave with this week’s #BookFaceFriday, “Miss Liberty” by Erin Moonyeen Haley (Storytide, 2025), a novel for 3-7 graders. Hailed as Dumplin’ meets the small-town drama of Gilmore Girls, this fun fourth of July read is the perfect summer read for kids.
“In this heartfelt debut, Haley sensitively portrays a character who’s struggling to hold on to the comfort of the familiar while contending with fear regarding an uncertain future. Savvy’s personal ambitions collide with her desire to support her sister’s efforts making for engaging, relatable familial and internal drama.”
—Publishers Weekly (starred review)
The Nebraska Library Commission receives a large number 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. You can see some of her favorites of the past year in the recent NCompass Live webinar episodes: Best Teen Reads of 2024 and Best Children’s Books of 2024.
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 Book Covers, bookface, bookfacefriday, Erin Moonyeen Haley, juvenile fiction, Miss Liberty, Novel, Reading, Sally Snyder
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#BookFaceFriday “Cat + Gamer: Volume 1” by Wataru Nadatani
You cat to be kitten me right meow, it’s #BookFaceFriday!
Cat got your tongue with this adorable #BookFace? “Cat + Gamer: Volume 1” by Wataru Nadatani (Dark Horse Manga, 2022) is the first book in a collection of eight manga novels. Only recently published in English, this manga series is hailed as a cute, fun, and heart-warming story of a gamer learning to live with a cat. It’s available as an eBook through Nebraska OverDrive Libraries: Kids & Teens and is currently in the “New Titles” collection. Featured on the Kids & Teens main page, this collection has the 200 latest editions to the collection.
“Although the protagonist, Riko, is an adult, the overall story is still appealing to younger audiences because of the cute cat hijinks and the focus on video games over Riko’s life as an OL (office lady). In many ways, the manga is about both how to raise a cat and the basics of Japanese video game culture. This focus is why the series ultimately has a younger appeal and is relevant to all ages. There truly is something for everyone, unless for some blasphemous reason the person doesn’t like cats (which is preposterous).”
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 Southpaw” by Mark Harris
Take me out to the #BookFace!
If you’re a fan of America’s greatest pastime or you just love a slow afternoon at the ballpark check out this week’s #BookFaceFriday, “The Southpaw” by Mark Harris and Henry W. Wiggin (Bobbs-Merrill, 1953) it would be a great choice for your next read. This novel revolves around a left-handed pitcher on a fictional New York baseball team, it is a part of the Nebraska Publications Clearinghouse, which receives documents every month from all Nebraska state agencies, including the University of Nebraska Press (UNP). UNP books, as well as all Nebraska state documents, are available for checkout by libraries and librarians for their patrons.
“As the temperature warmed up in recent days, there was no better way to prepare for the season than to reread Mark Harris’s “The Southpaw, ” one of the finest sports books I know. . . . Harris loves the game itself, and he never loses sight of its value to America.” —George Vecsey, “The New York Times”
This week’s #BookFace model is Bruce Oorlog, NLC’s Mail/Material Specialist and avid baseball fan!
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 Baseball, Book Art, Book Covers, bookface, bookfacefriday, books, Mark Harris, Novel, Reading, The Southpaw, University of Nebraska Press
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#BookFaceFriday “The Amazing Maurice and His Educated Rodents” by Terry Pratchett
Cat got your #BookFace!?
This #BookFaceFriday has more than nine lives! Check out “The Amazing Maurice and His Educated Rodents” by bestselling fantasy author Terry Prachett (HarperCollins; 2001), it’s number 28 in Prachett’s Discworld series.
This is a standalone Discworld novel retelling the classic fairytale of the Pied Piper. We have 14 copies for your reading group to borrow in our Book Club Kit collection, and you can read more about it in our Book Club Spotlight series!“An astonishing novel. Were Terry Pratchett not demonstratively a master craftsman already, The Amazing Maurice might be considered his masterpiece.”
— Neil Gaiman
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 “The Lola Quartet” by Emily St. John Mandel
Get inspired with #BookFaceFriday!
Let #BookFace be your muse and check out what’s being showcased on the Nebraska OverDrive Library home page, you’ll find titles like this week’s #BookFace, “The Lola Quartet” by Emily St. John Mandel (Vintage, 2015) which follows disgraced journalist Gavin Sasaki, as he goes back home to regroup after being fired for plagiarism and finds out he may have a daughter he never knew about. You can check out the ebook yourself through Nebraska OverDrive Libraries!
“Compelling. . . . Perhaps all novelists can be said to wrestle with morality; Mandel seems to wrestle with it at greater length and in greater depth than most. . . . First-rate fiction.”
— Dallas Morning News
This week’s #BookFace model is Ethan Nelson, the new Director of the Western Library System! Ethan is a native Nebraskan who grew up on a farm about forty miles south of Scottsbluff. He loves a good book with his favorite genre being fantasy, and is currently reading Michael Moorcock’s Elric saga. He now lives in Scottsbluff with his adorable cat Tails. If you get a chance send him a note and welcome him to Nebraska’s Regional Library systems!
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 Last Story of Mina Lee” by Nancy Jooyoun Kim
Don’t turn your back on #BookFaceFriday!
May is Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month (AAPI), and we want to help you celebrate by highlighting just one of the many Asian authors in our collections. “The Last Story of Mina Lee” by Nancy Jooyoun Kim (Park Row, 2021) is a fictional novel recounting the fraught mother daughter relationship between first and second generation Korean immigrants. It’s available as an Audiobook through Nebraska OverDrive Libraries and is also available as a book club kit through the Nebraska Library Commission. You can find more AAPI stories to explore in our book club collection or Asian/Pacific authors here.
“Haunting and heartbreaking, troubled threads between a mother and daughter blend together in a delicate and rich weave… With both sadness and beauty, [Kim] describes grief, regret, loss, and the feeling of being left behind. Fans of Amy Tan and Kristin Hannah will love Kim’s brilliant debut.”
— Booklist, 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!
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!
