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Rainy Day Books
Rainy Day Books is located in
The Fairway Shops
2706 W 53rd Street
Fairway, Kansas 66205-1705
Phone: 913-384-3126

Store Hours:
Mon/Tue/Wed/Thu/Fri 10 to 6 and Saturdays 10 to 5
Sundays we are Home with our families and friends when we read and rest!

In This Newsletter
Monday, February 11: Dine with Bobby Deen, Food Network Star!
Tuesday, February 12: Find peace and Quiet with Susan Cain!
Great New Books arriving this Week!
HERE THEY COME!
Our world-famous Author Events Calendar!

Bobby Deen, Dinner, Monday, February 11

 

Susan Cain, Tuesday, February 12

 

Tim Dorsey, Monday, February 18

 

Ernest Freeberg, Tuesday, March 12

 

Richard Ford, Thursday, March 07 

 

Jenny Lawson, AKA, The Bloggess, Thursday, March 21

 

Anne Lamott, Thursday, April 04

 

M.L. Stedman, Tuesday, April 09

 

Cheryl Strayed, Tuesday, April 23

 

Michael Pollan, Friday, May 10

 

Rick Atkinson, Monday, May 20

 

Jennie Fields, Thursday, June 06

Volume 622                   February 11, 2013

Greetings! ,  

 

John W. Dean and Vivien Jennings  

Often in our business, we work with people who step right out of the pages of History.  This past Friday, we enjoyed the distinct honor and pleasure of working with major Watergate history maker John W. Dean at an all day seminar with the Kansas Bar Association.  John spoke about his historic experiences and his Bestselling Book The Rehnquist Choice: The Untold Story of the Nixon Appointment That Redefined the Supreme Court.  We have his Author Autographed Softcover Books available for Purchase and Global Shipping.

 

Read carefully to be well informed and wise, 

 

Vivien & Roger 

This Valentine's Week, Today, Monday, February 11:  Dine with Bobby Deen!  Join the Food Network Star and Author of the New Book From Mama's Table to Mine: Everybody's Favorite Comfort Foods at 350 Calories or Less.

Bobby Deen Event 

Bobby Deen, Food Network Star, will co-host a healthy low calorie Dinner celebrating the Publication of his New Cookbook From Mama's Table to Mine: Everybody's Favorite Comfort Foods at 350 Calories or Less.

 

From the Cover of People Magazine and TV News Magazines, Bobby Deen, Food Network Star comes to Rainy Day Books and Seasons 52 Fresh | Grill on The Country Club Plaza 

on Monday, February 11, 2013 at 6:30 PM.  This will make a great Valentine's Week Dinner Date!  This Dinner will SELL OUT!  Admission Package:  $60.00 per Person, including Dinner and an Author Autographed Softcover. 

 

Admission Reservations:  Call Seasons 52 at 816-531-0052 

 

Co-Sponsored by Rainy Day Books and Seasons 52.

 

Order an Author Autographed Softcover here! 

 

Read full Author Event details on our Website. 

Tomorrow, Tuesday, February 12:  Susan Cain will present her Bestselling Book Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can't Stop Talking.

Susan Cain 

Susan Cain will present her Bestselling Book Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can't Stop Talking on Tuesday, February 12, 2013 at 7:00 PM at Unity Temple on The Plaza, Sanctuary.  Admission Package:  $16.00

 

Are you committed to achieving your New Year's resolutions?  Watch Susan Cain discuss the power of introverts at TED. 

 

Read full Author Event details on our Website. 

Great New Books arrive on our shelves every Tuesday!  Be the first to discover something new and wonderful!

The Night Ranger

The Night Ranger

Alex Berenson

Putnam Adult

 

Four friends, recent college graduates, travel to Kenya to work at a giant refugee camp for Somalis. Two men, two women, each with their own reasons for being there. But after twelve weeks, they're ready for a break and pile into a Land Cruiser for an adventure. They get more than they bargained for. Bandits hijack them. They wake up in a hut, hooded, bound, no food or water. Hostages. As a personal favor, John Wells is asked to try to find them, but he does so reluctantly. East Africa isn't his usual playing field. And when he arrives, he finds that the truth behind the kidnappings is far more complex than he imagined. The clock is ticking. The White House is edging closer to an invasion of Somalia. Wells has a unique ability to go undercover, and to make things happen, but if he can't find the hostages soon, they'll be dead - and the U.S. may be in a war it never should have begun.

