Ready for kickoff? I am. My thoughts about Husker fandom and fanatics are included in the Omaha World-Herald’s “Big Red is the Only Fall Color” article. Great job, Josie Lozafina!!

This week’s Nebraska-isms column, posted on the Nebraska-isms page or click on the link,  discusses lessons learned from the Pulitzer Prize winning novel To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee. The novel came out a year before I was born, but its lessons are timeless. Share your thoughts about the novel. It’s one of my favorites.

Several of my book reviews have been published in the Sacramento and San Francisco Book Reviews this past week, as well as in the online publications. This month, I read and critiqued Stalker Girl, a YA novel with a timely theme; Rocky Road, a decent book aimed at the Tween market; a fantastic cookbook, Burgers: From Barbecue Ranch to Miso Salmon; a wonderful reference book about sitting down and writing, written with a touch of humor, Write That Book Already! The Tough Love You Need to Get Published Now; and Fairy Tale Lust: Erotic Fantasies for Women, a collection of twisted fairy tales.

My review of Daniel Pinkwater’s Adventures of a Cat-Whiskered Girl is available at Sacramento Book Review. This particular tween novel is the last book in a trilogy, and even though I haven’t read the first two, I did find this a delightful and zany read.

Nebraska is known for its corn and soybean crops, but if a national organization – a conglomeration of universities, government services and private sector foundations – has its way, Nebraska’s hazelnut crop will have farmers hearing cha-ching!

This week’s Nebraska-isms looks at how the proposed Nebraska hazelnut crop will affect the agriculture scene.  Rare or well done?

And from my view in the Sandhills, Nebraska-isms also talks about two other topics:  audio books and the texting ban.