 The BookMark 220 1st Street Neptune Beach, FL 32266 (904) 241-9026 website: www.bookmarkbeach.com   Hours: Mon. - Wed.: 10am - 7pm
Thurs. - Sat.: 10am - 8pm
Sun.: 11am - 5pm
Your Independent Bookstore by the Sea
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Greetings!
It's hard to believe Halloween is over already. November is full of fun events at The BookMark. It's Southern fiction month. We kick it off with Lee Smith, the author of The Last Girls and On Agate Hill, who is returning with her new novel Guests on Earth. Just days later, Cassandra King will be here to talk about her new book, also set in North Carolina, Moonrise. Then Joshilyn Jackson (bestselling author of Gods in Alabama) visits with her new novel Someone Else's Love Story. I've read and loved all three!
We join small businesses nationwide on November 30 for Small Business Saturday. We invite you to start your holiday shopping season at your locally owned independent bookstore (us). We've also heeded the call of author Sherman Alexie who challenged authors to volunteer at their local bookstore on that Saturday. We will have authors here all day to sign their books and to recommend books. Laura Lee Smith (Heart of Palm), Dorothy Fletcher (Lost Restaurants of Jacksonville), and Annette Simon (Robot Zombie Frankenstein!) will join us to celebrate the day. You won't want to miss this.
In December, James W. Hall returns with a new Thorn mystery (Going Dark), and professional sailor John Kretschmer will regale us with tales of sailing adventures (Sailing a Serious Ocean).
Please note that our fiction book clubs will meet early in November. We've scheduled these discussions for Wednesday, November 20 in order to avoid conflicts with all the holiday festivities.
As always, we invite you to let us help you select the perfect book for you and/or others on your gift giving list. (Chanukah is really early this year!) We look forward to seeing you soon.
Rona
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Upcoming Events
Lee Smith, Guests on Earth (Algonquin), Tuesday, November 12, 7 pm
It's  1936 when orphaned thirteen-year-old Evalina Toussaint is admitted to Highland Hospital in Asheville, North Carolina, a mental institution known for its innovative treatments for nervous disorders and addictions. Taken under the wing of the hospital's most notable patient, Zelda Fitzgerald, Evalina witnesses the cascading events leading up to the tragic fire of 1948 that killed nine women in a locked ward, Zelda among them. Author Lee Smith has created, through her artful blending of fiction and fact, a mesmerizing novel about a world apart a time and a place where creativity and passion, theory and medicine, tragedy and transformation, are luminously intertwined. Lee Smith is the bestselling author of Last Girls, Fair and Tender Ladies, On Agate Hill, among others.
Cassandra King, Moonrise (Maiden Lane), Thursday, November 14, 7 pm
Moonrise is a novel of dark secrets and second chances, the best novel yet from the New York Times' bestselling author of The Sunday Wife and
The Same Sweet Girls. When Helen Honeycutt falls in love with a man who has recently lost his wife in a tragic accident, their sudden marriage creates a rift between her new husband and his circle of friends, who resent her intrusion into their circle. When the newlyweds join them for a summer at Moonrise, his late wife's family home in the beautiful Blue Ridge Mountains, it soon becomes clear that someone is trying to drive her away, in this writer's homage to Rebecca, by Daphne du Maurier.
Proud husband Pat Conroy writes "To write about your own wife's novel should cause shame to any serious writer, but I find that I can do it with pleasure and a strong sense of pride... When Sandra hands me a completed chapter or leaves it on my pillow to read, an immense joy fills me because Sandra always hands me a complete world to cast myself adrift in..."
Joshilyn Jackson, Someone Else's Love Story (William Morrow & Co), Saturday, November 23, 7 pm
The bestselling author of Gods in Alabama delivers another novel that "perfectly  captures the flavor and rhythm of Southern life." At twenty-one, Shandi Pierce is juggling finishing college, raising her three-year-old genius son, and keeping the peace between her eternally warring parents. She's got enough complications without being caught in the middle of a stick-up in a gas station and falling in love with the man who saves her and her son from the armed robber. Together, the two meet their so-called destinies head on, making choices that will reveal unexpected truths about love, life, and the world they think they know. Kirkus Review says Someone Else's Love Story is "a surprising novel, both graceful and tender. You won't be able to put it down."
