Francie & Finch Bookshop

Visiting Author - DeMisty D. Bellinger - All Daughters Are Awesome Everywhere: Stories
2024-10-10 18:00 - 19:00 (America/Chicago) | NE
Join us as we welcome DeMisty D. Bellinger to Francie and Finch Bookshop on October 10th at 6:00!
Order a copy of All Daughters Are Awesome Everywhere HERE!
About the Book:
Winner of the Barbara DiBernard Prize in Fiction
Fantastical, sensual, and as beguilingly strange as they are insightful and real, the stories of All Daughters Are Awesome Everywhere are centered around intimate familial or romantic relationships, featuring protagonists who make awesome discoveries—from the beautiful to the horrible—in seemingly mundane situations. The protagonists in each story come from marginalized communities, which sometimes exacerbates their problems but always allows for unique perspectives and epiphanies.
A violinist nearly hits a bicyclist with her car on her rush to rehearsal, leading to a blissful affair and speculation about the effect of love on her violin playing. The whispering of schoolgirls leads a teacher to consider her own fears and failings. In the title story the nature of motherhood, fatherhood, and familial pride plays against a backdrop of death and high school theater.
These are stories of human frailty and newfound strengths, with surprising confrontations. The writing is rich and playful, whether the characters are coy or startlingly direct, creating worlds in which the metaphorical might become literal in the blink of an eye. DeMisty D. Bellinger finds magic in the smallest moments and makes the biggest moments resonate with a quiet intensity.
About the Author:
DeMisty D. Bellinger lives with her family in Central Massachusetts, where she teaches creative writing. She has a BA in English from University of Wisconsin-Platteville, an MFA from Southampton College, and a PhD from the University of Nebraska. She is an alum of Bread Loaf and Marge Piercy’s Intensive Writing Workshop. Also, she was a resident at the Vermont Studio Center on a fellowship and at Gullkistan in Iceland with support from friends and family.
Praise for All Daughter Are Awesome Everywhere:
“DeMisty Bellinger’s new collection is full of surprising connections, complex questions, and wonderfully human perspectives on relationships and networks of kinship. I wanted to both race through it and savor every moment.” – Ilana Masad, author of All My Mother’s Lovers: A Novel
“In All Daughters Are Awesome Everywhere DeMisty D. Bellinger has gifted us a book of many worlds beneath the same roof, its stories and characters at turns brash, tender, joyous, sly, and always deeply, messily human. I loved dwelling in these pages. I loved the ride this collection took me on: one full of surprises and heart” – emily m. danforth, author of Plain Bad Heroines and The Miseducation of Cameron Post
“Bellinger’s prose is honest and unflinching. A thoughtful, observant collection of short stories from an important voice.” – June 15, 2024 Kirkus Reviews
“Infectious reading. All Daughters Are Awesome Everywhere is a feast of storytelling where women—mothers, daughters, and lovers—travel the roads between a world that wishes to constrain them and the ferocious realm of their own desires.” – Elwin Cotman, author of Weird Black Girls

Civil War Free Panel & Lecture Events: Dr. Jeremi Suri - Civil War by Other Means: America's Long and Unfinished Fight for Democracy
2024-10-09 12:00 - 19:00 | NE
Francie & Finch Bookshop will be selling copies of author Dr. Jeremi Suri’s book Civil War by Other Means: America’s Long and Unfinished Fight for Democracy during and after the 12:00pm and the 7:00pm events.
Find information about the lectures below:
A HOUSE DIVIDED, POLITICS TODAY AND AMERICAN HISTORY
A PANEL DISCUSSION REFLECTING ON THE LEGACY OF THE CIVIL WAR AND TODAY’S DIVIDE IN THE UNITED STATES.
OCTOBER 9, 2024, 12 PM
Lied Commons at Lied Center For Performing Arts
FREE ADMISSION (No tickets required)
This diverse panel featuring University of Nebraska experts joined by Nebraska leaders and celebrated author Jeremi Suri, PhD will be facilitated by Dr. Will Thomas, Angle Chair in the Humanities and Professor of History at the University of Nebraska.
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AMERICA’S CIVIL WAR: THEN AND NOW
LECTURE BY JEREMI SURI, PhD, RENOWNED HISTORIAN AND CELEBRATED AUTHOR
OCTOBER 9, 2024, 7 PM
Ethel S. Abott Auditorium at Sheldon Museum of Art, University of Nebraska – Lincoln
FREE ADMISSION, Ticket reservation required
This free lecture by Jeremi Suri, PhD, from University of Texas-Austin, will provide a thought-provoking presentation related to A House Divided and the legacy of the Civil War. This event is presented in partnership with the Sheldon Museum of Art and is connected to the world-premiere production of the play A House Divided. Dr. Jeremi Suri is the author and editor of eleven books on contemporary politics and foreign policy, most recently Civil War By Other Means: America’s Long and Unfinished Fight or Democracy. He also hosts the weekly This is Democracy podcast, which illuminates ways in which the past offers hope for the present and the future, if only we can escape the negativity of our current moment. Dr. Suri will share insights from his scholarship on the Civil War, including historical divisions in the U.S., and connections to current affairs.

Visiting Author - Dr. Simon A. Wood in conversation with Dr. Abla Hasan - The Caliphate or Supreme Imamate
2024-10-08 17:30 - 18:30 | Francie & Finch Bookshop, 130 S. 13th Street, Lincoln, NE, 68508, United States
Join us on Tuesday, October 8th at 5:30 as the UNL Institute for Ethnic Studies welcomes Dr. Simon Wood and Dr. Abla Hasan to Francie and Finch Bookshop. Simon’s most recent work of translation brings the 1923 work The Caliphate or Supreme Imamate by Muhammad Rashid Rida to English-speaking professors and students for the first time.

About the Book:
A translation of Muhammad Rashid Rida’s best-known work, which examines the compatibility of Islamic political and legal tradition with modern thought.
Muhammad Rashid Rida (1865–1935) was a prominent Muslim intellectual and reformer. Born in a village near Tripoli in present-day Lebanon, he was renowned for his founding of Al-Manar, an independent and successful Islamic magazine in which he published The Caliphate or Supreme Imamate as a series beginning in 1922. The work showcased Rida’s faith in the Islamic tradition as the origin of notions such as self-determination and popular sovereignty, as well as his opposition to Western politics. A realist, he nevertheless argued that a revived Caliphate was viable and held the keys to Muslim empowerment and universal salvation.
This skillful translation by Simon A. Wood will make The Caliphate or Supreme Imamate accessible for the first time to English-speaking scholars and students of political theory and the modern Middle East.

About Simon A Wood:
Simon A. Wood is Associate Professor of Religious Studies at UNL, where he has been faculty since 2004. He has degrees from the University of Otago (pronounce: oh-taa-go) in New Zealand, and Temple University in Philadelphia. His teaching and research focus on modern Islam and comparative religious studies. His books include:
-The Caliphate or Supreme Imamate (Yale UP, 2024). This book is a translation and introduction of a 1923 book on the caliphate written in Arabic by Rashid Rida, a seminal Syrian Muslim intellectual.

-Fundamentalism: Perspectives on a Contested History (U of South Carolina Press, 2014). This book is an edited volume that discusses how the idea of religious fundamentalism has influenced our understanding of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam.

-Christian Criticisms, Islamic Proofs: Rashid Rida’s Modernist Defense of Islam (Oneworld, 2008; paperback 2012). This book is a translation and introduction of Rashid Rida’s 1905 book about Christianity and Islam.
About Abla Hasan:
PhD in Philosophy of Language from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, 2013; MA in Philosophy as a Fulbright grantee from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln in 2009. Dr. Hasan obtained her BA in Philosophy from Damascus University/Syria in 2000, followed by a Diploma of High Studies from Damascus University in 2001. She is a native speaker of Arabic. She teaches Arabic language and culture at UNL and she is the Program’s Founder and Coordinator. Her teaching and research focus on Qur’anic Studies, Qur’anic Hermeneutics, Islamic feminism, and Arabic studies. She has published with Brill, Analize, Ar-Raniry, JIL, Disputatio, Al-Manarah, E-logos and other peer- review international journals. She is the author of: Decoding the Egalitarianism of the Qur’an: Retrieving Lost Voices on Gender (Lexington: 2019), the author of On Pain and Suffering: a Qur’anic Perspective (Lexington: 2022), and the author of The Qur’anic Dilemma: A Hermeneutical Investigation of al-Khidr (Routledge: 2022).Abla Hasan is the recipient of the College of Arts and Sciences Engagement Award for 2021, the recipient of the College of Arts and Sciences Distinguished Teaching Award for 2022, the recipient of the 2023 Rev. Dr. Michael Combs Award for Scholars of Equality and Justice, and the recipient of UNL’s first annual Women’s and Gender Justice Award 2023.

Book Launch Celebration - Allison L. Bitz in conversation with Joan F. Smith and Laura Taylor Namey - Three Things About Emmy Crawford
2024-10-04 19:00 - 20:00 | Francie & Finch Bookshop, 130 S. 13th Street, Lincoln, NE, 68508, United States
Join us for an evening with award-winning author Allison L. Bitz! We will be celebrating Allison’s new book Three Things About Emmy Crawford! Allison will be in conversation about the book and its themes with guests Joan F. Smith and Laura Taylor Namey. We can’t wait to see you there!
Pre-Order Your Copy HERE!
About the Book:
In this coming-of-age novel perfect for fans of Lynn Painter and Rebecca Lynn Solomon, nothing can derail Emmy Crawford, the type-A daughter of a senator, from relentlessly pursuing her dreams—not Crohn’s disease, the paparazzi, or even heartbreak.

