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Category Archives: General
Shortlist for 2025 One Book One Nebraska Announced
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
September 18, 2024
FOR MORE INFORMATION:
Tessa Timperley
402-471-3434
800-307-2665
Shortlist for 2025 One Book One Nebraska Announced
What book will all Nebraskans be encouraged to read in 2025? We will all find out on October 12th at the Nebraska Celebration of Books (N.COB) literary festival. A collection of nonfiction essays about Nebraska, a novel set in 1950’s about personal journeys, a historical fiction novel about the Pacific theater in World War II —all stories with ties to Nebraska—are the finalists for the 2025 One Book One Nebraska statewide reading program. The finalists are:
- My Nebraska: The Good, the Bad, and the Husker by Roger Welsch, The Globe Pequot Press, 2006.
- The Lincoln Highway: A Novel by Amor Towles, Viking Press, 2021.
- The Long March Home: A World War II Novel of the Pacific by Marcus Brotherton and Tosca Lee, Revell, 2023.
The One Book One Nebraska reading program is sponsored by the Nebraska Center for the Book, Humanities Nebraska, and the Nebraska Library Commission. It encourages Nebraskans across the state to read and discuss the same book, chosen from books written by Nebraska authors or that have a Nebraska theme or setting. A Nebraska Center for the Book committee selected the three finalists from a list of nineteen titles nominated by Nebraskans. In the coming weeks, Nebraska Center for the Book board members will vote on the 2025 selection.
Nebraskans are invited to take part in the Nebraska Celebration of Books (N.COB) Literary Festival where the choice for the 2025 One Book One Nebraska will be announced. Held on Saturday, October 12th, from 10:00am-5:30pm, in the Regency Suite, Heritage Room, and Swanson Auditorium located on the second floor of the UNL City Campus Union, this event aims to celebrate Nebraska’s literary heritage and contemporary authors. The festival will honor the 20th anniversary of the One Book One Nebraska program with a panel of past authors, in addition it will feature Nebraska authors, a SLAM poetry showcase, book vendors, and presentation of the Nebraska Center for the Book’s Nebraska Book Awards, Mildred Bennett Award and Jane Geske Award.
This year’s One Book One Nebraska selection, Dancing with the Octopus: A Memoir of a Crime by Debora Harding, will be featured with a memoir writing workshop facilitated by Lucy Atkins from Larksong Writers Place. See http://onebook.nebraska.gov or https://www.facebook.com/OneBookOneNebraska for more information about ongoing 2024 One Book One Nebraska activities.
The Nebraska Center for the Book is housed at the Nebraska Library Commission and brings together the state’s readers, writers, booksellers, librarians, publishers, printers, educators, and scholars to build the community of the book, supporting programs to celebrate and stimulate public interest in books, reading, and the written word. The Nebraska Center for the Book is supported by the national Center for the Book in the Library of Congress and the Nebraska Library Commission.
As the state library agency, the Nebraska Library Commission is an advocate for the library and information needs of all Nebraskans. The mission of the Library Commission is statewide promotion, development, and coordination of library and information services, “bringing together people and information.”
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The most up-to-date news releases from the Nebraska Library Commission are always available on the Library Commission website, http://nlc.nebraska.gov/publications/newsreleases.
Children’s Book Now Available on BARD!
“Sweet Sister Ella” by Nebraska author Rosekrans Hoffman is now available on cartridge and for download on BARD, the Braille and Audio Reading Download service. BARD is a service offered by the Nebraska Library Commission Talking Book and Braille Service and the National Library Service for the Blind and Print Disabled at the Library of Congress.
A neglected older brother plots to recapture his mother’s attention, in this original tale of sibling rivalry. Recommended for grades 2 – 4.
TBBS borrowers can request “All is But a Beginning: Youth Remembered, 1881-1901” DCB02010 or download it from the National Library Service BARD (Braille and Audio Reading Download) website. If you have high-speed internet access, you can download books to your smartphone or tablet, or onto a flash drive for use with your player. You may also contact your reader’s advisor to have the book mailed to you on cartridge.
#BookFaceFriday “The Underground Library” by Jennifer Ryan
Take a look, it’s in a #BookFaceFriday!
