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Lincoln Journal Star Book Reviews – 2013

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ljsEvery Sunday morning issue of the Lincoln Journal Star newspaper includes the “The (402) 411” section. Included in that section of the paper each week are regular author profiles and book reviews, by both local reviewers and national review services. Due to the regular popularity of the titles reviewed in the paper, we’ve designed this page of the Lincoln City Libraries’ Web site as a simple listing of the books recently reviewed in the Lincoln Journal Star, with links into the library’s holdings for all the listed books which are currently in the collection. If a title below is not hotlinked, this is an indication that the library does not currently own that book, but you may consider requesting the title through the services of our Interlibrary Loan department, or suggesting that we purchase it via our on-line Suggest-a-Title form.

2013 Selections

Books reviewed in December

This is the Story of a Happy Marriage
by Ann Patchett

Non-Fiction — Biography Patchett


The Gods of Guilt
by Michael Connelly

Fiction — Connelly


Countdown City: The Last Policeman Book II
by Ben H. Winters

Fiction — Winters


My Mistake: A Memoir
by Daniel Menaker

Non-Fiction — Menaker


The Great Heist: The Story of the Biggest Bank Robbery in History, and Why the Money Was Returned
by Jeff McArthur 

Non-Fiction — 364.155 McA

Read Sandy W.’s review of The Great Heist in the April 2015 Staff Recommendations here on BookGuide
See the Nebraska Author Jeff McArthur resource page here on BookGuide


The Right Path: From Ike to Reagan, How Republicans Once Mastered Politics – and Can Again
by Joe Scarborough

Non-Fiction — 324.273 Sca


Spirit of Steamboat
by Craig Johnson

Fiction — Johnson

Read Charlotte M.’s review of The Spirit of Steamboat in the December 2013 Staff Recommendations here on BookGuide


The Big Book of Christmas Mysteries
edited by Otto Penzler

Non-Fiction — 813.08 Pen

Read Scott C.’s review of The Big Book of Christmas Mysteries in the December 2014 Staff Recommendations here on BookGuide


Silent Night
by Robert B. Parker with Helen Brann

Fiction — Parker


Duck the Halls
by Donna Andrews

Fiction — Andrews


The Sound of Things Falling
by Juan Gabriel Vasquez

Fiction — Vasquez


Big Jim Exon: A Political Biography
by Charles M. Pallesen Jr. and Samuel Van Pelt 

Non-Fiction — Biography Exon


Downfall
by Jeff Abbott

Fiction — Abbott


Deceived
by Randy Wayne White

Fiction — White


Brown Dog: Novellas
by Jim Harrison 

Fiction — Harrison


The Valley of Amazement
by Amy Tan

Fiction — Tan


Custer, Cody and Grand Duke Alexis: Historical Archaeology of the Royal Buffalo
by Douglas D. Scott, Peter Bleed and Stephen Damm

Non-Fiction — 978.283 Sco


The Color War
by Jodi Picoult

Fiction — (an original e-novella only available for purchase online) ( not currently in the Lincoln City Libraries’ collection )


The Circle
by Dave Eggers

Fiction — Eggers


Double Down: Game Change 2012
by Mark Halperin and John Heileman

Non-Fiction — 324.973 Hal


Critical Mass
by Sara Paretsky

Fiction — Paretsky

Critical Mass was the selected title for discussion at the August 2016 Just Desserts mystery fiction discussion group meeting.


Books reviewed in November


Rendezvous With Destiny: How Franklin D. Roosevelt and Five Extraordinary Men Took American Into the War and Into the World
by Michael Fullilove

Non-Fiction — 973.917 Ful


The Signature of All Things
by Elizabeth Gilbert

Fiction — Gilbert


A Street Cat Named Bob: And How He Saved My Life
by James Bowen

Non-Fiction — Biography Bowen

Read Scott C.’s review of A Street Cat Named Bob in the September 2013 Staff Recommendations here on BookGuide