There are three things high school senior Emmy Crawford will accomplish, no matter what:
1. Taking Nationals in debate this season.
2. Shielding her sister, Issy, from anything that could hurt her, especially her anxiety.
3. Representing her family well, since her mom may be the next president.
And nothing can get in Emmy’s way. Not Crohn’s disease, even if her gut has been acting up. Not the paparazzi, who snap any photos they can get of the daughters of a presidential candidate. And definitely not her feelings for Gabe Castillo, the only debater in DC who stands a chance at beating her—and who she used to be on secret kissing terms with, before he ghosted her. When Gabe unexpectedly returns to the debate scene and Issy starts crushing on him, Emmy works harder than ever to keep her eyes on winning and off her aching heart and body, because the alternative means losing the three things that matter most.
About the Author:
Allison L. Bitz is the award-winning author of The Unstoppable Bridget Bloom and Three Things About Emmy Crawford. She hails from Lincoln, Nebraska, where she lives with her spouse and two kids. Her superpower is empathy, and she’s been known to have resting tell-me-your-life-story face. Allison holds a PhD in counseling psychology and has worked as a licensed psychologist since 2012. When she’s not working on a novel or counseling, Allison is more than likely writing a song, getting riled up about something political, or trying to track down a pastry to enjoy with her coffee. She has a soft spot for rescue animals, which are vying for species majority in her home (two perfect dogs, two ornery cats). You can learn more about Allison at allisonlbitz-author.com or follow her on Twitter, Instagram, and TikTok @AllisonLBitz.
Praise for the book:
An honest exploration of trust, family, and self-care. A senator’s daughter struggles with perfectionism amid familial, academic, and romantic tensions. — Kirkus Reviews
“THREE THINGS ABOUT EMMY CRAWFORD delivers on everything I look for in a YA novel, then delivers even more. Bitz effortlessly weaves together the day-to-day realities of chronic illness with a funny and fresh take on academic rivals-to-lovers, and it Works with a capital W! Emotional, sweet, and ridiculously swoony, this book is a must-read.” — Lynn Painter, New York Times Bestselling author
The votes are in: Three Things About Emmy Crawford wins for its sharp portrayal of real issues teens care about, sparkling debate team hijinks, and thoughtfully drawn relationships. Sisterhood and slow-burn romance meld in this delightful story. You won’t stop at three things to love about Emmy.
— Laura Taylor Namey, New York Times bestselling author of A Cuban Girl’s Guide to Tea and Tomorrow
“Emmy Crawford is a heartfelt exploration of what it means to learn how to live in the body you have when challenges with sisterhood, romance, family life in politics, and a front-running spot on the debate team demands otherwise. This coming-of-age tale will resonate with readers for its sharpness, wit, and the intriguing realities of life in the public eye.” — Joan F. Smith, author of The Other Side of Infinity and The Half-Orphan’s Handbook
“Told with nuance, candor, and understanding, Bitz’s characters weave through issues of anxiety and chronic illness and a shot at debate team nationals. Readers will cheer for Emmy to be seen for her successes as well as her heart, bravery, and ability to let others into a world she’s hidden away.”—Gretchen Schreiber, author of Ellie Haycock Is Totally Normal — Gretchen Schreiber, author of Ellie Haycock Is Totally Normal

Virtual Book Launch Event - Pascha Sotolongo in conversation with Timothy Schaffert - The Only Sound is the Wind: Stories
2024-10-03 19:00 - 20:00 | NE
Join us on Zoom, on October 3rd at 7:00 PM, as author Pascha Sotolongo joins in conversation with Timothy Schaffert as they celebrate her new book of stories The Only Sound is the Wind!
To register for the event follow the link HERE!
Pre-Order a copy of the book HERE!

About the Book:
In the tradition of narrativa de lo inusual (narrative of the unusual), The Only Sound Is the Wind combines the fantastic with the everyday, weaving elements of magical realism and surrealist twists to sharpen our view of human (and animal) connection. In the title story, the arrival of a mail-order clone complicates a burgeoning romance; a lonely librarian longing for her homeland strikes up an unusual relationship in the award-winning “The Moth”; when humans start giving birth to puppies and kittens in “This New Turn,” a realignment of the natural order ensues; and the narrator of “Chicory” harnesses the power of invisibility to spy on her beautiful neighbor. With a playful tenderness and satirical bent, The Only Sound Is the Wind is a lyrical exploration of solitude and communion, opening strange new worlds where characters try to make their way toward love.

About the Author:
Pascha Sotolongo is a fiction writer and college English professor who was born and raised in Florida but has called Nebraska home for more than two decades. Given to surrealism and tenderness, her writing explores themes of poverty, isolation, longing, and invisibility. She is currently finishing a novella set on the High Plains.

Praise for the Book:
These stories—these bewitching portraits of a melancholy dystopia—are spellbinding. . . . With this rich collection, Sotolongo joins the ranks of Margaret Atwood and Cristina Rivera Garza, and other masters of illusion. — Timothy Schaffert, author of The Perfume Thief and The Titanic Survivors Book ClubIn this gorgeous debut, Pascha Sotolongo lyrically blends the fantastical with stories of family, love, and longing. Within these pages are vampires, ghosts, invisible daughters, and near apocalypses, and just as readily, the stories of our secrets, our joys, our fears, and our dreams. A beautiful and spellbinding collection. — Alexander Weinstein, author of Universal Love and Children of the New WorldCaptivating. . . . Pascha Sotolongo has written a book that’s simply exceptional, filled with startling, surreal, and utterly spectacular stories that demand to be savored. — Megan Kamalei Kakimoto, author of Every Drop is a Man’s NightmareSharp and ineffable—these are immersive stories that show us how the familiar world we live in is brimming with shadowy surprises. — Manuel Muñoz, author of The ConsequencesThe intimate, incendiary stories in Pascha Sotolongo’s elegantly woven debut collection offer an ode to the grief and exhilaration of diaspora, probe the delicate shades of gray between solitude and loneliness, and hinge, ultimately, on metamorphosis. The Only Sound is the Wind is a scar shaped like Cuba—a gorgeous scar. — Joy Castro, author of One Brilliant Flame

Visiting Author - Maura Jane Farrelly - Compliments of Hamilton and Sargent: A Story of Mystery and Tragedy on the Gilded Age Frontier
2024-09-28 16:30 - 17:30 | Francie & Finch Bookshop, 130 S. 13th Street, Lincoln, NE, 68508, United States
Author Maura Jane Farrelly will be visiting Francie & Finch Bookshop on Saturday, September 28th at 4:30 to discuss her new book Compliments of Hamilton and Sargent: A Story of Mystery and Tragedy on the Gilded Age Frontier. Farrelly explores these narratives as stories about the early demise of our right to be forgotten. We can’t wait to dive in further! We’ll see you there!
Order your copy of Maura Jane Farrelly’s new book HERE!
About the Book:
In Compliments of Hamilton and Sargent Maura Jane Farrelly explores the history of the Gilded Age United States, using the lives of three people from prominent East Coast families who moved to Wyoming to start over as her guide. Robert Ray Hamilton was a state lawmaker from New York and the great-grandson of Alexander Hamilton. John Dudley Sargent came from a long line of Brahmin families in New England that included several colonial governors and the famous painter John Singer Sargent. Edith Drake Sargent was the eccentric and musical daughter of a New York banker who had made a fortune selling short. All three experienced some form of humiliation after newspapers speculated on their possible shameful secrets: bigamy, blackmail, murder, incest, baby-selling, mental illness, and more. All three fled to Wyoming, believing distance and remoteness would hide their shame. But by the 1890s the West was no longer a place where anyone could hide. Just as many today are learning that the internet has opened up a vast wilderness of information to exploration and settlement—enabling our mistakes and transgressions to follow us for years—so, too, did Hamilton and the Sargents learn that technology and the growing power of celebrity journalism made it difficult for anyone in the West to leave a scandal-ridden past behind. Compliments of Hamilton and Sargent is a story about the early demise of our right to be forgotten.
About the Author:
Maura Jane Farrelly is an associate professor of American studies at Brandeis University. She has worked as a reporter in Atlanta, Washington DC, and New York. Her books include Papist Patriots: The Making of an American Catholic Identity and Anti-Catholicism in America, 1620–1860.
Praise for the book:
“Maura Jane Farrelly is a marvelous writer and gifted storyteller who brings a finely honed sense of time and place to this remarkable book. . . Compliments of Hamilton and Sargent manages to be both sweeping and intimate.”—Wendy Gamber, author of The Notorious Mrs. Clem: Murder and Money in the Gilded Age
“Maura Jane Farrelly’s historical detective work unearthed intersecting trails and unforgettable tales of murder, suicide, social scandal, and much more. . . . A remarkable work of research and storytelling, Compliments of Hamilton and Sargent proves that if a picture tells a thousand words, it can also hide thousands more.” —Dayton Duncan, coauthor of The National Parks: America’s Best Idea

Charlotte's Web at Lincoln Community Playhouse - Win Tickets!
2024-09-28 08:00 - 2024-10-10 17:00 | NE
Charlotte’s Web is the story of a little girl named Fern who loved a little pig named Wilbur – and of Wilbur’s dear friend Charlotte A. Cavatica, a beautiful large grey spider who lived with Wilbur in the barn. With the help of Templeton, the rat who never did anything for anybody unless there was something in it for him, and by a wonderfully clever plan of their own, Charlotte saved the life of Wilbur, who by this time had grown up to be quite a pig.
This beloved book by E. B. White is a favorite of ours. The play, adapted by Joseph Robinette will be performed at Lincoln Community Playhouse on OCT 10-13 and OCT 18-20 and we’re giving away two free tickets!
Stop by the shop to register to win two tickets – winner announced 10/10**
E. B. White’s Newbery Honor Book is a tender novel of friendship, love, life, and death that will continue** to be enjoyed by generations to come. Order a copy HERE

**Reservations are subject to availability and tickets may be used on any Season 79 show

Book Launch Celebratioin - Ava Nathaniel Winter - Transgenesis
2024-09-21 16:30 - 17:30 | Francie & Finch Bookshop, 130 S. 13th Street, Lincoln, NE, 68508, United States
Poet Ava Nathaniel Winter will be launching her new book Transgenesis at Francie & Finch Bookshop on September 21st a 4:30. We are excited to celebrate this new work, recently featured in the New York Times Book Review, and hailed by fellow authors as “fearless” and “timely”. We can’t wait to see you there!
To order a signed copy of Transgenesis, follow the link HERE!
About the Book:An excavatory collection of poems tracing the connections between Jewish transfemininity, queer desire, and cultural histories. Selected by Sean Hill for the National Poetry Series, this collection is a scrupulous chronicle of individual and cultural knowledge. In an exceptional debut, Ava Nathaniel Winter challenges our concepts of the beautiful and the sacred, delving not only into the historically marginalized, but also into the chilling subconscious of supremacy. “Let me be clear / from this beginning,” she writes, “What I mean by beauty / is a terror I have fled from / into language.”

