All the Gallant Men: An American Sailor’s Firsthand Account of Pearl Harbor by Donald Stratton with Ken Gire
An unforgettable story of unfathomable courage and steely determination. The first memoir by a USS Arizona Survivor.
Copies: 10
Another Piece of My Heart by Jane Green
From the New York Times bestselling author of JEMIMA J, and THE BEACH HOUSE, comes Jane Green’s most emotional and powerful novel yet: a story that explores the complications of a woman marrying into a ready-made family, and the true meaning of motherhood. Andi has spent much of her adult life looking for the perfect man, and at thirty-seven, she’s finally found him. Ethan–divorced with two daughters, Emily and Sophia–is a devoted father and even better husband. Always hoping one day she would be a mother, Andi embraces the girls like they were her own. But in Emily’s eyes, Andi is an obstacle to her father’s love, and Emily will do whatever it takes to break her down. When the dynamics between the two escalate, they threaten everything Andi believes about love, family, and motherhood—leaving both women standing at a crossroad in their lives…and in their hearts. ANOTHER PIECE OF MY HEART is a novel that illuminates the nuances and truths about relationships and is Jane Green at her absolute best.
Copies: 12
Between the Lines by Nikki Grimes
Darrian aspires to write for the New York Times and joins Mr. Ward’s class, famous for its open-mic poetry readings and boys vs. girls poetry slam. Each student, with unique challenges like health issues, foster care, bullying, or family addiction, shares their story through poetry, fostering a deep bond and understanding among classmates.
Copies: 10
The Birchbark House by Louise Erdrich
In Louise Erdrich’s “The Birchbark House,” readers explore 19th-century pioneer life from the perspective of 7-year-old Ojibwa girl, Omakayas. The story, set in 1847, revolves around her life with an Ojibwa family on Madeline Island, navigating the challenges of daily life, encounters with nature, and the historical smallpox epidemic. Erdrich’s authentic portrayal, along with her own illustrations, makes Omakayas a relatable, strong character, enriching the canon of children’s classics.
Copies: 10
The Bones of Paradise by Jonis Agee
A kaleidoscopic portrait of misfits, schemers, chancers, and dreamers, Agee’s bold novel is a panorama of America at the dawn of a new century yet under the shadow of Wounded Knee. A beautiful evocation of the Nebraska Sandhills and the men and women who dared to tame them.
Copies: 10
The Book Woman of Troublesome Creek by Kim Michele Richardson
Thanks to Roosevelt’s Kentucky Pack Horse Library Project, Cussy Mary Carter, the last of her kind with blue skin, serves as the traveling librarian. To bring books to the hill folks, Cussy confronts deep prejudice and suspicion. Drawing inspiration from Kentucky’s blue-skinned people and the brave Kentucky Pack Horse library service, it’s a story of courage, strength, and the power of books.
Copies: 10
Born to Run by Bruce Springsteen
“Writing about yourself is a funny business…But in a project like this, the writer has made one promise, to show the reader his mind. In these pages, I’ve tried to do this.” —Bruce Springsteen, from the pages of Born to Run In 2009, Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band performed at the Super Bowl’s halftime show. The experience was so exhilarating that Bruce decided to write about it. That’s how this extraordinary autobiography began. Over the past seven years, Bruce Springsteen has privately devoted himself to writing the story of his life, bringing to these pages the same honesty, humor, and originality found in his songs. He describes growing up Catholic in Freehold, New Jersey, amid the poetry, danger, and darkness that fueled his imagination, leading up to the moment he refers to as “The Big Bang”: seeing Elvis Presley’s debut on The Ed Sullivan Show. He vividly recounts his relentless drive to become a musician, his early days as a bar band king in Asbury Park, and the rise of the E Street Band. With disarming candor, he also tells for the first time the story of the personal struggles that inspired his best work, and shows us why the song “Born to Run” reveals more than we previously realized. Born to Run will be revelatory for anyone who has ever enjoyed Bruce Springsteen, but this book is much more than a legendary rock star’s memoir. This is a book for workers and dreamers, parents and children, lovers and loners, artists, freaks, or anyone who has ever wanted to be baptized in the holy river of rock and roll. Rarely has a performer told his own story with such force and sweep. Like many of his songs (“Thunder Road,” “Badlands,” “Darkness on the Edge of Town,” “The River,” “Born in the U.S.A,” “The Rising,” and “The Ghost of Tom Joad,” to name just a few), Bruce Springsteen’s autobiography is written with the lyricism of a singular songwriter and the wisdom of a man who has thought deeply about his experiences.
