Two new books were dropped today! Follow the clues to find these copies and have them signed by the author after her speech this evening.

The location of the first book is in one of the most important buildings on campus:
"In a drawer like Gideon's Bible,
in the fancy room,
the small relics all stashed around,
pieces from someone's tomb."

The location of this second book is around the corner of a building which contains many similar items.
"A comfy spot this usually is,
until what's hidden came.
Remove this lump and
you shall find this comfy spot again."

A couple more copies of What the Thunder Said have been dropped this week.
Look for one of them in a small lounge area in a beauty salon on West 21st Street. No, you don't have to be charismatic to find the book, but you will have to be quick. It is in a high traffic establishment.

The second copy dropped this week is in a waiting room of a group of doctors, also on West 21st Street. This waiting room is such a large, quiet place to read, I'm sure the book will be picked up soon. But please don't break a leg or trip over your toes trying to get this one.

Labels: More books dropped

Score a couple more for the East Siders!
One book has been dropped at the Kansas Heart Hospital on Webb Road. It is in one of the many waiting areas out there--you'll just have to hunt.

Closer in, I saw a copy of "What the Thunder Said" at a periodontists' office on South Hillside on Monday. I didn't pick it up because I already have a copy. If you have to visit your dentist, maybe a free book to read will make it all go better. Let us know.

Another book drop: This one is at Penney's in Town West Square. I know, that is a big shopping center, Penney's is a big store. But if I were you, I would go straight to the Women's Lounge, adjacent to the beauty salon. But hurry, because that is a busy place.

Operation Book Drop is in full swing in West Wichita, with five recent drops made in doctors' waiting rooms, four of those west of the Big Ditch.

Think West Wichita for three of them, (same family physician complex, different waiting rooms.)

The fourth drop was made a couple miles farther west, in a dentist's waiting room.

But these are busy places so you'll have to hurry to catch a drop.

The fifth book was dropped in a waiting room just off West Street, south of 13th Wednesday, July 2, 2008. Maybe you can catch it there if you are lucky.

If you happen to catch one of these drops, let us know via the address on the bookmark. And let us know what you think of the book.

Thanks to Jeanne Cardenas, Professor Emerita of English and Newman University, for telling us a little about Janet Peery, author.
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Janet Peery, author of What the Thunder Said, grew up in Kansas (her parents still live in Haysville) and knows well the landscape that figures so prominently in this, her second novel.

After a BA degree from WSU in 1975 and a career in Speech Pathology, Peery decided to follow her dream of being a writer. So she went back to WSU, earned an MFA in Fiction in 1992. In 1993 she moved with her three daughters to Norfolk , Virginia, where she joined the faculty at Old Dominion University of Virginia, where she continues to write and teach.

While a student here in Wichita, she wrote short stories for literary journals, earning the Pushcart Prize, and a place in The Best American Short Stories of 1993.

Peery’s first book also appeared in 1993. Alligator Dance is a collection of short stories, some of which point toward characterizations, landscapes and themes in her two novels.

The story “Nosotros” was the inspiration for her first novel, The River Beyond the World published in 1996. It is a work Peery admits to struggling with for six years. The book won rave reviews and was one of five National Book Award finalists.

Her second novel, What the Thunder Said, was published last year, with the softbound edition available since June 2008. While Peery’s first novel is set in South Texas along both sides of the Rio Grande, her latest is set in South Central Kansas and Northern Oklahoma, and tells of a family that struggles through the Dust Bowl years of the 1930s.

Writer’s Digest Magazine named Peery one of “25 Writers to Watch in the Next Decade,” a list of noted authors whom the magazine believes could have a major impact on fiction in the years ahead. Among Peery’s other honors and awards are the Whiting Foundation Writers Award, the America Academy of Arts and Letters Rosenthal Foundation Award, and fellowships from the Guggenheim Foundation, the Virginia Commission for the Arts and the National Endowment for the Arts.

She is also a recipient of the Outstanding Faculty Award from the State Council of Higher Education for Virginia, that state’s highest honor for faculty at their colleges and universities.

Peery will be in Wichita for a public lecture at Newman University Thursday, Oct. 23, will conduct writing workshops for students on Oct. 24 and will be a guest at Newman University’s 75th anniversary dinner Oct 25.