Winter writes with a documentarian’s attention, a poet’s resonance. “I’m trying,” she admits, “to find language for what we do / to one another.” From Lódź, Poland, to predominantly white suburban America, from the space shared by queer lovers to antique cabinets filled with Nazi memorabilia, from Talmudic depictions of genderqueer rabbis to archival lynching photos, she regards the tender and the difficult with equal gravity, commemorates the fraught gift of survival.

At the heart of this collection–despite its moments of profound darkness–is a new, hard-won holiness. The “earthy aroma of rye” calling up a mother’s baking, her mother’s, hers. Belief in a lover’s lavishing. A chosen future, one where we are “reader, sibling, sister.” If Transgenesis began in fear of beauty, where it lands is this: “turning at last / to face her.”

About the Author:Ava Nathaniel Winter is the author of Transgenesis, a winner of the National Poetry Series. Her poetry has appeared in The Baffler, Beloit Poetry Journal, Best New Poets, New Poetry From the Midwest, Poetry International, TriQuarterly, and elsewhere. Ava served as a Stadler Fellow at Bucknell University and received an Individual Excellence Award from the Ohio Arts Council. She holds an M.F.A. from the Ohio State University and a Ph.D. from the University of Nebraska—Lincoln, where she teaches in the Department of English and the Women’s and Gender Studies Program.

Praise for Transgenesis:These poems of eros, erudition, and epistemologies achieve more than the sum of their parts; they hold the body in a care that’s rare in life and rarer still in words. Winter’s debut is a finely wrought gem, one that doesn’t shy away from centering the grand yet vexed idea of love—but rather expands on what love can do, what it is, and, ultimately, who it is for.—Ocean Vuong, author of Time is a Mother

In this fearless exploration of gender and identity, Ava Nathaniel Winter meditates on the ways humiliation and degradation shape us all. Navigating a path forward by engaging the pasts of Jewish forebears, those who survived the Holocaust and those who did not, Winter contemplates both the nature of desire and the global consequences of racism, sexism, transphobia, and colonialism. The poet courageously faces her own complicity in these matters of ongoing marginalization and oppression, writing with compassion and psychological acuity into the deep work of creating and maintaining an authentic self among others. The scope of Transgenesis, along with its crucial discoveries, are timely reminders of our common humanity, in all its flaws and struggles. —Kathy Fagan, author of Bad Hobby

Visiting Author - Jeff Barnes - Forts of the Northern Plains: A Guide to Military and Civilian Posts of the Plains Indian Wars
2024-09-18 17:30 - 18:30 | Francie & Finch Bookshop, 130 S. 13th Street, Lincoln, NE, 68508, United States
Join us in welcoming Great Plains historian and author Jeff Barnes to F&F Bookshop on Wednesday, September 18th at 5:30! He will be signing copies of his book Forts of the Northern Plains: A Guide to Military and Civilian Posts of the Plains Indian Wars. This new edition now features more than 150 military and civilian sites, directions, and GPS coordinates, with full-color photography and maps, and aerial shots of select sites.
To order your copy, follow the link HERE!
About the Book:
As the first official symbols of U.S. government presence on the western frontier, the forts of the northern plains were both centers of commerce and sources of conflict. The integral roles these forts played during decades of warfare with the Plains Indian tribes—and the fate of the posts after those wars ended—were essential to the expansion of the American West during this traumatic period of history.
In Forts of the Northern Plains Jeff Barnes presents an informative guidebook to the forts of the Indian campaigns of the late nineteenth century. Focusing on sites in Iowa, Minnesota, Montana, Nebraska, North Dakota, South Dakota, and Wyoming, Barnes includes the forts’ histories, descriptions of what remains today, directions, nearby points of interest, and visitor information for each post. This new expanded edition adds a number of federal sites designated as camps and posts, as well as civilian and militia sites that are marked. With new entries, color photographs, and updated information on the forts, as well as a rating system for traveler interests, Barnes provides an up-to-date guide of the historic military posts of the Indian Wars.

About the Author:
Jeff is a fifth-generation Nebraskan and long-time student and writer of Great Plains history. A former newspaper reporter and editor, he is the author of eight books on Great Plains subjects, including two winners of the Nebraska Book Award. He is also among the most frequently requested speakers of Humanities Nebraska, the largest speaker organization in the state, and is the first and only HN speaker to present in all 93 Nebraska counties. Since beginning as a public speaker in 2008, Jeff has made more than 800 appearances for groups in ten states. He is a past trustee of the Nebraska State Historical Society, a present trustee of the Nebraska State Historical Society Foundation, past chair of the Nebraska Hall of Fame Commission, and former marketing director of the Durham Museum.
Praise for the book:
“Barnes has produced a valuable combination of history and travel guide for all students of the Northern Plains Indian Wars. A very timely, very impressive work.”—Robert M. Utley, author of The Last Sovereigns: Sitting Bull and the Resistance of the Free Lakotas
“Well written and researched, [Forts of the Northern Plains] offers a handy, carefully organized summary of many important military sites in the West.”—Barton H. Barbour, Great Plains Quarterly
“A much-needed, up-to-date guide to the critical forts of the Indian campaigns of the late nineteenth century. This book should be on the shelves of everyone with an interest in the West during this traumatic period of American history.”—Jerome A. Greene, author of Nez Perce Summer, 1877: The U.S. Army and the Nee-Me-Poo Crisis

Book Launch - To the Bone - Alena Bruzas in conversation with author Kelsy Burke
2024-09-13 17:30 - 18:30 | Francie & Finch Bookshop, 130 S. 13th Street, Lincoln, NE, 68508, United States
Join us for an exciting book launch with the “Depraved Writers Club”! Alena Bruzas and author of Pornography Wars, Kelsy Burke, will launch Alena’s new novel by discussing how they handle writing dark or controversial subject matter as well as how Alena conceived of the idea of To the Bone.
To pre-order your signed copy follow the link HERE!
About the Book: YA novel for ages 14+
A young woman goes hungry—and falls in love—in the Virginia Company’s colony of James Fort.
The year is 1609, and Ellis has traveled alone across the ocean from England to be an indentured servant to Henry Collins. She’s come to seek a better life, her family back home fractured by death and poverty, but she soon learns that this land is no undiscovered Eden, ripe for the taking. Tensions are rising between the Indigenous Powhatan people and the invading European settlers, and the cruelty of claim-laying extends to Ellis’ own hearth, where Henry treats her as property and abuses both her and his pregnant wife. Meanwhile, winter draws ever closer, and with it the specter of starvation. A bright light in all this darkness is Jane, a spritely young woman who loves Ellis fiercely and shamelessly. Ellis loves her, too—as secretly as she can, given Henry’s violent disapproval. The two are friends with Rowan, a deeply kind young man who’s come to the settlement alone; he’s their companion in misadventure as they seek sustenance and survival. Bruzas pulls no punches with her lean, lyrical prose. Ellis’ voice is entirely convincing, her quiet observations of people and situations around her perfectly embedded in her own experiences even as they elucidate for a contemporary audience the brutal harm done by her settlement.
About the Author:
Alena Bruzas grew up in Seattle and currently lives in Lincoln, Nebraska, with her family. She is the author of the acclaimed novel Ever Since, and she hopes her writing will find the people who need it most. When she’s not writing, Alena serves on the board for Ten Thousand Villages, Lincoln. She also occasionally cooks dinner, worries about commas, and wanders the prairie.
About author Kelsy Burke:
Dr. Kelsy Burke is a Professor of Sociology at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, editor-elect of Contemporary Sociology, and Public Fellow for the Public Religion Research Institute (PRRI). After receiving a Ph.D. in Sociology from the University of Pittsburgh in 2013, Kelsy has become a leading expert on the relationship between conservative Christianity and gender and sexual politics in the United States. Their research has been supported by multiple grants and fellowships, including an award from the National Science Foundation, and published in top scholarly journals.
Kelsy has written two books: the award-winning Christians under Covers: Evangelicals and Sexual Pleasure on the Internet (University of California Press, 2016), and The Pornography Wars: The Past, Present, and Future of America’s Obscene Obsession (Bloomsbury, 2023). Kelsy’s writing has also appeared in the Guardian, Huffington Post, Newsweek, Religion News Service, Salon, Slate Magazine, Sojourners, and the Washington Post. Kelsy lives in Lincoln with her spouse, two children, and assorted pets.

