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NET – All About Books – 2022

Former Lincoln City Libraries director Pat Leach is the current host of All About Books, a weekly book-review, interview and discussion program on Nebraska Public Media 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 Nebraska Public Media-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 Thursday at approximately 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 2022. 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 Nebraska Public Media: All About Books web site!

December 29, 2022

Title Discussed: Bittersweet: How Sorrow and Longing Make Us Whole
by Susan Cain (155.2 Cai)


December 22, 2022

Title Discussed: The Marriage Portrait
by Maggie O’Farrell (O’Farrell)


December 15, 2022

Clark Whitehorn, Senior Editor with the University of Nebraska Press (Bison Books) talks which books he thinks best describe our state. Titles Discussed: Fifty Years a Country Doctor by Hull Cook; Old Jules by Mari Sandoz; A Guide to the Ghosts of Lincoln by Alan Boye.

Additional Participants: Clark Whitehorn, Senior Editor with the University of Nebraska Press.


December 8, 2022

Great Books for Giving, 2020Titles Discussed: Bear Has a Belly by Jane Whittingham (jP Whittingham); Nigel and the Moon by Antwan Eady with art by Gracey Zhang (jP Eady); All Thirteen: The Incredible Cave Rescue of the Thai Boys Soccer Team by Christina Soontornvat (j796.525 Soo); All About Dinner: Simple Dinners, Expert Advice by Molly Stevens (641.54 Ste). (See Vicki’s full Great Books to Give as Gifts – 2022 booklist, from which these were merely a sampling.)

Additional Participants: Vicki Wood, Youth Services Coordinator for the Lincoln City Libraries, sharing some gift book suggestions for children as we approach the holidays.


December 1, 2022

Great Books for Giving, 2020Titles Discussed: Demon Copperhead by Barbara Kingsolver (Kingsolver); Properties of Thirst by Marianne Wiggins (Wiggins); Tutankhamun’s Trumpet: Ancient Egypt in 100 Objects from the Boy-King’s Tomb by Toby Wilkinson (On Order); And There Was Light: Abraham Lincoln and the American Struggle by Jon Meacham (Biography Lincoln); How Y’all Doing? : Misadventures and Mischief from a Life Well Lived by Leslie Jordan (Biography Jordan); The Extraordinary Life of an Ordinary Man: A Memoir by Paul Newman (Biography Newman); True North Cabin Cookbook: Recipes and Stories from a North Woods Table by Stephanie Hansen (not yet in libraries’ collection); Engines: The Inner Workings of Machines That Move the World by Theodore Gray (not yet in libraries’ collection); What If? 2: Additional Serious Scientific Answers to Absurd Hypothetical Questions by Randall Munroe (500 Mun); Drawn to Birds: A Naturalist’s Sketchbook by Jenny deFouw Geuder (Hoopla).

Additional Participants: Leslie Huerta of Francie & Finch book store, sharing some gift book suggestions as we approach the holidays.


November 17, 2022

Title Discussed: Confluence: John Gottschalk’s Life of Duty, Service and the Business of News
by George Ayoub (Biography Gottschalk)

Additional Participants: George Ayoub, author of today’s book.


November 10, 2022

Title Discussed: Hell’s Half Acre: The Untold Story of the Benders, a Serial Killer Family on the American Frontier
by Susan Jonusas (364.152 Jon)


November 3, 2022

Title Discussed: The Evening Hero
by Marie Myung-Ok Lee (Lee)


October 27, 2022

Titles Discussed: In Reach by Pamela Carter Joem; Our Souls at Night by Kent Haruf (novella); Eleanor & Park by Rainbow Rowell; One False Move by Alex Kava.

Additional Participants: Dan Nieman, Assistant Director of the South Sioux City Public Library, and a listener to the show, who wrote in with This is Nebraska: Books That Tell Our Story suggestions.