Two copies of "What the Thunder Said" by Janet Peery were "dropped" on the Newman University Campus, 3100 McCormick, Wichita, KS 67213, for someone to find and read.

When you approach one of the copies, the name of a former (and beloved) Director of Alumni Relations will be in plain sight. (This person held other roles at Newman, too. )

The other copy is very lonely, with few around to keep it company.

Read previous posts if you don't yet know the building to search.

We hope these are found before more clues are needed.!

Two copies of "What the Thunder Said" were dropped on the Newman University Campus, 3100 McCormick Ave., Wichita, KS. They are waiting to be found, picked up, read and dropped again.

One book is in a place where you'd expect to find books that can be used for free.

One book is near, though not in, a place on campus where alumni often gather.

So drop by and look around. "Looking" will be subject to regular building hours. (Check the NU website, www.newmanu.edu for summer hours.) And if you find one, be sure to report back here!

Another clue is due at Noon Monday, June 23, 2008.

Jeanne Cardenas, Professor Emeritas of English for Newman University, was the featured speaker at a luncheon held June 20, 2008.

She reviewed the book, "What the Thunder Said," by Kansas author Janet Peery, then officially launched Operation Book Drop by directing persons in attendance to seek bookmarks hidden at each table. Ten of the 36 persons in attendance "found" a bookmark, and in turn were awarded a copy of the book to take home and read for themselves. "I'll be reading tonight," said a smiling Rita Issinghof, Class of 1949, as she left the NU Alumni Center clutching her hard bound copy.

"Now I want to re-read The Wasteland," said Louise Wolf, Class of 1964, referring to the T.S. Eliot poem that Cardenas related to the Peery book during her review.

Diane Simon, Class of 2000 and librarian for the Renwick School District, admitted that she'd negotiated her copy from one of the orginal winners because of her excitement about reading the fiction novel.

Karen Rogers, Newman Education Professor, gave up her copy to Simon, and chose to be a project sponsor by purchasing a copy of the book, which she intends to read and "drop" in her hometown, Stillwater, Oklahoma. Margaret Weilert, Class of 1965 also stepped foward as a sponsor and will be "dropping" books through relatives in three states.

Each of the 10 book recipients and 4 sponsors were sent forth to read the book, report on their reactions via this blog, http://blog.newmanu.edu/nubookdrop and finally, to "drop" their copy in a place for someone else to find. Doctor's waiting rooms, airplane seat pockets, church gathering spaces, neighborhood coffee shops and hotel lobbies were suggested locations for upcoming book drops.

The fun will begin when readers choose to report what they think about the book, or to report on the experience of finding a book that has been dropped.

The most important purpose of Operation Book Drop is to encourage leisure reading, Cardenas explained; with the books serving as a gift from Newman University during its 75th anniversary year.

As the books travel, it is hoped they'll help bring a bit of attention to Newman, a private liberal arts University founded in the "dirty thirties," the era remembered in the midwest for its rampant dust storms and the country's severe economic depression. The book's setting, and the University's founding, both occurred during this time period. Cardenas encouraged readers to look for ways the hardships of this time impacted relationships and behaviors of the characters.

Persons not in attendance for the launch of the book drop, may participate by

---watching this blog for clues about locations where books have been "dropped"
---checking the book out from a library to read, then participating in a "virtual book discussion" on this site
---participating in a book club that discusses the book (watch for schedules here or write to schedule a set of books for your book club by writing alumni@newmanu.edu)
---by sponsoring a book to be "dropped" for others (contact alumni@newmanu.edu to particpate).

While Operation Book Drop is being launched in the Wichita area, the intent is to drop at least one book in each of the 50 States via alumni who live across the country. To register as a book sponsor for your home state, contact alumni@newmanu.edu or phone 316942-4291, ext. 2166.

Books for the program include a laminated bookmark that describes the program, and a book label to identify the book sponsor and blog address.

On Friday, June 20, 2008 at Noon two copies of "What the Thunder Said" were dropped on the Newman University campus, 3100 McCormick Ave., Wichita, KS. Let us know if you find one.

Next clue will be posted at 3 p.m., June 20, 2008.

We'd like to learn where you found your book. Please describe the experience by writing in the comment section below.