Small Business/Indie Saturday, Saturday, November 30 All Day!
In a letter to fellow authors, Sherman Alexie is urging all authors to handsell their books at their local independent bookstore on Small Business Saturday (November 30, the Saturday after Thanksgiving), one of the busiest days of the year for all retailers. On that day, which he's calling Indies First, he wrote, "We book nerds will become booksellers. We will make recommendations. We will practice nepotism and urge readers to buy multiple copies of our friends' books. Maybe you'll sign and sell books of your own in the process. I think the collective results could be mind-boggling (maybe even world-changing)."
A number of authors have heeded the call and will be on hand the Saturday after Thanksgiving. This is another great opportunity to find our what they recommend and to get a signed book for a gift. Here are those we have scheduled:
Laura Lee Smith, "Heart of Palm" 10 am - 2 pm 
Smith combines a down-at-the heels town about to be swept up in the tide of development with a dysfunctional and unforgettable family at its center to create a Southern story in our own backyard.
Dorothy Fletcher, "The Lost Restaurants of Jacksonville" 11 am - 3 pm
Favorite local author Dorothy Fletcher (author of Remembering Jacksonville and Growing Up Jacksonville) returns with her new book
The Lost Restaurants of Jacksonville. The city of Jacksonville has long enjoyed a wondrous array of restaurants with fine cuisine and unique atmospheres. Some of the greatest of those now exist only in memory. Le Chateau, with its elegant patio and seascapes, was a beacon of fine dining. The Rainbow Room at the George Washington Hotel offered a crowded dance floor with its dinner experience. The Green Derby was the hub of passion for fans of Florida and Georgia during one of the fiercest rivalries in college football.
 Annette Simon, "Robot Zombie Frankenstein" 3 pm - 8 pm
This madcap mash-up will delight anyone who's ever played a game of one-upsmanship only to find that having a buddy trumps just about anything (except, maybe, cherry pie). Get ready for Simon's next installment Robot Burp Head Smartypants! coming in February).
November 30 is also the day designated as "Small Business Saturday" by American Express. To encourage shoppers to kick off their holiday shopping at their locally owned small business, American Express invites cardholders to sign up and use their card in these stores (including The BookMark).
John Kretschmer, Sailing a Serious Ocean: Sailboats, Storms, Stories and Lessons from 30 Years at Sea (McGraw Hill), Monday, December 2, 7 pm
John Krestschmer is a professional sailor and writer who has logged more than  300,000 offshore sailing miles, including 20 transatlantic and two transpacific passages. In this latest book, he uses his experiences and stories to show what you will need to cross an ocean or go around the world, in fair weather or foul. His true accounts of storms and other challenges at sea make exciting reading and show not only how sailboats should be handled when the chips are down, but how you should handle yourself. Kretschmer is the author of several other books, including At the Mercy of the Sea. Whether you're a sailor, a wannabe sailor, or an armchair adventurer, this book will intrigue and inform.
James W. Hall, "Going Dark" (Minotaur Books), Monday, December 9, 7 pm
In Edgar Award winner Hall's 13th Thorn thriller, this loner is forced to leave his  leisurely life to extricate his grown son Flynn Moss (whose existence he only recently became aware of) from the Earth Liberation Front, a group of ecological terrorists who are planning to shut down a nearby power plant. Although he's sympathetic to the group's cause, Thorn isn't sure he trusts them. "Hall shifts among...skillfully drawn characters, each uncertain of which ends justify extreme means, as the action races toward a literally explosive climax at the nuclear plant. The result is both thoughtful and white-knuckle tense."