Dallas 1963
by Bill Minutaglio

Non-Fiction — 973.922 Min


The Goldfinch
by Donna Tartt

Fiction — Tartt

Read Library Director Pat Leach’s review of The Goldfinch in her Firefly blog on May 15 2014 on the library’s website


The Double
by George Pelecanos

Fiction — Pelecanos


Sycamore Row
by John Grisham

Fiction — Grisham


The Death of Santini: The story of a Father and His Son
by Pat Conroy

Non-Fiction — Biography Conroy


The Final Cut
by Catherine Coulter

Fiction — Coulter


Skinnygirl Solutions: Your Straight-Up Guide to Home, Healthy, Family, Careers, Style and Sex
by Bethenny Frankel

Non-Fiction — 646.7 Fra


Bridget Jones: Mad About the Boy
by Helen Fielding

Fiction — Fielding


Books reviewed in October


Command and Control
by Eric Schlosser

Non-Fiction — 363.17 Sch


Wilson
by A. Scott Berg

Non-Fiction — Biography Wilson


Women Write Resistance: Poets Resist Gender Violence
edited by Laura Madeline Wiseman

Non-Fiction — 811.08 Wis


One Summer: America 1927
by Bill Bryson

Non-Fiction — 973.91 Bry


The Mayan Secrets: A Fargo Adventure
by Clive Cussler and Thomas Perry

Fiction — Cussler


Odds Against Tomorrow
by Nathaniel Rich

Fiction — Rich


Doctor Sleep
by Stephen King

Fiction — King

Read Scott C.’s review of the audiobook version of Doctor Sleep in the March 2014 Staff Recommendations here on BookGuide


Storm Front
by John Sandford

Fiction — Sandford


The Power Surge: Energy, Opportunity and the Battle for America’s Future
by Michael Levi

Non-Fiction — Levi


Love by Drowning
by C.E. Poverman

Fiction — ( not currently in the Lincoln City Libraries’ collection )


MaddAddam
by Margaret Atwood

Fiction — Atwood


Books reviewed in September


This Town — Two Parties and a Funeral — Plus Plenty of Valet Parking! in America’s Gilded Capital
by Mark Leibovich

Non-Fiction – 973.5 Lei


Never Go Back
by Lee Child

Fiction — Child


The Annals of Unsolved Crime
by Edward Jay Epstein

Non-Fiction — 364.152 Eps


Witch Wraith
by Terry Brooks

Fiction — Brooks


The Astronaut Wives Club
by Lily Koppel

Non-Fiction — 629.45 Kop

Read Tracy T.’s review of The Astronaut Wives Club in the April 2015 Staff Recommendations here on BookGuide


Love Potion Number 10
by Betsy Woodman

Fiction — Woodman


Bleeding Edge
by Thomas Pynchon

Fiction — Pynchon


Enemies Within: Inside the NYPD’s Secret Spying Unit and Bin Laden’s Final Plot Against America
by Matt Apuzzo and Adam Goldman

Non-Fiction — 363.325 Apu


Crossing Purgatory
by Gary Schanbacher

Fiction — Schanbacher


Mystery Girl
by David Gordon

Fiction — Gordon


Oscar Wilde and the Murders at Reading Gaol
by Gyles Brandreth

Fiction — Brandreth


Rising Tide: Bear Bryant, Joe Namath and Dixie’s Last Quarter
by Randy Roberts and Ed Krzemienksi

Non-Fiction — 796.33 Rob


The Tower of Basel: The Shadowy History of the Secret Bank That Runs the World
by Adam LeBor

Non-Fiction — 332.1 Leb


The English Girl
by Daniel Silva

Fiction — Silva


A Tap on the Window
by Linwood Barclay

Fiction — Barclay


Books reviewed in August


Night Film
by Marisha Pessl

Fiction — Pessl


Fantasy Life: The Outrageous, Uplifting, and Heartbreaking World of Fantasy Sports, From the Guy Who’s Lived It
by Matthew Berry

