Watermark Books and Cafe

In this issue:

News and Notes Worthy.

Upcoming Events.

Book of the Week.

Watermark Winner.

First line(s)...

Watermark Bestsellers.

"The Hypnotist" by Lars Kepler and Ann Long, review by Wendy Ward. 

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The Summer Challenge begins next week. Do you have your copy of "Doctor Zhivago" yet? 

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Upcoming events...  

Thursday, June 2, 7:00 p.m. James Mason will be at Watermark for a presentation and book signing for "Wichita's Riverside Parks."

Wichita was founded in 1870 at the junction of the Little and Big Arkansas Rivers in south central Kansas. From the very beginning, the rivers have been a focus for social and recreational activit. Parks, both public and private, were established along these waterways near downtown to capitalize on this natural asset andhave gone through many changes. Some of these parks are now over 100 years old, but one no longer exists, having literally been dug up and hauled away in wheelbarrows in 1933. This book chronicles many of the colorful activities and events that have occurred in these parks over the years and shows how vital they are in the Wichita of today. James E.Mason is an interpretive naturalist for the Wichita Parks Deptarment, working at the Great Plains Nature Center. He grew up in Wichita, only a few blocks from the Arkansas River. Mason began his career with the parks department in 1978 and worked for several years at the zoo in Central Riverside Park, where he first became aware of the long history of the riverside parks and started giving public presentations on the subject. That program developed into this book.   

Monday, June 6, 7:00 p.m. Storm Chaser presentation with Mike Smith, Jenna Blum, and Jim Reed.These three authors will be at Watermark to talk about storm chasing and their books: "Warnings: The True Story of How Science Tamed the Weather" by Mike Smith (Greenleaf, ISBN 9781608320349, $24.95); The Stormchasers: A Novel" by Jenna Blum (Plume, ISBN 9780452297135, $15.00); and "StormChasers: A Photographer's Journey" by Jim Reed (Abrams, ISBN 9780810921474,$21.95) Buy all three books the evening of the event and the price will be $60. (Suggested retail price of all three is $72.85.) Purchase any two books, receive a free poster which the authors will be happy to autograph.  

Tuesday, June 7, 7:00 p.m. Karl Marlantes will be here for a reading and signing of "Matterhorn: A Novel of the Vietnam War." It was a conflict that divided our nation more bitterly than any event since the Civil War. As campuses erupted inviolence and protesters took to the streets, young American's on the other side of the world found themselves embroiled in brutal combat for unclear reasons. Karl Marlantes was one of them. Written over the course of thirty years, "Matterhorn" is a visceral and spellbinding novel about what it is like to be a young man at war.  A graduate of Yale University and a Rhodes Scholar at Oxford University, Karl Marlantes served as a Marine in Vietnam, where he was awarded the Navy Cross, the Bronze Star, two Navy Commendation Medals for valor, two Purple Hearts, and ten air medals. "Matterhorn: A Novel of the Vietnam War", his debut, was a New York Times and USA Today bestseller, a New York Times Book Review Notable Book, and a "Best of 2010" in Time, Entertainment Weekly, Esquire, and The Washington Post. It was just released in paperback.  

Wednesday, June 8, 6:00 p.m. Join us as we kick off our Summer Challenge!Plan on challenging yourself to read the new translation of "Doctor Zhivago"with us this summer. Other meeting dates at Watermark are scheduled for June 22, July 13, and July 27. All discussion meetings begin at 6:00 p.m.http://www.watermarkbooks.com/book/9780307377692  

Thursday, June 9, 7:00 p.m. Marci Penner will be here to talk about her new book, "8 Wonders of Kansas."  The "8 Wonders of Kansas Guidebook" is a 272-page book filled with over 800 beautiful photos of the 216 entries in the 8 Wonders of Kansas contests. It is certain to become a treasured Kansas classic whether it's used as a coffee table book or as a travel guide.http://www.watermarkbooks.com/event/marci-penner  

Sunday, June 12, 2:00 to 4:00 p.m. W. Dale Horst & Rose Marie Horst will be here to sign their book, "Frederick Stuart Church: A Brush with Imagination"by (Goose Pond Press, ISBN 9780615391052, $79.95) Bringing together all of Church's activities; illustration, painting, etching, and writing, the authors present a comprehensive review of his creative expression that, combined with details of his life provides the basis for a new and fuller appreciation of the man and his art. The completely documented text supported by 256 illustrations (71 in fullcolor) and more than 800 references is the result of 20 years of intensive research by the authors.   

