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Tag Archives: Book Club Kits
#BookFaceFriday – “Crushed”
It’s just ahh little crush on #BookFaceFriday!
Happy Valentine’s Day readers! Don’t let the lack of the perfect book club read get you down. We promise there’s a book out there for everyone, like “Crushed” by Laura and Tom McNeal (Knopf Books for Young Readers, 2006) This YA novel is written by a husband and wife duo from Nebraska and can be reserved for your book club!
“A sympathetic documentary of human interrelationships and the consequences of choices, with an underlying emphasis on the value of real connection. McNeal fans and other young believers in human possibility will find food for thoughtful hope here.”—The Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books
This week’s #BookFace model is our new Library Innovation Studios Staff Assistant Chelsea Lemburg! She started just a few weeks ago and will be assisting all of our LIS makerspace 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 Book Club Kits, Book Covers, bookface, bookfacefriday, Crushed, Reading, YA
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#BookFaceFriday – “The Autobiography of Malcolm X”
#BookFaceFriday celebrates Black History Month!
We’re throwing back to one of our first-ever #BookFace photos with “The Autobiography of Malcolm X: As told to Alex Haley” by Malcolm X (Grove Press, 1963.) We originally featured this title as a Nebraska 150 Books List selection, and it’s available in our book club kit collection. Check out this Nebraska Author of color for your book club!
“Malcolm X’s autobiography seemed to offer something different. His repeated acts of self-creation spoke to me; the blunt poetry of his words, his unadorned insistence on respect, promised a new and uncompromising order, martial in its discipline, forged through sheer force of will.”—Barack Obama, Dreams from My Father
“The most important book I’ll ever read, it changed the way I thought, it changed the way I acted. It has given me courage I didn’t know I had inside me. I’m one of hundreds of thousands whose lives were changed for the better.”—Spike Lee
Love this #BookFace & reading? Check out our past #BookFaceFriday photos on the Nebraska Library Commission’s Facebook page!
Posted in Books & Reading, General
Tagged Autobiography, Black History Month, Book Club Kits, Book Covers, bookface, bookfacefriday, Malcolm X, nonfiction
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#BookFaceFriday – “The Lady and the Panda” by Vicki Croke
We can all be explorers with a good #BookFaceFriday!
There’s nothing like adding a little non-fiction to your reading list! “The Lady and the Panda: The True Adventures of the First American Explorer to Bring Back China’s Most Exotic Animal” by Vicki Constantine Croke (Random House, 2005) is a part of our book club kit collection. Reserve it for your book club to read today!
“A remarkable journey beautifully described, The Lady and the Panda brings to life one of the most astonishing and overlooked stories of American adventure, the 1936 quest by Ruth Harkness to bring a giant panda to America. Vicki Constantine Croke’s canvas is the mystical and wondrous China of the 1930s, her heroine a most remarkable woman, and her gift the ability to understand that this is a great love story.”
–ROBERT KURSON, author of Shadow Divers
This week’s #BookFace model is Cynthia Nigh, our new Infrastructure Support Technician! She was previously working as the Library Innovation Studios grant assistant. In her new position, she will be working on the Better Broadband For Public Libraries initiative, to help libraries improve their broadband speed.
Love this #BookFace & reading? Check out our past #BookFaceFriday photos on the Nebraska Library Commission’s Facebook page!
#BookFaceFriday – “Mr. Dickens and His Carol” by Samantha Silva
Bah! Humbug! and Happy Holidays from #BookFaceFriday!
Don’t let the ghost of Jacob Marley get you down! A good book, a cozy blanket, something warm to drink. This is the perfect recipe to put any Scrooge into the holiday spirit. We have ten copies of “Mr. Dickens and His Carol: A Novel” by Samantha Silva (Flatiron Books, 2017) and an audio version for our TBBS users as well. Reserve it for your book club to read next holiday season! You should also take a peek at all of our holiday-themed book club kits!
In the collection we have 114 holiday titles, 81 of which have 4 or more copies. If a library is looking to weed some of their holiday titles – they can think of us because we’re always happy to add to this particular collection!