This week’s #BookFaceFriday is all about celebrating Library Card Sign Up Month! Join in with “The Underground Library: A Novel” by Jennifer Ryan (Ballantine Books, 2024). Libraries- More than Meets the Eye is this year’s theme. What can you do to help your community celebrate? Get out to your library, sign up for a library card, tell someone what you love about your library, and tell your local library staff how much you appreciate them! It’s that easy. This title is available as a an eBook and Audiobook through Nebraska OverDrive Libraries, and can be found in the specially curated collection “Library Card Sign Up Month,” which is filled with library themed titles.
“This uplifting and inspirational story is perfect for readers looking for heroic home front World War II novels with connections to actual events.”
— Historical Novel Society
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!
Throwback Thursday: Art Deco Elevator
Going up, #ThrowbackThursday?
This 8″ x 10″ black and white acetate negative shows the lobby of a building, decorated in Art Deco style. The floor is tiled in a bold angled pattern, and the walls are made of marble. At the back of the room are doors with ornate metal work, and two elevators can be seen on the left side of the lobby.
This image is published and owned by the The Durham Museum. The William Wentworth Collection at The Durham Museum consists of 4663 negatives of images that document life in Omaha, Nebraska from 1934 through 1950. William Wentworth worked as both a freelancer and a commercial photographer, providing a unique view of architecture, businesses, and community life in Omaha.
See this collection and many more on the Nebraska Memories archive!
The Nebraska Memories archive is brought to you by the Nebraska Library Commission. If your institution is interested in participating in Nebraska Memories, see http://nlc.nebraska.gov/nebraskamemories/participation.aspx for more information.
Posted in General, Nebraska Memories, Preservation
Tagged acetate negative, Omaha Nebraska, The Durham Museum, Throwback Thursday
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What’s Up Doc? New State Agency Publications at the Nebraska Library Commission
New state agency publications have been received at the Nebraska Library Commission for July and August, 2024. Included are Annual Reports from the Nebraska Department of Health and human Services, reports from the Nebraska Auditor of Public Accounts, the Nebraska State Treasurer, the Nebraska Department of Revenue, the Nebraska Department of Transportation, and the Nebraska Public Employees Retirement System, to name a few.
With the exception of University of Nebraska Press titles, items are available for immediate viewing and printing by clicking directly in the .pdf below.
The Nebraska Legislature created the Nebraska Publications Clearinghouse in 1972 as a service of the Nebraska Library Commission. Its purpose is to collect, preserve, and provide access to all public information published by Nebraska state agencies. By law (State Statutes 51-411 to 51-413) all Nebraska state agencies are required to submit their published documents to the Clearinghouse. For more information, visit the Nebraska Publications Clearinghouse page, contact Mary Sauers, Government Information Services Librarian; or contact Bonnie Henzel, State Documents Staff Assistant.
Posted in Books & Reading, Education & Training, General, Information Resources, What's Up Doc / Govdocs
Tagged books, GovDocs, Reading
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Friday Reads : Flight Patterns, by Karen White
I recently picked up Flight Patterns, by Karen White, at a library book sale. And while the author was new to me, what really drew my attention was not just the description of the story, but of the story’s location: Apalachicola, Florida. Apalach, as it’s known to it’s residents, is a town not far from where I grew up and that offers some of the most beautiful homes, gorgeous beaches, and best seafood in the entire South. Flight Patterns tells the story of a woman coming home to the Apalach family she left behind – and to the woman she always wanted to be. In the telling of this woman’s story, Ms. White has done such a magnificent job of describing the beauty of the town, area and people, that it brought back many fond memories of summer days there with my family. As per my usual habit, I both read and listened to this title, and was riveted from beginning to end, as I’m sure you will be too!
Georgia Chambers has spent her life sifting through other people’s pasts while trying to forget her own. But then her work as an expert on fine china – especially Limoges and the mystery surrounding a particular pattern – requires her to return to the one place she swore she’d never revisit: her home town.
It’s been 13 years since Georgia left her family home on the coast of Florida, and nothing much has changed except that there are fewer oysters and more tourists. She finds solace in seeing her grandfather still toiling away with his bees in the apiary where she spent much of her childhood, but encountering her estranged mother and sister leaves her rattled. Seeing them after all this time makes Georgia realize that something has been missing – and unless she finds a way to heal these rifts, she will forever be living vicariously through other people’s remnants. To embrace her own life – mistakes and all – she will have to find the courage to confront the ghosts of her past and the secrets she was forced to keep. **Synopsis courtesy of Audible
Throwback Thursday: Panorama View of McCook, Nebraska
Look at this view #ThrowbackThursday!
