Nevada Center for the Book
The Nevada Center for the Book is a program of Nevada Humanities dedicated to promoting literature and literacy throughout the Silver State. The Nevada Center for the Book is the state affiliate of the Center for the Book, housed at the Library of Congress. Nevada Center for the Book programs include the Las Vegas Book Festival, the Nevada Humanities Literary Crawl, the National Book Festival, and additional literary programs.
Books Representing Nevada at the 2026 National Book Festival
Two books have been selected by Nevada Humanities, home of the Nevada Center for the Book, to represent the state at the annual Library of Congress National Book Festival in Washington, D.C. on August 22, 2026. Every year Great Reads from Great Places, a list of books representing the literary heritage of the 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands, American Samoa, Guam, and Northern Marianas, is distributed by the Library of Congress’ Center for the Book during the National Book Festival. The 2026 Great Reads selections from Nevada are Endangered Eating: America’s Vanishing Foods by Sarah Lohman (W. W. Norton, 2023) and Wild Sierra Nevada: A Family Nature Guide by Joanna Howes and Alex Bailey (Yosemite Conservancy, 2024).
ABOUT THE AUTHORS
Endangered Eating: America’s Vanishing Foods by Sarah Lohman (Adult Selection)
Sarah Lohman is a culinary historian and the author of the bestselling books Endangered Eating: America’s Vanishing Foods and Eight Flavors: The Untold Story of American Cuisine. She focuses on the history of food as a way to access the stories of diverse Americans. Endangered Eating was a New York Times Editors’ Choice, and was named one of the Best Books of 2023 by Amazon’s Editors, Food & Wine, and Adam Gopnik on the Milk Street podcast. It was a finalist for the Nach Waxman Prize for Food & Drink Scholarship and winner of the Ohioana Library Book Prize for Nonfiction. Lohman’s work has been featured in The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, and NPR. Lohman has lectured across the country, from the Smithsonian Museum of American History in Washington, DC, to The Neon Museum in Las Vegas. Lohman is based in Henderson.
Wild Sierra Nevada: A Family Nature Guide by Joanna Howes and Alex Bailey (Youth Selection)
Joanna Howes (author) has taught in Montessori schools for nearly a decade, and most recently was the primary director for a Montessori program. She has a bachelor’s degree in natural history and ecology, as well as a master’s degree in education. Howes grew up in California’s Bay Area, and her fondest childhood memories include climbing granite boulders and wading in creeks on her family’s annual summer trip to the Sierra Nevada. She now lives in Tahoe Vista, California, with her partner and children. Joanna loves exploring in the woods with her daughters, and you can often find her reading, swimming in alpine lakes, and listening for birdsong. She is also busy working on her next book, about the magic of the stunning Colorado Plateau.
Alex Bailey (illustrator) is a Canadian-American artist currently residing in Reno, Nevada. She has a B.A. in Geology and an M.Sc. in Environmental Geochemistry, and has spent the majority of her professional career working as an environmental geochemist. Throughout her life she has maintained a passion for art, and is currently working full time as an artist and scientific illustrator. Alex Bailey’s art is inspired by her scientific background and her curiosity for the natural world, in addition to her adventures hiking, backpacking, rock climbing, and backcountry skiing.
ABOUT THE CENTER FOR THE BOOK IN THE LIBRARY OF CONGRESS
The Library of Congress Center for the Book, established by Congress in 1977 to stimulate public interest in books and reading, is a national force for reading and literacy promotion. A public-private partnership, it sponsors educational programs that reach readers of all ages through its affiliated centers, collaborations with nonprofit reading-promotion partners, and through its Poetry and Literature Center at the Library of Congress. For more information, visit www.read.gov. The National Book Festival Roadmap to Reading is made possible by the generous support of the Institute of Museum and Library Services and the National Endowment for the Humanities with additional support from Chief Officers of State Library Agencies.