Copies: 6
Brave Like That by Lindsey Stoddard
In Lindsey Stoddard’s uplifting tale, Cyrus Olson navigates the expectations set by his heroic father and his own lack of bravery. With the aid of a stray dog, new friends, rhythm, and courage, Cyrus embarks on a journey of self-discovery. This heartfelt novel celebrates resilience and the transformative power of friendship. Copies: 8
The Bridge Home by Padma Venkatraman
Padma Venkatraman’s middle-grade debut tells a captivating story of four determined homeless children surviving on the streets of Chennai, India. With hope and bravery, they form a family on an abandoned bridge, scavenging for a living. When illness strikes, eleven-year-old Viji faces a tough decision about their hard-fought freedom.
Copies: 8
Dancing with the Octopus by Debora Harding
In 1978, on a chilling Omaha winter day, 14-year-old Debora Harding was abducted at knife-point, assaulted, held for ransom, and left to die. However, her book “Dancing with the Octopus” explores the idea that this might not have been the most traumatic event of her childhood. Through a skillful narrative that shifts between past and present, Harding delves into her story, from the immediate aftermath to the potential for restorative justice two decades later. This book unveils the societal and political forces that shape the lives of crime survivors, offering an intimate and darkly humorous portrait of a family’s disintegration, as well as a groundbreaking journey of reckoning and recovery.
Copies: 10
Death Zones and Darling Spies: Seven Years of Vietnam War Reporting by Beverly Deepe Keever
Beverly Deepe, armed with a journalism degree, embarked on a two-week trip around the world in 1961. Instead, she spent seven years in South Vietnam, becoming the longest-serving American correspondent covering the Vietnam War. Her memoir “Death Zones and Darling Spies” vividly portrays the horrors of war and America’s changing role.
Copies: 8
Don’t Sing at the Table: Life Lessons from My Grandmothers by Adriana Trigiani
“No one ever reads just one of Trigiani’s wonderfully quirky tales. Once you pick up the first, you are hooked.” —BookPageNew York Times bestselling author Adriana Trigiani shares a treasure trove of insight and guidance from her two grandmothers: time-tested, common sense advice on the most important aspects of a woman’s life, from childhood to the golden years. Seamlessly blending anecdote with life lesson, Don’t Sing at the Table tells the two vibrant women’s real-life stories—how they fell in love, nurtured their marriages, balanced raising children with being savvy businesswomen, and reinvented themselves with each new decade. For readers of Big Stone Gap, Very Valentine, Lucia, Lucia, and Rococo, this loving memoir is the Trigiani family recipe for chicken soup for the soul.
Copies: 7
Education of a Wandering Man by Louis L’ Amour
Louis L’Amour’s memoir, “Education of a Wandering Man,” chronicles his remarkable life from leaving school at fifteen to his adventures as a hobo, cattle skinner, merchant seaman, and bare-knuckled prizefighter. This book captures his love for learning, encounters with fascinating individuals, and the experiences that shaped him as a storyteller and a man.
Copies: 10
Dragon Hoops by Gene Luen Yang
Gene Luen Yang’s graphic novel, “Dragon Hoops,” explores his life, family, and teaching experience at a high school. As someone unfamiliar with sports, Gene discovers the captivating story of the school’s basketball team, the Dragons, as they pursue a long-awaited championship. This season becomes a transformative journey for both the players and Gene himself.
