All About Books
Episodes
A holiday gift guide for very young readers.
10 Dec 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Last week’s program featured gift ideas for adult readers, this week we’ll look at books for young people. Ali Bousquet, Youth Services and Outrea...
The annual gift guide for book lovers.
03 Dec 2025
Contributed by Lukas
This week it's the annual holiday gift giving guide for book lovers. Local bookseller Leslie Huerta returns with suggestions for every interest. She’...
“Somebody Is Walking on Your Grave” by Mariana Enriquez
19 Nov 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Recently retired UNL English Professor Steve Buhler returns to All About Books with a guest review of “Somebody Is Walking on Your Grave: My Cemeter...
“What Art Does: an Unfinished Theory" by Brian Eno
12 Nov 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Making Art seems to be a universal human activity. Why is that, and what does Art actually do? This is explored by composer and music producer Brian E...
“Goethe’s Oak: a Holocaust Memorial” by John Price
05 Nov 2025
Contributed by Lukas
The book began with a trip to Buchenwald Memorial near Weimar, Germany. UNO English Professor John Price was inspired by a memorial at a massive oak s...
"Frankenstein" by Mary Shelly
29 Oct 2025
Contributed by Lukas
On Halloween week, All About Books welcomes UNL Professor of English Dr. Michael Page who will introduce a Gothic thriller and the era that created th...
“Whiskey Tender" by Deborah Jackson Taffa
23 Oct 2025
Contributed by Lukas
In her memoir, Deborah Jackson Taffa traces how, as a mixed-tribe native girl growing up in the 70’s and 80’s she came to her own understanding of...
“Wilder Weather" by Dr. Barbara Boustead.
15 Oct 2025
Contributed by Lukas
The Little House on the Prairie books by Laura Ingalls Wilder painted a vivid sense of place with the weather on the Great Plains playing an important...
“Challenger" by Adam Higginbotham.
08 Oct 2025
Contributed by Lukas
On January 28, 1986, a little over a minute into flight, the space shuttle Challenger broke apart over the Atlantic Ocean, killing all seven people on...
“I’ll Be Right Here". by Amy Bloom
01 Oct 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Beginning with flight from post-World War II North Africa and Paris, right up to our own time; a multi-generational found-family struggles, lives and ...
“Good Soil:The Education of an Accidental Farmhand” by Jeff Chu
24 Sep 2025
Contributed by Lukas
In mid-life, Jeff Chu left his job as a magazine writer for grad school at Princeton Theological Seminary. The school had a 21-acre farm, the “Farmi...
“James” by Percival Everett
19 Sep 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Winner of the 2025 Pulitzer Prize for Literature, “James” by Percival Everett is a retelling of Twain’s Huckelberry Finn from the perspective of...
“The Unauthorized Biography of Lincoln, NE” by Matt Steinhausen
10 Sep 2025
Contributed by Lukas
No matter how long you’ve lived in your hometown, there's still more to learn. While some of the things you thought were local history, may in fact ...
“On the Hippie Trail" by Rick Steves
03 Sep 2025
Contributed by Lukas
The backpacker’s journey from Istanbul to Kathmandu was once known as the “Hippie Trail” A 23-year old Rick Steves made that trip and documented...
“Clutch” An Education at Work”.by Linda Pawlenty
27 Aug 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Having a job during school to help ends meet is pretty typical, but UNL PhD student Linda Pawlenty’s side job was on a different level of different....
"The Hidden Life of Trees" by Peter Wohlleben
20 Aug 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Peter Wohlleben is a forester and author whose book, "The Hidden Life of Trees" was a best-seller. Now, that title has been given a graphical makeover...
“Becoming Earth” by Ferris Jabr
13 Aug 2025
Contributed by Lukas
The ancient idea that the world is alive was long ridiculed by some scientists, but that’s changing. The view of Earth as a vast interconnected livi...
“Tell Me Everything” by Elizabeth Strout
06 Aug 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Award-winning author Elizabeth Strout returns to Crosby, Maine in her latest novel about new friendships, old loves, and to ask the question- what doe...
“Martyr!” by Kaveh Akbar
30 Jul 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Cyrus is a newly sober son of Iranian immigrants. Guided by the voices of artists, poets, and kings, he embarks on a quest to uncover a family secret....
“Robert F. Kennedy:The Road Not Taken” by Dennis &Laura Crawford
23 Jul 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Nebraska was one of only 15 states that held primaries in 1968. Robert F. Kennedy and Eugene McCarthy campaigned hard in the state. “Robert F. Kenne...
