We have officially moved!

We have officially moved our blog content over to our new website at http://libraries.ne.gov/alliance through our participation in the Nebraska Libraries on the Web project. My posts can now be read on our homepage by following the above link.

In addition to the blog, I have included a number of additional resources on the new site, such as an interactive calendar, reader's advisory pages, a kids page and much more. Hope to see you there!

In Memory of Kathie Bixby

The book Like No Other Place: The Sandhills of Nebraska by David A. Owens has been donated to our collection by Jim Cody in memory of Kathie Bixby, who is warmly thanked by the author in his acknowledgements.

Like No Other Place offers a candid and hauntingly beautiful portrait of the Nebraska Sandhills and the families that live and work in their craddle of natural beauty. Mr. Owens spent a number of years living in the Sandhills in order to capture the true essence of a place that he describes as "an area so in and of itself . . . that history and culture and the people who live and work there remain very organic to the place." In his book it is evident that Mr. Owens was able to capture this organic livelihood and breathe life into the pages through the portraits and landscapes of the people who inhabit this uniquely beautiful place full of sky and stars.

Leafing through this book I am reminded of how lucky I am to call this little corner of the world home, and I am grateful there are still places left in America, like the Sandhills, that exist in a near natural state, though they may be too few and far between.

In the acknowledgements, Mr. Owens writes, "I am greatly indebted to Kathie, who, from the very beginning, became a gracious friend, a guide who willingly introduced me to her friends and patiently shared her vast knowledge of the region . . . The memory of her friendship is embedded in every page of this book."

I highly recommend this book to anyone willing to read it. Thank you so much, Mr. Cody, for your thoughtful
donation.

Click here to read a review by the Lincoln Journal Star.

Storytime begins today!

Storytime begins tonight!

Storytime is a themed program for children ages 3 to 6 years old and is held in the children's section of the library every Tuesday night at 6:30 and Thursday morning at 10:00. Please register your child at the desk before attending.

Bookworm

Fiction
A Measure of Mercy by Lauraine Snelling: Astrid Bjorklund, studying medicine, leaves the town of Blessing and her boyfriend Joshua Landsverk behind to get additional training, but when Joshua fails to write and she learns he has left town, she makes a decision she may soon regret.
Blockade Billy by Stephen King: The character of George Granny Grantham recounts the story of William "Blockade Billy" Blakely, who was called in to fill a spot for the New Jersey Titans in the spring of 1957 and exhibited tenacity in the game as well as some disturbing eccentricities.

In His Majesty's Service by Naomi Novik: Collects the first three novels in the Temeraire series, including "His Majesty's Dragon," "Throne of Jade," and "Black Powder War

The Particular Sadness of Lemond Cake by Aimee Bender: Rose Edelstein, on the eve of her ninth birthday, bites into her mother's lemon-chocolate cake and is immediately aware of the hidden secrets the members of her family hold.

That Perfect Someone by Johanna Lindsey: Richard Allen falls in love with the married Georgina Malory, and, while trying to woo her at a masked ball, Richard meets Julia Miller, who eventually finds out his identity but agrees to enter into a charade with him in order to avoid marrying the Earl of Manford's son.

Tongues of Serpents by Naomi Novik: After being convicted of treason, Temeraire and Laurence are exiled to a prison colony, where they are faced with political entanglements and corruptions of war. Eager to escape, the two take on a mission to find a way through the Blue Mountains, which leads to a discovery that further complicates the war between Britain and Napoleon.

Nonfiction
Soccer and Philosophy: Delves deep into the inner workings if soccer, the world's most popular sport.
My Nebraska: The Good, The Bad, The Husker by Roger L. Welsch: Writer Roger Welsch is a fan of Nebraska—not just the football team, or the state's famous beef, or its endless sky, or its weather, but the whole thing. His perspectives will make readers of this "love letter to Nebraska" chuckle.