Non-Fiction — Berry


Choke Point
by Ridley Pearson

Fiction — Pearson


The Fame Thief
by Timothy Hallinan

Fiction — Berry


Trains and Lovers
by Alexander McCall-Smith

Fiction — McCall-Smith


The Center Holds: Obama and His Enemies
by Jonathan Alter

Non-Fiction — Biography Obama


The Highway
by C.J. Box

Fiction — Box


Light of the World
by James Lee Burke

Fiction — Burke


The Innocence Game
by Michael Harvey

Fiction — Harvey


A Constellation of Vital Phenomena
by Anthony Marra

Fiction — Marra


Ava Gardner: The Secret Conversations
by Peter Evans and Ava Gardner

Non-Fiction — Biography Gardner


Salt Sugar Fat: How the Food Giants Hooked Us
by Michael Moss

Non-Fiction — 613.2 Mos


Books reviewed in July


The Girls of Atomic City: The Untold Story of the Women Who Helped Win World War II
by Denise Kiernan

Non-Fiction — 940.53 Kie

Read Kristen A.’s review of The Girls of Atomic City in the November 2016 Staff Recommendations here on BookGuide


The Oracle Code
by Charles Brokaw

Fiction — ( not currently in the Lincoln City Libraries’ collection )


Burlington Northern Branch Lines: The Nebraska Experience
by Jim Reisdorff

Non-Fiction — Reisdorff


The X-15 Rocket Plane: Flying the First Wings Into Space
by Michelle Evans

Non-Fiction — Evans


The Ocean at the End of the Lane
by Neil Gaiman

Fiction — Gaiman

Read Wyatt P.’s review of The Ocean at the End of the Lane in the August 2013 Staff Recommendations here on BookGuide


Death Zones & Darling Spies
by Beverly Deepe Keever

Non-Fiction — Keever

Death Zones & Darling Spies was the 2015 selection for One Book One Nebraska


Joyland
by Stephen King

Fiction — King

Read Tracy T.’s review of Joyland in the February 2015 Staff Recommendations here on BookGuide


The Third Bullet
by Stephen Hunter

Fiction — Hunter


Behind the Count
by Kent Krause

Non-Fiction — Krause


The Green Boat: Reviving Ourselves in Our Capsized Culture
by Mary Pipher 

Non-Fiction — 303.4 Pip

See the Nebraska Author Mary Pipher resource page here on BookGuide


 width=Losing the Ring in the River
by Marge Saiser 

Non-Fiction — 811 Sai


The Kill Room
by Jeffery Deaver

Fiction — Deaver


Sisterland
by Curtis Sittenfeld

Fiction — Sittenfeld


Books reviewed in June


Revenge Wears Prada: The Devil Returns
by Lauren Weisberger

Fiction — Weisberger


The Suitors
by Cecile David-Weill

Fiction — David-Weill


The Heist
by Janet Evanovich and Lee Goldberg

Fiction — Evanovich


Bad Monkey
by Carl Hiaasen

Fiction — Hiaasen


Dakota, the Story of the Northern Plains
by Norman K. Risford  nebauthormini

Non-Fiction — 978.3 Ris


The Polaris Effect: A Capelli and Ford Mystery
by A.E. Fairfield 

Fiction — Fairfield


The King’s Deception
by Steve Berry

Fiction — Berry


Breaking Point
by C.J. Box

Fiction — Box


Zero Hour
by Clive Cussler

Fiction — Cussler


Eleanor & Park
by Rainbow Rowell  nebauthormini

Fiction — Rowell

See the Nebraska Author Rainbow Rowell resource page here on BookGuide


Outlaw: Waylon, Willie, Kris and the Renegades of Nashville
by Michael Streissguth

Non-Fiction — Music 781.642 Str


Louder Than Hell: The Definitive Oral History of Metal
by Jon Weiderhorn and Katherine Turman

Non-Fiction — ( not currently in the Lincoln City Libraries’ collection )


A Delicate Truth
by John LeCarre

Fiction — LeCarre.


The Ophelia Cut
by John Lescroart

Fiction — Lescroart.


The Guns at Last Light: The War in Western Europe, 1944-45
by Rick Atkinson

Non-Fiction — 940.542 Atk.