Praise for To the Bone:

★ “Ruthless and tender by turns: a triumph of historical fiction” —Kirkus Reviews, starred review
“A tale of graceful devastation… A chilling, unforgettable story.” —Gillian French, author of Sugaring Off and The Lies They Tell
“Alena Bruzas has spun a tale that will crawl under your skin …a unique and unforgettable read.” —June Hur, bestselling author of The Red Palace
“Brutal and gut-wrenching… Tragic, harrowing, and raw.” — Erin Bowman, author of Vengeance Road

Visiting Author - Bruce E. Whitacre - Good Housekeeping
2024-09-12 17:30 - 18:30 | Francie & Finch Bookshop, 130 S. 13th Street, Lincoln, NE, 68508, United States
Join us on Thursday, September 12th as we welcome back poet Bruce E. Whitacre to Francie & Finch Bookshop to read from his new book Good Housekeeping!
To order your copy go to the link HERE!
About the Book:
The contradictions of privilege and want, the dynamics of gay marriage, the joy of a good cocktail – all enter the mix as these 31 poems explore home, marriage, travel, war, sensuality, tea, and, yes, housekeeping. Selected as an Editor’s Pick by BookLife Reviews, Good Housekeeping includes “The Foldout Couch,” which was nominated for a 2024 Pushcart Prize. Some poems have appeared in The Journal of American Poetry, The Mandarin Magazine, and World Literature Today, among other places.
Mainstream audiences, LGBTQA+, and readers who are interested in social justice and climate issues will enjoy these poems. Comparative titles include Carolyn Forch ‘s In the Lateness of the World and Mark Wunderlich’s God of Nothingness.
About the Author:
Good Housekeeping is forthcoming in 2024 from Poets Wear Prada and is a BookLife Reviews Editors Pick. Bruce E. Whitacre’s debut collection, The Elk in the Glade: The World of Pioneer and Painter Jennie Hicks, was also a BookLife Reviews Editors Pick and Indy Spotlight. It placed 2nd in Contemporary Poetry at The BookFest Spring 2023 and was a Finalist in Narrative Poetry in the American BookFest Best Book Awards 2023. Publications include The American Journal of Poetry, World Literature Today, Life and Legends, The Mandarin, Nine Cloud Journal. Published in anthologies from Southern Arizona Press (Castles and Courtyards, 2023, and The Wonders of Winter, 2022) and Milk and Cake Press (I Wanna Be Loved by You: Poems on Marilyn Monroe, 2021). “Leave Meeting” was a sample poem in Diane Lockward’s craft book, The Strategic Poet, Terrapin Books, 2021. He has garnished nominations for Pushcart and Best of the Net. A Nebraska native, he lives with his husband in Queens, NY.
Prior to devoting full-time to writing, his management career included executive positions in public accounting, publishing, international economic development, banking, and theatre.

Visiting Author - Chris Quigg in conversation with Ken Bloom - Grace in All Simplicity: Beauty, Truth, and Wonders on the Path to the Higgs Boson and New Laws of Nature
2024-09-04 17:30 - 18:30 | Francie & Finch Bookshop, 130 S. 13th Street, Lincoln, NE, 68508, United States
Join us on Wednesday, September 4th, as author Chris Quigg joins in conversation with Ken Bloom about his new book Grace in All Simplicity!
To pre-order your signed copy, follow the link HERE!
About the Book:
An enthralling and accessible account of humanity’s quest to make sense of our physical world, told through interwoven tales of inspiration, tragedy, and triumph. How do the remarkable recent discoveries of the Higgs boson, dark matter, and dark energy connect with the equally revolutionary discoveries in centuries past? In Grace in All Simplicity, readers will delight in Cahn and Quigg’s engaging prose and see how the infinite and the infinitesimal are joined. Today, physicists and astronomers are exploring distances from a billionth of a billionth of the human scale to the entire cosmos, and contemplating time intervals that range from less than a trillionth of a trillionth of a second out to far longer than the age of the universe. Leaving home in this metaphorical way requires devising new instruments that spectacularly expand our senses and conceiving original ways of thinking that expand our minds. This is at once an act of audacity and an exercise in humility.
Grace in All Simplicity narrates the saga of how we have prospected for some of Nature’s most tightly held secrets, the basic constituents of matter and the fundamental forces that rule them. Our current understanding of the world (and universe) we inhabit is the result of curiosity, diligence, and daring, of abstraction and synthesis, and of an abiding faith in the value of exploration. In these pages we will meet scientists of both past and present. These men and women are professional scientists and amateurs, the eccentric and the conventional, performers and introverts. Scientists themselves, Cahn and Quigg convey their infectious joy as they search for new laws of nature.
Join the adventure as scientists ascend mountain tops and descend into caverns deep underground, travel to the coldest places on Earth, and voyage back in time to near the birth of the Universe. Visit today’s great laboratories and the astounding instruments they house. Grace in All Simplicity is a thrilling voyage filled with improbable discoveries and the extraordinary community of people who make them. Together, we will travel the path to the Higgs boson, weigh the evidence for subliminal dark matter, and learn what makes scientists invoke a mysterious agent named “dark energy.” We will behold the emergence of a compelling picture of matter and forces, simple in its structure, graceful in the interplay of its parts, but still tantalizingly incomplete.
About the Author:
Chris Quigg is Distinguished Scientist Emeritus at the Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory. He graduated in physics at Yale before moving to Berkeley. He is the author of an acclaimed text on gauge theories and critical works on high-energy collisions, quarks, neutrinos, and the Higgs boson. He received the American Physical Society’s Sakurai Prize for theoretical physics and the German Alexander von Humboldt Prize.
About Ken Bloom:
Ken Bloom is Willa Cather Professor and Chair of Physics and Astronomy at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln and a Fellow of the American Physical Society. He is an experimental particle physicist, and has spent his career exploring the graceful phenomena described in Cahn and Quigg’s book. He has also had the pleasure of knowing Chris Quigg for nearly 30 years.
Review for the Book:
“A captivating book that reveals the interconnectedness of science’s most profound advances.” —Kirkus Reviews

“The path taken that led to our emerging view of the Universe is neither simple or graceful, but spell-binding and charming in all its human complexities.” —Professor Steven Chu, Nobel laureate, Professor of Physics, Molecular and Cellular Physiology and Environmental Science and Engineering, Stanford University
“Erudite yet accessible, Grace in All Simplicity interweaves scientific adventure with remarkable human stories. Grace is also personal, as the authors Cahn and Quigg themselves participated in—and were affected by—many of these great discoveries. This makes the book a fine embarkation for those just beginning their journey, for those already on a scientific path, or for anyone who has followed this great story.” —David Saltzberg, Professor of physics and astronomy, University of California Los Angeles, Science Consultant for The Big Bang Theory, Young Sheldon, and Oppenheimer

Visiting Author - John Janovy, Jr. PhD - Life Lessons From a Parasite: What Tapeworms, Flukes, Lice, and Roundworms Can Teach Us About Humanity's Most Difficult Problems
2024-08-24 16:30 - 17:30 | Francie & Finch Bookshop, 130 S. 13th Street, Lincoln, NE, 68508, United States
Author and prize-winning scientist John Janovy, Jr. PhD will be visiting Francie & Finch Bookshop to present his new book Life Lessons From a Parasite on Saturday, 8/24! You don’t want to miss this fun and educational event. We’ll see you there!
Pre-Order Your Copy of the Book HERE!
About the Book:
The answers to life’s biggest questions can be found by looking at the little things…
Life’s most profound revelations often emerge from the most unexpected sources. While sometimes imperceptible to the naked eye, parasites inhabit our everyday lives. From headlice to bird droppings, litterboxes to unfiltered water, you have crossed paths time and time again with the most common way of life on our planet—living in (and off off) other organisms. In Life Lessons from a Parasite, parasitologist John Janovy Jr., PhD, reveals what humans can learn from the most reviled yet misunderstood animals on earth.
In Life Lessons from a Parasite, Janovy discusses:
How the worm N. texomensis showed how seemingly simple problems can have solutions that defy the finest minds
How microscopic flagellate living in maggots taught him resilience
That like worms and bacteria, harmful ideas can infect our minds and those of our leaders
About the Author:
Prize-winning scientist and teacher John Janovy, Jr., PhD, is emeritus professor of biology of the University of Nebraska and lives in Lincoln, NE.
Praise for the book:
“In nature, as in society, the parasites outnumber the hosts. John Janovy Jr. offers the parasites’ view of this situation. The result is smart, funny, and all too revealing.”— Elizabeth Kolbert, staff writer for The New Yorker and New York Times bestselling author of The Sixth Extinction
“This book, a love song to research scientists, is written with the hope that we ordinary humans can learn from their work. Janovy implores his readers to base their conclusions on evidence, rather than being swayed by the many infectious and false ideas in our culture. He stresses that successful organisms adapt to, rather than deny, a changing reality. And he stresses the uniqueness of every organism, no matter how small. Most of all he shows us the complexity and beauty of parasites. After reading this book, I’ll never look at mosquitos in the same way again.” — Dr. Mary Pipher, author of Letters to a Young Therapist
“Professor John Janovy Jr. is one of the one of the great thinkers in the field of parasitology, and our understanding of host parasite relationships. I’m thrilled that now he has synthesized his thinking in this important new book. It is especially timely given how students in parasitology lately go right to the molecules or the cells without the context of the whole organism biology. His new book will help remind us of what we are missing!” — Peter Hotez, MD, PhD, DSc (hon), FASTMH, FAAP, author of The Deadly Rise of Anti-Science

Book Launch - Kwame Dawes - Sturge Town
2024-08-23 18:00 - 19:30 | Francie & Finch Bookshop, 130 S. 13th Street, Lincoln, NE, 68508, United States
Francie and Finch Bookshop is pleased to announce the date for a special book launch for esteemed author Kwame Dawes! On August 23rd at 6:00 PM, Kwame will be reading from his new book of poetry Sturge Town, hailed by Herman Sutter of the Library Journal as “filled with tenderness, curiosity, and compassion for what has been and what might be”.
We can’t wait to see you there!
Pre-Order Your Copy HERE
About the Book:
In this stunning volume, acclaimed poet Kwame Dawes explores the mythic, ancestral, and spiritual journeys that make up a life.
The site of the ruined ancestral home of Kwame Dawes’s family, in one of the earliest post-slavery free villages in Jamaica, Sturge Town is at once a place of myth and, for Dawes, a metaphor of the journeying that has taken him from Ghana, through Jamaica, and to the United States. The poet ranges through time, pursued by a keen sense of mortality, and engages in an intimate dialogue with the reader—serious, confessional, alarmed, and sometimes teasing. Metrically careful and sonorous, these poems engage in a personal dialogue with the reader, serious, confessional, alarmed and sometimes teasing. They create highly visualized spaces, observed, remembered, imagined, the scenes of both outward and inner journeys. Whether finding beauty in the quotidian or taking astonishing imaginative leaps, these poems speak movingly of self-reflection, family crises, loss, transcendence, the shattering realities of political engagement, and an unremitting investment in the vivid indeterminacy of poetry.
From “Recall”:
Oh, pipe me back to my familiar earth,
for it is slipping slowly from me.
About the Author:
Kwame Dawes is the author of numerous books of poetry and other books of fiction, criticism, and essays. Dawes is a George W. Holmes University Professor of English at the University of Nebraska–Lincoln and Glenna Luschei Editor of Prairie Schooner. He is a chancellor emeritus for the Academy of American Poets and a fellow of the Royal Society of Literature. Dawes is the winner of the Windham-Campbell Award for Poetry and was a finalist for the 2022 Neustadt International Prize for Literature. In 2022, Kwame Dawes was awarded the Order of Distinction Commander class by the Government of Jamaica. He lives in Lincoln, Nebraska.
Praise for Sturge Town:
“Like one of his heroes, Bob Marley, Dawes changes not just the way readers look at the world but the lens through which they see reality. His is a transcendent vision, filled with tenderness, curiosity, and compassion for what has been and what might be.” – Herman Sutter, Library Journal
“Wise and generous, this illustrates a poetic journey toward self-understanding.” – Publishers Weekly

