Watermark Books and Cafe

December 15, 2011

 

In this issue:

News and Notes Worthy: Tony Horwitz on Book-TV this weekend; World Book Night.

Upcoming Events.

Book of the Week.

Watermark Winner.

First line(s)...

Watermark Bestsellers.

"Jack Kennedy: Elusive Hero" by Chris Matthews, review by Todd Robins.

 

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Remember when Tony Horwitz was here and C-Span filmed it? The recorded event will air on Book-TV (C-Span 2) this weekend at 4:00 p.m. CST, and will repeat Sunday at 7:00 p.m. CST. For more information, visit their website here: http://www.booktv.org/

 

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Want to participate in a million book giveaway on April 23, 2012 as part of World Book Night?

World Book Night is an annual celebration designed to spread a love of reading and books. It will be held in the U.S. as well as the U.K. and Ireland on April 23, 2012. Tens of thousands of people will go out into their communities to spread the joy and love of reading by giving out free World Book Night paperbacks.

The titles selected for give-away are:

 - "The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian" by Sherman Alexie (Little, Brown Books for Young
Readers)

 - "Wintergirls" by Laurie Halse Anderson (Speak)

 - "I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings" by Maya Angelou (Ballantine)

 - "Friday Night Lights" by H.G. Bissinger (Da Capo)

 - "Kindred" by Octavia E. Butler (Beacon Press)

 - "Ender’s Game" by Orson Scott Card (Tor)

 - "Little Bee" by Chris Cleave (Simon & Schuster)

 - "The Hunger Games" by Suzanne Collins (Scholastic)

 - "Blood Work" by Michael Connelly (Grand Central)

 - "The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao" by Junot Díaz (Riverhead); a Spanish-language edition, "La breve y maravillosa vida de Óscar Wao" (Vintage Espanol), will also be made available.

 - "Because of Winn-Dixie" by Kate DiCamillo (Candlewick)

 - "Zeitoun" by Dave Eggers (Vintage)

 - "Peace Like a River" by Leif Enger (Grove Atlantic)

 - "A Reliable Wife" by Robert Goolrick (Algonquin)

 - "Q is for Quarry" by Sue Grafton (Berkley)

 - "The Kite Runner" by Khaled Hosseini (Riverhead)

 - "A Prayer for Owen Meany" by John Irving (Ballantine)

 - "The Stand" by Stephen King (Anchor)

 - "The Poisonwood Bible" by Barbara Kingsolver (Perennial)

 - "The History of Love" by Nicole Krauss (W.W. Norton)

 - "The Namesake" by Jhumpa Lahiri (Mariner)

 - "The Things They Carried" by Tim O’Brien (Mariner)

 - "Bel Canto" by Ann Patchett (Perennial)

 - "My Sister’s Keeper" by Jodi Picoult (Atria)

 - "Housekeeping" by Marilynne Robinson (Picador)

 - "The Lovely Bones" by Alice Sebold (Back Bay)

 - "The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks" by Rebecca Skloot (Broadway)

 - "Just Kids" by Patti Smith (Ecco)

 - "The Glass Castle" by Jeannette Walls (Scribner)

 - "The Book Thief" by Markus Zusak (Knopf Books for Young Readers)

 

To register to become one of the givers of free books, complete an easy application here:

http://www.worldbooknight.com/about-world-book-night/register-as-a-2012-giver

Upcoming events... 

December 19. 6:00 to 8:00 p.m. - New Books from Konza Press book signing with Mark Feiden and Louis Copt. Louis will be signing "Kansas on Canvas" and Mark will be signing "The Flint Hills." Great holiday gifts!

January 7. 2:00 to 4:00 p.m. - Nate Schwiethale book signing for "Ace High."

January 13. 7:00 p.m. - Thomas Frank talk and signing for "Pity the Billionaire."

January 17. 7:00 p.m. - Deborah Harkness reading and signing for "The Discovery of Witches." (Event 1 of the Penguin Author Series)

http://www.watermarkbooks.com/penguin-author-series

January 19. 7:00 p.m. - Naomi Benaron reading and signing for "Running the Rift."

January 20. 7:00 p.m. - Albert
Goldbarth reading and signing for "Everyday People." (The café and bookstore will both be closed during the reading, and we respectfully request that no one enter the bookstore after the poetry reading has begun.)

January 26. 7:00 p.m. - Stewart O'Nan reading and signing for "Emily, Alone" and "The Odds." (Event 2 of the Penguin Author Series)

http://www.watermarkbooks.com/penguin-author-series

January 28. 2:00 p.m. - Roy Bird book talk and signing for "Little Ike."

February 2. 7:00 p.m. - Thomas Shane book talk and signing for "Crisis Pastoral Care: A Police Chaplain's Perspective."