 

 

Vampires in the Lemon Grove: Stories

Vampires in the Lemon Grove: Stories

Karen Russell

Knopf

 

From the author of the New York Times best seller Swamplandia!-a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize-a magical new collection of stories that showcases Karen Russell's gifts at their inimitable best. A dejected teenager discovers that the universe is communicating with him through talismanic objects left behind in a seagull's nest. A community of girls held captive in a silk factory slowly transmute into human silkworms, spinning delicate threads from their own bellies, and escape by seizing the means of production for their own revolutionary ends. A massage therapist discovers she has the power to heal by manipulating the tattoos on a war veteran's lower torso. When a group of boys stumble upon a mutilated scarecrow bearing an uncanny resemblance to the missing classmate they used to torment, an ordinary tale of high school bullying becomes a sinister fantasy of guilt and atonement. In a family's disastrous quest for land in the American West, the monster is the human hunger for acquisition, and the victim is all we hold dear. And in the collection's marvelous title story-an unforgettable parable of addiction and appetite, mortal terror and mortal love-two vampires in a sun-drenched lemon grove try helplessly to slake their thirst for blood.

 

 

Above All Things

Above All Things

Tanis Rideout

Amy Einhorn Books/Putnam

 

"Tell me the story of Everest," she said, a fervent smile sweeping across her face, creasing the corners of her eyes. "Tell me about this mountain that's stealing you away from me." In 1924 George Mallory departs on his third expedition to reach the summit of Mount Everest. Left behind in Cambridge, George's young wife, Ruth, along with the rest of a war-ravaged England, anticipates news they hope will reclaim some of the empire's faded glory. Through alternating narratives, what emerges is a beautifully rendered story of love torn apart by obsession and the need for redemption.

 

Hit Me

Hit Me

Lawrence Block

Mulholland Books

 

A man named Nicholas Edwards lives in New Orleans renovating houses, doing honest work and making decent money at it. Between his family and his stamp collection, all his spare time is happily accounted for. Sometimes it's hard to remember that he used to kill people for a living. But when the nation's economy tanks, taking the construction business with it, all it takes is one phone call to drag him back into the game. It may say Nicholas Edwards on his driver's license and credit cards, but he's back to being the man he always was: Keller. Keller's work takes him to New York, the former home he hasn't dared revisit, where his target is the abbot of a midtown monastery. Another call puts him on a West Indies cruise, with several interesting fellow passengers-the government witness, the incandescent young woman keeping the witness company, and, sharing Keller's cabin, his wife, Julia. But the high drama comes in Cheyenne, where a recent widow is looking to sell her husband's stamp collection.

 

Ghostman

Ghostman

Roger Hobbs

Knopf

 

When a casino robbery in Atlantic City goes horribly awry, the man who orchestrated it is obliged to call in a favor from someone who's occasionally called Jack. While it's doubtful that anyone knows his actual name or anything at all about his true identity, or even if he's still alive, he's in his mid-thirties and lives completely off the grid, a criminal's criminal who does entirely as he pleases and is almost impossible to get in touch with. But within hours a private jet is flying this exceptionally experienced fixer and cleaner-upper from Seattle to New Jersey and right into a spectacular mess: one heister dead in the parking lot, another winged but on the run, the shooter a complete mystery, the $1.2 million in freshly printed bills god knows where and the FBI already waiting for Jack at the airport, to be joined shortly by other extremely interested and elusive parties. He has only forty-eight hours until the twice-stolen cash literally explodes, taking with it the wider, byzantine ambitions behind the theft. To contend with all this will require every gram of his skill, ingenuity and self-protective instincts, especially when offense and defense soon become meaningless terms. And as he maneuvers these exceedingly slippery slopes, he relives the botched bank robbery in Kuala Lumpur five years earlier that has now landed him this unwanted new assignment.

