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NET – All About Books – 2019

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Lincoln City Libraries director Pat Leach is the current host of All About Books, a weekly book-review and discussion program on NET Radio (91.1 FM in the Lincoln area, and on various other stations across Nebraska) to discuss contemporary and classic literature.

Although it dates back over 40 years, in a variety of formats and venues, since 1991 All About Books has run on NET-Radio. For many years, Charles Stephen and Otis Young co-hosted, until Young’s passing in 2009, after which Stephen was the lone host. Stephen retired from the show in 2015, and since August 2015, Pat Leach has served as host, with regular appearances by guest reviewers and interviews with regional authors. New episodes usually air every Wednesday at 12:04 p.m. local time, following the NPR news.

The following is a listing of books discussed on episodes of All About Books during 2019. Episodes of All About Books are also available to be downloaded as audio Podcasts, via iTunes and various other web sources. All books owned by Lincoln City Libraries are hotlinked to their entries in our library catalog, so that you may check on their current availability. If you see a title on this list that is not hotlinked to our collection, please consider suggesting it as a purchase via our Suggest-a-Title online form, or ordering it through our Interlibrary Loan department.

Click here to visit the official NET: All About Books web site!

December 30, 2019

Titles Discussed: The Need by Helen Phillips, and The Man Who Saw Everything and Cost of Living, both by Deborah Levy.


December 23, 2019

Title Discussed: Nebraska: Poems
by Kwame Dawes [not in library] Nebraska Author

Additional Participants: Kwame Dawes, UNL’s Chancellor Professor of English


December 18, 2019

Title Discussed: Disappearing Earth
by Julia Phillips [Phillips]

December 11, 2019

Title Discussed: North of the Platte, South of the Niobrara: A Little Further Into the Nebraska Sandhills
by Brian Jones [978.273 Jon] Nebraska Author

Additional Participants: Brian Jones, Nebraska author


December 4, 2019

Titles Discussed: B is for Baby by Atinuke, How to Raise a Reader by Pamela Paul, Homes in the Wild: Where Baby Animals and Their Parents Live by Lita Judge, Polar Bears: Survival on the Ice by Jason Viola (part of a series called Science Comics), The Complete Cookbook for Young Chefs by America’s Test Kitchen, Salt, Fat, Acid, Heat: Mastering the Elements of Good Cooking by Samin Nosrat, Outer Order, Inner Calm: Declutter and Organize to Make More Room for Happiness by Gretchen Rubin.

Additional Participant: Vicki Wood, Youth Services coordinator for the Lincoln City Libraries, with a list of books for gift-giving recommendations. [ See Vicki’s complete list for 2019. ]

November 20, 2019

Title Discussed: Call Me American
by Abdi Nor Iftin [Biography Iftin]

November 13, 2019

Title Discussed: Great Plains Birds
by Larkin A. Powell [598.097 Pow] Nebraska Author

Additional Participants: UNL professors Larkin Powell and Richards Edwards — interview with the author


November 6, 2019

Title Discussed: Say Nothing: A True Story of Murder and Memory in Northern Ireland
by Patrick Radden Keefe [364.152 Kee]

October 30, 2019

The end of October is a great time to pick up a scary book, so on this week’s All About Books, host Pat Leach welcomes UNL lecturer Mike Page for his horror story suggestions. Classic and modern novels will be dug up for examination, including classics like Frankenstein, or The Modern Prometheus by Mary Shelley, Dracula by Bram Stoker, Ira Levin’s Rosemary’s Baby, The Other by Thomas Tyron, The Exorcist by William Peter Blatty, and more recent fare like The Passage by Justin Cronin, The Ruins by Scott Smith, The Troop by Nick Cutter, The Devil in Silver by Victor Lavalle, Broken Monsters by Lauren Beukes, Silence of the Lambs and Red Dragon by Thomas Harris, the works of Stephen King (including It), and more.

