I fell in love with Dick and Jane as a first grader and the wonder of sounding out “See Dick run†is still with me, that magical moment when letters make words and words make worlds.
I started My Year in Books column in 2014, under self-imposed pressure to write something to usher in the New Year. I hated the obligatory Top-10 Lists — mostly because I could never remember, or care about, the best of anything that popular culture had to offer me that year — but books were different. (No, I couldn’t remember much about them after I closed the cover, but I’d taken to writing down snippets and grading them on old-school library due date cards.)
So the book column became an easy column spot to fill, something I looked forward to, gathering up my cards, trying to decipher my handwriting — sometimes sloppy, sometimes smeared by its secondary use as a coaster or obliterated altogether after a baptism in the bathtub.
People are also reading…
The 2021 version is shorter since I’m closing the book on my Journal Star career on the cusp of autumn.
According to my records — may they never be audited — I’ve read 27 books in eight months and left just one in the DNF column. It should have been two, but for some reason I kept turning the many ridiculous plot-twisting pages of “Timeline,†the Michael Crichton sci fi novel I picked up on vacation. (It’s so hard for me to break up with a book.)
On to the highlights:
“In the Shadow of the Banyan,†by Vaddey Ratner. My favorite book of the year thus far. Ratner tells the story of the Khmer Rouge through the life of one Cambodian family. Poetically and heartbreakingly told. Be sure to read the epilogue.
“Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine,†by Gail Honeyman. I’d heard a lot about this book — both good and not-so-much — but I was completely taken in. Maybe it was my pandemic binge-watching of “The Great British Baking Show,†but the mention of vol-au-vents made me feel so across the pond.
“Great Plains Birds,†by Larkin Powell. I started reading the UNL professor’s charming and edifying exposition on the birds that surround us on the plains at the tail end of last year and couldn’t put it down.
So many fascinating bird facts tucked inside (The piping plover and its “fake†broken wing act to throw coyotes off the scent of its babies.)
So many well-told tales. (The Powell ancestor shot by the Confederates during the Civil War and taken to the medic tent, only to find out the blood soaking his coat came from the chicken he squirreled away underneath.)
The professor’s book is part of an eight-book Discover the Great Plains series published by the University of Nebraska Press. May they all be as entertaining.
“L±ð²õ²õ,†by Andrew Sean Greer. Could there be a more droll novel? This 2018 Pulitzer Prize winner had me from the first page and strung me along until the last. Arthur Less, I hope you find (fictional) love and please know that while turning 50 might be horrifying, 60 isn’t all bad.)
“Snow Flower and the Secret Fan,†by Lisa See. I’m a new See fan thanks to a bookish biking buddy. (Thanks, Amy.) The Chinese history in this novel — primarily concerning the horrors of footbinding — is told in excruciating detail and the story of women’s friendship that binds it together was equally enlightening.
“A²ú³Ü²Ô»å²¹²Ô³¦±ð,†by Sena Jeter Naslund. The fictionalized story of the last years of Marie Antoinette based on historical records. A fascinating and sympathetic account of the life of the French queen who did not say “Let them eat cake.â€
“The Shadow on the Quilt,†by Stephanie Grace Whitson. Whitson is a writer of historical fiction who lives in our midst. I’m not sure how so many years (and so many of her novels) got past me. We connected last spring, while I was working on a column about the unmarked graves of babies at Wyuka Cemetery. Whitson knew a thing or two about the Home of the Friendless and its burial section at the old cemetery on O Street. She graciously sent me her novel loosely based on the long-gone home for unwed mothers and other outcast members of Lincoln society in the late 1800s and early 1900s.
The book was a page-turning delight and its descriptions of early Lincoln life were spot-on. I can’t wait to read more.
In brief:
“Reclaiming WE,†from Civic Nebraska and Steve Smith. A slim volume brimming with lessons (and advice) we all need to heed about living together, promoting the Common Good and defending Democracy.
“Little Fires Everywhere,†by Celeste Ng. A magical novel about motherhood, relationships and the secrets we keep.
“The Name of the World,†by Denis Johnson. I completely understand why it was a Pen/Faulkner finalist. (Which means I didn’t really understand the structure of the novella, but I liked it just the same.)
“Five Rivers Met on a Wooded Plain,†by Barney Norris. Highly recommend these interwoven stories held together by the town on the wooded plain.
“T³ó³Ü²Ô»å±ð°ù²õ³Ù°ù³Ü³¦°ì,†by Erik Larson. It’s no “Devil in the White City,†but still worth the read if you care about the invention of the wireless telegraph and murder mysteries.
