One Book – One Lincoln – 2006 – Finalists

One Book – One Lincoln – 2006: And the nominees are… The Five Finalists for 2006 Have Been Announced!

 

Thanks for your nominations!

Throughout the month of January 2006, we accepted your nominations for our fifth One Book – One Lincoln title, via drop boxes at all the libraries and on this Web site. All of your suggestions were forwarded to a special One Book – One Lincoln committee, comprised of representatives throughout the community, which sifted through all the nominated titles to choose the group of five finalists below. That group of finalists was announced in the Lincoln Journal Star and on this Web site on Monday, May 22, 2006. The final selection will be announced later this Summer, with book discussion opportunities and numerous special programs scheduled for the Fall. In the meantime, the libraries have ordered additional copies of all of these titles, and we encourage you to read any or all of the five finalists and watch the Lincoln Journal Star and this Web site for further developments on One Book – One Lincoln – 2006.

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Broken For You
by Nebraska author Stephanie Kallos

When we meet septuagenarian Margaret Hughes, she is living alone in a mansion in Seattle with only a massive collection of valuable antiques for company. Enter Wanda Schultz, a young woman with a broken heart who has come to Seattle to search for her wayward boyfriend. Both women are guarding dark secrets and have spent many years building up protective armor against the outside world. But as the two begin their tentative dance of friendship, the armor begins to fall away and Margaret opens her house to the younger woman.

Prodigal Summer
by Barbara Kingsolver

During one special season, wonders abound amid the ordinary community whose inhabitants mostly speak in a distinctive dialect reflecting their traditional values and proud insularity. Prodigal Summer weaves together three stories of human love within a larger tapestry of lives inhabiting the forested mountains and struggling small farms of southern Appalachia.

The Devil in the White City
by Erik Larson

The story of two men’s obsessions with the Chicago World’s Fair, one its architect, the other a serial murderer. “The Devil in the White City” draws the reader into a time of magic and majesty, made all the more appealing by a supporting cast of real-life characters, including Buffalo Bill, Theodore Dreiser, Susan B. Anthony, Thomas Edison, Archduke Francis Ferdinand, and others. Murder, magic and madness at the fair that changed America.

Crow Lake
by Mary Lawson

A gorgeous, slow-burning story set in the rural badlands of northern Ontario, where heartbreak and hardship are mirrored in the landscape. In this universal drama of family love and misunderstandings, of resentments harbored and driven underground, Lawson ratchets up the tension with heartbreaking humor and consummate control, continually overturning one’s expectations right to the very end.

Glass Castle: A Memoir
by Jeannette Walls

Jeannette Walls grew up with parents whose ideals and stubborn nonconformity were both their curse and their salvation. Hers is a story of triumph against all odds, but also a tender, moving tale of unconditional love in a family that despite its profound flaws gave her the fiery determination to carve out a successful life on her own terms.

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One Book – One Lincoln is a community reading program co-sponsored by Lincoln City Libraries and the Lincoln Journal Star. The program encourages all adults in Lincoln and Lancaster County to read and discuss the same book at the same time. The goal of the program is to encourage reading and dialogue by creating a community wide reading and discussion experience.

A list of what other communities are reading for similar programs can be found on the One Book Programs page on the Library of Congress Center for the Book Web site, searchable by States or by the Authors of the works listed.