All About Books
Episodes
âZorrieâ by Laird Hunt,
22 Dec 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Itâs a poetic novel of rural, small town life. âZorrieâ by Laird Hunt, is the life story of woman born in Depression-era Indiana and a powerful ...
Holiday gift ideas for adult readers
15 Dec 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Last week we presented book suggestions for kids, this Thursday itâs gift ideas for adult readers. Special guest Leslie Huerta of "Francie & Finch" ...
Holiday Gift ideas for young readers with Vicky Wood
08 Dec 2021
Contributed by Lukas
The gift of books to children can have a lasting positive impact. This week's program welcomes Youth Services Coordinator for Lincoln Public Libraries...
âThe Lincoln Highway: a Novelâ by Amor Towles
01 Dec 2021
Contributed by Lukas
In the summer of, 1954, 18-year-old Emmett Watson is driven home to Nebraska by the warden of the juvenile work farm where he served fifteen months. W...
âChina Roomâ by Sunjeev Sahota
17 Nov 2021
Contributed by Lukas
The novel tells the story of family connections across time and place- from 1929 rural India to modern Britain. How a place, or objects in a room, can...
âCokie: A Life Well Lived.â by Steve Roberts
10 Nov 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Cokie Roberts was a fixture on NPR and television for 40 years. She was author of 5 bestselling books and inspiration for generations of young female ...
âThe Splendid and the Vileâ by Erik Larsen.
03 Nov 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Winston Churchill leading the British through the German blitz is well-known history, but a new book uses Churchillâs diaries to offer a fresh persp...
âThe Secret to Super Human Strengthâ by Alison Bechdel
27 Oct 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Artist and writer Alison Bechdel has had a life-long obsession with every exercise craze of the last 50 years. In her new book, âThe Secret to Super...
âPiranesiâ by Susanna Clarke
20 Oct 2021
Contributed by Lukas
The setting of this novel is as strange as any youâll find- a labyrinth of countless statues where sea tides fill rooms and then retreat. This is th...
"Nebraska History Moments" by David Bristow
13 Oct 2021
Contributed by Lukas
If you can spare just a few minutes, you can learn something interesting about Nebraska history. Thatâs the idea behind a new release from the Unive...
"The Perfume Thief" by Timothy Schaffert
05 Oct 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Itâs a story of crime in an unlikely place- the high fashion world of Nazi occupied Paris. UNL English Professor Timothy Schaffert is the guest on t...
The Vanishing Halfâ by Brit Bennet
28 Sep 2021
Contributed by Lukas
In the novel âThe Vanishing Halfâ by Brit Bennett, twin sisters fleeing their small town life, head to New Orleans where one sister discovers she ...
âThe Only Wonderful Things" by Melissa Homestead
22 Sep 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Most Nebraskans are familiar with Willa Catherâs novels, but a new book by UNL Professor of English Melissa Homestead reveals new information on how...
The âFriend Zoneâ series by Abby Jimenez.
15 Sep 2021
Contributed by Lukas
With Labor Day past, thereâs little time left for summer reading. This weekâs program features guest reviewer Kiersten Hill who looks at 3 modern ...
âCarville's Cure: by Pam Fesslerâ
13 Sep 2021
Contributed by Lukas
In rural Louisiana was a place locals called simply, Carville. It was the only Leprosy colony in the United States. There, for generations, afflicted ...
âTomatoes for Neelaâ by Padma Lakshmi
01 Sep 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Preparing food is the time-honored way to help young people learn about their family and culture. Guest reviewer Dylan Teut Executive Director of the ...
âTemporaryâ by Hillary Leichter
25 Aug 2021
Contributed by Lukas
A playful satire on life and work in the gig economy. The novel, âTemporaryâ by Hillary Leichter is a surreal trip through the anxieties of late-...
"The Seed Keeperâ by Diane Wilson
18 Aug 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Guest reviewer Shirley Sneve introduces "The Seed Keeperâ by Diane Wilson, a novel told through the voices of 4 generations of native women of the N...
"A Knock at Midnightâ by Brittany Barnett
11 Aug 2021
Contributed by Lukas
In her day job she moved billion-dollar deals. At night, she worked pro bono in near hopeless legal battles. As a successful young black-professional,...
Introduction to Nebraska author, Mari Sandoz
04 Aug 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Students growing up in Nebraska, may have read Mari Sandoz, but not everyone knows her books. This week on All About Books, special guest Lynn Roper f...
"Oak Flat" by Lauren Redniss.
28 Jul 2021
Contributed by Lukas
A high elevation mesa in Arizona is a battleground between Apache people, the United States government and 2 of the worldâs largest mining firms.The...
"Hamnet: the Story of a Plague" by Maggie O'Farrell
21 Jul 2021
Contributed by Lukas
On this week's program part 2 of UNL English Professor Stephen Buhler's summer reading list which features, "Hamnet: the Story of a Plague" by Maggie ...
UNL English Professor Stephen Buhler's summer reading list.
14 Jul 2021
Contributed by Lukas
What does an English professor read during summer vacation? As youâd expect, a variety of very good books. UNLâs Stephen Buhler is the guest on th...
âLeave the World Behindâ by Rumaan Alam
07 Jul 2021
Contributed by Lukas
A family renting a home in remote Long Island are startled by the return of the owners fleeing a black out in New York City. The novel âLeave the Wo...
âCode Girlsâ by Liza Mundy.
29 Jun 2021
Contributed by Lukas
They were recruited, trained and they worked completely in secret. More than 10 thousand young women worked for the US Army and Navy breaking enemy co...