Book Launch Celebration- Ava Nathaniel Winter - Transgenesis
2024-08-23 08:00 - 17:00 | NE
Poet Ava Nathaniel Winter will be launching her new book Transgenesis at Francie & Finch Bookshop on September 21st a 4:30. We are excited to celebrate this new work, recently featured in the New York Times Book Review, and hailed by fellow authors as “fearless” and “timely”. We can’t wait to see you there!
To order a signed copy of Transgenesis, follow the link HERE!
About the Book:
An excavatory collection of poems tracing the connections between Jewish transfemininity, queer desire, and cultural histories. Selected by Sean Hill for the National Poetry Series, this collection is a scrupulous chronicle of individual and cultural knowledge. In an exceptional debut, Ava Nathaniel Winter challenges our concepts of the beautiful and the sacred, delving not only into the historically marginalized, but also into the chilling subconscious of supremacy. “Let me be clear / from this beginning,” she writes, “What I mean by beauty / is a terror I have fled from / into language.”
Winter writes with a documentarian’s attention, a poet’s resonance. “I’m trying,” she admits, “to find language for what we do / to one another.” From Lódź, Poland, to predominantly white suburban America, from the space shared by queer lovers to antique cabinets filled with Nazi memorabilia, from Talmudic depictions of genderqueer rabbis to archival lynching photos, she regards the tender and the difficult with equal gravity, commemorates the fraught gift of survival.
At the heart of this collection–despite its moments of profound darkness–is a new, hard-won holiness. The “earthy aroma of rye” calling up a mother’s baking, her mother’s, hers. Belief in a lover’s lavishing. A chosen future, one where we are “reader, sibling, sister.” If Transgenesis began in fear of beauty, where it lands is this: “turning at last / to face her.”

About the Author:
Ava Nathaniel Winter is the author of Transgenesis, a winner of the National Poetry Series. Her poetry has appeared in The Baffler, Beloit Poetry Journal, Best New Poets, New Poetry From the Midwest, Poetry International, TriQuarterly, and elsewhere. Ava served as a Stadler Fellow at Bucknell University and received an Individual Excellence Award from the Ohio Arts Council. She holds an M.F.A. from the Ohio State University and a Ph.D. from the University of Nebraska—Lincoln, where she teaches in the Department of English and the Women’s and Gender Studies Program.
Praise for Transgenesis:
These poems of eros, erudition, and epistemologies achieve more than the sum of their parts; they hold the body in a care that’s rare in life and rarer still in words. Winter’s debut is a finely wrought gem, one that doesn’t shy away from centering the grand yet vexed idea of love—but rather expands on what love can do, what it is, and, ultimately, who it is for.—Ocean Vuong, author of Time is a Mother
In this fearless exploration of gender and identity, Ava Nathaniel Winter meditates on the ways humiliation and degradation shape us all. Navigating a path forward by engaging the pasts of Jewish forebears, those who survived the Holocaust and those who did not, Winter contemplates both the nature of desire and the global consequences of racism, sexism, transphobia, and colonialism. The poet courageously faces her own complicity in these matters of ongoing marginalization and oppression, writing with compassion and psychological acuity into the deep work of creating and maintaining an authentic self among others. The scope of Transgenesis, along with its crucial discoveries, are timely reminders of our common humanity, in all its flaws and struggles. —Kathy Fagan, author of Bad Hobby

Visiting Author - Jerry Bockoven - What Rhymes With Therapy?: Poetic Pathways to Hope and Healing in Troubled Times
2024-08-17 16:30 - 17:30 | Francie & Finch Bookshop, 130 S. 13th Street, Lincoln, NE, 68508, United States
Join us on Saturday, August 17th at 4:30! Dr. Jerry Bockoven will be presenting his book What Rhymes With Therapy?: Poetic Pathways to Hope and Healing in Troubled Times, a book where “each poem is like a therapy session that offers insights and directions designed to make you strong and resilient in a time when the world’s problems push to erode and weaken.” We can’t wait to see you there!
Follow the link HERE to get your copy today!
About the Book:
It is easy to get lost. One minute you’re hiking along a beautiful trail enjoying the wonders of nature, and the next thing you know, you have made a wrong turn and don’t know where you are. You look around for signs that will reorient you, but no such signs appear. It is then that your mind starts to panic, and more than anything else in the world, you long to be home again.
The outer world is only one place we can get lost. The ever-growing number of problems we are currently facing as a culture can put so much stress on us that we begin to lose the way that leads to emotional health and well-being. Some get lost in depression and anxiety, where they are trapped in an emotional torture chamber. Some wander into the dark forest of anger, where they fight an unwinnable battle against the rest of the world. Others get lost in the past as they grieve unthinkable losses and struggle to free themselves from the clutches of past traumas. Still others lose their way in their relationships as those once cherished connections start to sour and grow bitter.
What Rhymes with Therapy is a road map for those times when we get lost and cannot find our way home. Using the unique language of poetry, What Rhymes with Therapy describes the way emotional and relational problems work and how they can be successfully addressed. Each poem is like a therapy session that offers insights and directions designed to make you strong and resilient in a time when the world’s problems push to erode and weaken. So if you are feeling the burden of being unable to find your way to the health and well-being you want and need, consider these poetic pathways as guides that lead back to the safety, peace, and health of home.
About the Author:
Jerry Bockoven is a native of Lincoln, Nebraska and a lifelong Huskers fan (even when they are losing). Holding a master’s degree in divinity and a Ph.D. in psychology, he has worked as a parish minister, leadership consultant, public speaker and non-profit administrator. He was the chair of the psychology department at Nebraska Wesleyan University from 2002-2011 and currently holds the title of Professor Emeritus of Psychology. In addition, his work as a psychologist has spanned 30 plus years during which time he conducted therapy with individuals, couples and families addressing a wide variety of relational and emotional challenges. Prior to his retirement in 2020, he worked exclusively with veteran’s issues at the VA in Lincoln. He has published several academic articles and has recently completed his first book entitled “What Rhymes with Therapy.”
In his spare time, Dr. Bockoven enjoys spending time with his family and friends, traveling, playing guitar, doing close-up magic, and surviving Midwest winters.

Visiting Author - Colby Coash - Running Naked: Surviving the Legacy of Family in Rural Nebraska
2024-08-10 16:30 - 18:30 | Francie & Finch Bookshop, 130 S. 13th Street, Lincoln, NE, 68508, United States
On Saturday, August 10th at 4:30, former state senator and author of the new memoir Running Naked: Surviving the Legacy of Family in Rural Nebraska, Colby Coash, will be sharing his work with guests at Francie & Finch Bookshop! We’ll see you there!
About the Book:
FROM DUSTY ROADS AND DEAD ENDS, A NEBRASKA NATIVE SON FINDS HIS WAY
A former Nebraska state senator hails from the heart of rural Nebraska—tiny Bassett, Nebraska, population 1,010—where his father and grandfather owned and operated the fertilizer plant, the backbone of the rural community. Born into the tapestry of small-town existence, Coash’s narrative unfolds against the backdrop of tight-knit neighbors and the enduring spirit of the American small town.
In this inspiring coming-of-age memoir. Coash chronicles the challenges of the rural economy on his father and his fertilizer business, captures the heart of the heartland in growing up in a place where everybody knows you, painfully tells how his mother abandoned the family for California dreams, and reveals why he, too, couldn’t get out of town fast enough. Becoming a fertilizer man like his father was not in his future.
His journey takes him running shockingly naked across the theater stage in college to the hallowed halls of the Nebraska State Capitol as a senator, with a passion for something beyond the confines of his hometown as he pursued a greater purpose—and one that makes his father proud.
Honest, unfiltered, with dreams as ephemeral as the tumbleweeds that surrounded him, Coash runs from his small-town roots into a life of purpose fulfilled by one of life’s great joys: his own role as a father.
About the Author:
Colby Coash has extended his political experience as a state senator into lobbying for education. He lives in Lincoln, Nebraska, with his wife, Rhonda, and his own legacy, Cole. He even gets a movie role once in a while.

