All About Books

An awkward guest staying too long in your home seems an unlikely plot for a novel. But it’s best-selling author Hans Christian Anderson visiting Charles Dickens, his 9 children, and his estranged wife. Anderson barely speaks English. “Five Weeks in the Country” by Francine Prose.

Because early Americans thought the resources of this new country were infinite, birds were hunted for food and fashion to the point of extinction. “The Feather Wars” by James McCommons is the history of an unlikely group of individuals and organizations who came together to protect American bird life.

“Cherry Baby” is the latest novel from best-selling Omaha author Rainbow Rowell. It’s a story of relationships failing and arriving, it’s also about navigating weight issues in the era of GLP-1 weight loss drugs.

Host Pat Leach is joined by Dr. Maria Nazos who received her PhD in English at UNL. They’ll talk about her new book of poetry “Pulse”, how she and her editors put together 16 years’ worth of poems, and working with Ted Kooser.

This week on “All About Books” host Pat Leach picks a title far outside her normal reading routine. She reviews “The River Has Roots” by Amal El-Mohtar a Nebula Award-winning fantasy novella. Hear how she did with this magic-filled story.

“Ghost Town” by Tom Perrotta is a darkly nostalgic story. It's written from the viewpoint of a middle-aged writer looking back at his teenage friendships in 1970’s suburban New Jersey.

“Killer Potential” by Hannah Deitch is a debut novel that’s being called the “Thelma and Louise” of our times. This combination thriller and murder mystery follows two young women fleeing a bloody murder scene in the Hollywood Hills who become a runaway media sensation.

Kate Marvel is a climate scientist with a PhD in theoretical physics from Cambridge. But she still has an emotional reaction to the climate models she runs. In her book “Human Nature: 9 Ways to Feel About Our Changing Planet” Marvel explores the different emotions evoked by climate change.

In the brief period of hope after the Civil War and Reconstruction, Edward McCabe, a Black businessman and rising political star had an audacious dream. His plan was to create a state governed by and for Black people in Oklahoma. This mostly forgotten history is found in the biography, “Black Moses” by Caleb Gayle.

Jill Blaine’s job is to comfort the dying and usher them into the afterlife- something she’s done hundreds of times since her own death. “Vigil” by George Saunders is a playfully imaginative novel dealing with corporate greed along and absolution

An accomplished actress meets a handsome young man at a restaurant who shares his suspicion that she may be his mother. The acclaimed novel “Audition” by Katie Kitamura explores the roles people play every day.

The family came from Afghanistan as refugees with nothing. They worked hard to become prosperous when a horrible tragedy struck them. “Good People”, a novel by Patmeena Sabit, presents a wealthy, happy family that may have been different behind closed doors.

Artie Dam teaches high school history, makes pleasant small talk with the neighbors, and sails his boat on the weekend. But the Artie no one sees is plagued by despair and isolation. Pulitzer Prize-winning author Elizabeth Strout’s latest novel “The Things We Do Not Say” is a compassionate look at the human condition.

It’s Summer growing season for Nebraska home gardeners. This week several titles to help gardeners embrace nature for a healthier home landscape. “Essential Guide to Ecological Gardening, from The American Horticultural Society” and “How Can I Help? Saving Nature with Your Yard” by Douglas Tallamy.

“The Lilac People” a novel by Milo Todd, begins in 1936 Berlin where a thriving queer community must first hide from Hitler’s concentration camps, then escape Allied forces who were arresting queer prisoners during the liberation.

One Book - One Lincoln has been a community reading project for 25 years. Alyssa Deal, the chair of their selection committee joins host Pat Leach this week to talk about the 3 books readers can vote for.

In her graphic novel, “This Beautiful, Ridiculous City” Kay Sohini tells her story as an immigrant and survivor of an abusive relationship. For her, New York City isn’t just a place of dreams but a source for healing and self-discovery.

Robert McFarland is a naturalist who is also a gifted writer. His latest book is joyful and mind-expanding journey towards an ancient idea- should we think of rivers as living beings? Hear a review of “Is a River Alive?”

Their high school hockey team is so bad, it probably won’t take the ice again next year. This uncertain future is where the main character, Tommy finds himself in the novel “Small Ceremonies” by Kyle Edwards. It’s story of friendships and struggles for a group of Native high students in Winnipeg

The vast American prairie is an ecological marvel- home to bison, elk, wolves and prairie dogs. The changes made on this environment by European settlers and their agricultural methods are the subject of “Sea of Grass: The Conquest, Ruin, and Redemption of Nature on the American Prairie.”

One hundred years in the future, a lonely British scholar longs for our time as he chases a poem written in 2014. He’s captivated by what he imagines were the freedoms and possibilities of human life at its zenith. It’s the carefully plotted literary novel, “What We Can Know” by Ian McEwan.

This 1925 novel deals with topics very relevant today: the value of a university education, and the costs of war. “The Professor’s House” by Willa Cather has been released for the Oxford World Classics series, authored by Cather scholar Dr. Melissa Holmstead of UNL. Dr. Holmstead will be the guest on this week's All About Books.

Smith is a queer Black Stanford graduate arrested for cocaine possession. In the novel “Great Black Hope”, author Rob Franklin shows a young man protected by his class but betrayed by his race.

In her new collection of personal essays, UNL Professor of English Lisa Knopp uses an older meaning of the verb ravel- to entangle. In Ravelings: Essays on Love, Loss, and Wonder, she contemplates loss, change as well as connection and joy.