Copies: 8
Godfall by Van Jenson
When a massive asteroid hurtles toward Earth, humanity braces for annihilation—but the end doesn’t come. In fact, it isn’t an asteroid but a three-mile-tall alien that drops down, seemingly dead, outside Little Springs, Nebraska. Dubbed “the giant,” its arrival transforms the red-state farm town into a top-secret government research site and major metropolitan area, flooded with soldiers, scientists, bureaucrats, spies, criminals, conspiracy theorists—and a murderer.
Copies: 10
Good Luck, Mrs. Brown…: The True Story of a Family’s Life When the Father Became Mentally Ill by Rita Keeley Brown
GOOD LUCK, MRS. BROWN by Rita Keeley Brown…Things were going along so well, then all of a sudden, it’s some kind of Hell!The wrap-around cover of the book is a drawing of the family done by the youngest child at the age of eight. This drawing and the above lines from a poem in the book describe the confusion and fear as mental illness took over the beautiful mind of the father of the family. Good Luck, Mrs. Brown tells of a seldom understood or discussed side of mental illness – the impact it has on the family of the person who is ill. It is a unique personal account of seven people of varying ages living through the same crisis situation. This book, although written by the mother, includes writings by the children as adults reflecting on their experience of their childhood. These reflections give great insight into what life was like for them and in their own words. The Introduction in Good Luck, Mrs. Brown explains, “This is about the one thing I thought I could never survive – the break-up of my marriage and raising my children without a father. This may sound rather harsh and perhaps not very pleasant reading, but through it all there was a lot of love, humor, growth and tap dancing. (The tap dancing came in surviving the day until I could figure out what more sweeping steps I could take.)”The reader will feel a strong sense of family throughout the book. A large family provides by its very nature endless opportunities for humor and challenge. There are innumerable slices of life with which most everyone can identify. A gamut of stories, both happy and sad, will resonate with readers either through something they may have experienced or about which they may be concerned. There are stories of family events and childhood experiences with which most people can relate. This book gives hope to anyone feeling the isolation a crisis brings. They will draw strength from this story of a family who faced the crisis and came through it well. A college student who had suffered mental illness and is now stable asked if she could read a copy of the manuscript of the book. Her comments were as follows: “This book needs to be published because of its honesty. Up to this point, I’ve only read autobiographies or medical analyses of mental disorders. The book helped me understand what my parents went through when I was ill and un-medicated. I’ve just never heard a first hand experience from others involved and how it affects them…it has been an incredible help to me…I talk about it all the time with my friends.”
Copies: 8
Great Plains Bison by Dan O’Brien
In “Great Plains Bison” Dan O’Brien explores the American bison’s history, ecology, and cultural significance. O’Brien, an experienced wildlife biologist and Great Plains authority, has managed his ethical buffalo ranch since 1997. Combining rigorous research with personal insights, he details the bison’s natural history and its role in Native American culture.
Copies: 10
Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows
January 1946: writer Juliet Ashton receives a letter from a stranger, a founding member of the Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society. And so begins a remarkable tale of the island of Guernsey during the German occupation, and of a society as extraordinary as its name.
Copies: 8
Lady Clementine by Marie Benedict
From Marie Benedict, the bestselling author of The Only
Woman in the Room, comes Lady Clementine, an incredible novel about Winston Churchill’s wife and her unwavering support during World Wars I and II. Benedict masterfully tells the story of this remarkable woman’s impact on history, weaving secrets and personal struggles into a captivating tale.
Copies: 10
The Last Thing He Told Me by Laura Dave
When Owen Michaels vanishes, he leaves a cryptic note for
his wife, Hannah: “Protect her.” Hannah understands it’s about
Bailey, Owen’s distant daughter who lost her mother young and resents her stepmother. Ignored by Owen and caught in a web of mystery, Hannah unravels Owen’s true identity with Bailey’s help, setting them on a surprising path to an unforeseen future.