"Wilmington's Lie" by David Zucchino
23 Jun 2021
Contributed by Lukas
By the 1890s, Wilmington North Carolina was that states largest city and a shining example of a mixed-race community. But white supremacist Democrats ...
âDeacon King Kongâ by James McBride.
16 Jun 2021
Contributed by Lukas
An irritable, old church deacon shoots a drug dealer in broad daylight. This begins the action of the novel, âDeacon King Kongâ by James McBride. ...
"Breasts and Eggs" by Mieko Kawakami.
09 Jun 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Three Japanese women living in a tiny Tokyo apartments struggle to find peace in their lives as they deal with issues of partners, children and appear...
"Transcendent Kingdom" by Yaa Gyasi.
02 Jun 2021
Contributed by Lukas
The city-wide reading project, "One Book- One Lincoln" has announced the 3 finalists. On this week's "All About Books" David Smith from the selection ...
âChildren of the Landâ, Marcelo Hernandez Castillo
26 May 2021
Contributed by Lukas
He and his family lived by hiding in plain sight, hoping never to be truly seen. In his memoir, âChildren of the Landâ, Marcelo Hernandez Castillo...
âRural Rebellion" by Ross Benes
19 May 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Brainard, Nebraska native Ross Benes found himself trying to explain to his New York City friends what the people of rural American were really like. ...
âInterior Chinatownâ by Charles Yu
12 May 2021
Contributed by Lukas
An Asian actor stuck generic roles longs to move his career forward. With this character, novelist Charles Yu skewers cultural stereotypes with humor ...
âPickard County Atlasâ by Chris Harding Thorton
05 May 2021
Contributed by Lukas
A boy from the Nebraska Sandhills was murdered decades ago but his body was never found. In the suspense novel, âPickard County Atlas.â UNL Lectur...
âHidden Prairie" by Chris Helzer
28 Apr 2021
Contributed by Lukas
If forests, mountains and oceans are extroverted environments that demand our attention- the prairie has a more quiet voice. Photographer, author and ...
âHidden Valley Roadâ by Robert Kolker.
21 Apr 2021
Contributed by Lukas
To their neighbors in Colorado Springs, the Galvins seemed to be a large, happy, baby boom family. Over the years 6 of the 12 children would be diagno...
"The Least Interesting Place." by Matt Steinhousen
14 Apr 2021
Contributed by Lukas
It may be the first of its kind: a coffee-table book of Nebraska photographs designed, written, published and even printed entirely in Nebraska. Amate...
âRun Me to Earthâ by Paul Yoon
07 Apr 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Beginning in 1960âs Laos, âRun Me to Earthâ by Paul Yoon is a novel spanning decades. It tells the story of 3 orphans who risk their lives colle...
"More in Time" a tribute to NE poet Ted Kooser
24 Mar 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Heâs been awarded a Pulitzer Prize, named U.S. Poet Laureate twice, and now Nebraska poet Ted Kooser has a tribute from his colleagues and students ...
âBecoming Wildâ by Carl Safina
17 Mar 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Humans have traditions and cultures, but is it possible that animals do too? A new book explores the animal world from a fresh perspective. On this we...
âThe Lives of Edie Pritchardâ by Larry Watson
10 Mar 2021
Contributed by Lukas
This novel presents a Montana woman who seems to have much going for her. But throughout her life she struggles to define herself while others seek to...
The secret life of birds. "The Bird Way" by Jennifer Ackerman.
03 Mar 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Scientist are coming to understand that birds have intelligence for activities we previously considered uniquely human. Behaviors like deception, mani...
Author Steven Wingate and his new novel "The Leave-Takers"
24 Feb 2021
Contributed by Lukas
The University of Nebraska Press has just published South Dakota writer, Steven Wingateâs new novel, âThe Leave-Takers.â On this weekâs âAll...
âAfterlifeâ by Julia Alvarez
17 Feb 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Anotonia Vega is a professor of English and an immigrant, she confronts the loss of her husband in the novel, âAfterlifeâ by Julia Alvarez. The st...
"Redhead by the Side of the Road: a Novel" by Anne Tyler.
10 Feb 2021
Contributed by Lukas
A technology expert who enjoys a dependably quiet routine is upended by a suddenly homeless girlfriend and a teenage boy claiming to be his son. It's ...
. âThe Confessions of Frannie Langtonâ by Sara Collins
03 Feb 2021
Contributed by Lukas
A mixed-race woman born into slavery on a Jamaican plantation ends up in London at the center of a murder case. âThe Confessions of Frannie Langtonâ...
âMinor Feelingsâ by Cathy Park Hong
27 Jan 2021
Contributed by Lukas
âMinor Feelingsâ is a collection of essays described as honest, funny, and provocative. A look at poet and essayist Cathy Park Hong's cultural obs...
âHere We Areâ by Graham Swift
20 Jan 2021
Contributed by Lukas
In the summer of 1959, three young performers come together for a variety show in sea side town of Brighton England. âAll About Booksâ reviews the...
âPaper Bulletsâ by Jeffrey Jackson
13 Jan 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Two women of the Paris Avant Garde art world were living on the British Channel Island of Jersey when the Nazis invaded. A new book tells how these ar...
âThe Less You Know About Usâ by Axton Betz-Hamilton
06 Jan 2021
Contributed by Lukas
In the early 1990âs, an average Indiana family had their identities stolen, crippling the couple and their young daughterâs life. That young girl ...