Dated 1923, this 3 x 5 inch colorized postcard panorama view of McCook, Nebraska with the C.B.&Q. Railroad train yard in the foreground of the photo as the picture was taken from the South facing North. Photo by Fearn, published by M.L. Rishel, card numbered on the front “11235”.
This image is owned by the High Plains Historical Society and Museum and published by the McCook Public Library. They worked in partnership to digitize photographic images from the historical society’s collection. These images document early growth of the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy Railroad in McCook, Nebraska, and the surrounding area. The collection spans a time period from the early 1880s through the 1960s.
See this collection and many more on the Nebraska Memories archive!
The Nebraska Memories archive is brought to you by the Nebraska Library Commission. If your institution is interested in participating in Nebraska Memories, see http://nlc.nebraska.gov/nebraskamemories/participation.aspx for more information.
Nebraska Author Biography is Now Available on BARD!
“All is But a Beginning: Youth Remembered, 1881-1901” by John G. Neihardt with introduction by Dick Cavett is now available on cartridge and for download on BARD, the Braille and Audio Reading Download service. BARD is a service offered by the Nebraska Library Commission Talking Book and Braille Service and the National Library Service for the Blind and Print Disabled at the Library of Congress.
Nebraska poet, teacher, historian, and Indian scholar here provides a history of his youth, relating childhood experiences and outside influences (family, friends, and teachers) to the development of his life and his struggle to be a poet. He paints a realistic picture of growing up in the Midwest at the end of the 19th century, and of the people and events instrumental in shaping his life.
TBBS borrowers can request “All is But a Beginning: Youth Remembered, 1881-1901” DCB02033 or download it from the National Library Service BARD (Braille and Audio Reading Download) website. If you have high-speed internet access, you can download books to your smartphone or tablet, or onto a flash drive for use with your player. You may also contact your reader’s advisor to have the book mailed to you on cartridge.
#BookFaceFriday “The Book of Unknown Americans” by Cristina Henríquez
Did you know it’s #BookFaceFriday?
Don’t blame us for judging a book by its cover – this one was just asking to become this week’s #BookFace! But sometimes those first impressions prove to be correct; “The Book of Unknown Americans” by Cristina Henríquez, was “named a New York Times and Washington Post Notable Book, an NPR Great Read, The Daily Beast’s Novel of the Year, and a Mother Jones, Oprah.com, School Library Journal, and BookPage Best Book of the Year.” This title is available as a part of our Book Club Kit collection, and also as an eBook and Audiobook through Nebraska OverDrive Libraries. Will your book club enjoy it? Only one way to know for sure…
“There’s an aura of benevolence in these pages…. Henríquez’s feat is to make the reader feel at home amid these good, likable people.”
—The Wall Street Journal
“Unfailingly well written and entertaining…. [Henríquez’s] stories illuminate the lives behind the current debates about Latino immigration.”
– The New York Times Book 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. 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!
Throwback Thursday: Silence Required
Quiet down, it’s #ThrowbackThursday!
This 5″ x 3″ card explains Whitin Library’s policy on noise in its reading rooms and corridors. The front side lists the offenses and their consequences, and the back lists the student’s signature and the date of their warning. Doane College built Whitin Library in 1894. It served as the campus library until 1970, when the college constructed a new library.
This image is published and owned by the Doane University Library, which is home to a vast archival collection containing a variety of items related to the history of Doane University. Founded by Thomas Doane in 1872, Doane College became Doane University in May 2016 and is the oldest private liberal arts and sciences college/university in Nebraska.
See this collection and many more on the Nebraska Memories archive!
The Nebraska Memories archive is brought to you by the Nebraska Library Commission. If your institution is interested in participating in Nebraska Memories, see http://nlc.nebraska.gov/nebraskamemories/participation.aspx for more information.
Nebraska’s 2024 Book Award Winners Announced
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
August 23, 2024
FOR MORE INFORMATION:
Tessa Timperley
402-471-3434
800-307-2665
Nebraska’s 2024 Book Award Winners Announced
Celebrate Nebraska’s 2024 Book Award winners with author readings and an awards presentation ceremony at the Nebraska Celebration of Book’s (NCOB) literary festival. Held at the UNL City Campus Union on October 12th, winners of the 2024 Nebraska Book Awards will be honored at the celebration which will include an author roundtable during the festival and the awards ceremony directly after at 3:30. The ceremony will feature readings by some of the winning authors, designers, and illustrators of books with a Nebraska connection published in 2023. And the winners are:
Children’s Picture Book: Ted Kooser: More Than a Local Wonder written by Carla Ketner, illustrated by Paula Wallace. Publisher: University of Nebraska Press.