Visiting Author - Alan Bartels - 100 Things To Do In The Nebraska Sandhills Before You Die
2024-07-20 16:30 - 17:30 | NE
Join us at Francie & Finch Bookshop on Saturday, July 20th at 4:30 PM as we welcome author, photographer, and conservationist Alan Bartels! Alan will present his newest book 100 Things to Do in the Nebraska Sandhills Before You Die.
To order a copy of the book, follow the link HERE!
About the Book:
Some destinations claim colorful monikers like Big Sky Country, Sportsman’s Paradise, the Sunshine State, Land of Enchantment, or the Last Frontier. The Nebraska Sandhills, which makes up about a quarter of the state of Nebraska, can honestly claim all of that-and a whole lot more. Paddle past more than 200 waterfalls while kayaking the Niobrara River or hop into a livestock water tank and float through the dunes on the Calamus, Cedar, Loup, and North Platte rivers. Tour the remnants of tunnels associated with Chicago gangster Al Capone in O’Neill, meet the locals at a volunteer fire department barbecue at Wood Lake, and sample the “Sandhills’ Finest” craft brews in Ord. And don’t forget to explore the ranching culture of this vast region where cowboys still ride horses, cattle outnumber people, rodeo is a lifestyle, Cornhusker football is tradition, and God and family mean more than anything else. Follow along page by page as writer, photographer, lifelong Nebraskan, and travel expert Alan J. Bartels takes readers on a tour of the region he’s loved since childhood. Along the way, he points out well-known events and attractions, and off-the-beaten-path curiosities and small-town celebrations discovered through chance and dogged exploration. With 100 Things To Do In The Nebraska Sandhills Before You Die as your guide, you’ll have all the insider information needed for memorable Sandhills adventures of your own.
About the Author:
Alan J. Bartels is a writer, photographer, student of nature, father, wanderer, and chronic volunteer. He has been knocked unconscious by an emu; bitten by snakes, snapping turtles, and a sandhill crane; has come home smelling of skunk, and once had a wild black-footed ferret run up his leg. He’s rescued owls, hawks, and eagles for Raptor Recovery Nebraska, and guided hundreds of sandhill crane tours for Rowe Sanctuary. He loves the Sandhills and has an appreciation for Nebraskans everywhere with strong ties to the land. Alan’s award-winning children’s book, What’s Going Down in Prairie Dog Town? was published in 2018. The foreword was written by renowned primatologist Jane Goodall, and proceeds from the book were donated to Goodall’s Roots & Shoots youth service organization. Alan enjoys craft beer and is president of the Friends of Gracie – a group working with Sandhills ranchers to conserve wildlife and wild places. In 2016, Alan received the Rank of Admiral in the “Great Navy of the State of Nebraska,” and in 2000 was named Conservation Educator of the Year by the Nebraska Wildlife Federation. In 2022, Nebraska Governor Pete Ricketts appointed Alan to the Governor’s Council to Keep Nebraska Beautiful Board of Directors. In 2023 Alan joined the Sandhills Prairie Refuge Association’s Board of Directors. Alan is a self-taught writer and photographer. His photograph of a Blanding’s turtle appeared in the March 2020 issue of National Geographic Magazine, and his work has appeared in the Smithsonian Institution’s Air & Space Magazine, USA Today, and dozens of other publications. After 11 years with Nebraska Life magazine – most recently as editor – the 1989 graduate of Greeley High School and U.S. Army veteran left the fast-paced world of magazine deadlines in September 2021 and now works as the Information and Education Coordinator at the Lower Loup Natural Resources District in Ord, a job that allows him to teach children and adults in the Sandhills and beyond about our state’s precious natural resources. Alan’s most recent book, 100 Things To Do In The Nebraska Sandhills Before You Die, was published by Reedy Press in September 2023.

Visiting Author ***At Eastmont Living - Susi Amendola - The Centered Heart: Evidence Based Mind Body Practices to Stress Less and Improve Cardiac Health
2024-07-20 14:00 - 15:00 | Eastmont Towers, 6315 O Street, Lincoln, Nebraska, 68510
Francie & Finch Bookshop will join Lincoln Yoga Center at Eastmont Living, 6315 O Street, to welcome author and Internationally Certified Yoga Therapist Susi Amendola! Susi will talk about her new book, The Centered Heart, and introduce attendees to the power of yoga. We’ll see you there!
To order a copy of the book follow the link HERE
F&F will also be selling copies at the event.

About the Book:
Stress is often the first domino in chronic illness and disease. Too often, however, doctors have little training or information to offer patients about managing stress. In The Centered Heart, yoga therapist, stress management expert and senior trainer for Ornish Lifestyle Medicine, Susi Amendola, navigates the intricate relationship between stress management and overall health. She invites readers into a transformative experience with the ancient and time-tested somatic practices of yoga that have been shown to improve cardiac outcomes as well as outcomes from many of the chronic diseases that plague our society. Developing a daily stress management practice that includes gentle movements, breathing, relaxation, meditation, imagery, compassion, and a connection to nature gradually shifts awareness to an internal locus of control. Practitioners will feel better, connect with their innate inner wisdom, and come to understand that through lifestyle choices they control they can be their own first line of intervention. While we may not be able to affect what is happening around us, with the wisdom and insights offered in The Centered Heart, we can make a difference in the quality of our own lives, change the way we react to stress, calm our hearts, and reclaim our health.
About the Author:
Susi Amendola is an Internationally Certified Yoga Therapist who brings over 40 years of experience utilizing Yoga and lifestyle practices to help others heal. In 1983 she founded Yoga Now in Omaha, Nebraska where she currently teaches classes and directs the annual 200-Hour Yoga Certification program. Susi has developed yoga-based stress management programs for schools, businesses, and hospitals throughout the country.
Presently, Susi is a National Senior Trainer of Stress Management for the prestigious Ornish Lifestyle Medicine program for reversing heart disease. The program includes Yoga as part of a multi-dimensional approach to healing, and is covered by Medicare under the guidelines of Intensive Cardiac Rehab. Susi has contributed over 150 articles to Ornish Living Magazine , an online publication to support those who are making lifestyle changes to improve their health and well-being, with an audience of over a million subscribers.
With her expertise in both the ancient practices of Yoga and the medical world, Susi’s teachings and classes are unlike anything else you will find. Her teaching style is heart-centered, nurturing, practical, and empowering. She continues to practice, teach and inspire others to listen deeply to the healer within.
Learn More about Susi at:
YourCenteredHeart.com
Instagram: @thecenteredheart
Facebook: The Centered Heart / Your Centered Heart Community
Praise for the Book:
Beautifully written and filled with actionable information, this book is required reading for anyone with a family or personal history of heart disease. This book leaves you both empowered and inspired to make changes essential for both quality of life and better health outcomes. ––Dr. Amy Rothenberg, Author, “You Finished Treatment, Now What? A Field Guide for Cancer Survivors”
This beautiful, luminous book can change your life and heal your heart. It feels like an act of grace. ––Michele Marie Desmarais, PhDAssociate Professor Religious Studies, Native American Studies, Faculty, Medical Humanities Faculty, University of Nebraska at Omaha

Visiting Author - Laura Essay - Side Effects Are Minimal: A Novel
2024-07-13 16:30 - 17:30 | NE
On Saturday, July 13th, author Laura Essay will join us to talk about her new novel Side Effects Are Minimal, a story that offers a gripping exploration of the opioid crisis and its profound impact on individuals, families, and society.
Pre-order a copy of Side Effects Are Minimal HERE!
Books will also be available for purchase at the event. No registration is necessary.
About the Book:
The opioid death of a young teen is a loss like no other, and while an ambitious attorney is determined to find justice, the family wants revenge. Tautly paced and well researched, this legal thriller pulls back the curtain on the world of both prescription opioids and street drugs like methamphetamine and fentanyl.
About the Author:
Laura Essay is a lawyer whose dedication to justice and compassion shines through in her debut novel, Side Effects Are Minimal. Laura attended the University of Nebraska and obtained a law degree with honors from Creighton University School of Law. A profound commitment to serving others shaped Laura’s professional journey. Her firsthand experience as an assistant attorney general equipped her with a deep understanding of pressing issues, particularly the opioid crisis gripping America. Beyond her legal and writing careers, she has tirelessly devoted herself to humanitarian efforts by extending aid to vulnerable populations. In her moments of respite, Laura finds solace in various pursuits, including cooking, music, running, and travel. For further information visit, www.lauraessay.com
Advance Praise:
“Based on true events, Side Effects are Minimal goes deep into the opioid crisis in America, examining broad societal implications while also taking an unflinching look at the toll these drugs have exacted on individuals and their loved ones. Claire Hewitt is a brave and determined main character who puts a human face on the pain of drug-related loss. Laura Essay’s debut will draw readers in from page one with its engrossing prose and immediate sense of urgency. Full of legal drama, simmering suspense, and heartfelt emotion, this novel will suck you in and keep you racing to the finish. A vitally important story that you won’t want to miss!” – Jacqueline Friedland, USA Today bestselling author of He Gets That From Me
“In this page-turning courtroom drama, Essay provides an informative and sober look at Big Pharma, and the deadly consequences of the opioid crisis facing America today.” – Suzanne Simonetti, USA Today best-selling author of The Sound of Wings

Visiting Author - Taylor Keen - Rediscovering Turtle Island: A First Peoples' Account of the Sacred Geography of America
2024-06-29 16:30 - 17:30 | NE
Join us on Saturday, June 29th for an exciting conversation and book talk with the founder of Sacred Seed, and the author of the upcoming book Rediscovering Turtle Island, Taylor Keen!
Order a copy of Rediscovering Turtle Island HERE
About the Book:
An exploration of Indigenous cosmology and history in North America. While Western accounts of North American history traditionally start with European colonization, Indigenous histories of North America—or Turtle Island—stretch back millennia. Drawing on comparative analysis, firsthand Indigenous accounts, extensive historical writings, and his own experience, Omaha Tribal member, Cherokee Citizen, and teacher Taylor Keen presents a comprehensive re-imagining of the ancient and more recent history of this continent’s oldest cultures. Examining the complexities and commonalities of Indigenous legends and creation myths, Keen reveals shared oral traditions across much of North America, including among the Algonquin, Athabascan, Sioux, Omaha, Ponca, Osage, Quapaw, and Kaw tribes. He explores the history of Cahokia, the Mississippian Mound Builder Empire of 1050-1300 CE, told through the dramatic story of Honga, a Native leader who is building a dynastic empire within the third largest city in the world at the time. He examines ancient earthen works and ceremonial sites of Turtle Island, revealing the Indigenous cosmology, sacred mathematics, and archaeoastronomy encoded in these places that artfully blend the movements of the sun, moon, and stars into the physical landscape.
Challenging the mainstream historical consensus, Keen presents an Indigenous revisionist history regarding Thomas Jefferson, expansionist doctrine, and Manifest Destiny. He reveals how, despite being displaced as the United States colonized westward, the Native peoples maintained their vision of an intrinsically shared humanity and the environmental responsibility found at the core of Indigenous mythology.
Building off a deep personal connection to the history and mythology of the First Peoples of the Americas, Taylor Keen helps to rediscover and give renewed voice to the immemorial cultures of Turtle Island, revealing an alternative vision of the continent’s geography and the significance of our past and future presence here.
About the Author:
Taylor Keen is a Senior Lecturer in the Heider College of Business Administration in Strategy and Entrepreneurship at Creighton University. Keen holds a bachelor’s degree from Dartmouth College as well as a Master of Business Administration and Master of Public Administration from Harvard University, where he served as a Fellow in the Harvard Project on American Indian Economic Development. Taylor is the author of the forthcoming book from Inner Traditions Press “Rediscovering Turtle Island: A First Peoples’ Account of the Sacred Geography of America”. A Cherokee Nation citizen, Keen carries the name “Bison Mane” of the Earthen Bison Clan of the Omaha Tribe, The People Who Move Against the Current. Taylor Keen is the Founder of Sacred Seed a NFP to educate and celebrate Indigenous culture and history and lives in Omaha, NE.
Book Reviews:
“The official history of the United States begins with Spanish contact in the late fifteenth century. The oral traditions and legends of the various Native peoples of North America, however, stretch back much earlier, into the opaque mists of preliterate times. With a member of the Earthen Bison Clan of the Omaha Tribe to serve as our guide, Rediscovering Turtle Island leads the reader along near-forgotten, overgrown paths that twist and turn throughout a resacralized landscape, decorated with ancient landmarks, populated with whispering ghosts and supernatural beings. The sacred geography of America will never again appear the same.”– P. D. Newman, author of Native American Shamanism and the Afterlife Journey in the Mississippi Valley
“Taylor Keene has written a fascinating story of North America that integrates scholarship and mythology in a very entertaining and readable way. His linkage of some of the North American creation stories to the places where they are told and their representations in carvings and drawings is fascinating. He interweaves aspects of North America’s history, cosmology, and geography from an Indigenous perspective, which, combined with the sharing of his own life experience, uplifts us and demonstrates how we are all related.”– Lewis Mehl-Madrona, M.D., Ph.D., author of Narrative Medicine, Remapping Your Mind, and Coyote Wisdom
“What could be more fascinating than the origin of mankind itself? The premise is staggering and the consequences far-reaching. Keen’s hard work pays off immensely in Rediscovering Turtle Island, and readers will be gripped by that experience on every page.”– Sidian M.S. Jones, coauthor of The Voice of Rolling Thunder