Copies: 10
The Line Between by Tosca Lee (Book 1)
Wynter Roth escapes from a doomsday cult only to find herself in the middle of a global pandemic that causes rapid dementia. She must get information to a Colorado lab, but she doesn’t know who she can trust in this new and crazy world.
Copies: 8
Letters From Cuba by Ruth Behar
The situation is getting dire for Jews in Poland on the eve of World War II. Esther’s father has fled to Cuba, and she is the first one to join him. It’s heartbreaking to be separated from her beloved sister, so Esther promises to write down everything that happens until they’re reunited. And she does, recording both the good–the kindness of the Cuban people and her discovery of a valuable hidden talent–and the bad: the fact that Nazism has found a foothold even in Cuba.
Copies: 8
The Lion of Mars by Jennifer L. Holm
Join a young Mars resident, Bell, on an otherworldly adventure. He’s just an ordinary 11-year-old, curious about his colony’s secrets. When a virus strikes, Bell and the children are their families’ only hope. In this New York Times bestselling novel, Mars becomes a captivating home as they strive to unite the planet. Copies: 8
Long March Home by Tosca Lee and Marcus Brotherton
“[A] tour de force.”–Publishers Weekly starred review***Jimmy Propfield joined the army for two reasons: to get out of Mobile, Alabama, with his best friends Hank and Billy and to forget his high school sweetheart, Claire. Life in the Philippines seems like paradise–until the morning of December 8, 1941, when news comes from Manila: Imperial Japan has bombed Pearl Harbor. Within hours, the teenage friends are plunged into war as enemy warplanes attack Luzon, beginning a battle for control of the Pacific Theater that will culminate with a last stand on the Bataan Peninsula and end with the largest surrender of American troops in history. What follows will become known as one of the worst atrocities in modern warfare: the Bataan Death March. With no hope of rescue, the three friends vow to make it back home together. But the ordeal is only the beginning of their nearly four-year fight to survive. Inspired by true stories, The Long March Home is a gripping coming-of-age tale of friendship, sacrifice, and the power of unrelenting hope.***”Remarkable.”–Mark Sullivan, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Beneath a Scarlet Sky “Packed with tension.”–Lisa Wingate, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Before We Were Yours “Such real characters.”–Rhys Bowen, New York Times bestselling author of The Venice Sketchbook”Riveting.”–Mark Greaney, #1 New York Times bestselling author of the Gray Man series “Utterly compelling.”–Susan Meissner, USA Today bestselling author of The Nature of Fragile Things “Simply magnificent.”–Don Bentley, New York Times bestselling author of Hostile Intent “Dazzling.”–Joseph Finder, New York Times bestselling author of House on Fire “A tremendous story.”–Andrew Kaplan, New York Times bestselling author of Blue Madagascar “Beautifully and faultlessly told.”–Steve Martini, New York Times bestselling author of Blood Flag.
Copies: 10
The Meaning of Names by Karen Gettert Shoemaker
A hauntingly tender story set in Nebraska during WWI, a time when nationalism led to prejudice against German-Americans, a time when the influenza pandemic of 1918 killed millions. Gettert Shoemaker weaves an enduring story of faith, family, and love.
Copies: 14
The Mystery of Hunting’s End by Mignon G. Eberhart
The Sand Hills of Nebraska, where Mignon G. Eberhart lived as a newlywed, inspired this 1930 chiller. In the desolate landscape is Hunting’s End, a lodge owned by the wealthy Kingery family. Socialite Matil Kingery invites the same guests who were present when her father died of “heart failure” five years ago, determined to find the murderer. Detective Lance O’Leary poses as a guest, while Nurse Sarah Keate is engaged to care for Aunt Lucy Kingery—not a pleasant task. A November snowstorm traps everyone at the lodge, where unnatural deaths occur.
Nurse Keate, the sharp-eyed, stiletto-tongued sleuth from The Patient in Room 18 and While the Patient Slept, helped establish Mignon G. Eberhart as a mainstay of golden age detective fiction.
