Watermark Books and Cafe

February 16. 7:00 p.m. - Rachel Simon reading and signing for "The Story of Beautiful Girl."
It is 1968. Lynnie, a young white woman with a developmental disability, and Homan, an African American deaf man, are locked away in an institution, the School for the Incurable and Feebleminded, and have been left to languish, forgotten. Deeply in love, they escape, and find refuge in the farmhouse of Martha, a retired schoolteacher and widow. But the couple is not alone--Lynnie has just given birth to a baby girl. When the authorities catch up to them that same night, Homan escapes into the darkness, and Lynnie is caught. But before she is forced back into the institution, she whispers two words to Martha: "Hide her." And so begins the 40-year epic journey of Lynnie, Homan, Martha, and baby Julia--lives divided by seemingly insurmountable obstacles, yet drawn together by a secret pact and extraordinary love.
For event information, or to order a copy of "The Story of Beautiful Girl," click here: http://www.watermarkbooks.com/event/rachel-simon

February 17. 6:00 p.m. - Lois Ruby will be here for a book signing for "Steal Away Home."
Lois will be in Wichita in conjunction with the African American Catholic Council conference (held at Newman University on February 18th) titled: "Weaving a Fabric of Faith: Our Common Thread."

February 22, 6:00 to 7:00 p.m. – Spring "Frankenstein" Challenge kick-off.

February 25, 26 & 27. Watermark Books & Café will be closed for inventory.

February 29, 6:00 to 7:00 p.m. - Spring "Frankenstein" Challenge, discussion of pages 45 - 115.

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) Principally set on the wild Channel Islands off the coast of California, T.C. Boyle's new novel is a gripping adventure with a timely theme. Alma Boyd Takesue is a National Park Service biologist spearheading the efforts to save the islands' native creatures from invasive species. Her antagonist, Dave LaJoy, is a local businessman who is fiercely opposed to the killing of any animals whatsoever and will go to any lengths to subvert her plans. As their confrontation plays out in a series of scenes escalating in violence, drama, and danger, "When the Killing's Done" relates a richly humane tale about the dominion we attempt to exert, for better or worse, over the natural world.
For information about the T.C. Boyle event or the entire Penguin Author Series, click here: http://www.watermarkbooks.com/penguin-author-series

March 14, 6:00 to 7:00 p.m. - Spring "Frankenstein" Challenge, discussion of pages 117 - 174.

March 16. 7:00 p.m. - Joanne Fluke reading and signing of "Cinnamon Roll Murder."
When Hannah learns that the Cinnamon Roll Six jazz band will be playing in Lake Eden, Minnesota, she bakes up a supply of their namesake confections to welcome them. But tragedy strikes when their tour bus overturns on its way into town. But minor injuries for the keyboard player turn deadly when someone plunges surgical scissors into his chest. Joanne Fluke is the New York Times bestselling author of the Hannah Swensen mysteries, which include "Apple Turnover Murder," "Cream Puff Murder," "Carrot Cake Murder," and the book that started it all, "Chocolate Chip Cookie Murder." Like Hannah Swensen, Joanne Fluke was born and raised in a small town in rural Minnesota, but now lives in Southern California. Visit her website at www.MurderSheBaked.com for more information.
For event information, or to order a copy of "Cinnamon Roll Murder," click here: http://www.watermarkbooks.com/event/joanne-fluke

March 23. 7:00 p.m. - Joe Cobb and Leigh Anne Taylor reading and book signing for "Our Family Outing: A Memoir of Coming Out and Coming Through".
"Our Family Outing: A Memoir of Coming Out and Coming Through" is the story of a gay man, a straight woman and their journey through marriage, children, coming out, divorce, healing, reconciliation - and creating a new way of being a family. This unique love story, presented in two narrative voices, is the story of...
* hope for families who are dealing with the coming out of a gay family member,
* love that is stronger than the death of a marriage,
* healing for families of faith who are hurting as someone they love acknowledges their true sexual orientation,
* forgiveness for self and others,
* peace, as a man and a woman whose vow to "speak and act in loving ways toward one another and about one another" for the sake of their children, paves the way for peace in family life,
* responsibility, as a man and a woman resist the temptation to assign blame but rather take responsibility for themselves, theirs choices, their past, present and future,
* release of prejudice, discrimination, rejection, pride, guilt, and childhood wounds,
* acceptance of mystery and unanswerable questions,
* memory as a pathway to coming out and healing from guilt and shame,
* determination to live with love as the bottom line, no matter what,
* joy in the unfolding of what family life can be.