Children’s Novel: The Adventures of Pearl and Monty: The Bait and Switch by E. Adams. Publisher: Jade Forest Publishing.
Teen Novel: The Unstoppable Bridget Bloom by Allison L. Bitz. Publisher: HarperTeen.
Cover and Design: Feisty Righty: A Cancer Survivor’s Journey by Jennifer D. James, Cover Art by Courtney Keller. Publisher: Self Published.
Design Honor: Horizons by Julie S. Paschold. Publisher: Atmosphere Press.
Fiction: The War Begins in Paris: A Novel by Theodore Wheeler. Publisher: Little, Brown and Company.
Nonfiction Nebraska as Place: Field Guide to a Hybrid Landscape by Dana Fritz. Publisher: Bison Books.
Nonfiction History: The First Migrants by Richard Edwards and Jacob K. Friefeld. Publisher: Bison Books.
Poetry: The Gathering of Bastards by Romeo Oriogun. Publisher: University of Nebraska Press.
Poetry Honor: The Book Eaters by Carolina Hotchandani. Publisher: Perugia Press.
This year’s Book Awards Celebration will be a combined event with the Nebraska Book Festival, called “The Nebraska Celebration of Books” which aims to celebrate Nebraska’s literary heritage and contemporary authors. Held, Saturday, October 12th, from 10:00am-4:30pm, on the second floor of the UNL City Campus Union in the Regency Suite, Heritage Room, and Swanson Auditorium, the event will honor the 20th anniversary of the One Book One Nebraska program with a panel of past authors. In addition it will feature Nebraska authors, a SLAM poetry showcase, book vendors, and presentation of the Nebraska Center for the Book’s Nebraska Book Awards, Mildred Bennett Award, Jane Geske Award, and 2025 One Book One Nebraska announcement.
The 2024 One Book One Nebraska selection, Dancing with the Octopus: A Memoir of a Crime by Debora Harding (Bloomsbury Publishing, 2020) will be featured with a memoir writing workshop facilitated by Lucy Adkins of Larksong Writers Place.
The Nebraska Book Awards are sponsored and facilitated by the Nebraska Center for the Book and the Nebraska Library Commission.
The Nebraska Center for the Book is housed at the Nebraska Library Commission and brings together the state’s readers, writers, booksellers, librarians, publishers, printers, educators, and scholars to build the community of the book, supporting programs to celebrate and stimulate public interest in books, reading, and the written word. The Nebraska Center for the Book is supported by the national Center for the Book in the Library of Congress and the Nebraska Library Commission.
As the state library agency, the Nebraska Library Commission is an advocate for the library and information needs of all Nebraskans. The mission of the Library Commission is statewide promotion, development, and coordination of library and information services, “bringing together people and information.”
The Nebraska Celebration of Books (NCOB) host sponsors include Nebraska Center for the Book, Nebraska Library Commission, University of Nebraska Press, Lincoln City Libraries, and Francie and Finch Bookshop, with supporting sponsors including Outskirts Press, KZUM 89.3FM, and Concierge Marketing at this time. Humanities Nebraska provides support for the One Book One Nebraska program.
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The most up-to-date news releases from the Nebraska Library Commission are always available on the Library Commission website, http://nlc.nebraska.gov/publications/newsreleases.
#BookFaceFriday “The White House: A Meet the Nation’s Capital Book” by Lindsay Ward
This #BookFaceFriday is in Washington D.C.!
There’s so much to learn in this week’s #BookFace! “The White House: A Meet the Nation’s Capital Book” by Lindsay Ward (HarperCollins, August 2024) is a fun, interactive picture book that’s perfect for educating kids on the inner workings and different people who work inside of the White House.