“Feeding Ghosts” by Tessa Hulls
16 Jul 2025
Contributed by Lukas
In the graphic novel “Feeding Ghosts”, artist Tessa Hulls traces Chinese history across three generations of women in her family. Growing up, Hull...
An introduction to Nebraska author, Loren Eiseley
09 Jul 2025
Contributed by Lukas
His writing combined keen scientific observation with mystery and wonder. This week on “All About Books” a look at the life and writing of Lincoln...
“A Refiner’s Fire” by Donna Leon
02 Jul 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Set in Venice, the popular detective series featuring Commissario Guido Brunetti has a new mystery to solve. In “A Refiner’s Fire” by Donna Leon...
“Mrs Dalloway” by Virginia Woolf
25 Jun 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Pat Leach invited her good friend Susan Millar to talk about the classic novel, “Mrs Dalloway” by Virginia Woolf. It’s one of Susan’s favorite...
“Inside Nebraska Courthouses" by Settle & Grossbart
18 Jun 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Dean Settle and his wife Harriet Grossbart, went on an 11-month, 28-thousand mile journey across Nebraska documenting the interiors of all 93 county c...
Guest reviewer Richard Graham on new graphic novels
04 Jun 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Graphic novels expert, UNL professor Richard Graham joins host Pat Leach to talk about two new titles, “Insectopolis: A Natural History” by Peter ...
“Wandering Stars” by Tommy Orange
28 May 2025
Contributed by Lukas
“Wandering Stars” by Tommy Orange is a follow up to his acclaimed debut novel, “There There”. Orange traces the legacies of the Sand Creek Mas...
Guest reviewer Kiersten Hill on the current Romance genre.
21 May 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Kiersten Hill dropped by “All About Books” this week to help host Pat Leach catch up on current trends in Romance fiction. She recommended the new...
Bill Kelly on the "Once Again" podcast series
14 May 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Nebraska Public Media’s senior producer Bill Kelly joins Pat Leach this week’s on “All About Books” to talk about his adventures in researchin...
“Why We Remember” by Dr. Charan Ranganath
07 May 2025
Contributed by Lukas
From recalling names and faces to trauma and healing- memory plays an important role in nearly every aspect of life. Dr. Charan Ranganath is a leadin...
“1999: The Year Low Culture Conquered America" by Ross Benes
30 Apr 2025
Contributed by Lukas
From pro wrestling and Pokémon to Insane Clown Posse and Jerry Springer, a new book looks at the low culture of the late ’90s revealing a continuin...
PBS documentary film maker Dawn Logsdon on "Free for All"
23 Apr 2025
Contributed by Lukas
An interview with Dawn Logsdon, one of the film makers behind the new PBS documentary, “Free For All: The Public Library”. A films exploring how l...
“Meditations for Mortals" by Oliver Burkeman
16 Apr 2025
Contributed by Lukas
There are only so many hours in a day, as the saying goes. That’s the focus of a new book that addresses fundamental questions about how we live. On...
“Anita de Monte Laughs Last: a Novel” by Xochitl Gonzalez
09 Apr 2025
Contributed by Lukas
A Latina woman attending an ivy league college feels a connection to an artist who died under mysterious circumstances in New York years before. “An...
The AI technology race. "Supremacy" by Parmy Olson.
02 Apr 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Two pioneering tech companies and their CEOs are competing over the development of artificial intelligence: Sam Altman of OpenAI and Demis Hassabis of...
“Black Woods, Blue Sky" by Eowyn Ivey
26 Mar 2025
Contributed by Lukas
A mother struggling with sobriety moves herself and young daughter to live with a reclusive mountain man of Alaska’s wilds. Author Eowyn Ivey’s n...
“The Golden Gate” by Amy Chua
19 Mar 2025
Contributed by Lukas
A presidential candidate is assassinated at San Francisco’s swanky Claremont Hotel in 1944. Homicide detective Al Sullivan was having a drink in the...
“Reagan: His Life and Legend” by Max Boot
12 Mar 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Political columnist Max Boot took on the task of writing a monumental biography of conservative icon Ronald Regan. Combining interviews with the Presi...
“Whale Fall” by Elizabeth O’Connor
05 Mar 2025
Contributed by Lukas
On a harsh but beautiful island off the coast of Wales, a young woman looks after the home for her father and younger sister after their mother dies. ...
“Book and Dagger” by Elyse Graham.