These titles are very popular in November and December, with some book club groups reserving their choices up to a year in advance! NLC staff keep their eyes peeled for holiday-themed books year-round in order to meet the demand come the first snowfall.
“Mr. Dickens and His Carol is a charming, comic, and ultimately poignant story about the creation of the most famous Christmas tale ever written. It’s as foggy and haunted and redemptive as the original; it’s all heart, and I read it in a couple of ebullient, Christmassy gulps.”
―Anthony Doerr
This week’s #BookFace model could be considered by some, our very own office Scrooge, but with a heart of gold. It’s Jerry Breazile, our Business Manager!
Love this #BookFace & reading? Check out our past #BookFaceFriday photos on the Nebraska Library Commission’s Facebook page!
Posted in Books & Reading, General
Tagged Book Club Kits, Book Covers, bookface, bookfacefriday, books, Charles Dickens, Christmas, Holiday, Mr. Dickens and His Carol, Samantha Silva, TBBS
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#BookFaceFriday “The Tattooist of Auschwitz” by Heather Morris
“The Tattooist of Auschwitz: A Novel” by Heather Morris (Harper, 2018) is a part of the NLC Book Club collection! Even better, your book club can celebrate Veteran’s Day all month long with our book club search engine’s Category setting. Quickly find fiction and non-fiction books covering the topic of War and Military Service. “The Tattooist of Auschwitz: A Novel” is based on the real-life experiences of a Holocaust survivor, historical fiction doesn’t get any better than this.
This week’s #BookFace models are current NLC Commissioner Arunkumar Pondicherry, and past NLC Commissioner Sandy White! Arun was appointed in 2018 to his first three-year term and Sandy just finished her three-year term just this month. A big thank you to all of our NLC Commissioners for their service on our board!
Love this #BookFace & reading? Check out our past #BookFaceFriday photos on the Nebraska Library Commission’s Facebook page!
Posted in Books & Reading, General
Tagged Book Club, Book Club Kits, Book Covers, bookface, bookfacefriday, books, Heather Morris, The Tattooist of Auschwitz
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#BookFaceFriday – “Dracula” by Bram Stoker
Velcome to #BookFaceFriday!
Grab your garlic and wooden stakes, we’re wrapping up October with this classic tale of horror (Puffin Classics, 1994, first published 1897). Written as a series of journal entries and letters, it tells the story of the quest to destroy the evil Count Dracula and end his reign of terror.
“Those who cannot find their own reflection in Bram Stoker’s still-living creation are surely the undead .” — New York Times Review of Books
This week’s #BookFace model is our new TBBS Circulation Technician, Amy Irons!
Love this #BookFace & reading? Check out our past #BookFaceFriday photos on the Nebraska Library Commission’s Facebook page!
Posted in Books & Reading
Tagged Book Club, Book Club Kits, Book Covers, bookface, bookfacefriday, books, Bram Stoker, Classic, Dracula, Gothic, Horror
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#BookFaceFriday “Skeleton Man” by Joseph Bruchac
This #BookFace is sure to get your blood pumping!
We are hitting our Halloween stride with this week’s #BookFaceFriday! “Skeleton Man” by Joseph Bruchac (HarperCollins, 2003) is a chilling middle-grade read. Full of missing parents, nightmares, and spooky stories this book club kit is a great way to learn about tribal legends. Reserve it for your youth book club today!
This week’s #BookFace model is our new TBBS Director, Gabe Kramer!
Love this #BookFace & reading? Check out our past #BookFaceFriday photos on the Nebraska Library Commission’s Facebook page!
Posted in Books & Reading, General
Tagged Book Club, Book Club Kits, Book Covers, bookface, bookfacefriday, books, Joseph Bruchac, Skeleton Man, YA books
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#BookFaceFriday “The Ghost of Fossil Glen” by Cynthia Defelice
This #BookFace is a graveyard smash!
We are getting into the Halloween spirit with “The Ghost of Fossil Glen” by Cynthia Defelice (Square Fish, 2010.) It’s a 3-7 grade read with a teacher’s guide available. Just like a Nancy Drew mystery if she’d had a little paranormal help. Get it reserved for your youth book club today!