Additional Participants: UNL lecturer Mike Page.


October 23, 2019

Title Discussed: Dopesick: Dealers, Doctors, and the Drug Company that Addicted America
by Beth Macy [362.29 Mac]

October 16, 2019

Title Discussed: After the Flood
by Kassandra Montag [Montag] Nebraska Author


October 9, 2019

Title Discussed: The Overstory
by Richard Powers [Powers]

October 2, 2019

Title Discussed: My Time Among the Whites
by Jennine Capó Crucet [Biography Crucet] Nebraska Author

Additional Participants: Jennine Capó Crucet, Associate Professor of English and Ethnic Studies at UNL — interview with the author


September 25, 2019

Title Discussed: The Line Between
by Tosca Lee [Lee] Nebraska Author

Additional Participants: Tosca Lee — interview with the author


September 18, 2019

Title Discussed: Dasher: How a Brave Little Doe Changed Christmas Forever
by Matt Tavares [the Lincoln City Libraries only own this title in downloadable audiobook form via Hoopla]

Additional Participants: Dylan Teut, Director of the Plum Creek Children’s Literacy Festival.


September 11, 2019

Title Discussed: Washington Black
by Esi Edugyan [Edugyan]

September 4, 2019

The historic Nebraska floods have taken an emotional toll on the state- including children. A new program from UNL called “Read for Resilience” puts free books and support materials in the hands of parents and caregivers to help Nebraska children deal with stress and fear.

Additional Participants: Pat interviews the two women who started this program.


August 28, 2019

Title Discussed: There’s No Crying in Newsrooms
by Kristin Gilger [the Lincoln City Libraries only own this title in downloadable audiobook form via Hoopla]

Additional Participants: Interview with the author Kristin Gilger.


August 21, 2019

Title Discussed: Major: A Soldier Dog
by Trevor Jones [Not currently in the collection of the Lincoln City Libraries]

Additional Participants: Interview with the author Trevor Jones.


August 14, 2019

Title Discussed: The Mars Room
by Rachel Kushner [Kushner]

Title Discussed: American Prison: A Reporter’s Undercover Journey Into the Business of Punishment
by Shane Bauer [Biography Flores]

August 7, 2019

Title Discussed: Waiting for Eden
by Elliot Ackerman [027.4 Orl]

July 31, 2019

Title Discussed: [no specific title reviewed]

Additional Participants: Chigozie Obioma shares how his love of reading started with his father telling him stories while he was recovering from malaria.


July 24, 2019

Title Discussed: The Library Book
by Susan Orlean [027.4 Orl]

July 17, 2019

Title Discussed: No Place Like Home: Lessons in Activism From LGBT Kansas
by C.J. Janovy [306.766 Jan]

Additional Participants: Interview with the author C.J. Janovy.


July 10, 2019

Title Discussed: Don’t Skip Out on Me
by Willie Vlautin


July 3, 2019

Title Discussed: Bivouac
by Kwame Dawes Nebraska Author

Additional Participants: Kwame Dawes, Novelist, Poet, Playwright and Editor of Prairie Schooner. Chancellor Professor of English at UNL.


June 26, 2019

Title Discussed: The Tangled Tree: A Radical New History of Life
by David Quammen [591.3 Qua]

One Book - One LincolnJune 19, 2019

Title Discussed: There There
by Tommy Orange [Orange]

Additional Participants: guest reviewer Shirley Sneve, Executive Director of Vision Maker Media.


One Book - One LincolnJune 12, 2019

Title Discussed: The Great Believers
by Rebecca Makkai [Makkai]

Title Discussed: The Faraway Brothers: Two Young Migrants and the Making of an American Life
by Lauren Markham [Biography Flores]

Additional Participants: David Smith, chair of the One Book – One Lincoln selection committee.