Copies: 9
News of the World by Paulette Jiles
Set in post-Civil War Texas, Paulette Jiles’ novel tells the story of 71-year-old Captain Jefferson Kyle Kidd and his unlikely ward, a 10-year-old girl who had been rescued by the U.S. Army from the Kiowa Indians.
Copies: 8
Not if I Save You First by Ally Carter
In a standalone novel by Ally Carter, Maddie and Logan, once
close but torn apart by a kidnapping attempt in their youth, find themselves stranded in the Alaskan wilderness. Maddie, raised in solitude for safety, is forced to reunite with Logan when their outpost is attacked and he’s taken. Their journey to survive and reconcile unfolds amidst the looming threat of an assassin.
Copies: 10
One False Move by Alex Kava
Melanie Starks and her son, Charlie, run petty cons until Jared Barnett, recently released from prison, tempts them with an audacious heist. The Nebraska bank robbery goes awry, leaving innocent lives lost. Now fugitives, Melanie, Charlie, and Jared must navigate a perilous path with everything to lose.
Copies: 10
Off the Grid by Alex Kava
NYT bestselling author Alex Kava’s collection, “Off the
Grid,” features suspenseful short stories and a novella. FBI profiler Maggie O’Dell stars in most of them. From a chilling road trip in “Goodnight Sweet Mother” to tracking a senator’s missing family in “Electric Blue,” these tales deliver unexpected twists and danger. Copies: 10
Parachute Kids: A Graphic Novel by Betty C Tang
Feng-Li can’t wait to discover America with her family! But after an action-packed vacation, her parents deliver shocking news. They are returning to Taiwan and leaving Feng-Li and her older siblings in California on their own. Suddenly, the three kids must fend for themselves in a strange new world― and get along. Starting a new school, learning a new language, and trying to make new friends while managing a household is hard enough, but Bro and Sis’s constant bickering makes everything worse. Thankfully, there are some hilarious moments to balance the stress and loneliness. But as tensions escalate―and all three kids get tangled in a web of bad choices―can Feng-Li keep her family together?
Copies: 10
O Pioneers! by Willa Cather
Cather’s second novel, a sentimental and somewhat controversial story of the Bergsons, a family of Swedish pioneers that settles for life on the Nebraska a prairie at the turn of the 20th century.
Copies:10
Prairie Forge: the Extraordinary Story of the Nebraska Scrap Metal Drive of World War II by James J. Kimble
Kimble tells the story of how efforts on the home front changed the trajectory of World War II. Copies: 9
The Plain Sense of Things by Pamela Carter Joern
The Plain Sense of Things is a poignant tale set in the stark prairie of western Nebraska. It spans three generations of a family, their stories tied together by the bonds of flawed love and unyielding need. A widowed farm wife strives to support her children; a young woman grapples with the transition to motherhood; the aftermath of World War II wreaks havoc on those left behind; and a failing farmstead breaks a family’s heart. Through hardship and change, these interconnected stories reveal the resilience, dignity, and bittersweet beauty of a life lived in the unfiltered reality of the plain sense of things.
Copies: 10.
Prophet Song by Paul Lynch
WINNER OF THE BOOKER PRIZE 2023 • INSTANT NATIONAL BESTSELLER
Winner of the 2024 Dayton Literary Peace Prize
Finalist for the 2024 Kirkus Prize
Shortlisted for the 2025 Dublin Literary Award
One of The Irish Times’s 100 Best Books of the 21st Century
“A prophetic masterpiece.” — Ron Charles, Washington Post
On a dark, wet evening in Dublin, scientist and mother-of-four Eilish Stack answers her front door to find two officers from Ireland’s newly formed secret police on her step. They have arrived to interrogate her husband, a trade unionist.
Ireland is falling apart, caught in the grip of a government turning towards tyranny. As the life she knows and the ones she loves disappear before her eyes, Eilish must contend with the dystopian logic of her new, unraveling country. How far will she go to save her family? And what—or who—is she willing to leave behind?