This week’s #BookFace model is Cathy Hatterman, NLC’s Acquisitions Librarian! Unfortunately, we did not have access to a graveyard so our stacks had to suffice for this week’s #BookFace photo.
Love this #BookFace & reading? Check out our past #BookFaceFriday photos on the Nebraska Library Commission’s Facebook page!
#BookFaceFriday “Maisie Dobbs” by Jacqueline Winspear
Hey, #BookFace fans, you can stand under my umbrella. 
We took advantage of yet another rainy day for this week’s #BookFaceFriday! “Maisie Dobbs” by Jacqueline Winspear (Soho Crime; 10th Anniversary ed. edition, 2014) is the first novel in what is now a series of fifteen books, 2 in the NLC Book Club collection! These well written, historical fiction novels begin in 1929 and revolve around the heroine’s newly opened private eye business. Fans from Veronica Mars to Downton Abbey will be able to appreciate this mystery series.
Love this #BookFace & reading? Check out our past #BookFaceFriday photos on the Nebraska Library Commission’s Facebook page!
Posted in Books & Reading, General
Tagged Book Club, Book Club Kits, Book Covers, bookface, bookfacefriday, books, Jacqueline Winspear, Maisie Dobbs
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#BookFaceFriday “Alias Grace” by Margaret Atwood
Is this #BookFace a Femme Fatale or Innocent Maiden?!
“Alias Grace” by Margaret Atwood (Bloomsbury Publishing, 2017) is just one of several Atwood works in the NLC Book Club collection! Gear up for her new novel with more than a TV marathon, reserve any of her past works for your book club today.
This week’s #BookFace model is our NLC Commissioner Debby Whitehill Bloom! She was reappointed in 2018 to a second three-year term and is the current Commission Chair.
Love this #BookFace & reading? Check out our past #BookFaceFriday photos on the Nebraska Library Commission’s Facebook page!
Posted in Books & Reading, General
Tagged Alias Grace, Book Club, Book Club Kits, Book Covers, bookface, bookfacefriday, books, Margaret Atwood
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#BookFaceFriday “The Boy in the Black Suit”
Everybody’s crazy for a sharp-dressed #BookFace!
“The Boy in the Black Suit” by Jason Reynolds (Atheneum Books for Young Readers, 2015) is the 2019 One Book for Nebraska Teens selection and a part of the NLC Book Club collection. This excellent YA novel is also a 2016 Coretta Scott King Author Honor book. You can reserve this kit today for your youth book club!
This week’s #BookFace model is our newest Commissioner Vernon J. Davis! He began his three-year term as Commissioner this July after his appointment by Governor Pete Ricketts. Welcome, Vernon!
Love this #BookFace & reading? Check out our past #BookFaceFriday photos on the Nebraska Library Commission’s Facebook page!
Posted in Books & Reading, General
Tagged Book Club, Book Club Kits, Book Covers, bookface, bookfacefriday, books, Jason Reynolds, The Boy in the Black Suit
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#BookFaceFriday “The Woman in the Window”
I always feel like somebody’s watching me! 
It isn’t paranoia if it’s really happening . . .
In honor of Friday the 13th, check out “The Woman in the Window” by A.J. Finn (William Morrow, 2018) in the NLC Book Club collection. The ups and downs of an agoraphobic woman and what she thinks she’s witnessed will have you on the edge of your seat. A perfect fit for any Rear Window fans, or lovers of Tana French and Gillian Flynn. Browse this title or our entire collection at nlc.nebraska.gov/ref/bookclub today!
This week’s #BookFace model is our staff break room, more commonly known as the Crows Nest. No blinds were harmed in the making of the #BookFace.
Love this #BookFace & reading? Check out our past #BookFaceFriday photos on the Nebraska Library Commission’s Facebook page!
Posted in Books & Reading, General
Tagged "The Woman in the Window", A.J. Finn, Book Club, Book Club Kits, Book Covers, bookface, bookfacefriday, books
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#BookFaceFriday “Because of Mr. Terupt”
This #BookFace is going back to school, back to school!