October 20, 2022

Title Discussed: The Sweet Remnants of Summer
by Alexander McCall Smith (McCall Smith)

Additional Participants: Vicki Wood, Youth Services coordinator for the Lincoln City Libraries, and guest reviewer today.


October 13, 2022

Title Discussed: Sleepwalk
by Dan Chaon (Chaon)


October 6, 2022

Title Discussed: How the Word is Passed
by Clint Smith (306.362 Smi)


September 29, 2022

Title Discussed: Accelerated: a Guide to Innovating at the Speed of Change
by Brian Ardinger (Tyler)

Additional Participants: Brian Ardinger, Director of Innovation at Nelnet and the author of today’s book.


September 22, 2022

Title Discussed: French Braid
by Anne Tyler (Tyler)


September 15, 2022

Title Discussed: Lucy By the Sea
by Elizabeth Strout (Strout)


September 8, 2022

Title Discussed: Cloud Cuckoo Land
by Anthony Doerr (Doerr)


September 1, 2022

Title Discussed: Trailed: One Woman’s Quest to Solve the Shenandoah Murders
by Kathryn Miles (364.152 Mil)


August 23, 2022

Topic of discussion: This episode is the latest in a series called, “This Is Nebraska – Books That Tell Our Story”. Ted Wheeler, writer, bookseller and college professor from Omaha joins host Pat Leach to talk about contemporary writers and how they describe this region in their works. Titles mentioned: Pickard County Atlas by Christina Harding Thornton, My Antonia by Willa Cather, and One of Ours by Willa Cather.

Additional Participants: Ted Wheeler, Nebraska author, editor, journalist and bookseller.


August 18, 2022

Title Discussed: Rebel with a Clause: Tales and Tips from a Roving Grammarian
by Ellen Jovin (not currently in the libraries’ collection)

Additional Participants: Interview with Ellen Jovin, author of this book


August 11, 2022

Title Discussed: Deer Season
by Erin Flanagan (Flanagan)

This University of Nebraska Press novel was the Winner of the Edgar Award for Best First Mystery Novel in 2022. See the list of past Edgar Award winners here on BookGuide.


August 4, 2022

Topic of discussion: This episode is the first in a series called, “This Is Nebraska – Books That Tell Our Story”. Titles mentioned: Old Jules by Mari Sandoz, O Pioneers by Willa Cather, Black Elk Speaks by John G. Neihardt, Nebraska Poetry: A Sesquicentennial Anthology edited by Daniel Simon, Watching the Perseids: The Backwaters Press 20th Anniversary Anthology edited by Kat Dixon and Michael Catherwood, Nebraska by Kwame Dawes, the works of poets William Kloefkorn and Ted Kooser (particularly Local Wonders).

Additional Participants: Ron Hull, Senior Advisor to Nebraska Public Media


July 28, 2022

Title Discussed: One of Ours
by Willa Cather (Cather)

Additional Participants: Cather scholar Becky Faber


July 21, 2022

Title Discussed: Poet Warrior: A Memoir
by Joy Harjo (Biography Harjo)


July 14, 2022

Title Discussed: The People of Lincoln: The Framework of Community
by Randy Bretz (not currently in the libraries’ collection)

Additional Participants: Randy Bretz, author of this week’s book


July 7, 2022

Title Discussed: The Five Wounds
by Kirstin Valdez Quade (Quade)


June 30, 2022

Title Discussed: A Life in Light: Meditations on Impermanence
by Mary Pipher (On Order)

Additional Participants: Mary Pipher, author of this week’s book


June 23, 2022

Title Discussed: 75 Years on 4 Strings
by Hans Sturm (not currently in the libraries’ collection)

Additional Participants: Hans Sturm, UNL Professor of Double Bass and Jazz Studies and author of this week’s book


June 16, 2022

Title Discussed: Pastoral Song: A Farmer’s Odyssey
by James Rebanks (Biography Rebanks)


June 9, 2022

Title Discussed: At the Corner of Fantasy and Main
by Matt Mason (not currently in the libraries’ collection)

Additional Participants: Matt Mason, author of this week’s book


June 2, 2022

One Book - One LincolnTitles Discussed: The Top Three One Book – One Lincoln finalists for 2022: Sparks Like Stars by Nadia Hashimi, Hell of a Book by Jason Mott, and The Lincoln Highway by Amor Towles
by Lauren Groff (Groff)

Additional Participants: David Smith, facilitator or the One Book – One Lincoln selection committee.