“An expansive reminder that our government is of, as well as by and for, the people.” —Kirkus Reviews
We couldn’t resist bringing this week’s bookface with us to the National Book Festival in Washington, D.C.! The Nebraska Center for the Book has selected one youth book and one adult book by Nebraska authors to represent the state at the 2024 National Book Festival: “Eat Your Woolly Mammoths!: Two Million Years of the World’s Most Amazing Food Facts, from the Stone Age to the Future” by James Solheim and “Dancing with the Octopus: A Memoir of a Crime” by Debora Harding. Both titles will be part of the National Center for the Book’s Great Reads from Great Places program. Check out the festival schedule, featured authors, and highlights for past events on the Library of Congress’s event page!
This title comes from our large collection of children’s and young adult books sent to us as review copies from book publishers. When our Children and Young Adult Library Services Coordinator, Sally Snyder, is done with them, the review copies are available for the Library System Directors to distribute to school and public libraries in their systems.
Love this #BookFace & reading? Check out our past #BookFaceFriday photos on the Nebraska Library Commission’s Facebook page!
Friday Reads – The Mona Lisa Vanishes by Nicholas Day
Did you ever wonder why the Mona Lisa is so famous? Surely it’s because Leonardo Da Vinci was such a talented artist. Or perhaps the actual Mona Lisa was so beautiful and beloved that artists clamored to paint her portrait? Or… perhaps the painting gained its stature as one of the most recognizable pieces of art worldwide because of a little incident that took place 113 years ago this week, on August 21, 1911. A mysterious man in a white smock hid inside a closet at the Lourve until the museum was closed, and when the coast was clear, he took the Mona Lisa off its wall, removed its frame, and walked out the door.
And thus begins Nicholas Day’s “The Mona Lisa Vanishes: a Legendary Painter, a Shocking Heist, and the Birth of a Global Celebrity.” Curious to find out more? I certainly was!
Day weaves a compelling tale of how lax security at the Lourve and a bungled police investigation led to an international fascination with a small painting most of the world had never seen. Intertwined with the intrigue of the art heist is the rather absurd life story of Da Vinci himself and how he came to paint the Mona Lisa – one of the few endeavors he seems to have carried out to completion. Brilliant but easily distracted, Leonardo Da Vinci was famous for his flakiness as much as his talent.
Aimed at middle-grade readers, this fast-paced work of narrative nonfiction should hold the attention of mystery-lovers of all ages. Fans of the “A Series of Unfortunate Events” books by Lemony Snicket may recognize the illustrations of Brett Helquist throughout.
Day, Nicholas. (2023). The Mona Lisa Vanishes. Random House Studio.
Posted in Books & Reading, General
Tagged art history, art theft, books, Da Vinci, Friday Reads, middle grade, Mona Lisa, narrative nonfiction, Reading, True Crime
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Throwback Thursday: Nebraska Federal Writers’ Project Workers
Take note, it’s #ThrowbackThursday!
This is a 5″ x 7″ black and white photograph of a group portrait of Works Progress Administration Nebraska Federal Writers’ Project workers, made in August, 1937 in Lincoln, Nebraska. Pictured from left to right in the back row are: Fred Christensen, Arthur Bukin, Judson Miner, Glen Miller, Margaret Lund, Ethel Schaible, Lelia Hallock, Weldon Kees, Norris Getty, Robert Carlson, Rudolph Umland, Allen Kennedy, Mrs. McNulty, Dale Smith, Dorothy Kasselbaum, and Lavicia Langley. Pictured from left to right in the front row are: Elaine Barret, Margaret Killian, Corrine Larrimore, J. Harris Gable, and Eunice Jennings.
This image is published and owned by the Jane Pope Geske Heritage Room of Nebraska Authors. The collection of the Heritage Room at Lincoln City Libraries includes digitized items from the Rudolph Umland Papers relating to the Nebraska Federal Writers’ Project. Umland served as an editor and from 1936-1941, as Assistant State Director of the WPA’s Nebraska Federal Writers’ Project.
See this collection and many more on the Nebraska Memories archive!
The Nebraska Memories archive is brought to you by the Nebraska Library Commission. If your institution is interested in participating in Nebraska Memories, see http://nlc.nebraska.gov/nebraskamemories/participation.aspx for more information.
“Nebraska Folklore” is Now Available on BARD!
“Nebraska Folklore” by Louise Pound is now available on cartridge and for download on BARD, the Braille and Audio Reading Download service. BARD is a service offered by the Nebraska Library Commission Talking Book and Braille Service and the National Library Service for the Blind and Print Disabled at the Library of Congress.