26 Feb 2025
Contributed by Lukas
At the start of WWII, the U.S. found itself in desperate need of an intelligence agency. To hire the experts needed,the government looked to academia ...
“The Mighty Red”, a novel by Louise Erdrich,
19 Feb 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Set in a starkly beautiful North Dakota community, “The Mighty Red”, a novel by Louise Erdrich, reveals ordinary people who are complicated and co...
“A Different Metaphor” by Kevin Shinn
12 Feb 2025
Contributed by Lukas
This week on All About Books” Pat Leach talks with author Kevin Shinn a former collegiate pastor, chef and restaurateur. His lifelong spiritual jour...
“Orbital: a Novel” by Samantha Harvey,
05 Feb 2025
Contributed by Lukas
It’s a day in the lives of a team of 6 international astronauts as they orbit the earth. There are mundane daily tasks, solitude, as well as profoun...
“The Safe Keep” by Yael van der Wouden
29 Jan 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Two women with opposite personalities share a house in the Dutch countryside during the summer of 1961. Suspicion between them becomes obsession in th...
“The House of Doors” by Tan Twan Eng
22 Jan 2025
Contributed by Lukas
It’s 1921 in Panang Malaysia where the novel “The House of Doors” introduces real events and people, like the writer Somerset Maugham, along wit...
“How to Read a Book: a Novel” by Monica Wood
15 Jan 2025
Contributed by Lukas
“How to Read a Book: a Novel” by Monica Wood is an honest and hopeful story of struggling with guilt, second chances, and how books can change a l...
“Hidden Libraries" by Diana Helmuth
08 Jan 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Most towns have a library of some sort, but did you know there’s a library at the South Pole? Some libraries are hidden in remote deserts, in phone ...
"Long Island" by Colm Toibin
18 Dec 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Irish novelist Colm Toibin’s latest book is “Long Island” which continues the life story of Eilis Lacey, the complex and enigmatic heroine from ...
“The Wren, The Wren” by Anne Enright
11 Dec 2024
Contributed by Lukas
In her award-winning novel “The Wren, The Wren” author Anne Enright creates 3 generations of Irish women who contend with their inheritances- whic...
The annual holiday gift guide for readers.
04 Dec 2024
Contributed by Lukas
If you need gift ideas this holiday season, “All About Books” has great suggestions. Tory Hall of Sower Books has ideas for book lovers into histo...
“The Exceptions" by Kate Zernike
20 Nov 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Nancy Hopkins began her career in science in the 1960s. By 1999, she and other female scientists at MIT gave detailed evidence of the college’s flag...
“Foot Soldier: New and Selected Poems” by John Stevens Berry
13 Nov 2024
Contributed by Lukas
John Stevens Berry is probably best known as a lawyer with a Lincoln practice since 1965. But he’s also a Vietnam veteran and poet. This week Pat Le...
"The Talk" a graphic novel by Darrin Bell
06 Nov 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Editorial cartoonist Darrin Bell was six years old when his mother had “the “talk” with him. For Darrin, who is mixed-race, the talk was about t...
“Into Whooperland" by Michael Forsberg
30 Oct 2024
Contributed by Lukas
They are an almost a mystical creature due to their rarity, size and beauty. The tallest bird in North America and rarest crane in the world. Nebraska...
"The Mystery Guest" by Nita Prose
23 Oct 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Molly Gray’s flair for cleaning and proper etiquette sees her excel at her job as a maid at the Regency Grand Hotel. It’s her remarkable eye for d...
“A Fever in the Heartland” Timothy Eagans
16 Oct 2024
Contributed by Lukas
The Roaring Twenties might be remembered for jazz, style and excitement, but it was also the decade that saw the rise of the hate group, the Ku Klux K...
“The Biography of X” by Catherine Lacey
09 Oct 2024
Contributed by Lukas
“The Biography of X” by Catherine Lacey is a novel adventure. When a polarizing artist and writer known as “X” dies unexpectedly, her widow go...
“Mott Street” by Ava Chin.
02 Oct 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Ava Chin was confused that the stories her grandparents told her did not match the history she learned in school. Her research into family history and...
An interview with author and illustrator Amy Tan.
25 Sep 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Like others, author Amy Tan was becoming discouraged by a world filled with fear and strife. She turned to nature for relief, specifically the birds t...
“The Berry Pickers” by Amanda Peters
18 Sep 2024
Contributed by Lukas
“The Berry Pickers” by Amanda Peters is a novel revealing the lives of migrant workers in Maine. It’s a harrowing story of Indigenous family sep...
