All About Books

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 Pric...

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”

Winner of the 2025 Pulitzer Prize for Literature, “James” by Percival Everett is a retelling of Twain’s Huckelberry Finn from the perspective of the enslaved Jim. The river journey contains the same characters and adventures, but Jim’s intelligence and compassion show them in a radically new light.

No matter how long you’ve lived in your hometown, there's still more to learn. While some of the things you thought were local history, may in fact be myths. Fascinating history, lots of photos, and even some myth-busting are found in “The Unauthorized Biography of Lincoln, Nebraska” by Matt Steinhausen. The author joins host Pat Leach.

The backpacker’s journey from Istanbul to Kathmandu was once known as the “Hippie Trail” A 23-year old Rick Steves made that trip and documented everything- the adventures, getting lost, and the people he met. His journal is the basis for his new book “On the Hippie Trail: Istanbul to Kathmandu and the Making of a Travel Writer”

Having a job during school to help ends meet is pretty typical, but UNL PhD student Linda Pawlenty’s side job was on a different level of different. Pawlenty drove a concrete mixer truck while earning her PhD. Her experiences being a woman in construction, and a working-class laborer in academia, is the subject of her first book “Clutch” An Education at Work”

Peter Wohlleben is a forester and author whose book, "The Hidden Life of Trees" was a best-seller. Now, that title has been given a graphical makeover with all 240 pages having color illustrations in this new adaptation that honors the spirit of the original book.

The ancient idea that the world is alive was long ridiculed by some scientists, but that’s changing. The view of Earth as a vast interconnected living system is gaining acceptance. “Becoming Earth” by Ferris Jabr offers the idea that humans and all living things, are more than inhabitants of Earth—but *are* Earth.

Award-winning author Elizabeth Strout returns to Crosby, Maine in her latest novel about new friendships, old loves, and to ask the question- what does anyone’s life mean? Hear a review of “Tell Me Everything”.

Cyrus is a newly sober son of Iranian immigrants. Guided by the voices of artists, poets, and kings, he embarks on a quest to uncover a family secret. Hear a review of the New York Times best-selling novel “Martyr!” by Kaveh Akbar on this week’s “All About Books”

Nebraska was one of only 15 states that held primaries in 1968. Robert F. Kennedy and Eugene McCarthy campaigned hard in the state. “Robert F. Kennedy: The Road Not Taken” by Dennis and Laura Crawford is a new history of the ’68 Nebraska campaigns, Hear an interview with co-author Dennis Crawford on this week’s “All About Books”

In the graphic novel “Feeding Ghosts”, artist Tessa Hulls traces Chinese history across three generations of women in her family. Growing up, Hulls watched both her mother and grandmother struggle with unexamined trauma and mental illness. Hear a review of this Pulitzer Prize winning memoir on this week's "All About Books".

His writing combined keen scientific observation with mystery and wonder. This week on “All About Books” a look at the life and writing of Lincoln native Loren Eiseley. Tom Lynch, Emeritus Professor of English at UNL will introduce readers to this unique and influential writer.

Set in Venice, the popular detective series featuring Commissario Guido Brunetti has a new mystery to solve. In “A Refiner’s Fire” by Donna Leon, Brunetti confronts the present-day menace of teenage street gangs.

Pat Leach invited her good friend Susan Millar to talk about the classic novel, “Mrs Dalloway” by Virginia Woolf. It’s one of Susan’s favorite novels and Pat’s first time reading it. Hear their conversation about what makes this book a classic and if it’s a good introduction to Woolf.