Happy 2008! We hope you've had a wonderful holiday filled with family and rest and fun and BOOKS! And now we hope you are involved in work you love and have found time to set apart for yourself.
Featured this month are two new coffee table books and two new Sarah Paretsky ones. What? You didn't know Sarah Paretsky was from Kansas? Well, she is - even though most people think she is from Chicago. She does live in Chicago now, but her roots are buried deep in Kansas. These two new books are strongly based on those roots and will be especially enjoyable to fans who know Kansas.
First the coffee table books:
"The Prairie Table Cookbook" by Bill Kurtis ~ $29.95 ~ Hardcover ~ #210495
"The Prairie Table Cookbook" provides both a fascinating history book and functional cookbook of great tasting recipes
Tallgrass Beef represents a return to classic ranching: grass-fed, grass-finished cattle that produce meat that consistently tastes better and is better for you than grain-fed modern methods realize. Statistics show that demand for organic and natural food is increasing 20 percent per year, and Tallgrass itself is growing 20 percent each month.
The Prairie Table Cookbook will immerse readers in the cowboys’ world, with anecdotes, letters and photographs from the heyday of the Kansas cattle trade. Historical recipes from the trail sit next to their modern equivalents, using Tallgrass Beef. Celebrity chefs, such as Rick Bayless of Frontera Grill, supply their favorite recipes and insights about the grass-fed beef movement.
Kansan Bill Kurtis, as many of you may know, has been in television journalism for over 30 years, on CBS and A&E as well as at the anchor desk at WBBM-TV Chicago. Currently, Bill’s creative efforts are focused on Kurtis Productions, Ltd, and he has become one of the country’s foremost producers of documentaries for television. In 2005 Bill founded the Tallgrass Beef Company devoted to grass-fed cattle ranching.
Co-author, Michelle M. Martin, is an instructor, photographer and founder of Discovering History, LLC, devoted to preserving the past through living history, research, public speaking, photography and videography.
Obviously this book is authoritatively written and also quite beautiful. A picture of the cover is posted on our web site: bookkansas.com
Another coffee table book that will be of particular interest to Kansans is "Storm Chaser: A Photographer’s Journal" by Jim Reed ~ $35.00 ~ Hardcover ~ #993921
Jim Reed is recognized as one of the world's most accomplished weather photographers for his one-of-a-kind images of America's changing climate. A veteran full-time storm chaser, Jim has spent nearly two decades documenting almost every type of meteorological phenomena -- including tornadoes, blizzards, electrical storms and floods. He has documented 15 hurricanes, including Hurricane Katrina -- the costliest tropical cyclone ever to strike the United States. In 2004, he penetrated the eye of all four major hurricanes to strike Florida.
Jim's approach to weather photography has been singled out as one of the most unique and interpretive amongst photographers today. He has appeared live on every major American television network to discuss severe weather, storm chasing and global warming.
Jim has co-authored the best-seller "Hurricane Katrina: Through the Eyes of Storm Chasers" (Farcountry Press; with Mike Theiss), and "The Wonders of Weather" (Farcountry Press).
Jim currently lives in Wichita, Kansas. A picture of his book cover is also posted on our web site.
Sarah Paretsky's new titles include one novel and one book exploring the political aspects of writing in the current atmosphere of fear and terrorism. The novel is set in Kansas and the other book is firmly rooted in the values instilled in her youth and childhood in Kansas.
"Bleeding Kansas" by Sara Paretsky ~ $25.95 ~ Hardcover ~ #154058
A Novel set in the Kaw River Valley where Paretsky grew up, "Bleeding Kansas" is the story of the Schapens and the Grelliers, two farm families whose histories have been entwined since the 1850s, when their ancestors settled the valley as antislavery emigrants.
Today, the Schapen family, terrified by the lawlessness of the 1970s - when Lawrence was the most violent college town in the nation - has turned to that old-time religion for security. The Schapens keep a close eye on all their neighbors, most especially the Grelliers. They maintain careful track of everyone's misdeeds, printing the most egregious on their family website. When Gina Haring, a Wiccan, moves into an empty farmhouse and starts practicing pagan rites, the family members are so outraged that they begin an active harassment campaign against the Wiccans.
"Writing in an Age of Silence" ~ $22.95 ~ Hardcover ~ #671229
Sara explores the traditions of political and literary dissent that have formed her life and work, against the unparalleled repression of free speech and thought in the US today. In tracing the writer’s difficult journey from silence to speech, she turns to her childhood and youth in rural Kansas, and brilliantly evokes Chicago—the city with which she has become indelibly associated—from her arrival during the civil-rights struggle in the mid-1960s to her most extraordinary literary creation, the south-side detective V I Warshawski.
Calling all poetry lovers - a new feature on our web site (bookkansas.com) is the Poetry Corner. We have so many really fine poets in our state that we are able to bring you a wonderful selection to savor on these long winter nights. Indulge yourself!
And, finally, this review of a not-new, but wonderful children's book by Jane Kurtz - "Rain Romp"
We’ve all had them – “very bad days” – and the heroine of this story is no exception. She wakes one morning to find a cloudy, rainy morning and her mood fits right in. Nothing her parents can do changes her attitude and Mother Nature isn’t trying. Then, in a fit of pique, she slams out of bed, stomps down the stairs, crashes out the door and lets those rain puddles know what she thinks of them – she stomps them for all she’s worth. Then a funny thing happens. In the midst of all that stomping and snarling, she starts to enjoy herself. Her parents, seeing the fun she’s having, join her and they splash and stomp until they are soaked and the rain stops. By the time they go inside to wrap in towels and drink warm drinks, they are laughing and enjoying their day together. She then realizes a valuable truth. No matter what kind of day she is having, her family will always be there to walk through it with her. And with those final words,
Jane Kurtz delivers a colorful, li
vely story that touches the reader and gives children a supportive and loving message about family. Emma loves this book almost as much as her Grandmother!
Consider this quote: "There are 70 million books in American libraries, but the one I want to read is always out." (Tom Masson, an American editor and author, born in Essex, Connecticut. He became literary editor of "Life" in 1893 and a regular contributor of humorous articles to various magazines.) If that happens to you, you can always come to us!
Happy New Year and Happy Reading!
FYI:
Shipping and Handling ~ the shipping and handling fee for orders is $3.00 for the first book & $.50 for each additional book, with a maximum of $5.00 for 6-10 books. Orders of 11-20 books will be charged an additional $2.00. 20+ orders, there is no additional shipping and handling. All orders sent by a Kansan as a gift or to a Kansan must pay sales tax on both books and shipping and handling.
Retail Sales Tax ~ For those orders mailed outside of Kansas, at this time, there will be no retail sales tax charged. For orders within Kansas or orders for Kansans to be sent as gifts to others, we must, by state law, charge you the retail sales tax amount where you reside. For example, Wichita residents pay 7.3% sales tax and Hutchinson residents pay 7.05%.
)