May 26, 2022

Title Discussed: Matrix
by Lauren Groff (Groff)


May 19, 2022

Title Discussed: Shadow Migration: Mapping a Life
by Suzanne Ohlmann (Biography Ohlmann)

Additional Participants: Suzanne Ohlmann, author of this week’s book


May 12, 2022

Title Discussed: The Wrong End of the Telescope
by Rabih Alameddine (Alameddine)


May 5, 2022

Title Discussed: The Doctors Blackwell
by Janice Nimura (Biography Blackwell)

Additional Participants: Janice Nimura, author of this week’s book


April 28, 2022

Title Discussed: Now is the Time for Trees: Make an Impact by Planting the Earth’s Most Valuable Resource
by the Arbor Day Foundation (Hoopla E-book)

Additional Participants: Dan Lambe, CEO of the Arbor Day Foundation


April 21, 2022

Title Discussed: Eat Your Woolly Mammoths! Two Million Years of the World’s Most Amazing Food Facts, from the Stone Age to the Future
by James Solheim (not yet in library collection)


April 14, 2022

Title Discussed: Go West, Young Man: A Father and Son Rediscover America on the Oregon Trail
by B.J. Hollars (978 Hol)

Additional Participants: B.J. Hollars, author of today’s work, along with his son Henry


April 7, 2022

Title Discussed: Seek You: A Journey Through American Loneliness
by Kristen Radtke (741.5 Rad)


March 31, 2022

Title Discussed: Lincoln, from the Postcard History Series
by Ed Zimmer and Jim McKee (978.229 Zim)

Additional Participants: Ed Zimmer and Jim McKee, authors of today’s work


March 24, 2022

Title Discussed: A World on the Wing: The Global Odyssey of Migratory Birds
by Scott Weidensaul (598.156 Wei)


March 17, 2022

Title Discussed: Painting Time
by Maylis de Kerangal (Kerangal)


March 10, 2022

Title Discussed: Oh William!
by Elizabeth Strout (Strout)


March 3, 2022

Title Discussed: Reclamation
by Lisa Tschauner (available from the library only as an E-book and E-audiobook via our Hoopla resources)

Additional Participants: Lisa Tschauner, author of today’s work


February 24, 2022

Title Discussed: The Future We Choose: the Stubborn Optimist’s Guide to the Climate Crisis
by Christiana Figueres and Tom Rivett-Carnac (363.738 Fig)


February 17, 2022

Title Discussed: Velvet Was the Night
by Silvia Moreno-Garcia (Moreno-Garcia)


February 10, 2022

Title Discussed: On Juneteenth
by Annette Gordon-Reed (305.8 AfrYg)


February 3, 2022

Title Discussed: Red Comet: the Short Life and Blazing Art of Sylvia Plath
by Heather Clark (Biography Plath)


January 27, 2022

Title Discussed: Rhinos in Nebraska: The Amazing Discovery of the Ashfall Fossil Beds
by Alison Pearce Stevens (j560.978 Ste)

Additional Participants: Dr. Alison Pearce Stevens, author of today’s work


January 20, 2022

Title Discussed: Libertie
by Kaitlyn Greenridge (Greenridge)


January 13, 2022

Title Discussed: Last Night at the Telegraph Club
by Malinda Lo (YA Lo)


January 6, 2022

Title Discussed: A Town Called Solace
by Mary Lawson (Lawson)


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 January 2024 sdc