…to prove to dad I’m not a fool. Just kidding, #BookFaceFriday never has to prove that. As all the kids, teachers, families, and librarians gear up for another year, we’ve got a great start to your youth book clubs! Check out “Because of Mr. Terupt” by Rob Buyea (Yearling, 2011). Written from the perspective of seven fifth graders, this children’s chapter book has a character that every type of kid can relate to. As a part of our NLC Book Club Kit collection, this read would be a great start to any school year.
“The characters are authentic and the short chapters are skillfully arranged to keep readers moving headlong toward the satisfying conclusion.”–School Library Journal
This week’s #BookFaceFriday model is Gabe Kramer, our new Director of Talking Book & Braille Services. Learn all about him in his recent NLC Staff profile!
Love this #BookFace & reading? Check out our past #BookFaceFriday photos on the Nebraska Library Commission’s Facebook page!
Posted in Books & Reading, General
Tagged back to school, Because of Mr. Terupt, Book Club Kits, Book Covers, bookface, bookfacefriday, Kids, Reading, Rob Buyea
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#BookFaceFriday – The Dewey Decimal System of Love
This #BookFaceFriday has love down to a (library) science…
“For questions about love, and more particularly, inappropriate love, go the 306.7s.” If you’re searching your library’s catalog for a quick, funny, and perhaps slightly naughty, summer beach read, look no further than Josephine Carr’s “The Dewey Decimal System of Love” (New American Library, 2003).
“…a most bizarre, unpredictable and thoroughly delightful mess that keeps the pages turning and the laughs coming.” — Tampa Tribune
This week’s #BookFace model is Mary Sauers, our Government Information Services Librarian. Mary knows all about love in the library – she married another librarian, former NLC Technology Librarian, and current Director of Technology at Do Space, Michael Sauers.
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
Tagged Book Club, Book Club Kits, Book Covers, bookface, bookfacefriday
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#BookFaceFriday “Under the Harrow”
New Books = New #BookFaceFridays!
Has your book club been on the hunt for new reads? The NLC Book Club Kit collection is here to help! We’ve recently added several new titles to the collection, one of which is “Under the Harrow” by Flynn Berry (Penguin Books, 2016). For those of you who devoured “Gone Girl” and “Girl on a Train,” this psychological thriller is sure to get your blood pumping. Browse all the new additions at nlc.nebraska.gov/ref/bookclub today!
This week’s #BookFace photo is Cathy Hatterman, our Acquisitions Librarian! We added a large number of titles to our book club kit collection in the past 2 months! Cathy has been hard at work tracking down all our requests, as well as adding quite a few books to our library science collection.
Love this #BookFace & reading? Check out our past #BookFaceFriday photos on the Nebraska Library Commission’s Facebook page!
Posted in Books & Reading, General
Tagged Book Club, Book Club Kits, Book Covers, bookface, bookfacefriday, books, Flynn Berry, Under the Harrow
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#BookFaceFriday “The Progeny: A Novel”
Being the descendant of a famous serial killer isn’t all it’s cracked up to be…
“The Progeny: A Novel” by Tosca Lee, is the first novel in her Descendants of the House of Bathory series. It’s a thrilling tale that takes you through the underground world of Eastern Europe. Tosca Lee, a New York Times bestselling and Nebraska author, brings a modern twist to the ancient mystery of Elizabeth Bathory, the most notorious female serial killer of all time. This novel is a part of our NLC Book Club Kit collection, make it the next read for your book club today!
“Tosca Lee is a masterful storyteller who has created a rich and engaging tale of adventure, mystery, and loyalty in the face of perpetual betrayal, which kept me on edge from the first page until the last.” (Jobie Hughes, #1 New York Times bestselling author)
This Nebraska author will be make two appearances in Lincoln tomorrow (Jan. 26, 2019)promoting her new book, “The Line Between: A Novel.” Find her at Francie & Finch Bookshop (130 S. 13th. St., Lincoln, NE) from 11am-12:30 and at the South Point Barnes & Noble Booksellers at 2:00 pm!
Today’s #BookFace model is relatively new to NLC, meet Kayla Henzel! Kayla started with us in December as an Administrative and Communications Staff Assistant.