March 24. 2:00 p.m. - Ally Carter reading and signing for "Out of Sight, Out of Time."
With more than a million Gallagher Girls books sold, a legion of fans have fallen in love with the New York Times best-selling spy-girl series, and the fifth book delivers the most nerve-wracking, high-stakes adventure yet. The last thing Cammie Morgan remembers is leaving the Gallagher Academy to protect her friends and family from the Circle of Cavan--an ancient terrorist organization that has been hunting her for over a year. But when Cammie wakes up in an alpine convent and discovers months have passed, she must face the fact that her memory is now a black hole. The only traces left of Cammie’s summer vacation are the bruises on her body and the dirt under her nails, and all she wants is to go home. Once she returns to school, however, Cammie realizes that even the Gallagher Academy now holds more questions than answers. Cammie, her friends, and mysterious spy-guy Zach must face their most difficult challenge yet as they travel to the other side of the world, hoping to piece together the clues that Cammie left behind. It’s a race against time. The Circle is hot on their trail and willing stop at nothing to prevent Cammie from remembering what she did last summer.
For event information, or to order a copy of "Out of Sight, Out of Time," click here: http://www.watermarkbooks.com/event/ally-carter

March 28, 6:00 to 7:00 p.m. - Spring "Frankenstein" Challenge, discussion of pages 175 - 244.

April 12. 6:00 p.m. - Ree Drummond Presentation and Book Signing for her brand new cookbook, "The Pioneer Woman Cooks: Food from My Frontier."
Watermark Books & Cafe is pleased to welcome Ree Drummond to Wichita! We'll be hosting her presentation and book signing at The Forum Theatre (147 S. Hillside) on Thursday, April 12 at 6:00 p.m. Doors open at 5:00 p.m. In her newest book, The Pioneer Woman--accidental ranch wife and #1 "New York Times"--bestselling author Drummond--shares even more of her satisfying and delicious country cooking, with recipes sure to please the whole family, from meat-loving cowboys to finicky young ranch hands. And with widely available ingredients and step-by-step photos of each recipe, she makes it easy to cook new favorites.
 
Here are the signing guidelines:
* Those wanting to see the presentation and have books signed will need to pick up a free signing number (available beginning March 13th when the new book comes out) at Watermark Books & Cafe (4701 E. Douglas).
* The first 500 signing ticket number holders will get seats in the auditorium until 5:45 p.m., after that time, the next signing number holders in the overflow section will be allowed to take unclaimed seats.
* You don't have to have an actual seat to get a book signed. When the auditorium is full, we will have an overflow section for anyone who wants to get in line. After the overflow section is full, the line will have to move outside to the sidewalk.
* Books may be brought from home. There's no limit to the number of books Ree will sign.

To pre-order the book, call Watermark Books & Cafe at (316) 682-1181, or visit our website here: http://www.watermarkbooks.com/event/ree-drummond

April 26. 7:00 p.m. - Thomas Shane book talk and signing for "Crisis Pastoral Care: A Police Chaplain's Perspective." (This event was originally scheduled for February 2.) Thomas Shane is a 30-year-veteran police chaplain. He worked in Oklahoma City after the bombing, and at Ground Zero after September 11st. Shane tells dozens of stories of what it's like to provide crisis pastoral care to those caught in the grim and shocking realities of life. His book brings a balanced, compassionate, spirituality-based perspective to the dead center of heart-breaking human experiences--violent crimes, natural disasters, car accidents, suicides, child abuse, terrorism, and more. While many good books reveal the theory of pastoral care and the dynamics of grief work, Crisis Pastoral Care borders on a memoir of life in the midst of disaster. Anyone who deals on a regular basis with the victims of crime and disaster will find this book an invaluable resource.
For event information, or to order a copy of "Crisis Pastoral Care," click here: http://www.watermarkbooks.com/event/thomas-shane
 

May 17. 7:00 p.m. - Geraldine Brooks reading and signing for "Caleb’s Crossing." (Final Event in the Penguin Author Series) In 1665, a young man from Martha's Vineyard became the first Native American to graduate from Harvard College. Upon this slender factual scaffold, Brooks has created a luminous tale of love and faith, magic and adventure. The narrator of "Caleb's Crossing" is Bethia Mayfield, growing up in the tiny settlement of Great Harbor amid a small band of pioneers and Puritans. Restless and curious, she yearns after an education that is closed to her by her sex. As often as she can, she slips away to explore the island's glistening beaches and observe its native Wampanoag inhabitants. At twelve, she encounters Caleb, the young son of a chieftain, and the two forge a tentative secret friendship that draws each into the alien world of the other. Bethia's minister father tries to convert the Wampanoag, awakening the wrath of the tribe's shaman, against whose magic he must test his own beliefs. One of his projects becomes the education of Caleb, and a year later, Caleb is in Cambridge, studying Latin and Greek among the colonial elite. There, Bethia finds herself reluctantly indentured as a housekeeper and can closely observe Caleb's crossing of cultures.
For information about the Geraldine Brooks event or the entire Penguin Author Series, click here: http://www.watermarkbooks.com/penguin-author-series

May 31. 7:00 p.m. - Dorothy Wickenden reading and signing for "Nothing Daunted: The Unexpected Education of Two Society Girls in the West"
Dorothy Woodruff and Rosamond Underwood attended grade school and Smith College together, spent nine months on a grand tour of Europe in 1910, and then, bored with society luncheons and chaperoned balls and not yet ready for marriage, they went off to teach the children of homesteaders in a remote schoolhouse on the Western Slope of Colorado. They traveled on the new railroad over the Continental Divide and by wagon to Elkhead, a tiny settlement far from the nearest town. Their students came to school from miles away in tattered clothes and shoes tied together with string.

