All About Books

They were recruited, trained and they worked completely in secret. More than 10 thousand young women worked for the US Army and Navy breaking enemy codes during World War 2. On this week’s “All About Books’ guest reviewer Lynn Roper shares a book that reveals the untold history of young women who quietly helped win the war, “Code Girls” by Liza Mundy.

By the 1890s, Wilmington North Carolina was that states largest city and a shining example of a mixed-race community. But white supremacist Democrats plotted to take back the state legislature “by the ballot or bullet or both.” This week on Nebraska Public Media’s “All About Books” a review of the Pulizer Prize winning book "Wilmington's Lie: The Murderous Coup of 1898 and the Rise of White Suprem...

An irritable, old church deacon shoots a drug dealer in broad daylight. This begins the action of the novel, “Deacon King Kong” by James McBride. The story reveals the reasons behind the shooting and the consequences to the 1960's New York neighborhood.

Three Japanese women living in a tiny Tokyo apartments struggle to find peace in their lives as they deal with issues of partners, children and appearance. Hear a review of the novel “Breasts and Eggs” by best-selling Japanese author Mieko Kawakami.

The city-wide reading project, "One Book- One Lincoln" has announced the 3 finalists. On this week's "All About Books" David Smith from the selection committee will introduce one of the 3, "Transcendent Kingdom" by Yaa Gyasi.

He and his family lived by hiding in plain sight, hoping never to be truly seen. In his memoir, “Children of the Land”, Marcelo Hernandez Castillo tells of their survival in a system that treated them like criminals for seeking safe, normal lives.

Brainard, Nebraska native Ross Benes found himself trying to explain to his New York City friends what the people of rural American were really like. His thoughts and experiences bridging rural and urban America led to his new book, “Rural Rebellion: How Nebraska Became a Republican Stronghold.” On this week’s “All About Books” he talks about growing up in Nebraska as it politically moved to the r...

An Asian actor stuck generic roles longs to move his career forward. With this character, novelist Charles Yu skewers cultural stereotypes with humor and insight in his novel, “Interior Chinatown”

A boy from the Nebraska Sandhills was murdered decades ago but his body was never found. In the suspense novel, “Pickard County Atlas.” UNL Lecturer Chris Harding Thorton has written a book combining menace and dark humor. On this week’s "All About Books” the author shares her Nebraska background and influences that helped shape the novel

If forests, mountains and oceans are extroverted environments that demand our attention- the prairie has a more quiet voice. Photographer, author and the Nature Conservancy’s Director of Science in Nebraska, Chris Helzer, has written, “Hidden Prairie: Photographing Life in One Square Meter.” It explores the diversity and activity of plants and animals on just a small patch of the prairie.

To their neighbors in Colorado Springs, the Galvins seemed to be a large, happy, baby boom family. Over the years 6 of the 12 children would be diagnosed with schizophrenia. How this could have happened this happened is the subject of the new book “Hidden Valley Road: Inside the Mind of an American Family” by Robert Kolker.

It may be the first of its kind: a coffee-table book of Nebraska photographs designed, written, published and even printed entirely in Nebraska. Amateur photographer and self-published author, Matt Steinhousen joins host Pat Leach to talk about his book, "The Least Interesting Place."

Beginning in 1960’s Laos, “Run Me to Earth” by Paul Yoon is a novel spanning decades. It tells the story of 3 orphans who risk their lives collecting medical supplies across a nightmare landscape of unexploded bombs.

He’s been awarded a Pulitzer Prize, named U.S. Poet Laureate twice, and now Nebraska poet Ted Kooser has a tribute from his colleagues and students in a new book. “More in Time” from the University of Nebraska Press is a celebration of Ted Kooser as teacher, mentor and friend. All About Books host Pat Leach is joined by one of the book’s editors, Timothy Schaffert.

Humans have traditions and cultures, but is it possible that animals do too? A new book explores the animal world from a fresh perspective. On this week’s “All About Books” a review of “Becoming Wild” by Carl Safina. A revelatory look at how animals function beyond our typical assumptions.

This novel presents a Montana woman who seems to have much going for her. But throughout her life she struggles to define herself while others seek to possess her in relationships that often contain violence. “The Lives of Edie Pritchard” by Larry Watson

Scientist are coming to understand that birds have intelligence for activities we previously considered uniquely human. Behaviors like deception, manipulation, as well as collaboration and play. This week’s All About Books presents, "The Bird Way: A New Look at How Birds Talk, Work, Play, Parent, and Think” by Jennifer Ackerman.

The University of Nebraska Press has just published South Dakota writer, Steven Wingate’s new novel, “The Leave-Takers.” On this week’s “All About Books”, host Pat Leach talks with Wingate about the book and his patient style of writing.

Anotonia Vega is a professor of English and an immigrant, she confronts the loss of her husband in the novel, “Afterlife” by Julia Alvarez. The story follows Vega as she continues to seek inspiration from literature to guide her though new challenges.

A technology expert who enjoys a dependably quiet routine is upended by a suddenly homeless girlfriend and a teenage boy claiming to be his son. It's all in, "Redhead by the Side of the Road: a Novel" by Anne Tyler.

A mixed-race woman born into slavery on a Jamaican plantation ends up in London at the center of a murder case. “The Confessions of Frannie Langton” by Sara Collins is a mystery written with careful attention to the history of the novel's setting..

“Minor Feelings” is a collection of essays described as honest, funny, and provocative. A look at poet and essayist Cathy Park Hong's cultural observations involving everything from racial identity to art and family.

In the summer of 1959, three young performers come together for a variety show in sea side town of Brighton England. “All About Books” reviews the short novel “Here We Are” by Graham Swift, which delves into the love, family and memory of all the characters.

Two women of the Paris Avant Garde art world were living on the British Channel Island of Jersey when the Nazis invaded. A new book tells how these artists resisted the occupation and imprisonment in their own unique way. “Paper Bullets” by Jeffrey Jackson

In the early 1990’s, an average Indiana family had their identities stolen, crippling the couple and their young daughter’s life. That young girl became a professor and expert on identity theft, eventually discovering the culprit. "All About Books" reviews this true-crime story, “The Less You Know About Us” by Axton Betz-Hamilton.