A distinguished scholar and writer who, in the words of H. L. Mencken, “put the study of American English on its legs,” Louise Pound was always intensely interested in the folklore of her home state. “Nebraska Folklore”, first published in 1959, collects her best work in that rich vein. Included are cave legends, snake superstitions, weather lore, tales of strong men who rival Paul Bunyan, stories of Indian lovers’ leaps, and the legends of Weeping Water and Lincoln Salt Basin. A section on old Nebraska folk customs provides a wealth of information about holiday observances, literary and debating societies, and various social traditions.
“Few people are successful in becoming authorities on the folklore of a region, fewer still on the folklore of a state. Louise Pound was recognized by folklorists for her mastery of both areas. Therefore, as one should expect, “Nebraska Folklore” is an important book.” — William E. Koch, Nebraska History
TBBS borrowers can request “Nebraska Folklore” DCB02004 or download it from the National Library Service BARD (Braille and Audio Reading Download) website. If you have high-speed internet access, you can download books to your smartphone or tablet, or onto a flash drive for use with your player. You may also contact your reader’s advisor to have the book mailed to you on cartridge.
Friday Reads: “And Then There Were None” by Agatha Christie
I’ve always been fascinated by puzzles. Murder mysteries are a unique kind of puzzle, guiding you through an entire scenario through specific points of view to only show you exactly what the author wants you to know. The smallest of details can be crucial information, and information that seemed critical could turn out to be an outright lie. It makes your head spin, and when you finally learn the truth all of the little puzzle pieces click together in your brain in the most satisfying way. Despite my love for a good mystery, I have never read an Agatha Christie book- until now. And what better place to start than with the World’s Favorite Christie, And Then There Were None?
“The whole thing is utterly impossible and utterly fascinating. It is the most baffling mystery Agatha Christie has ever written.” – New York Times
The majority of the book takes place on Soldier Island, an isolated small island off of the Devon coast. Ten strangers are invited by U.N. Owen to stay at their manor, all for various reasons. Once all the guests have arrived and see that their gracious host is nowhere to be seen, the mystery begins. A phonograph is played and a voice fills the room, charging each and every guest with murder and declaring them prisoners. By the end of the night the first death happens in front of them all, and they must face the fact that somebody has summoned them here in order to kill them.
The book jumps between the perspectives of different guests, giving us insight into how they are handling the events and who each of them may suspect is the murderer. After all, it could very well be one of them. Not to mention the ominous poem in each of their rooms, counting down the deaths of ten soldiers in a rather ominous nursery rhyme with gruesome deaths that just so happen to match up with the increasing number of deaths on the island.
It’s a dizzying story that had me turning pages both forward and back, re-reading passages to try and discover the mystery for myself. Writing an engaging mystery with twists and turns, while keeping it plausible is quite the task, and Christie herself described crafting the mystery as “so difficult to do.” The epilogue wraps everything up in a neat little bow that I’m still thinking about days after finishing the book.
Agatha Christie is responsible for many of the mystery clichés and tropes that we know and love today. It seems her title of “The Queen of Mystery” is well earned, and I look forward to digging further into her sizable collection of mystery novels.
Christie, Agatha. And Then There Were None. William Morrow Paperbacks. 2011
Posted in Books & Reading, General
Tagged Agatha Christie, And Then There Were None, Friday Reads
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#BookFaceFriday “Murder on a School Night” by Kate Weston
We did our homework- it’s #BookFaceFriday!
Don’t let the first few week’s of school push you over the edge! Back to school can be stressful, but finding great books for your kids to read doesn’t have to be. Whether its through our Book Club Kits collection, eBooks and Audiobooks in Nebraska OverDrive Library, picking up a title from our giveaway books. there is something for everyone in at all reading levels. Like this week’s #BookFace! “Murder on a School Night” by Kate Weston (Katherine Tegen Books, 2023) this funny, witty murder mystery for teens is written by a former stand up comedian and bookseller.
“Mean Girls meets Midsomer Murders with a dash of Louise Rennison in this genre-blending story that centers girls’ friendships and two ambitious best friends. Kerry and Annie are self-absorbed friends whose obsession over their lack of popularity results in hysterically funny dialogue and a lighthearted tone. Kerry’s crush on newcomer Scott offers sweet diversions. However, what really elevates the goofy capers and over-the-top scheming is how well Kerry and Annie know both themselves and each other. Secrets add depth and complexity to this insightful parody of teenage life. A nuanced, hilarious page-turning romantic mystery.” —Kirkus Reviews
This title comes from our large collection of children’s and young adult books sent to us as review copies from book publishers. When our Children and Young Adult Library Services Coordinator, Sally Snyder, is done with them, the review copies are available for the Library System Directors to distribute to school and public libraries in their systems.