The Practical Astronomer by Will Gater: A beginner's guide to astronomy that covers recognizing and identifying features in the sky, naked eye observation, using binoculars and telescopes, and other related topics, and includes star charts and a month-by-month atlas of the night sky.

Alone: Orphaned on the Ocean by Richard D. Logan: Recounts the events surrounding the murder of the Duperrault family by the captain of the ship they chartered on vacation in 1961, as told by Tere Duperrault Fassbender, who was eleven-years-old at the time of the event and the only survivor.

CD's Fiction
Hero at Large by Janet Evanovich: Ken Callahan stops to help single mom Chris Nelson with her car not realizing his life is about to take a drastic change, with broken bones, a bruised heart, a Zamboni, and a meddlesome Aunt Edna all in the mix.
Split Second by David Baldacci: Michelle Maxwell and Sean King, two former Secret Service agents whose careers were destroyed when presidential candidates under their protection were harmed, discover together that their cases, eight years apart, are connected, and that danger remains.
The Associate by John Grisham: A dark episode from college haunts Kyle McAvoys future after he graduates from Yale and takes a shady job at a law firm where his new employer blackmails him into unethical work, which includes a scheme that could land Kyle in jail or possibly get him killed.

I, Alex Cross by James Patterson: On his birthday, detective Alex Cross has been informed that his niece, Caroline has been brutally murdered and Cross's investigation leads him to a fantasy-scene in, where he realizes he is tracking a serial killer. Danger mounts when Cross connects the deaths to some very important people.

Happy Labor Day

The Library will be closed on Monday in honor of Labor Day. We will resume operation on Tuesday with Winter Hours as follows:

Monday-Thursday 8am-8pm

Friday and Saturday 10am-5pm

Sunday 1pm-4pm

Have a wonderful and relaxing Labor Day!

In Memory of Mary Helen Brittan Serna

The following poetry collections have been donated to the library in loving memory of Mary Helen Brittan Serna, who was a lover of travel, poetry and fine literature.

"Virtually every baby boomer who cares about contemporary poetry first made its acquaintance in one of the little square paperbacks Lawrence Ferlinghetti started publishing out of his San Francisco bookstore, City Lights, in 1955. Together, those slim volumes of dedicatedly modernist, often Beat, and generally avant-garde verse comprise the Pocket Poets series. A few pages from each of the first 52 titles in the series appear in this sampler. The poets include Ginsberg, O'Hara, Levertov, Kerouac, di Prima, Bly, etc., etc.--a who's who of postWorld War II American modernism--as well as their great inspirer, William Carlos Williams, and such foreign counterparts as Voznesensky and Parra, such foreign forebears as Mayakovsky and Picasso (yes, poems by him). Of course, what we have here is a moment in cultural time, that of the 1950s1960s avant-garde; the next generation of new poets published elsewhere. But what a rich moment it is, one that belongs in every American library." ~ Booklist

Poetry is the literary journal of the poetry world. To be published in Poetry is to have a gold star on your resume. This collection offers up some 600 poems spanning a century of wonderful work from classics such as E.E. Cummings, Ezra Pound, and Sylvia Plath, to more contemporary stars of the poetry world like Yusef Komunyakaa and Billy Collins. This collection offers up the cream of the crop from the 20th century.



This volume contains more than 1600 poems drawn from dozens of languages and cultures, and spans a period of more than 4000 years from ancient Sumer and Egypt to the late twentieth century. World Poetry encompasses the many worlds of poetry, poetry of all styles, of all eras, of all tongues: from the ancient epic of Gilgamesh and the Pharaoh Akhnaten's "Hymn to the Sun" to the haiku of Basho and the dazzling imagery of Li Po; from Vedic hymns to Icelandic sagas to the "Carmina Burana"; from the magnificence of Homer and Dante to the lyricism of Goethe and Verlaine; from the piercing insights of Rilke and Yeats to the revelatory verse of Emily Dickinson, Garcia Lorca, Derek Walcott, Seamus Heaney, and many more.

These books will round out our poetry collection nicely. Thank you Jane, for the donation!