 

A Week in Winter

A Week in Winter

Maeve Binchy

Knopf

 

Stoneybridge is a small town on the west coast of Ireland where all the families know one another. When Chicky Starr decides to take an old, decaying mansion set high on the cliffs overlooking the windswept Atlantic Ocean and turn it into a restful place for a holiday by the sea, everyone thinks she is crazy. Helped by Rigger (a bad boy turned good who is handy around the house) and Orla, her niece (a whiz at business), Chicky is finally ready to welcome the first guests to Stone House's big warm kitchen, log fires, and understated elegant bedrooms. John, the American movie star, thinks he has arrived incognito; Winnie and Lillian are forced into taking a holiday together; Nicola and Henry, husband and wife, have been shaken by seeing too much death practicing medicine; Anders hates his father's business, but has a real talent for music; Miss Nell Howe, a retired schoolteacher, criticizes everything and leaves a day early, much to everyone's relief; the Walls are disappointed to have won this second-prize holiday in a contest where first prize was Paris; and Freda, the librarian, is afraid of her own psychic visions. Sharing a week with this unlikely cast of characters is pure joy, full of Maeve Binchy's trademark warmth and humor.

 

Coolidge

Coolidge

Amity Shlaes

Harper

 

Amity Shlaes, author of The Forgotten Man, delivers a brilliant and provocative reexamination of America's thirtieth president, Calvin Coolidge, and the decade of unparalleled growth that the nation enjoyed under his leadership. In this riveting biography, Shlaes traces Coolidge's improbable rise from a tiny town in New England to a youth so unpopular he was shut out of college fraternities at Amherst College up through Massachusetts politics. After a divisive period of government excess and corruption, Coolidge restored national trust in Washington and achieved what few other peacetime presidents have: He left office with a federal budget smaller than the one he inherited. A man of calm discipline, he lived by example, renting half of a two-family house for his entire political career rather than compromise his political work by taking on debt. Renowned as a throwback, Coolidge was in fact strikingly modern-an advocate of women's suffrage and a radio pioneer. At once a revision of man and economics, Coolidge gestures to the country we once were and reminds us of qualities we had forgotten and can use today.

 

Banksy: The Man Behind the Wall

Banksy: The Man Behind the Wall

Will Ellsworth-Jones

St. Martin's Press

 

While hiding from the limelight, Banksy has made himself into one of the world's best-known living artists. His pieces have fetched millions of dollars at prestigious auction houses. He was nominated for an Academy Award for his film Exit Through the Gift Shop. Once viewed as vandalism, his work is now venerated; fans have gone so far as to dismantle the walls that he has painted on for collection and sale. But as famous as Banksy is, he is also utterly unknown-he conceals his real name, hides his face, distorts his voice, and reveals his identity to only a select few. Who is this man that has captivated millions? How did a graffiti artist from Bristol, England, find himself at the center of an artistic movement? How has someone who goes to such great lengths to keep himself hidden achieved such great notoriety? And is his anonymity a necessity to continue his vandalism-or a marketing tool to make him ever more famous? Now, in the first ever full-scale investigation of the artist, reporter Will Ellsworth-Jones pieces together the story of Banksy, building up a picture of the man and the world in which he operates. He talks to his friends and enemies, those who knew him in his early, unnoticed days, and those who have watched him try to come to terms with his newfound fame and success. And he explores the contradictions of a champion of renegade art going to greater and greater lengths to control his image and his work.

 

Nigellissima: Easy Italian-Inspired Recipes

Nigellissima: Easy Italian-Inspired Recipes

Nigella Lawson

Clarkson Potter

 