And the Mountains Echoed
by Khaled Hosseini

Fiction — Hosseini.


The Bughouse Affair
by Marcia Muller and Bill Pronzini

Fiction — Muller

Read Scott C.’s review of The Bughouse Affair in the September 2015 Staff Recommendations here on BookGuide


Books reviewed in May


My Beloved World
by Sonia Sotomayor

Non-Fiction — Biography Sotomayor


Inferno
by Dan Brown

Fiction — Brown


Little Green
by Walter Mosley

Fiction — Mosley


Those Angry Days: Roosevelt, Lindbergh and America’s Fight Over World War II: 1939-1941
by Lynne Olson

Non-Fiction — 940.53 Ols


A Thousand Pardons
by Jonathan Dee

Fiction — Dee


Silken Prey
by John Sandford

Fiction — Sandford


Wave
by Sonali Deraniyagala

Non-Fiction — Biography Deraniyagala


From Society Page to Front Page: Nebraska Women in Journalism
by Eileen M. Wirth 

Non-Fiction — 070.4 Wir


Night Moves
by Randy Wayne White

Fiction — White


Wise Men
by Stuart Nadler

Fiction — Nadler


Paris: The Novel
by Edward Rutherfurd

Fiction — Rutherfurd


The Blood Gospel
by James Rollins and Rebecca Cantrell

Fiction — Rollins.


The Genius of Dogs: How Dogs Are Smarter Than You Think
by Brian Hare and Vanessa Woods

Non-Fiction — 636.7 Har


Books reviewed in April


House of Earth: A Novel
by Woody Guthrie

Fiction — Guthrie


Brooklyn Zoo: The Education of a Psychotherapist
by Darcy Lockman

Non-Fiction — Biography Lockman


Six Years
by Harlan Coben

Fiction — Coben


Gulp
by Mary Roach

Non-Fiction — 612.3 Roa


Space Chronicles: Facing the Ultimate Frontier
by Neil deGrasse Tyson

Non-Fiction — 629.4 Tys


Mom & Me & Mom
by Maya Angelou

Non-Fiction — Biography Angelou


Parishoner
by Walter Mosley

Fiction — Mosley (E-book only)


Ike & Dick
by Jeffrey Frank

Non-Fiction — 973.92 Fra


Coolidge
by Amith Shlaes

Non-Fiction — Biography Coolidge


The Intercept
by Dick Wolf

Fiction — Wolf


The Typewriter Girl
by Alison Atlee

Fiction — Atlee


The Night Ranger
by Alex Berenson

Fiction — Berenson


Ice Cold Kill
by Dana Haynes

Fiction — Haynes


Books reviewed in March


Out of Order
by Sandra Day O’Connor

Non-Fiction — 347.732 Oco


Geronimo
by Robert Marshall Utley

Non-Fiction — Biography Geronimo


Middle C
by William H. Gass

Fiction — Gass


Haven’s Wake
by Ladette Randolph  nebauthormini

Fiction — Randolph

Read Meredith M.’s review of Haven’s Wake in the September 2013 Staff Recommendations here on BookGuide


Eighty Days: Nellie Bly and Elizabeth Bisland’s History Making Race Around the World
by Matthew Goodman

Non-Fiction — 910.41 Goo


The Da Vinci Deception
by Thomas Swan

Fiction — Swan


The Cezanne Chase
by Thomas Swan

Fiction — Swan


The Final Faberge
by Thomas Swan

Fiction — Swan


The Searchers: The Making of an American Legend
by Glenn Frankel

Non-Fiction — 791.437 SeaYf


What Happened to Sophie Wilder
by Christopher Beha

Fiction — Beha


Standing Firmly By the Flag, Nebraska Territory and the Civil War, 1861-1867
by James E. Potter  nebauthormini

Non-Fiction — 978.2 Pot


The Sound of Broken Glass
by Deborah Crombie

Fiction — Crombie.