June 5, 2019

Title Discussed: Reviving Ophelia: 25th Anniversary Edition
by Mary Pipher and Sara Pipher Gilliam [305.235 Pip 2019] Nebraska Author

Additional Participants: Mary Pipher and Sara Pipher Gilliam, authors.


May 29, 2019

Title Discussed: An Orchestra of Minorities
by Chigozie Obioma [Obioma] Nebraska Author

Additional Participants: Chigozie Obioma, author and UNL professor.


May 22, 2019

Title Discussed: Heavy: An American Memoir
by Kiese Laymon [Biography Laymon]

May 15, 2019

Title Discussed: Zoo Nebraska: The Dismantling of an American Dream
by Carson Vaughn [590.73 Vau] Nebraska Author

Additional Participants: Carson Vaughn, author.


May 8, 2019

Title Discussed: Beneath a Ruthless Sun
by Gilbert King [364.15 Kin]

Title Discussed: An American Marriage
by Tayari Jones [Jones]

May 1, 2019

Title Discussed: Of Fathers and Fire
by Steven Wingate [Wingate] Nebraska Author

Additional Participants: author Steven Wingate – interview.


April 24, 2019

Title Discussed: Warlight
by Michael Ondaatje [Ondaatje]

April 17, 2019

Title Discussed: The Spirit of Nebraska: A History of Husker Game Day Traditions: The Tunnel Walk, Mascots, Cheer and More
by Debra Kleve White [796.332 NebYw] Nebraska Author

Additional Participants: Debra Kleve White, author of this book.


April 10, 2019

Title Discussed: The Feather Thief: Beauty, Obsession and the Natural History Heist of the Century
by Kirk W. Johnson [364.16 Joh]

April 3, 2019

Title Discussed: The Wizard and the Prophet
by Charles C. Mann [363.7 Man]

March 27, 2019

Title Discussed: The House of Broken Angels
by Louis Alberto Urrea [Urrea]

March 20, 2019

Title Discussed: Dear Old Nebraska U
by Kim Hachiya [378.782 Neb] Nebraska Author

Additional Participants: Kim Hachiya, author of this book about the University of Nebraska’s sesquicentennial.


March 13, 2019

Title Discussed: Betty Ford
by Lisa McCubbin [Biography McCubbin]

March 6, 2019

Title Discussed: Women Rowing North: Navigating Life’s Currents and Flourishing As We Age
by Mary Pipher [305.26 Pip] Nebraska Author

Additional Participants: Mary Pipher, Nebraska author.


February 27, 2019

Title Discussed: The Perfect Nanny
by Leila Slimani [Slimani]

February 20, 2019

Title Discussed: Educated: A Memoir
by Tara Westover [Biography Westover]

February 13, 2019

Title Discussed: This Blessed Earth: A Year in the Life of an American Family Farm
by Ted Genoways [630.978 Gen] Nebraska Author


February 6, 2019

Title Discussed: Virgil Wander
by Leif Enger [Enger]

January 30, 2019

Title Discussed: The Line Between
by Tosca Lee [Lee] Nebraska Author

Additional Participants: Tosca Lee, Nicole Baart and Kimberly Stuart — the “Traveling Pens”. Included a separate episode in which these writers talked about the writing process as Midwestern authors who are also mothers.


January 23, 2019

Title Discussed: French Exit: A Tragedy of Manners
by Patrick Dewitt [Dewitt]

January 16, 2019

Title Discussed: I’ll Be Gone in the Dark: One Woman’s Obsessive Search for the Golden State Killer
by Michelle McNamara [364.15 McN]

Additional Participants: Becki Roberts, long-time fan of the novel


January 9, 2019

Title Discussed: To Kill a Mockingbird
by Harper Lee [Lee]

Additional Participants: Becki Roberts, long-time fan of the novel


January 2, 2019

Title Discussed: The Alice Network
by Kate Quinn [Quinn]

Past Years: Click here to see the books discussed in the current year, as well as a master index to past years’ books

This page last updated February 2020 sdc