June 16, 17, & 18. Stop by the southwest corner of Douglas and Oliver for the Lincoln Heights Sidewalk Sale!  

For more information about these events, please visit our website here:http://www.watermarkbooks.com/  

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Our Book of the Week is "Dreams of Joy" by Lisa See (Random House, ISBN 9781400067121, originally $26.00)  

In her beloved New York Times bestsellers "Snow Flower and the Secret Fan,""Peony in Love," and, most recently, "Shanghai Girls," Lisa See has brilliantly illuminated the potent bonds of mother love, romantic love, and love of country. Now, in her most powerful novel yet, she returns to these timeless themes, continuing the story of sisters Pearl and May from Shanghai Girls, and Pearl’s strong-willed nineteen-year-old daughter, Joy. 

Reeling from newly uncovered family secrets, and anger at her mother and aunt for keeping them from her, Joy runs away to Shanghai in early 1957 to find her birth father—the artist Z.G. Li, with whom both May and Pearl were once in love. Dazzled by him, and blinded by idealism and defiance, Joy throws herself into the New Society of Red China, heedless of the dangers in the communist regime.  

Devastated by Joy’s flight and terrified for her safety, Pearl is determined to save her daughter, no matter the personal cost. From the crowded city to remote villages, Pearl confronts old demons and almost insurmountable challenges as she follows Joy, hoping for reconciliation. Yet even as Joy’s and Pearl’s separate journeys converge, one of the most tragic episodes in China’s history threatens their very lives. 

Acclaimed for her richly drawn characters and vivid storytelling, Lisa See once again renders a family challenged by tragedy and time, yet ultimately united by the resilience of love. 

Shop here or in the store; this week "Dreams of Joy" is 30% off.

http://www.watermarkbooks.com/book/9781400067121  

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This week's winner of a free lunch from Watermark Café is Holly Dyer of Wichita. Thanks for signing up for News & Notes. 

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First line(s)...  

"I hear it in the produce aisle amid the baby artichokes, one drag queen to another." 

... from "My Ruby Slippers: The Road Back to Kansas" by Tracy Seeley (Bison Books, ISBN 9780803230101, $15.95) 

http://www.watermarkbooks.com/book/9780803230101 

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Watermark Bestsellers.

1. "Eight Wonders of Kansas" by Marci Penner

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

3. "Wichita's Riverside Parks" by James Mason

4. "Birds of Kansas" by Max Thompson

5. "Moon Over Manifest" by Clare Vanderpool

6. "Good to a Fault" by Marina Endicott

7. "Doctor Zhivago" by Boris Pasternak

8. "Doc" by Mary Doria Russell

9. "Major Pettigrew’s Last Stand" by Helen Simonson

10. "Wingshooters" by Nina Revoyr 

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"The Hypnotist" by Lars Kepler and Ann Long (Farrar, Straus & Giroux, ISBN 9780374173951, $27.00, coming June 21, 2011) 

Sure to please fans of Stieg Larsson and Henning Mankell, "The Hypnotist" is the first novel in a series written by a husband and wife. Set in Sweden the novel opens with a triple murder and one survivor--members of the same family have been brutally killed. In addition to the survivor, a young boy, an older sister was not at home during the attack. Detective Investigator Joona Lina demands to investigate the murders. Wanting to save the older sister Lina must find out where she is living. The only person that can help them is the young boy. However, the boy is in no condition to be interrogated. Who ever committed the crimes intended for the boy to die.  