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Recent Events
 Tracy and Ross Alloway gave a wonderful presentation about working memory and how it can be enhanced. It's not just a matter of solving crossword puzzles, for example--if you keep doing them, you will get better at them but that may not translate into skills in other areas of your life. Instead, you might consider learning something new. The Working Memory Advantage provides some ideas and a greater understanding of how the brain can be exercised. The morning book club asked that Thomas Van Essen, the author of The Center of the World come so they could ask him some questions about his book. They and  other book clubs and interested readers got the opportunity. Since the book is about a painting that deeply affected people over centuries and is later discovered, the author talked about the fantasy of finding such a gem in your garage or attic. He also encouraged readers to remember the piece of art that most affected them. And while he did do a fair amount of research, he warned writers that too much research can be restrictive, forcing the fiction writer to become a slave to the facts. Those who read the book got their questions answered, and those who hadn't got their appetites whetted. The Beaches Town Center annual Halloween parade drew an even larger crowd than  years past. It seemed like the costumes just kept coming. There were super heroes, princesses, animals, and even an entire family from Duck Commander (happy...happy...happy). Of course, some of our favorites were characters from books--Ladybug Girl was very popular, and one early shopper charmed us with his "Llama Llama Red Pajama" costume.
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Staff Picks
Rona recommends ...
The Novel Cure: From Abandonment to Zestlessness: 751 Books to Cure What Ails You, by Ella Berthoud and Susan Elderkin (Penguin Press)
I always knew that reading a good book would make anyone feel better. This book takes that general idea to a whole new level by "prescribing" the perfect book to cure a specific ailment. One obvious example...to treat "lying", the authors recommend Ian McEwan's "Atonement." There are also recommended lists for "The Ten Best Novels to Read in the Hospital" or "For After a Nightmare".
Snow Hunters, by Paul Yoon (Simon and Schuster) 
Yoon's tiny tome is a quiet journey with Yohan, a man who leaves Korea at the end of the Korean War and settles in Brazil. Here he strives not only to build a new life, but to connect with people in his new homeland. This is a story of hope, the desire to begin again, and the possibilities that can appear slowly if given time and the opportunity to emerge. It's one of those books that sneaks up on you and then sticks with you long after you finish.
Virginia recommends...
We Are Water, by Wally Lamb (Harper)
In this ambitious novel, Lamb tells the many stories of the Oh family. Middle-aged  artist Annie Oh has left her husband after 27 years to be with the successful female art dealer who has championed her career. Ex-husband Orion is struggling to accept Annie's choice and find a way forward as he leaves his career at a local university. Their three outwardly successful children exhibit an array of "symptoms" from being raised by two functional but profoundly unhappy parents. Underlying all of this is the mystery of what really happened to an African American craftsman who once lived on the Oh's property. Lamb guides his characters through the darkness of confusion, loss, tragedy, and cruelty and finds a way for them to emerge into the light of compassion and meaning in their lives.
Transatlantic, by Colum McCann (Random House)
 McCann uses three distinct, actual events and their central players to illuminate fascinating transatlantic connections between Canada, the United States, and Ireland. In this book, I learned about the first non-stop flight across the Atlantic Ocean by Brits John Alcock and Arthur Brown in 1919, Abolitionist Frederick Douglas' lecture tour to Dublin in 1845, and former Senator George Mitchell's diplomatic efforts in 1998 to bring peace to Northern Ireland. Discovering the connection among all of these events and the lives of four related women shows us the surprising ways that places, times, and people are woven together in the fabric of history.
Kids' Picks... Annette recommends ...
Sophie's Squash, by Pat Zietlow Miller and Anne Wilsdorf (Schwartz & Wade Books)
On a trip with her parents to the farmer's market, Sophie finds a friend--a squash she names Bernice. All fall, Sophie takes her new best bud everywhere. But winter is coming, and the squash is beginning to look a bit spotty. What can Sophie do to help her pal?