Benediction
by Kent Haruf

Fiction — Haruf

See the Nebraska Author Kent Haruf resource page here on BookGuide
Read Meredith M.’s review of Benediction in the September 2013 Staff Recommendations here on BookGuide


The Storyteller
by Jodi Picoult

Fiction — Picoult


Iscariot
by Tosca Lee

Fiction — Lee

See the Nebraska Author Tosca Lee resource page here on BookGuide


The Witch of Babylon
by D.J. McIntosh

Fiction — McIntosh


Tenth of December: Stories
by George Saunders

Fiction — Sanders


Charles Dickens: A Life
by Claire Tomalin

Non-Fiction — Biography Dickens


After Visiting Friends: A Son’s Story
by Michael Hainey

Non-Fiction — Biography Hainey


Books reviewed in February


My Brother’s Book
by Maurice Sendak

Fiction — YA Sendak


The Pigeon Pie Mystery
by Julia Stuart

Fiction — Stuart


Touch & Go
by Lisa Gardner

Fiction — Gardner


Cover of Snow
by Jenny Milchman

Fiction — Milchner


Threat Vector
by Tom Clancy

Fiction — Clancy


The Drowning House
by Elizabeth Black

Fiction — Black


Detroit: An American Autopsy
by Charlie LeDuff

Non-Fiction — 977.434 Led


Wake of the Perdido Star
by Gene Hackman and Daniel Lenihan

Fiction — Hackman


Embracing Fry Bread: Confessions of a Wannabe Nebraska Author
by Roger Welsch  nebauthormini

Non-Fiction — Biography Welsch

See the Nebraska Author Roger Welsch resource page here on BookGuide


Insane City
by Dave Barry

Fiction — Barry


1356
by Bernard Cornwell

Fiction — Cornwell


Bitter Brew: The Rise and Fall of Anheuser-Busch and America’s King of Beers
by William Knoedelseder

Non-Fiction — 338.76 AnhYk


Good Prose: The Art of Non-Fiction
by Tracy Kidder and Richard Todd

Non-Fiction — 808.02 Kid


The World Until Yesterday: What Can We Learn From Traditional Societies?
by Jared Diamond

Non-Fiction — 303.4 Dia


Books reviewed in January


Martyball
by Marty Schottenheimer with Jeffrey Flanagan

Non-Fiction — Biography Schottenheimer


Curse of the Thirteenth Fey: The True Tale of Sleeping Beauty
by Jane Yolen

Fiction — j Yolen


Out of the Blue
by Victor Cruz

Non-Fiction — ( Libraries have Young Readers Edition, E-Book format only )


The Dallas Cowboys
by Joe Nick Patoski

Non-Fiction — Patoski (Not owned by the Lincoln City Libraries)


Luther: The Calling
by Neil Gross

Fiction — Gross


The Entertainer: Movies, Magic and My Father’s Twentieth Century
by Margaret Talbot

Non-Fiction — Biography Talbot


The Art Forger
by B.A. Shapiro

Fiction — Shapiro


The Watchers: A Secret History of the Reign of Elizabeth I
by Stephen Alford

Non-Fiction — 942.055 Alf


Back to Blood
by Tom Wolfe

Fiction — Wolfe


Both Flesh and Not: Essays
by David Foster Wallace

Non-Fiction — 814 Wal


A Memory of Light
by Brandon Sanderson and Robert Jordan

Fiction — Jordan

See the Nebraska Author Brandon Sanderson resource page here on BookGuide


Pro Bono
by Jeff McArthur

Non-Fiction — 364.152 McA

See the Nebraska Author Jeff McArthur resource page here on BookGuide
See the Murder on the Plains: Charles Starkweather resource page here on the Lincoln City Libraries’ website!


A Disposition to be Rich: How a Small Town Pastor’s Son Ruined an American President, Brought on a Wall Street Crash and Made Himself the Best-Hated Man in the United States
by Geoffrey Ward

Non-Fiction — Biography Ward


Nature Wars: The Incredible Story of How Wildlife Comebacks Turned Backyards Into Battlegrounds
by Jim Sterba

Non-Fiction — 304.2 Ste


Past Years: Click here to return to the current year’s reviews page and an ongoing index to previous years’ listings

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