Howard Kaye Art Celebration
2024-06-21 17:30 - 19:00 | NE
Join us on Friday, June 21st as we celebrate the work of beloved artist and teacher Howard Kaye! A collection of his precious and unique works of watercolors will be on display and available for purchase. All of the proceeds will be split between the Prison Book Project and Lincoln Literacy, to continue Howard’s legacy. We can’t wait to see you there!
About Howard:
Howard was born in Los Angeles to Harriet and Arthur L. Kaye on the 26th of December 1942. Howard grew up climbing the backyard avocado tree with his little sister, Lorri. He graduated from Stanford University, received a PhD from Columbia, and began teaching at Cornell University. He married Fran in 1972. Deciding he didn’t really like teaching English, he returned to his first love, art. He moved to Nebraska in 1977, where he taught calligraphy and watercolor at Southeast Community College and developed a career as a watercolor painter, but continued to volunteer with Lincoln Literacy. He showed his work in more than 300 regional and national juried shows and was a member of both the Burkholder Gallery and Impact Nebraska Artists, as well as a signature member of the National Watercolor Society and Watercolor USA. He was also a fine potter and illustrator.
Howard was an impressive cook who for many years opened his kitchen and his home to people who were homeless, recently released from prison, or otherwise vulnerable. A quiet, self-contained man, he acted not out of religious conviction or idealistic belief, but rather knowing that in a society of pernicious inequality, generosity was the only decent response.

Book Talk and Signing - Bruce Reyes-Chow - Everything Good About God is True: Choosing Faith
2024-06-20 17:30 - 18:30 | NE
On June 20th at 5:30 PM, Francie & Finch will be hosting author Bruce Reyes-Chow! He will talk all things faith and culture, and will be available to sign books after his talk. We can’t wait to see you there!
Order a copy of Everything Good About God is True HERE
About the Book:
“You know what you don’t believe: about the Bible, the church, and God. But what if someone asked: “What do you believe?” Bruce Reyes-Chow helps us consider what it means to choose faith and how to create one’s own “faith montage.” What if we could articulate the gospel of love, humility, and justice? What if everything good about God is true?”–

About the Author:
Bruce Reyes-Chow is a sought-after speaker and writer on topics of faith, culture, politics, race, and technology. He is an ordained minister in the Presbyterian Church (USA), has led churches in the San Francisco Bay Area for nearly three decades, and is a former moderator of the PC(USA). Reyes-Chow, who is third-generation Filipino-Chinese American, hosts the podcast BRC & Friends and has authored five books, most recently Everything Good About God is Good. A senior consultant and coach with Convergence, Reyes-Chow and his spouse have three adult children and live in San Jose, California.

Poetry in the Afternoon - Poetry Workshop with Dr. Katie Marya
2024-06-15 14:00 - 16:00 | NE
Do you like poetry? Come spend the afternoon with Dr. Katie Marya (author of Sugar Work, 2022) to discuss a small selection of poems alongside passages from Carl Phillip’s recent book My Trade Is Mystery: Seven Meditations from a Life in Writing. We’ll end with a brief writing prompt. Handouts will be provided. Bring something to write with.
Please email leslie@francieandfinch.com if you’d like to attend; only 8 spots available.

Bio:
Katie Marya is a writer from Atlanta, Georgia. Her work has appeared in literary magazines such as Southern Indiana Review, North American Review, Guernica, Waxwing, AGNI, Fence, and on the national poetry podcast The Slowdown Show. Her debut poetry collection Sugar Work was the Editor’s Choice for the 2020 Alice James Book Award. Marya lives in Nebraska where she teaches writing at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.

Book Signing Event - Rebecca Craig - Once Upon a Nightmare: Through the Looking Glass of Narcissistic Abuse
2024-06-13 17:30 - 18:30 | NE
On Thursday, June 13th, we will be joined by author, artist, and pastor Rebecca Craig! Rebecca will be signing books, sharing her art, and talking about her journey which led her to write a memoir. We can’t wait to see you there!
Call the shop to order your copy of the book today!
402-781-0459
About the Book:
From Hollywood to parish ministry, “Once Upon a Nightmare: Through the Looking Glass of Narcissistic Abuse” is a moving memoir that tells the tale of a how a pastor’s quest to fulfill the simple dream of “happily ever after” turned into an upside-down wonderland of narcissistic abuse, lies and federal prison. Through her artistic lens, the author delves into the complexities of her relationship, revealing the psychological dynamics of narcissism and its impact on her spiritual journey, including how the church both helped—and hindered—her recovery. The accompanying illustrations capture the essence of her emotional struggles, mirroring her quest for healing and self-discovery. Weaving together faith, fairy tales and art, this is a haunting tale of what happens when your Prince Charming becomes the villain in your story, and why one should never settle for Prince “Good Enough.”
About the Author:
Rev. Rebecca J. Craig has been an ordained pastor in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) since 2009. She grew up in rural Nebraska on an acreage just south of Lincoln, and received her Bachelor of Journalism from the University of Nebraska—Lincoln in 1995. After graduation, she moved to Burbank, California where she pursued a career in story development with Disney Feature Animation. In 2004 she followed the call to ministry and received her Masters of Divinity from Luther Seminary in St. Paul, MN. She has also illustrated the children’s book, Monty: A Tale of No Tail, by A.H. Kay.

Visiting Author - Chigozie Obioma - The Road to the Country
2024-06-08 16:30 - 17:30 | NE
Join us for this exciting author visit! Chigozie Obioma will be in conversation with Kwame Dawes on Saturday, June 8th, to talk about his novel The Road to the Country. Obioma is a two- time Booker Prize finalist and a professor at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. We can’t wait to see you there!
Pre-Order The Road to the Country HERE
About the Book:
The first images of the vision are grainy—like something seen through wet glass. But slowly it clears, and there appears the figure of a man.
Set in Nigeria in the late 1960s, The Road to the Country is the epic story of a shy, bookish student haunted by long-held guilt who must go to war to free himself. When his younger brother disappears as the country explodes in civil war, Kunle must set out on an impossible rescue mission. Kunle’s search for his brother becomes a journey of atonement that will see him conscripted into the breakaway Biafran army and forced to fight a war he hardly understands, all while navigating the prophecies of a local Seer, he who marks Kunle as an abami eda—one who will die and return to life.
The story of a young man seeking redemption in a country on fire, Chigozie Obioma’s novel is an odyssey of brotherhood, love, and unimaginable courage set during one of the most devastating conflicts in the history of Africa. Intertwining myth and realism into a thrilling, inspired, and emotionally powerful novel, The Road to the Country is the masterpiece of Chigozie Obioma, a writer Salman Rushdie calls “a major voice” in literature.
About the Author:
Chigozie Obioma was born in Akure, Nigeria. His two previous novels, The Fishermen and An Orchestra of Minorities, were both finalist for the Booker Prize. His novels have won the inaugural FT/OppenheimerFunds Emerging Voices Award for Fiction, the NAACP Image Award, and the Los Angeles Times Award for First Fiction and have been nominated for many others. Together, they have been translated into thirty languages. He was named one of Foreign Policy’s 100 Leading Global Thinkers. He is a professor of creative writing at the University of Nebraska–Lincoln and divides his time between the United States and Nigeria.
Praise for The Road to the Country:
“A spectacular blend of realism and mysticism, The Road to the Country is Chigozie Obioma at his finest. He is a novelist in a league of his own.”—Imbolo Mbue, New York Times bestselling author of Behold the Dreamers
“This powerfully evocative and intimate book is unarguably Obioma’s finest. Through subtle, piercing, and gripping language, he renders those seemingly simple but unforgettable moments when our lives intertwine with history, anchoring you to the pages until the end. The Road to the Country will remind you that our existence is the histories of past, present, and the future—and the importance of understanding that. This is among the best books I’ve read in a while and is certainly destined to be a classic.”—Ishmael Beah, #1 New York Times bestselling author of A Long Way Gone
“Chigozie Obioma brings the Biafran War to life in a visceral yet mystical way. Loss, pain, and grief are etched onto a canvas that seems timeless and endless. I grieve for those lost in that doomed declaration of independence but celebrate those, such as Chigozie, who carry their torches.”—Nadifa Mohamed, author The Fortune Men, finalist for the Booker Prize
“Chigozie Obioma has proven his mastery of craft in this sweeping, brilliant, and stunning novel. The Road to the Country is an eloquent, beautifully rendered study on time and place and the history that changed a nation. His is a gorgeous prose, and the storytelling one expects from a gifted writer. . . . A truly unforgettable read.”—Nicole Dennis-Benn, award-winning author of Here Comes the Sun and Patsy