Bookworm

Fiction

Robert Ludlum's the Bourne Objective by Eric Lustbader: Jason Bourne, nearly killed in an ambush in Indonesia, assumes a new identity and recommences his quest to learn who he really is, but when an American passenger jet is shot down over Egypt by what appears to be an Iranian missile, he joins a global team, led by Soraya Moore, to investigate the attack and possibly prevent another world war.

Captain's Fury by Jim Butcher: Tavi of Calderon, now Captain of the First Aleran Legion, attempts an alliance between Aleran and Cane in order to fight their common enemy, the terrifying Vord.

Confessions of a Shopaholic by Sophie Kinsella: Young Rebecca Bloomwood, a financial magazine writer who has dug herself into a huge debt hole with her perpetual shopping, tries to turn her life around when she meets the desirable Luke Brandon.

The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest by Stieg Larsson: Lisbeth Salander, recovering in a Swedish hospital from a gunshot wound, calls upon journalist Mikael Blomkvist to help prove her innocence in the murders of three people; but in order to do so, he must uncover a long-buried conspiracy within the Swedish Secret Service.

Heart of the Matter by Emily Griffin: Nick Russo, pediatric plastic surgeon and husband of Tessa, a stay-at-home mom, is called in to treat a six-year-old burn victim; but as he becomes involved in the case, he also finds himself attracted to the child's mother, Valerie.

Standard of Honor by Jack Whyte: In 1187, Alexander Sinclair escapes into the desert after the Battle of Hattin and sets out to find other Templar Knights who survived the battle, while King Richard seeks the help of Sir Henry St. Clair as he prepares to free the Holy Lands.

Inner Harbor by Nora Roberts: In honoring his father's dying wish, Phillip Quinn finds himself caring for a young boy who reminds Phillip of himself, and when he meets a woman who can help him save the boy from his tramp of a mother, he falls in love and tries to make a perfect family for himself and the young boy.

Nonfiction

Nicholas Black Elk by Michael F. Steltenkamp: A comprehensive biography of the life of Black Elk, an Oglala Sioux religious elder, who participated in the Battle of the Little Bighorn, witnessed the massacre at Wounded Knee, and lived into the twentieth century.

Israel and Palestine by Avi Shlaim: Examines various aspects of Israeli-Palestinian relations, including Israel's establishment in 1948, the Six Day War of 1967, and the Oslo Accords of 1993, and assesses the influence of key political and intellectual figures such as Ariel Sharon, Edward Said, and Yasser Arafat while analyzing the many opportunities for peace that has been missed.

One Hundred Summers by Candace S. Greene: The book presents a recently discovered calendar, created by the Kiowa master artist Silver Horn. Covering the period from 1828 to 1928, the pictures trace Kiowa experiences from buffalo to biplanes, from horse raiding to World War I service, offering a perspective on a critical period of Kiowa history.

Indian Slavery in Colonial America by Alan Gallay: This book examines the complicated dynamics of Indian Enslavement; including how and why Indians became slaves. The essays in this collection use Indian Slavery as a lens through which to explore both Indian and European societies and their interactions, as well as relations between and among Native groups.

The Magnificent Mountain Women by Janet Robertson: Presents three dozen women who from the 1850s to the 1980s ventured into the mountains pursuing their own aims and meeting success.

He Might Be a Redneck If…by Jeff Foxworthy: Presents a collection of Jeff Foxworthy's trademark redneck humor, covering family, love and marriage, homes and vehicles, work, fashion, and other topics.

Fur, Fortune and Empire by Eric Jay Dolin: Traces the dramatic rise and fall of the American fur industry, from the first Dutch encounters with the Indians to the rise of the conservation movement in the late nineteenth century.

I am hard at work on our new website - so my posting here will be minimal, and pretty soon non-existent. I hope to take the website live next week, at which time my daily posts can be found at the new site.

Here's the new address if you would like to take a sneak peek!
http://libraries.ne.gov/alliance