The One Book One Nebraska selection for this year is “The Antidote” by Karen Russell. Set in a fictional Nebraska town during the Great Depression, the novel looks at a struggling rural community and what people choose to forget.

It’s a very unique biography of the famous Regency author. “Patchwork: A Graphic Biography of Jane Austen” by graphic artist Kate Evans combines drama, comedy, and historically immersive detail to bring Jane Austen’s story to life with dynamic artwork

Deep in the English countryside, two neighboring families find themselves in nearly identical situations- a baby on the way and the relationship beginning to fade. The harshest winter in living memory traps the families with their long-kept secret resentments. "The Land in Winter: a Novel" by Andrew Miller

A tightly written novella from the author of "Brooklyn" and "Long Island", “A Long Winter” by Colm Tobin describes an extraordinary bond between a mother and son and a haunting portrait of a family in crisis.

When Olivia Laing began the work of restoring a centuries-old garden in England, she had time to think about the history and legacy of gardens. Her book “The Garden Against Time”, is a beautiful account of gardens, not as a refuge from the world, but a place to encounter and discover.

The history of Nebraska can be told by its landscape. Larkin Powell, the Director of the School of Natural Resources at UNL has a new book called “The Best of Intentions.” It traces the transformation of the Nebraska landscape through historical photographs, personal narratives, and ecological research.

Many people find solace and understanding in reading literature, a few would also include writing and receiving letters. In the novel “The Correspondent” by Virginia Evans, we meet a woman who uses letters to make sense of the world and her place in it.

A PBS documentary called the “Librarians” follows the story of librarians on the front lines of the national battle over restricting access to books that have race-related and LGBTQIA+ content. “All About Books” host Pat Leach talked with the film’s director Kim Snyder and Martha Hickson a librarian featured in the show.

The mysterious circumstances around the disappearance of a young girl’s father begins Susan Choi’s novel, “Flashlight.” A story that spans decades and continents dealing with family, loss, and memory.

Award-winning chef and author Gabrielle Hamilton came from a family of unsentimental non-conformists. They had charisma, but there was brutality and deep rifts too. In her new memoir “Next of Kin”, Hamilton comes to terms with her family with intense honesty and raucous humor.

The writer Geraldine Brooks received the phone call from the ER doctor that her husband, journalist and author Tony Horwitz, had died walking down a sidewalk in Washington D.C. In the scramble to deal with the immediate demands of her husband’s death, Brooks had no chance to truly grieve. Her book "Memorial Day” is a memoir of sudden loss and the journey towards peace.

The writer Geraldine Brooks received a phone call from an ER doctor that her husband, journalist and author Tony Horwitz, had died walking down a sidewalk in Washington D.C. In the scramble to deal with the immediate demands of her husband’s death, Brooks had no chance to truly grieve. Her book "Memorial Day” is a memoir of sudden loss and the journey towards peace.

In the novel “Hard by a Great Forest” by Leo Vardiashvili, two brothers and their father struggle with the past and people they left behind after fleeing the former Soviet Republic of Georgia. Hear a review of this story about the collective trauma of war and the unbreakable spirit of the people who survive and remember those who did not.

It’s 1914 in England and all of Europe is on the brink of disaster. This is the setting for “Precipice”, a novel by Robert Harris. In it, an intelligence officer traces leaked documents back to the Prime Minister and his posh 26-year-old mistress. An affair that could topple the British Government.

Originally from Sydney Nebraska, author Dan Chaon is the guest this week. His latest novel “One of Us”, is a playfully dark thriller about orphaned twins on the run from their murderous uncle who find refuge in a bizarre traveling carnival.

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 Outreach Coordinator for Lincoln City Libraries has suggestions for books perfect for early readers and their families.

This week it's the annual holiday gift giving guide for book lovers. Local bookseller Leslie Huerta returns with suggestions for every interest. She’ll introduce new fiction, biography, mysteries, and books about Nebraska. Listen before you shop!

Recently retired UNL English Professor Steve Buhler returns to All About Books with a guest review of “Somebody Is Walking on Your Grave: My Cemetery Journeys” by Mariana Enriquez. A book of essays looking at noteworthy cemetery’s history, architecture, saints and ghosts.

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 Eno in his book “What Art Does: an Unfinished Theory”. It’s a playful and richly illustrated look at Art in our lives.

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 stump- all that was left of a famous oak tree mentioned in German literature and music. “Goethe’s Oak: a Holocaust Memorial” imagines the history this famous tree experienced over the centuries of its long life. Hear an interview with author John Price

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 them. Mary Shelly’s Frankenstein.

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 identity. Hear a review of “Whiskey Tender: A Memoir of Family and Survival on and off the Reservation.”

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 role. Dr. Barbara Boustead is a meteorologist and Wilder scholar who researched the accuracy of these stories’ descriptions of blizzards, tornadoes and floods. Hear an interview with Dr. Boustead about her book “Wilder Weather”

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 board. The full story of what happened before and after that day is revealed in the new book, “Challenger: A True Story of Heroism and Disaster on the Edge of Space” by Adam Higginbotham.

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 loves. Best-selling author Amy Bloom’s new novel is, “I’ll Be Right Here".

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 “Farminary”, where Chu worked. Pat Leach talked to Jeff Chu about his experiences and his book “Good Soil: The Education of an Accidental Farmhand”