The winner of the Booker Prize 2023 and a critically acclaimed national bestseller, Prophet Song presents a terrifying and shocking vision of a country sliding into authoritarianism and a deeply human portrait of a mother’s fight to hold her family together.
Copies: 10
River We Remember by William Kent Krueger
In 1958, a small Minnesota town is rocked by a shocking murder, pouring fresh fuel on old grievances in this dazzling novel, an instant New York Times bestseller and “a work of art” (The Denver Post). On Memorial Day in Jewel, Minnesota, the body of wealthy landowner Jimmy Quinn is found floating in the Alabaster River, dead from a shotgun blast. The investigation falls to Sheriff Brody Dern, a highly decorated war hero who still carries the physical and emotional scars from his military service. Even before Dern has the results of the autopsy, vicious rumors begin to circulate that the killer must be Noah Bluestone, a Native American WWII veteran who has recently returned to Jewel with a Japanese wife. As suspicions and accusations mount and the town teeters on the edge of more violence, Dern struggles not only to find the truth of Quinn’s murder but also put to rest the demons from his own past. Caught up in the torrent of anger that sweeps through Jewel are a war widow and her adolescent son, the intrepid publisher of the local newspaper, an aging deputy, and a crusading female lawyer, all of whom struggle with their own tragic histories and harbor secrets that Quinn’s death threatens to expose. Both a complex, spellbinding mystery and a masterful portrait of mid-century American life that is “a novel to cherish” (Star Tribune, Minneapolis), The River We Remember offers an unflinching look at the wounds left by the wars we fight abroad and at home, a moving exploration of the ways in which we seek to heal, and a testament to the enduring power of the stories we tell about the places we call home.
Copies: 11
Switchboard Soldiers by Jennifer Chiaverini
Jennifer Chiaverini’s novel explores the untold story of the women of the U.S. Army Signal Corps during World War I. Breaking down gender barriers, they became telephone operators, battling a pandemic while aiding the Allies. With meticulous detail, Chiaverini honors their bravery and duty, shedding light on their vital contributions to history.
Copies: 8
A Single Light by Tosca Lee (Book 2)
After spending six months protected in an underground silo, Wynter and Chase emerge to find the world has changed. With society in chaos, the pair set out to save the country- again.
Copies: 8
Watching Eagles Soar by Margaret Coel
Follow Father John O’Malley and Vicky Holden into Wind River Reservation’s hidden mysteries. Stolen artifacts, drug dealers, murder, and a 30-year-old case stir their investigations. Sin, secrets, retribution, and insightful essays on writing about the West make this thrilling short story collection a must-read.
Copies: 7
Twins by Varian Johnson
Maureen and Francine Carter are twins and best friends. They participate in the same clubs, enjoy the same foods, and are partners on all their school projects. But just before the girls start sixth grade, Francine becomes Fran — a girl who wants to join the chorus, run for class president, and dress in fashionable outfits that set her apart from Maureen. A girl who seems happy to share only two classes with her sister! Maureen and Francine are growing apart and there’s nothing Maureen can do to stop it. Are sisters really forever? Or will middle school change things for good?
Copies: 8
Golden Sower Book Club Kits
Copies: 8 each
Brave Like That by Lindsey Stoddard
The Bridge Home by Padma Venkatraman
Dragon Hoops by Gene Luen Yan
Letters From Cuba by Ruth Behar
Lion of Mars by Jennifer L. Holm
Twins by Varian Johnson & Shannon Wright
Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens
In Barkley Cove, the “Marsh Girl” Kya Clark is accused when Chase Andrews is found dead. Yet, Kya is a gifted naturalist, learning from the land. Despite her solitude, she craves love and connection. Drawn to two men, she faces a shocking turn of events. Owens’ novel beautifully contrasts nature’s wonders with a gripping coming-of-age tale, exploring the impact of isolation on human behavior and the secrets within the wild.
Copies: 8
Audiobook: 1