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 “Bossypants”
This #BookFace is working for the weekend…
Full of belly laughs and her real life stories,” Bossypants” by Tina Fey, is the perfect choice for your next read. I actually did laugh out loud while reading this book. I started skimming it for this blog post and ended up not being able to put it down. This collection of essays is a part of our NLC Book Club Kit collection. Reserve it for your book club today!
“It’s not every day you read something that makes you laugh out loud every other page. Then again, Tina Fey doesn’t write a book every day. maybe she should. If you’re a fan of the Saturday Night Live and 30 Rock star, famous for her spot-on imitation of Sarah Palin, you will love this collection of autobiographical essays.” – Craig Wilson, USA Today
Today’s #BookFace model is NLC’s Business Manager, Jerry Breazile! Even though he had vowed never to wear a tie to work again, we appreciate him bending to our bookface will just this once.
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
Tagged Book Club Kits, bookface, bookfacefriday, Bossypants, Tina Fey
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#BookFaceFriday “The Lightning Dreamer: Cuba’s Greatest Abolitionist”
To #BookFace, perchance to dream…
“Poetry is all I have to give. I don’t know any other way to help.” Based on real-life abolitionist Gertrudis Gomez de Avellanda (Tula), Margarita Engle’s book of verse tells the story of a brave young woman who fought against her family’s expectations and spoke out against her country’s treatment of women and the practice of slavery. “The Lightning Dreamer: Cuba’s Greatest Abolitionist” is a part of our NLC Book Club Kit collection, and is one of many YA selections that we have available. Reserve it for your book club today!
“An inspiring fictionalized verse biography of one of Cuba’s most influential writers… Fiery and engaging, a powerful portrait of the liberating power of art.” – Kirkus Reviews
Today’s #BookFace model is one of our Talking Book & Braille Service reader advisors, Holly!
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
Tagged "The Lightning Dreamer", Book Club Kits, bookface, bookfacefriday, Margarita Engle
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#BookFaceFriday “Songs of the Humpback Whale”
Today we’re giving it our best shot at speaking whale… HhhAaapEEE BooookffAaace FrrrriiiidAAaayyy!
While we didn’t see any whales off the coast of Puerto Rico, we did take advantage of the beach for this week’s #BookFaceFriday “Songs of the Humpback Whale: A Novel in Five Voices” by Jodi Picoult (Washington Square Press, 1992). This familial drama between a disgruntled wife and her renowned oceanographer husband plays out in a cross country road trip. This book is a part of our NLC Book Club Kit collection; get it reserved for your book club today!
“Picoult has become a master almost a clairvoyant — at targeting hot issues and writing highly readable page-turners about them . . . It is impossible not to be held spell bound by the way she forces us to think, hard, about right and wrong.” ―Carolyn See, The Washington Post
Today’s #BookFace model is my very accommodating sister, who stared into the ocean for a good long time so I could get this shot.
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 Augusten Burroughs, Book Art, Book Club Kits, Book Covers, bookface, bookfacefriday, books, Memoir, Reading, Running with Scissors
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#BookFaceFriday “Running With Scissors”
I’d hate to have a Freudian slip with this #BookFace…
Get off your therapist’s couch and check out “Running with Scissors: A Memoir” by Augusten Burroughs (Picador, 2003). This New York Times Bestseller is one of those instances where real life is more outlandish than any fictional story. This book is a part of our NLC Book Club Kit collection, and is the perfect selection to get your book club through the winter doldrums!
“I just finished reading the most amazing book. Running with Scissors is hilarious, freaky-deaky, berserk, controlled, transcendent, touching, affectionate, vengeful, all-embracing….It makes a good run at blowing every other [memoir] out of the water.” ―Carolyn See, The Washington Post
This week’s #BookFaceFriday model apparently has a love for running around with boxes on his head. I’m so glad his mother knew how to take advantage of it! Mr. Asher is the son of our Information Services Librarian, Aimee Owen! She and her family get all the credit for this week’s #BookFace photo!
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 Augusten Burroughs, Book Art, Book Club Kits, Book Covers, bookface, bookfacefriday, books, Memoir, Reading, Running with Scissors
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