Saturday, January 16 / 1 p.m.

Ralph Ekwall signs Tina, an Immigrant’s Story ($14.95).  My name is Amelia Albertina Holmgren. I was the second child of Karl Pehrson and Sophia Styrlander. I was born in the year 1852 on the Hof­garden estate in the Hov Parish on the west side of Lake Vattern. Later we moved across Lake Vattern to a house not far from Vadstena, Sweden. Vad­stena is on the Eastern shore of Lake Vattern. Vadstena is in the province Ostergotland in south central Sweden. My parents named me in honor of her Royal Highness, Charlotte Eu­genia Augusta Amelia Albertina, the fourth child of the king of Sweden, King Oscar, and Josephine Napoleon de Beauharnais. Even though I was named for an important royal personage, my parents and everyone else called me Tina.

 

Thursday, January 21 / 6:30 p.m.                                                                        third Thursday

The As the Worm Turns Book Discussion Group will discuss The Rights of the Reader by Daniel Pennac (Candlewick Press, $17.99).  This witty, refreshing treatise from a celebrated author and seasoned teacher is a passionate defense of reading just for the joy of it.   Drawing on his experiences as a child, a parent, and an inner-city teacher in Paris, the author reflects on the power of story and reminds us of our right to read anything, anywhere, anytime, so long as we are enjoying ourselves. Jean Hartwell will facilitate the discussion.  Space is limited, so please call to reserve your place. 

 

Wednesday, January 27 / 6:30 p.m.

The Nebraska Authors Reading Club, aka NARC, will discuss The Cleanup by Sean Doolittle (Dell, $7.99). Busted to night patrol at a robbery-prone Omaha supermarket, Matthew Worth is doing time, wearing his uniform, and asking shoppers if they want paper or plastic. If that isn't enough, he suspects he might be falling for Gwen, the shy checkout girl who may be an even bigger mess than he is. When Gwen comes to him one night scared and desperate for help, Worth discovers just how far he's willing to go to protect and serve.  The author, Sean Doolittle, will lead the discussion.

 

Saturday, January 30 / 1 p.m.

Lowen Kruse will sign The Political Impact of Faith (Paradise Publishing, $20).  Persons of faith will gain guidance and courage from reading The Political Impact of Faith. Muslims, Jews and Christians are too quiet when extremists, in each faith, noisily claim to speak for God. Senator Lowen Kruse describes well the falseness of those claims and shares insights on how to boldly provide balance in the impact of faith. The locale for the book is the Ne­braska legislature, where in 2001 Lowen began eight years as a senator, serving on the Appropriations Committee.  What is God doing in a legislature? Frankly, no one knows for sure. What can be examined is what people of faith say about God as they form and analyze legislation.

 

Wednesday, February 3/ Noon - 1 p.m.                                                              first Wednesday

What Are You Reading? book chat. Join us to chat about favorite reads, books that changed our lives, or the book we just couldn’t put down.  No need to make reservations--just come and enjoy a little conversation about books.  Carol Lynch will facilitate the discussion.

 

Saturday, February 13 / 1 p.m. 

Ann Stephens will sign To Be Seduced (Zebra, $4.99).  Lord Richard Harcourt has devised a master plan for ridding himself of debt. The notorious rake will abduct a wealthy heiress. But beneath the woman's meek, prim exterior, Richard discovers a shrewd and exciting temptress he cannot resist touching. 

 

Wednesday, February 17 / 6 p.m.

Lisa See will sign Shanghai Girls (Random House, $15).  From the author of the bestsellers Snow Flower and the Secret Fan and Peony in Love comes a stunning novel about two sisters who leave Shanghai to find new lives in 1930s Los Angeles. May and Pearl, two sisters living in Shanghai in the mid-1930s, are beautiful, sophisticated, and well-educated. To make good on his debts, their father sells both girls to a wealthy Chinese-American as wives for his sons.  As they adjust to marriage with strangers and the challenges of living in a foreign land, Pearl and May learn that long-established customs can provide comfort in unbearable times. 

 

Thursday, February 18 / 6:30 p.m.                                                                                  third Thursday

The As the Worm Turns Book Discussion Group will discuss The Emperors of Chocolate: Inside the Secret World of Hershey and Mars by Joel Glenn Brenner (Broadway, $15.95).  Recounting the real-life adventures of corporate giants Forrest Mars and Milton Hershey, The Emperors of Chocolate dishes royally on Candyland's corporate spies, cutthroat lawyers, and paranoid executives and provides a mouth-watering look at our culture's passion for chocolate.  Lee Myers will lead the discussion.  Space is limited, so please call to reserve your place. 

 

Wednesday, February 24 / 6:30 p.m.

The Nebraska Authors Reading Club, aka NARC, will discuss The Phantom Limbs of the Rollow Sisters by Timothy Schaffert (Unbridled Books, $14.95).  Two sisters on the cusp of womanhood struggle to understand their father's suicide as well as their mother's abandonment of them many years earlier. On graduating from high school, the sisters are once again set adrift, this time by their grandmother, who leaves them for Florida. In order to survive, and perhaps even thrive, on their path to adulthood, they must learn to reconcile their pasts and discover how to depend upon themselves as well as upon each other.  The author, Timothy Schaffert, will lead the discussion. 

                       

Saturday, February 27 / 1 p.m.

Greg Kosmicki will sign Marigolds (Black Star Press, $12).  Kosmickiis a poet and social worker living in Omaha, and is the Editor and Publisher of The Backwaters Press. His poetry has been published in numerous magazines, including Paris Review, New Letters, Connecticut Review, Poetry East, New Works Review, Kansas Quarterly, Cimarron Review, Whole Notes, and Pebble. He is a 2000 and 2006 recipient of the Nebraska Arts Council's Merit Award. He is the author of three books and seven chapbooks of poems. Two of the poems from his book, Some Hero of the Past have been read by Garrison Keillor on his radio program The Writer's Almanac.