Desperate for information Lina seeks the help of Dr. Erik Maria Bark and hypnosis. Dr Bark, a trauma specialist, has not used hypnosis in ten years and has made a promise not to use this treatment again. As Lina describes the brutality of the crime Dr Bark finds himself wanting to help older sister. Bark makes the decision to use hypnosis--despite his promise. When Dr. Bark breaks his promise and hypnotizes the boy a terrifying chain of events begins. 

"The Hypnotist" is great crime fiction. The plot moved quickly with lots of twists and turns while the characters are well developed and the setting is as cold as the crime. I found "The Hypnotist" to be as addicting as a good episode of Criminal Minds. I enjoyed this big book and find myself anxious for the next in the series.  

Review by Wendy Ward 

http://www.watermarkbooks.com/book/9780374173951 

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“I Think I Love You” by Allison Pearson (Knopf, ISBN 9781400042357, $24.95). 

That song. One glance at the little black 45 on the hot pink cover of the book and I was hooked. Memories flooded in of riding the pep club bus to away games and singing our favorite David Cassidy hit “I Think I Love You”at the very top of our lungs. We were high school girls in the early 70s when Keith Partridge first sang this song on “The Partridge Family” television show, so it wasn’t cool to openly admit to a passion for David…but the fact that we all knew the words to the song and sang it together every week suggests otherwise, doesn’t it? Ah, the memories. 

And that’s what this novel did for me… brought back lots of memories. Pearson captures so well the overwhelming obsession that thirteen-year-old girls can have for an androgynous teen idol. Paul McCartney, David Cassidy, Michael Jackson… right up to Justin Bieber! 

The basic premise of the novel is that two pre-teen Welsh girls are in love with all things Cassidy, and then as thirty-something women, they get the chance to actually meet David in Las Vegas. There’s also a secondary storyline about a young man who works as the feature writer for *The Essential David Cassidy Magazine* and manufactures tidbits of David’s life, such as his likes and dislikes, but hates his job. (I even congratulated myself for remembering that David’s favorite color was brown. How upsetting to learn that was just a made-up detail for the fan mag’s that I, too, had believed to be true!) 

But the novel is not just a nostalgic walk down memory lane. Thirteen-year-old narrator Petra and the twenty-something magazine writer Bill have more in common than just David Cassidy—both are dominated by the opinions of their peers. Pearson does a good job of describing how a girl will sacrifice her own self to the altar of friendship: “You chose the kind of friends you wanted because you hoped you could be like them and not like you. To improve your image, you made yourself more stupid and less kind… The shutting down of some vital part of yourself, just so you could be included… Now among friends, you were often lonelier than you had been before” (136). And Bill as a young adult is still trying to impress those around him, especially his girlfriend who distains pop stars like David Cassidy. He lies to her about interviewing the Stones and Eric Clapton when his real job mostly entails writing fake letters purporting to be from David on the set of *The Partridge Family*. As a wannabe musician, Bill even goes so far as to manufacture an outrageous lie about jamming with David after he confesses to having interviewed him. Bill doesn’t like who he is as the fake David any more than Petra likes her skinny, cello-playing self. So decades later when both travel to Vegas to meet the former pop star, they are also on a journey to try and meet themselves and to discover what became of those young people they once were. 

The idea for this novel began in 2004 when the author was sent to Florida by the London *Daily Telegraph* to interview David who was about to turn fifty-four. A transcript of that interview is included at the conclusion of the novel and is essential reading for his fans (then and now), if for no other reason than to acknowledge that “The David Cassidy" that millions of us loved did not exist, not really; he was a brilliant marketing invention… [however] No girl could ask for a finer teen idol” (318-319). 

[Note: I listened to this book on CD, brilliantly read and performed by actress Sian Thomas whose ability to utilize Welsh, London, and American accents gave an authenticity to the experience. If you’ve never listened to audio books, you really need to come check one out from Watermark’s extensive collection of CD’s which are available for rent at $2.50 per week. We have many loyal listener-renters who began by renting an audio to listen to while on a road trip but who now listen to books on their daily drives. I’ll even help you choose one!] 

Review by Shirley Wells 

http://www.watermarkbooks.com/book/9781400042357  

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Later.

Beth