"How to Say Babylon” by Safiya Sinclair
11 Sep 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Safiya Sinclair grew up in Jamaica with an oppressive Rastafarian father who thought women’s highest virtue was their obedience. She escaped this li...
An Interview with James Locklear. “In the Country of the Kaw"
04 Sep 2024
Contributed by Lukas
The Kaw River runs from the high plains of Colorado, through Nebraska, all the way to Kansas City. The prairie environment and the life the river sust...
“The Heaven and Earth Grocery Store” by James McBride.
28 Aug 2024
Contributed by Lukas
A construction project uncovers a human skeleton in Pottstown Pennsylvania. The mystery of who this person was uncovers the history of a dilapidated n...
“Life Lessons from a Parasite" by Dr. John Janovy
21 Aug 2024
Contributed by Lukas
What can you learn from tapeworms and lice? A good deal according to Dr. John Janovy emeritus professor of biology at UNL. His new book, “Life Lesso...
“The Peacock and the Sparrow” by J.S. Berry,
14 Aug 2024
Contributed by Lukas
A ready-to-retire CIA officer stationed in the Middle East has one final mission- which ends up going dangerously awry. That’s the plot of this year...
“The Yellow Bus” by Loren Long
07 Aug 2024
Contributed by Lukas
This week “All About Books” welcomes Dylan Teut, Executive Director of the Plum Creek Literacy Festival to introduce the children’s picture book...
“North Woods” by Daniel Mason.
31 Jul 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Have you ever stopped to wonder who lived in your house before you or, who will inhabit it after you’ve moved on, that’s the idea behind the inve...
“Moonrise Over New Jessup” by Jamila Minnicks
23 Jul 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Based on the history of the Black towns that rejected integration as a means of social advancement, the novel “Moonrise Over New Jessup” by Jamila...
Introduction to the Mystery Genre pt. 2: Author and Title Guide
17 Jul 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Last week on All About Books it was “The History of Mysteries”. This Thursday, our genre guide, Scott Clark from Lincoln City Libraries, suggests...
Introduction to the Mystery Genre Pt. 1
10 Jul 2024
Contributed by Lukas
An introduction to the Mystery genre with Scott Clark Lincoln City Libraries' resident mystery novel expert. In part 1, we look at origins and the man...
"Somehow: Thoughts on Love" by Anne Lamott
03 Jul 2024
Contributed by Lukas
For best-selling author Anne Lamott, “Love is our only hope”. That’s the subject of her 20th book, “Somehow: Thoughts on Love”. Drawing on h...
“In Memoriam” by Alice Winn
26 Jun 2024
Contributed by Lukas
It’s 1914, and World War I is destroying a generation of youth across Europe. For two young men safely at an idyllic boarding school in the English ...
“Dancing with the Octopus" by Debora Harding
19 Jun 2024
Contributed by Lukas
In the winter of 1978, 14-year old Debora Harding was abducted from an Omaha church parking lot at knife point. “Dancing with the Octopus: A Memoir ...
“Creative Genius: The Art of the Nebraska Capitol”
12 Jun 2024
Contributed by Lukas
It’s a book born of the first complete cataloging of the Capitol’s Art. “Creative Genius: The Art of the Nebraska Capitol” reveals the themes ...
“Not the End of the World" by Hannah Ritchie
05 Jun 2024
Contributed by Lukas
When there doesn’t seem to be a lot of promising news about our environment, data scientist Hannah Ritchie’s new book makes the case we’re posit...
"The Nebraska Sandhills” from the University of NE Press
29 May 2024
Contributed by Lukas
"The Nebraska Sandhills” is an updated perspective on this extraordinary place. Writers, editors, scientists, and photographers all came together to...
“Blaze Me a Sun” by Christoffer Carlsson
22 May 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Christoffer Carlsson joins the growing list of wildly successful Swedish Crime novelists. His book about serial murders in a small town, “Blaze Me a...
“The Titanic Survivors Book Club” by Timothy Schaffert
15 May 2024
Contributed by Lukas
For an apprentice librarian working on the luxury liner Titanic, being late for work turned out to be fortunate indeed. In the novel “The Titanic Su...
“King: a Life” by Jonathan Eig.
08 May 2024
Contributed by Lukas
A new landmark biography of Martin Luther King Jr. reveals him as a deep thinker, a brilliant strategist, and a committed radical who led one of histo...