The Silver Button, by Bob Graham (Candlewick Press)
As Julie puts the finishing touches on her drawing of a duck, her little brother takes his first step. That same moment, a blackbird finds a worm, a jogger huffs down the road, a soldier hugs his mother, a baby is born. Gentle prose and watercolors take readers out to the world and back home again, leaving a lovely reminder -- something magical happens every minute.
Battle Bunny, by Jon Scieszka, Mac Barnett, and Matthew Myers (Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers)
Alex's grandmother has given him a sweet, old book about a birthday bunny. With a pencil and some imagination, however, Alex makes the story his own and turns the sappy, floppy-eared critter into a forest super villain. Readers ages 6 and up will laugh out loud at Alex's revisions, while the layered, original artwork may inspire them to create their own story makeovers.
Counting by 7s, by Holly Goldberg Sloan (Dial Books)
 Twelve-year-old Willow Chance is both a misfit and a genius. She has no real friends, no siblings, and no extended family, but she has an aptitude for cultivating plants , a fascination for all things medical, and a need for routine. When her parents die in a car crash, grieving Willow knows she must figure out how to cope. But how? Chapters alternate characters' points-of-view, and Willow scientifically and unsentimentally narrates her own. Readers ages 10+ will be charmed by her fresh voice, and see anew the meaning -- and definition -- of family.
P.S. Don't forget...the new Diary of a Wimpy Kid (Hard Luck) will be available on Tuesday, November 5. Call to reserve your copy!
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Inside the Book Business
You may remember World Book Night (WBN) from last April.
To refresh your memory, World Book Night is an annual celebration dedicated to spreading the  love of reading, person to person. Each year on April 23, tens of thousands of people go out into their communities and give half a million free World Book Night paperbacks to light and non-readers. It's about giving books and encouraging reading in those who don't regularly do so. But it is also about more than that: It's about people, communities and connections, about reaching out to others and touching lives in the simplest of ways-through the sharing of stories.
While April is still months away (with lots of holidays in between), the committee for WBN just announced the 35 titles chosen for distribution in 2014. Here's the list:
The Zookeeper's Wife by Diane Ackerman ... Kitchen Confidential by Anthony Bourdain ... The Weird Sisters by Eleanor Brown ... The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky ... After the Funeral by Agatha Christie ... The Ruins of Gorlan: The Ranger's Apprentice, Book 1 by John Flanagan ... Hotel at the Corner of Bitter and Sweet by Jamie Ford ... Hotel at the Corner of Bitter and Sweet (Large Print edition) by Jamie Ford ... The Lighthouse Road by Peter Geye ... The Tipping Point by Malcolm Gladwell ... Wait Till Next Year by Doris Kearns Goodwin ... Catch-22 by Joseph Heller ... The Dog Stars by Peter Heller ... Hoot by Carl Hiaasen ... Pontoon by Garrison Keillor ... Same Difference by Derek Kirk Kim ... Enchanted by Alethea Kontis ... Miss Darcy Falls in Love by Sharon Lathan ... Bobcat and Other Stories by Rebecca Lee ... Young Men and Fire by Norman Maclean ... Tales of the City by Armistead Maupin ... Waiting to Exhale by Terry McMillan ... Sunrise Over Fallujah by Walter Dean Myers ... Bridge to Terabithia by Katherine Paterson ... The Botany of Desire by Michael Pollan ... Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs ... When I was Puerto Rican by Esmeralda Santiago ... Cuando Era Puertorriqueña by Esmeralda Santiago ... Where'd You Go, Bernadette by Maria Semple ... Where'd You Go, Bernadette (Large Print edition) by Maria Semple ... Wild by Cheryl Strayed ... Presumed Innocent by Scott Turow ... Code Name Verity by Elizabeth Wein ... This Boy's Life by Tobias Wolff ... 100 Best-Loved Poems edited by Philip Smith
Think what fun it would be to chose one of these titles to give away on April 23, along with people all over the country. For more information on how to be a giver, visit World Book Night Giver Information. The BookMark is a distribution location, so you can pick up your books here.