“Demon: A Memoir,†by Tosca Lee. Another Nebraska-based author whose work flew outside my radar. Count me a fan.
“Invisible Girl,†by Lisa Jewell. A jewel of a Jewell.
“Free Food for Millionaires,†by Min Jin Lee. I have zero recollection of how this weighty novel ends, as the library card of record has been lost, but yet I am confident it is worth your time.
Postscript: I became a journalist because I like to read. I was 28 and I had three kids and I didn’t know what I wanted to do with my life. English major sounded good — lots of books! — but journalist had a more practical ring. Little did I know. I still know only a little bit about a lot of things, but I plan to keep on reading books — and reading my local newspaper — to find out more. Thanks for turning the pages with me.
Cindy Lange-Kubick farewell columns marking 25 years
Cindy Lange-Kubick counts down her final summer at the Journal Star with one column from each of her 25 years on the Lincoln Life beat with a postscript from the present.
Cindy Lange-Kubick counts down her final summer at the Journal Star with one column from each of her 25 years on the Lincoln Life beat with a postscript from the present.
After 28 years at the Journal Star — a quarter century as a columnist — Cindy Lange-Kubick will spend the summer catching up with stories from the past and saying so long.
Cindy Lange-Kubick counts down her final summer at the Journal Star with one column from each of her 25 years on the Lincoln Life beat with a postscript from the present.Â
Cindy Lange-Kubick counts down her final summer at the Journal Star with one column from each of her 25 years on the Lincoln Life beat with a postscript from the present.
Cindy Lange-Kubick counts down her final summer at the Journal Star with one column from each of her 25 years on the Lincoln Life beat with a postscript from the present.
Cindy Lange-Kubick counts down her final summer at the Journal Star with one column from each of her 25 years on the Lincoln Life beat with a postscript from the present.
Editor's Note: Cindy Lange-Kubick counts down her final summer at the Journal Star with one column from each of her 25 years on the Lincoln Li…
Cindy Lange-Kubick counts down her final summer at the Journal Star with one column from each of her 25 years on the Lincoln Life beat with a postscript from the present.
Cindy Lange-Kubick counts down her final summer at the Journal Star with one column from each of her 25 years on the Lincoln Life beat with a postscript from the present.
Cindy Lange-Kubick counts down her final summer at the Journal Star with one column from each of her 25 years on the Lincoln Life beat with a postscript from the present.
Cindy Lange-Kubick counts down her final summer at the Journal Star with one column from each of her 25 years on the Lincoln Life beat with a postscript from the present.
Cindy Lange-Kubick counts down her final summer at the Journal Star with one column from each of her 25 years on the Lincoln Life beat with a postscript from the present.
Cindy Lange-Kubick counts down her final summer at the Journal Star with one column from each of her 25 years on the Lincoln Life beat with a postscript from the present.
Cindy Lange-Kubick counts down her final summer at the Journal Star with one column from each of her 25 years on the Lincoln Life beat with a postscript from the present.
Cindy Lange-Kubick counts down her final summer at the Journal Star with one column from each of her 25 years on the Lincoln Life beat with a postscript from the present.
Cindy Lange-Kubick counts down her final summer at the Journal Star with one column from each of her 25 years on the Lincoln Life beat with a postscript from the present.
Cindy Lange-Kubick counts down her final summer at the Journal Star with one column from each of her 25 years on the Lincoln Life beat with a postscript from the present.
Cindy Lange-Kubick counts down her final summer at the Journal Star with one column from each of her 25 years on the Lincoln Life beat with a postscript from the present.
Cindy Lange-Kubick counts down her final summer at the Journal Star with one column from each of her 25 years on the Lincoln Life beat with a postscript from the present.
Cindy Lange-Kubick counts down her final summer at the Journal Star with one column from each of her 25 years on the Lincoln Life beat with a postscript from the present.
Cindy Lange-Kubick: Another four-board dinner for a Lincoln dad and his outdoor boys, March 17, 2015
Cindy Lange-Kubick counts down her final summer at the Journal Star with one column from each of her 25 years on the Lincoln Life beat with a postscript from the present.
Cindy Lange-Kubick counts down her final summer at the Journal Star with one column from each of her 25 years on the Lincoln Life beat with a postscript from the present.
Cindy Lange-Kubick counts down her final summer at the Journal Star with one column from each of her 25 years on the Lincoln Life beat with a postscript from the present.
Cindy Lange-Kubick counts down her final summer at the Journal Star with one column from each of her 25 years on the Lincoln Life beat with a postscript from the present.