"The Last Devil to Die" by Richard Osman
01 May 2024
Contributed by Lukas
The mostly retired members of the “Thursday Murder Club” have a new mystery to solve. This adventure leads them into the antiques trade only to en...
Guest reader Amy Mather of Omaha Public Libraries
24 Apr 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Some readers give another chance to that novel which challenged them in school, for others it’s the comfort of the books they loved as a teenager. T...
“Foster” by Claire Keegan
17 Apr 2024
Contributed by Lukas
In the novel “Foster” by Claire Keegan, a small girl is sent to live with foster parents on a farm in rural Ireland, without knowing when she will...
An interview with Sarah McCammon, her book is "The Exvangelicals
10 Apr 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Part memoir, part investigative journalism, “The Exvangelicals” is NPR reporter Sarah McCammon’s story of growing up in the evangelical church o...
Dr. Dolores Simpson-Kirkland shares the books she re-reads.
01 Apr 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Dr. Dolores Simpson-Kirkland, a retired counselor for Lincoln Public Schools, is the guest on this week’s “All About Books”, she talked to host ...
"Enchantment" by Katherine May & "Awe" by Dacher Keltner
27 Mar 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Two books dealing with similar themes are reviewed this week Host Pat Leach looks at two releases recognizing the importance of wonder and awe in our ...
“The War Begins in Paris”. by Ted Wheeler
20 Mar 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Two women come to Paris in 1938 as foreign correspondents- a shy pacifist Mennonite, the other a brash, American journalist who is soon to become a fa...
“A Sand County Almanac” by Aldo Leopold.
13 Mar 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Like most people, host Pat Leach has a guilty list of important and influential books she’s never gotten around to reading. One of these she recentl...
“How Can I Help You” by Laura Sims
13 Mar 2024
Contributed by Lukas
It’s a psychological cat and mouse thriller set in an unexpected place- a small town public library. “How Can I Help You” by Laura Sims is chill...
“Portrait of a City: Lincoln, Nebraska" by Bruce Pauley
06 Mar 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Retired history Professor Bruce Pauley has written a readable history of his hometown, “Portrait of a City: Lincoln, Nebraska, at the Turn of the Tw...
“Chasing Bright Medusas” by Benjamin Taylor
28 Feb 2024
Contributed by Lukas
This new biography is aimed at readers of any level of familiarity with the Nebraska author, “Chasing Bright Medusas: A Life of Willa Cather” by B...
"Tell Me Everything" by Erika Krouse
21 Feb 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Erika Krouse has one of those faces that invite confessions from complete strangers. This led to her becoming a private investigator assisting law fir...
Guest reader Rev. Dr. Jim Keck on re reading religious texts
14 Feb 2024
Contributed by Lukas
The books most people come back to again and again are religious texts. This week “All About Books” welcomes Senior Minister of First Plymouth Con...
“The End of Drum Time” by Hanna Pylväinen
31 Jan 2024
Contributed by Lukas
A remote village in the Scandinavian tundra is not a place you’d expect a writer to tell an epic love story. This harsh environment, over 150 years ...
“Dinners with Ruth" by Nina Totenberg
24 Jan 2024
Contributed by Lukas
NPR’s long-time legal correspondent Nina Totenberg has written a memoir of her personal successes, struggles, and close relationships, including her...
"The Mysteries" by Bill Watterson
17 Jan 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Cartoonist Bill Watterson has largely been out of the public eye for nearly 30 years, ever since retiring from his hugely popular "Calvin and Hobbes" ...
Part 2 of our conversation with UNL English Prof. Steve Buhler
10 Jan 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Part 2 of our conversation with of Aaron Douglas Professor of English at UNL, Stephen Buhler. He talks about why we re-read and teach certain books. H...
UNL Professor of English Stephen Buhler on why we re-read.
03 Jan 2024
Contributed by Lukas
An English Literature class typically reads classic works as generations of students have before. Why do we re-read these books? We asked this questio...
"All My Knotted Up Life" by Beth Moore
29 Dec 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Not long ago, Beth Moore was filling arenas as a popular speaker and Bible teacher, especially to women in the Southern Baptist church. Her memoir, “...
Guest reader Eric Buchanan on his favorite books to read again
20 Dec 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Eric Buchanan is an avid reader who’s enjoyed introducing his reading group and his adult sons to books he’s passionate about. He gained new insig...
An introduction to Agatha Christie and her works by Scott Clark
13 Dec 2023
Contributed by Lukas
She was one of the most successful novelists and playwrights of our times who inspired generations of writers. On this week’s “All About Books”,...