I continue to share some of my random thoughts and reading ideas on Facebook and Twitter. Thanks to those of you who "Like" us and "Follow" us. Since one never has enough people who "like" them and "follow" them, we invite you to join in.
 
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Book Club Discussions
Book Club Notes
 The morning fiction book club met the day before Halloween to discuss Lillian & Dash. We were all intrigued by the time period spanned WW I, the Spanish War, WW II, the McCarthy era, and more. The love story of these two famous writers--Lillian Hellman and Dashiell Hammett raised questions of what constitutes love and why the two were so drawn to each other for such a long time. Given the nature of this historical novel, the discussion centered more on the people and events than on the book itself. Several members were intrigued enough to watch "The Maltese Falcon" and "The Children's Hour" to get a taste of these two writers.
Members of the evening fiction book club had a lively discussion of their reactions to  Thomas Van Essen's The Center of the World. They found it a fascinating book and one which raised many questions. Among the questions were "What is the power of true art?", "Who really "owns" art, or who should "own" it?", and "How can the human drive to "possess" a work of art corrupt it's inspirational beauty?" (Also, on a different plane, "What happened to Gina?") Many participants had also attended the author's presentation at The Bookmark prior to our discussion and felt that deepened their understanding and appreciation of the book. We also had a fine time enjoying a variety of Halloween treats!
Rounding the Horn: Being a Story of Williwaws and Windjammers, Drake, Darwin, Murdered Missionaries and Naked Natives -- a Deck's-Eye View of Cape Horn,  by Dallas Murphy was a hit among members of the non-fiction book club. Murphy's mixture of history, travelogue and nautical adventure was considered a success (scored 4.5 out of 5). Readers noted that there were really two stories going on simultaneously. One involved Murphy's excellent command of history and ability to weave it into a interesting story, and the other was his discussion of the trip around the horn which would have been helped with a glossary of nautical terms.
Future Book Club Selections
The morning fiction group chose Lee Smith's The Last Girls for November. The New York Times raves about this book..."Rich, personal, charming, and compassionate . . . Using the premise that both a reunion and a riverboat provide  good lookouts on the past, she details the passing terrain as she details each woman's emotional history, from child to adult, from dates to love affairs, from silly shenanigans to tragic accidents. And what details! The book is filled with memorable scenes. . . . Smith adds a purely feminine, deeply southern twist to the Mark Twain tradition of humor and precision applied generously to the subject of human weakness." To avoid conflicts with Thanksgiving and December festivities, the group decided to meet on Wednesday, November 20
to talk about the book and celebrate the holidays early. This means members can hear Lee Smith on Tuesday, November 12 prior to the book club meeting. Please note the meeting will be at 11:00 am and participants are invited to bring food for a group lunch/brunch.
 The evening fiction book club chose Ian McEwan's Sweet Tooth for November. This is McEwan (author of Atonement) at his best, dealing with the Cold War, MI6, and writers in a story that encompasses love, mystery, and betrayal. This group will also meet on November 20 (at 7 pm) to avoid conflict with holiday plans. Members even planned ahead for the new year and selected Peter Heller's Dog Stars for January 29.
The non-fiction book club chose King Leopold's Ghost: A Story of Greed, Terror, and Heroism in Colonial Africa, by Adam Hochschild (Houghton Mifflin Company). At the turn of the century, as the European powers were carving
 up Africa, King Leopold II of Belgium carried out a brutal plundering of the territory surrounding the Congo River. Ultimately slashing the area's population by ten million, he still managed to shrewdly cultivate his reputation as a great humanitarian. This book is the account of a megalomaniac of monstrous proportions and the rebel leaders who fought against him. This group will meet on Wednesday, November 13 at 7 pm.
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Unable to attend any of these events? Call us at 241-9026 and we will reserve a copy for you.
Did you know...For every $100 spent in an independent business, $73 stays in the community, compared to only $43 for a national chain. None of the money spent online stays in the community. Shopping locally makes good sense for you and good cents for your local economy. |
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