Book Launch - Nathan Vieth & Karissa Bettendorf - Remy the Lonely Dragon
2024-05-23 17:30 - 18:30 | Francie & Finch Bookshop, 130 S. 13th Street, Lincoln, NE, 68508, United States
Join us as author Nathan Vieth and illustrator Karissa Bettendorf present their new book about friendship, Remy and the Lonely Dragon!
About the Book:
A beautiful children’s story about a lonely dragon that learns to control his emotions and finds a friend!
About the Illustrator:
Karissa Bettendorf, owner of Karis Fine Arts, is an artist, author, and illustrator living in Lincoln Nebraska with her husband and their 2nd grade son and Springer Spaniel. When Karissa isn’t painting or writing, she loves to read, garden, bake, and play in the sunshine. Karis Fine Arts is an allied business, and Karissa believes that every person deserves to be celebrated and represented exactly for who they are. You can find her and her art on Facebook at Karis Fine Arts, Instagram @karisfinearts1, and TikTok at @karisfinearts – and at Clements Noyes Ary Gallery in downtown Lincoln!
Call F&F to pre-order your copy of Remy the Lonely Dragon
402 781-0459

Author Visit- Brad Balukjian - The Six Pack: On the Open Road in Search of Wrestlemania
2024-05-21 17:30 - 18:30 | Francie & Finch Bookshop, 130 S. 13th Street, Lincoln, NE, 68508, United States
Join us on Tuesday, May 21st to chat with Brad Balukjian, bestselling author of The Wax Pack: On the Open Road in Search of Baseball’s Afterlife! His most recent book The Six Pack: On the Open Road in Search of Wrestlemania, is described as another “eye-opening road trip adventure into a pocket of iconic pop culture-professional wresting-staring the Iron Sheik, Hulk Hogan, Tito Santana, and many more larger-than-life characters of the WWF in the 1980’s.”
Pre-order HERE
About the Book:
In 2005, Brad Balukjian left his position as a magazine fact-checker to pursue a dream job: partner with his childhood hero, The Iron Sheik (whose real name was Khosrow Vaziri), to write his biography. Things quickly went south, culminating in the Sheik threatening Balukjian’s life. Now seventeen years later, Balukjian returns to the road in search of not only a reunion with the Sheik, but something much bigger: truth in a world built on illusion. Balukjian seeks out six of the Sheik’s contemporaries, fellow witnesses to the World Wrestling Federation’s (WWF) explosion in the mid-’80s, to unearth their true identities. As Balukjian drives 12,525 miles around the country, we revisit the heady days when these avatars of strength, villainy, and heroism first found fame and see where their journeys took them. From working out with Tony Atlas (Tony White) to visiting Hulk Hogan’s (Terry Bollea) karaoke bar, we see where these men are now and how they have navigated the cliffs of fame.
About the Author:
Brad Balukjian, PhD [Bu-LEWK-gee-in] has chosen two careers – journalist and scientist – which converge on pursuit of the truth. He has been published in Rolling Stone, Smithsonian, National Geographic, and many others. His first book, The Wax Pack: On the Open Road in Search of Baseball’s Afterlife, hit #7 on the LA Times bestseller list and was named one of NPR’s Best Books of 2020. He is a Research Associate at the California Academy of Sciences, and he discovered 17 species of insects (green flash bugs) in Tahiti, one of which he named after Harrison Ford. He lives on the road, where he’s in an open relationship with his VCR.
Reviews:
“A lively and surprisingly poignant installment of cultural history… Mr. Balukjian, an engaging chronicler, writes with an amused respect for these leaping lords of the ring.” ―Wall Street Journal
“Newbies to the sport…will find an amiable, informed guide in Balukjian…. [T]he author puts wonderfully human faces to professional wrestlers and the fans who love them.” ―Booklist
“Balukjian came to this project with a real sense of passion, and it shines through in his work…. The Six Pack is a great examination of an industry that provides both the highest of highs and lowest of lows for its performers and what’s unfortunate, is that it often seems completely arbitrary.” ―PostWrestling
“With a PhD in entomology, a beat-up Ford Fusion, and a prior career as a fact-checker, Brad Balukjian is both the least likely and the absolute best person to write this book. His humility, intelligence, and devotion to fact serve a work that is revelatory, emotionally on point, and addictively readable. It’s all here—the lawsuits and exploitation, the clashing egos, the brain damage and the debauchery. But this is less an exposé than a love letter—to the strutting monsters of Balukjian’s youth and to the men they ultimately became: surprisingly reflective, sometimes broken, always fascinating. What an achievement this book is.” —Mary Roach, author of Stiff and Fuzz

Celebrate Independent Bookstore Day at Francie & Finch Bookshop!
2024-04-27 10:00 - 18:00 | NE
Join us for Independent Bookstore Day on Saturday, April 27th!
Francie & Finch Bookshop will be open for extended hours, from 10 am to 6 pm!
On this, the last day of the Southeast Nebraska Independent Bookstore Crawl, at F&F you will find treats, special merch plus two books from our Advanced Reader copy stash when you spend $50, author visits, and more prizes and surprises! You don’t want to miss it! See below for a line-up of our visiting authors:
10:00 – 1:00 – Jayme Sandberg: Author of Total Solar Eclipse – A Stellar Friendship Story
Jayme Sandberg unexpectedly fell in love with total solar eclipses when one appeared in her Nebraska backyard in 2017. After chasing a pre-schooler around with eclipse glasses that day, she made it her mission to help parents and educators simultaneously teach their kids about safely viewing this amazing celestial event while also celebrating the unexpected ways we shine together.
12:00 – 2:00 – Glenda Clair – Author of The Legacy of Prairie Winds
From an early age, she sat on the arm of her grandmother’s over-stuffed rocking chair as she read to her granddaughter. The tools were Every Child’s Story Book, Hans Brinker or the Silver Skates which led to reading Jack London and Agatha Christie. The love of literature and power of words was her gift to a wide-eyed small girl. Glenda taught English Literature and creative writing. Now retired, her dream is now to focus on her own writing and has been awarded the Bess Streeter Aldrich 2023 Short Story award. She has published novels: The Legacy of Prairie Winds, Women of Dust and Wind, and two young adult novels, Time for Courage, Surviving Yellowstone and Propelling Beyond Barriers: Evelyn Sharp, No Ordinary Girl. She loves the art of creating characters and the musical sounds of words.
2:00 – 3:00 – Devan Martin & Kolleen Meyer-Krikac: Author of The Enneagram Series for Children
Do you sometimes wonder about your child and the difficulties they seem to encounter? The Enneagram Series for Children is a great tool for parents to understand and help their children while children love and relate to the characters, seeing themselves in the stories. We have 5 of the 9 book series completed!
3:00 – 5:00 – Gordon McGill – Wood Creations:
Meet Gordon and shop from an array of his wood creations!
4:00 – 6:00 – Karissa Bettendorf – Artist:
Karissa Bettendorf, owner of Karis Fine Arts, is an artist, author, and illustrator living in Lincoln Nebraska with her husband, their 2nd grade son, and Springer Spaniel. When Karissa isn’t painting or writing, she loves to read, garden, bake, and play in the sunshine. Karis Fine Arts is an allied business, and Karissa believes that every person deserves to be celebrated and represented exactly for who they are. You can find her and her art on Facebook at Karis Fine Arts, Instagram @karisfinearts1, and TikTok at @karisfinearts – and at Clements Noyes Ary Gallery in downtown Lincoln!

Visiting Author - Kerri Denell - Invited to More: Letters for Life - Love, Kerri
2024-04-25 17:30 - 18:30 | Francie & Finch Bookshop, 130 S. 13th Street, Lincoln, NE, 68508, United States
Join us on April 25th at 5:30 as we welcome author Kerri Denell to the bookshop! She will be discussing her book Invited to More. We’ll see you there!
About the Book:
Invited to More: Letters for Life – Love, Kerri is an authentic memoir that traces Kerri’s 100-day journey to deeper vulnerability, union with God, and connection to others. In the hurriedness of our culture, we rarely pause to behold our lives. In this powerful debut memoir, Kerri lovingly invites us to examine our everyday lives, to look at the things and people around us and be changed. Through personal stories, reflections, and heartfelt letters you will recognize how big and small moments shape us and how the written word has the power to transform our connection with ourselves, our loved ones, future generations, and the Divine. These letters show us a pathway to empower our lives. Her raw vulnerability invites us to consider our successes and failures, love and forgiveness, joys and losses, and all that life offers in between.
‘May the gift of these writings be my whisper in your ear, my legacy of inspiration to know and be known and reveal how I live “the greatest of these is love.” These days have been but a snapshot of my heart. There was no peculiarity or reason behind choosing this season. I heard the Divine call and accepted the invitation. To write a piece of me, what I carry in my heart, to demonstrate my value of witnessing and blessing others. We are all vessels of light. Our beautifully imperfect stories are our greatest gifts and are what makes us shine. May we accept the invitation to our most beautiful life.’
Love,
Kerri
About the Author:
Kerri Denell was born and raised in a small town deep in the heart of Texas. She graduated with a Bachelor’s and Master’s degree in Social Work and has worked as a grant writer and hospice social worker. She currently serves as an End-of-Life Doula to individuals and families as they explore legacy wishes, end-of-life planning, and writing to create deeper meaning in their lives and connections to future generations. She now lives in Lincoln, Nebraska with her husband, four children, and two rowdy pups. For more on the author, visit: www.kerridenell.com
Call the shop to pre-order your copy – 402 781-0459