February 9. 7:00 p.m. - Alex George book talk and signing for "A Good American."

February 15. 7:00 p.m. – Jonathan Evison reading and signing for "West of Here."

February 16. 7:00 p.m. - Rachel Simon reading and signing for "The Story of Beautiful Girl."

March 12. 7:00 p.m. - T.C. Boyle reading and signing for "When the Killing’s Done." (Event 3 of the Penguin Author Series)

http://www.watermarkbooks.com/penguin-author-series

March 24. 2:00 p.m. - Ally Carter reading and signing for "Out of Sight, Out of Time."

May 17. 7:00 p.m. - Geraldine Brooks reading and signing for "Caleb’s Crossing." (Final Event in the Penguin Author Series)

http://www.watermarkbooks.com/penguin-author-series

 

Stay tuned here or visit our website for updates: http://www.watermarkbooks.com/  

 

Watermark's Book of the Week is "Hedy's Folly: The Life and Breakthrough Inventions of Hedy Lamarr, the Most Beautiful Woman in the World" by Richard Rhodes (Doubleday, ISBN 9780385534383, originally $26.95)

What do Hedy Lamarr, avant-garde composer George Antheil, and your cell phone have in common? The answer is spread-spectrum radio: a revolutionary inven­tion based on the rapid switching of communications sig­nals among a spread of different frequencies. Without this technology, we would not have the digital comforts that we take for granted today.

Only a writer of Richard Rhodes’s caliber could do justice to this remarkable story. Unhappily married to a Nazi arms dealer, Lamarr fled to America at the start of World War II; she brought with her not only her theatrical talent but also a gift for technical innovation. An introduction to Antheil at a Hollywood dinner table culminated in a U.S. patent for a jam-proof radio guidance system for torpedoes—the unlikely duo’s gift to the U.S. war effort.

What other book brings together 1920s Paris, player pianos, Nazi weaponry, and digital wireless into one satisfying whole? In its juxtaposition of Hollywood glamour with the reality of a brutal war, Hedy’s Folly is a riveting book about unlikely amateur inventors collaborating to change the world.

Shop online or in the store, this week "Hedy's Folly" is 30% off.

Order "Hedy's Folly" online here: http://www.watermarkbooks.com/book/9780385534383

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This week's winner of a free lunch from Watermark Café is Kristina Scott of Goddard. Thanks for signing up for News & Notes. 

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First line(s)...

"Dear Ed, In a sec you'll hear a thunk."

... from "Why We Broke Up"
by Daniel Handler, art by Maira Kalman (Little, Brown, ISBN 9780316127257,
$19.99)

Order "Why We Broke Up" online here: http://www.watermarkbooks.com/book/9780316127257

 

 

Watermark Bestsellers.

1. "Pinches & Dashes" by the Junior League of Wichita

2. "Radiating Like a Stone" edited by Myrne Roe

3. "Tension City" by Jim Lehrer

4. "Flint Hills" by Mark Feiden & Jim Hoy

5. "Wander the Kansas Flint Hills in Words and Images" by Stephen Perry

6. "Eight Wonders of Kansas" by Marci Penner

7. "The Dish Diva Cooks for Company" by Nancy Bell Ringer

8. "Rules of Civility" by Amor Towles

9. "Cooking with Bonnie: Farm to France" by Bonnie Aeschliman

10. "Diary of a Wimpy Kid 6: Cabin Fever" by Jeff Kinney

 

“Jack Kennedy: Elusive Hero” by Chris Matthews (Simon & Schuster, ISBN 9781451635089, $27.50)

In the early days of his career in
Washington, JFK reportedly told fellow congressman George Smathers, “The point is, you’ve got to live each day like it’s your last day on earth.” Kennedy, by the time that he was in his early 20s, had already been near death as a result of illnesses and his experiences in World War II. Perhaps like others of his generation, his motto was, “Never complain, never explain.” He had read the memoirs and histories of world leaders and adventurers and he tended to embrace the philosophy of the Stoics (though he certainly liked to have a good time). His friends, including Smathers, trended in the direction of the Falstaffian. This suggests that, like Odysseus and Benjamin Franklin, Kennedy stayed focused on the goal but saw value in pausing to enjoy the ride. He was a hero in the sense that he found a way to avoid nuclear war during the Cuban Missile Crisis, which was no small accomplishment. Finally, he worked with Ted Sorensen to write speeches that had a literary flair. Hardball host Chris Matthews captures it all in this new book, while honoring Elmore Leonard’s advice to “leave out the boring parts.” This seems to have been a proper way to write a book about a man who had been near death and was committed to making the most of it.

Review by Todd Robins

To order "Jack Kennedy: Elusive Hero" online, click here: http://www.watermarkbooks.com/book/9781451635089

 

Later.

Beth