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 back to school, Book Covers, bookface, bookfacefriday, Kate Weston, Murder on a School Night, Reading
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Throwback Thursday: McKinley Kindergarten Class
School is back in session this #ThrowbackThursday!
A group of kindergarteners and two female teachers from McKinley School are posing on a porch in this 6-3/4″ x 4-3/4″ black and white photograph from around 1900-1915. McKinley School was located at 230 S. 15th Street in Lincoln, Nebraska from 1902 to 1927. It was used as an elementary school until 1915 when it became a “special school with grades 1-9 with prevocational and evening classes.”
This image is published and owned by Lincoln Public Schools. Over the past 15 years, the Library Media Services Department has made a deliberate attempt to collect, preserve, and archive the history of Lincoln public schools and make various items available to the staff and also the public.
See this collection and many more on the Nebraska Memories archive!
The Nebraska Memories archive is brought to you by the Nebraska Library Commission. If your institution is interested in participating in Nebraska Memories, see http://nlc.nebraska.gov/nebraskamemories/participation.aspx for more information.
#BookFaceFriday “Proud” by Ibtihaj Muhammad
En guard! It’s #BookFaceFriday!
On the fence about what to read this weekend? Why not check out one of the many titles about the Olympic Games and athletes available on Overdrive. This week’s #BookFace, “Proud: My Fight for an Unlikely American Dream” by Ibtihaj Muhammad with Lori Tharps, is the memoir of Olympic bronze medalist and Muslim American, Ibtihaj Muhammad. You can find this title as an Audiobook through Nebraska OverDrive Libraries, as well as her Young Readers Edition “Proud: Living My American Dream” which is available as both an eBook and Audiobook.
“Fencing made her who she is today, but fencing isn’t her only narrative. Her journey is one of authenticity at all costs and being unapologetically herself.”
—ESPNw
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
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Friday Reads: Wandering Stars by Tommy Orange
Tommy Orange’s latest book, Wandering Stars, is both a prequel and a sequel to his Pulitzer Prize finalist, There There. Wandering Stars was recently longlisted for the Booker Prize, and seeing that news reminded me I needed to check this book out. If you read There There, you know that Orange adapts narrative structures with more success than a reader might expect. Wandering Stars takes this distinctive world-building further—it’s more of a world rebuilding after a world destruction. It’s heartbreaking and breathtaking at the same time.
Orange is an enrolled member of the Cheyenne and Arapaho tribes of Oklahoma. He lives in Oakland, California, and the Bay Area is often featured in his writing. I’m going to quote the publisher for a quick synopsis that I can’t improve upon: “Wandering Stars is a novel about epigenetic and generational trauma that traces the legacies of the Sand Creek Massacre of 1864 and the Carlisle Indian Industrial School through three generations of a family.”
You don’t need to know the violent colonial history, already, to understand the story. Orange fills in enough detail for the most unacquainted reader to understand the context, and still relates the history in a poetically short (yet relevantly detailed) way. He does this so effectively that a reader, who might be previously familiar with facts about boarding schools and massacres, will somehow get a freshly horrible perspective on the history, and what it means for the characters’ lives and relationships.
I enjoy how Orange creates his characters on the page, and how they exist within context of each other. Even when a character can’t face sharing their pain with others, or face sharing the pain (or happiness, or acceptance) of others, they find they can’t escape this demanding, rewarding intersection of other identities. People are important to other people, and it’s a dynamic, fluctuating, frustrating, and wonderful thing.
I remember telling someone that I had listened to the audiobook of There There, and that person wondered how well the audiobook could work, considering the multiple narrator technique Orange used in the book. It had worked very well, I assured them—my only disappointment with the CD-format audiobook was that the last disc only had a couple of tracks on it, total–so that when I put the last disc into my car stereo, I only had a few moments of story left, when I expecting a whole disc’s worth of tracks. I appreciate finally having more of the story—from before, from after, from the stars on down.
Orange, T. (2024). Wandering stars (First edition). Alfred A. Knopf.