"It was when I was sixteen or seventeen that I decided to be Italian. Not that it was a conscious decision . . . No: I simply felt drawn to Italy," writes Nigella. And so it was that before she was a Food Network star and bestselling cookbook author, Nigella found her way to Florence, where she learned to cook like an Italian. Indeed, Italian cooking is trademark Nigella: light on touch but robust with flavor. With beautiful color photographs to inspire, Nigellissima has all the hallmarks of traditional Italian fare in its faithfulness to the freshest ingredients and simplest methods. From pasta and meat to fish, vegetables, and, of course, dolci, this cook's tour has something for every mood, season, and occasion: Curly-Edged Pasta with Lamb Ragu is the perfect salve for a winter's night, while tangy and light Spaghettini with Lemon and Garlic Breadcrumbs takes just minutes to prepare. Meatzza, the favorite at Nigella's table, is a meatball mixture pressed into a pan and finished with traditional Margherita ingredients-or whatever you may have on hand. And the versatile Baby Eggplant with Oregano and Red Onion works beautifully as a starter or side or as dinner sprinkled with ricotta salata or crumbled feta. Here, too, are Green Beans with Pistachio Pesto, Roast Butternut with Sage and Pine Nuts, and fluffy Mascarpone Mash, Nigella's twist on mashed potatoes. Never an afterthought, Nigella's low-maintenance "sweet things" include Instant Chocolate-Orange Mousse; light, doughnut-like Sambuca Kisses; and One-Step No-Churn Coffee Ice Cream, to name just a few. Nigella believes that every ingredient must earn its place in a recipe, and she gives tips and techniques for making the most of your time in the kitchen. For example, a stash of sweet vermouth saves you from opening a bottle when you need just a splash. If a recipe calls for the juice of a lemon, Nigella uses the zest, too-that's where its force and fragrance lie. She guides you to stocking your pantry with a few supermarket ingredients and shows you how to make the most of them for spontaneous meals that taste boldly Italian.

 

Out of The Easy

Out of The Easy

Ruta Sepetys

Philomel

 

It's 1950, and as the French Quarter of New Orleans simmers with secrets, seventeen-year-old Josie Moraine is silently stirring a pot of her own. Known among locals as the daughter of a brothel prostitute, Josie wants more out of life than the Big Easy has to offer. She devises a plan get out, but a mysterious death in the Quarter leaves Josie tangled in an investigation that will challenge her allegiance to her mother, her conscience, and Willie Woodley, the brusque madam on Conti Street. Josie is caught between the dream of an elite college and a clandestine underworld. New Orleans lures her in her quest for truth, dangling temptation at every turn, and escalating to the ultimate test.

 

Beholding Bee

Beholding Bee

Kimberly Newton Fusco

Knopf Books for Young Readers

 

Bee is an orphan who lives with a carnival and sleeps in the back of a tractor trailer. Every day she endures taunts for the birthmark on her face-though her beloved Pauline, the only person who has ever cared for her, tells her it is a precious diamond. When Pauline is sent to work for another carnival, Bee is lost. Then a scruffy dog shows up, as unwanted as she, and Bee realizes that she must find a home for them both. She runs off to a house with gingerbread trim that reminds her of frosting. There two mysterious women, Mrs. Swift and Mrs. Potter, take her in. They clothe her, though their clothes are strangely out of date. They feed her, though there is nothing in their house to eat. They help her go to school, though they won't enter the building themselves. And, strangely, only Bee seems able to see them. Whoever these women are, they matter. They matter to Bee. And they are helping Bee realize that she, too, matters to the world--if only she will let herself be a part of it.

 


Thank You for supporting Your Community Bookseller, Rainy Day Books!

Since 1975, we have pursued our Legacy of Literacy: 38 years of helping match readers to great books, bringing famous and soon-to-be-famous names to Kansas City, and enjoying the excitement of sharing so many experiences.

 

Take the time to tell someone new about Rainy Day Books.  Each book that you purchase at Rainy Day Books makes Rainy Day Books a place authors ask to visit, a vibrant part of Kansas City's arts community, and a bookstore where people love books enough to talk about them all day long.  Please encourage your fellow readers to sign up for this E-Newsletter.  We have an exciting schedule of upcoming Author Events, and this is the first place to hear about them!  We also take Orders for Author Autographed Books, so your friends far and wide can share in the experience.

 

Rainy Day Books is located in The Fairway Shops, at the intersection of Shawnee Mission Parkway and Belinder Road.  Our address is 2706 W 53rd Street, Fairway, Kansas (KS) 66205.

 

Get directions to Rainy Day Books and our Event venues by clicking here. 

 

Store Hours:  Mon/Tue/Wed/Thu/Fri 10 AM to 6 PM, Sat 10 AM to 5 PM, and Sundays we read, rest and enjoy our families and friends.

 

When you shop at Rainy Day Books you're a part of our Legacy of Literacy for Kansas City.  We provide full service, knowledgeable recommendations and priceless Author Event experiences, all at a fair price.  To our customers, 

thank you for your support. 

 

We look forward to seeing you soon!

 

Vivien Jennings & Roger Doeren  


Vivien, Roger, and all of your friends at Rainy Day Books