Dorothy Woodruff was the grandmother of New Yorker executive editor Dorothy Wickenden. Nearly one hundred years later, Wickenden found the buoyant, detailed, colorful letters the two women wrote to their families. Through them, she has chronicled their trials in the classroom, the cowboys and pioneering women they met, and the violent kidnapping of a close friend. Central to their narrative is Ferry Carpenter, the witty, idealistic, and occasionally outrageous young lawyer and cattle rancher who hired them, in part because he thought they would make attractive and cultivated brides. None of them imagined the transforming effect the year would have—on the children, the families, and the teachers.
 
Wickenden set out on her own journey to discover what two intrepid Eastern women found when they went West, and what America was like at that uncertain moment, with the country poised for the First World War, but going through its own period of self-discovery.

Drawing upon the letters, interviews with descendants, research about these vanished communities, and trips to the region, Wickenden creates a compelling, original saga about the two intrepid young women and the “settling up” of the West.

For more information about this event, or to buy a copy of "Nothing Daunted," click here: http://www.watermarkbooks.com/event/dorothy-wickenden

For information about future event, stay tuned here or visit our website for updates: http://www.watermarkbooks.com/  

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Watermark's Book of the Week is "The House I Loved" by Tatiana de Rosnay (St. Martin's Press; ISBN 9780312593308; originally $25.99)

From the New York Times bestselling author of "Sarah’s Key" and "A Secret Kept" comes an absorbing new novel about one woman’s resistance during an époque that shook Paris to its very core.

Paris, France: 1860’s. Hundreds of houses are being razed, whole neighborhoods reduced to ashes. By order of Emperor Napoleon III, Baron Haussman has set into motion a series of large-scale renovations that will permanently alter the face of old Paris, moulding it into a “modern city.” The reforms will erase generations of history—but in the midst of the tumult, one woman will take a stand.

Rose Bazelet is determined to fight against the destruction of her family home until the very end; as others flee, she stakes her claim in the basement of the old house on rue Childebert, ignoring the sounds of change that come closer and closer each day. Attempting to overcome the loneliness of her daily life, she begins to write letters to Armand, her beloved late husband. And as she delves into the ritual of remembering, Rose is forced to come to terms with a secret that has been buried deep in her heart for thirty years. "The House I Loved" is both a poignant story of one woman’s indelible strength, and an ode to Paris, where houses harbor the joys and sorrows of their inhabitants, and secrets endure in the very walls...

Shop online or in the store, this week "The House I Loved" is 30% off.

Order "The House I Loved" online here: http://www.watermarkbooks.com/book/9780312593308

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This week's winner of a free lunch from Watermark Café is Stephen Scholtz of Rose Hill. Thanks for signing up for News & Notes. 

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First line(s)...

"As I remember, I had just woken up from a nap when I decided to create the universe."

... from "Mr g" by Alan Lightman (Pantheon; ISBN 9780307379993; $24.95)

Order "Mr g" online here: http://www.watermarkbooks.com/book/9780307379993

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Watermark Bestsellers.
1. "A Good American" by Alex George
2. "Radiating Like a Stone" edited by Myrne Roe 3. "Pinches & Dashes" by the Junior League of Wichita 4. "Wander the Kansas Flint Hills in Words and Images" by Stephen Perry 5. "The Story of Beautiful Girl" by Rachel Simon 6. "Death Comes to Pemberley" by P.D. James 7. "Cynthia's Cosmic Almanac" by Cynthia Killion 8. "Pity the Billionaire" by Thomas Frank 9. "An Object of Beauty" by Steve Martin 10. "I Want My Hat Back" by Jon Klassen

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Sarah's book reviews can be heard on alternate Mondays on KMUW 89.1. You can read her most recent review below or listen to it here: http://www.kmuw.org/index.php/book/february_13_west_of_here_by_jonathan_evison/

"West of Here" by Jonathan Evison (Algonquin Books of Chapel Hill; ISBN 9781616200824; $15.95)

What would your legacy look like three generations down the line? Would it be a fledging family business? A statue symbolizing a conquest? Moral values and religious beliefs passed down?

Jonathan Evison’s "West of Here" is a novel of the western expansion. It juxtaposes the legacy of the past with the drama of the present in the fictional town of Port Bonita, on Washington state’s Pacific coast. While everything changes, basic human nature remains the same as the two very distinct worlds collide in interwoven chapters.

Evison captures the spirit of the early settlers, the dreamers, the loners, the opportunists, and even the humanitarians who braved the elements in the spirit of adventure and discovery. Land is ripe for development, the salmon are multitudinous—and no one has seen it up close, but there is some kind of giant creature haunting the woods. Evison skillfully shows how the past informs future generations—no matter how far one strays from home—and how the landscape in which one lives is both a blessing and a curse.

In conversation, the two epochs echo back and forth about the American spirit and how men and women forged and settled a new land. This delicious and rollicking American saga is the perfect antidote to the cruel cold of a bitter evening.

Review by Sarah Bagby
 

To order a copy of "West of Here," visit our website here: http://www.watermarkbooks.com/book/9781616200824

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Later.
Beth