In this issue:

1. Recent acquisitions
2. Burke High Lit Mag
3. Right Relationship by Peter Brown
4. Family Volunteer Day
5. Happy Trails

***

 Recent Acquisitions:

New books by local poets Barbara Hagerty, Carol Peters and Denny Stiles!

A number of graffiti books.

A number of paperback mysteries. (This number is about 900.)

First editions of Hemingway, Pynchon, Franzen, Rushdie and Halloway.

The Magic of Oz, by L. Frank Baum, illustrated by John Neill, $125.

Asimov’s Guide to the Bible by Isaac Asimov (2 vols in one. The Old and New Testaments), $25.

The Screwtape Letters by C.S. Lewis, 1^st American edition, 12^th ptg., torn jacket in mylar cover, with line drawing of Screwtape on the back, a giant spider dangling over his head. $49.

 ****

Speaking of Spiders…

The book release party for Kissing a Biting Spider, vol. 3 of the Burke High School literary magazine, part of LILA’s Poets in the Schools, is Friday, May 15^th, 6 to 8 p.m., Randolph Hall on the campus of the College of Charleston. Join us for a reception, silent auction and a reading.

A taste of some of the many great lines:

“I remember seeing flooded streets after a Friday rainfall.”

“I remember my father’s house burning down, and thinking, ‘Do I have to pay for my textbooks that were inside?’”

“I believe in sandwiches because the layers of bread are like the stress I’m building inside.”

“I believe in mild-mannered teachers.”

“I kissed a biting spider.”

****

Mon. Apr. 20, 6:30 – 8 pm, Circular Congregational Church. Peter Brown gave a talk and signed copies of Right Relationship: Building a Whole Earth Economy (pb, $17). Brown and co-author Geoffrey Garver use core Quaker principles as the foundation for a new economic model. BBB was on hand to sell books, signed copies still available.

 ****

Thanks to everyone who came to the 11^th Annual Bridge Run Show. If you missed it, the new story is right here.

 ****

Thanks to Henry, Ruthie and Katherine Carey for kicking off our first ever family volunteer day! The Careys spent an afternoon of family bonding while installing our huge new mystery section. We like to think of ourselves as a ropes course without all the release forms.

 ****

We recently bid a fond farewell to Linda Annas Ferguson, the terrific local poet who was also a terrific part of our team here for two years. Our loss is the Bernie Horton Gallery’s gain. Thanks for everything Linda, we miss you.

Welcome to the February issue of Yes, It’s a Real Cat

the newsletter of Blue Bicycle Books, Used, Rare and Local. 420 King Street , Charleston

In this issue:

1. Story time with Marjory Wentworth – Sat. 2/21
2. Authors’ luncheon recap
3. Recent acquisitions
4. Summer camp dates are set
5. On the inaugural poem
6. Happy hour booksigning – Wed. 2/18

****

Kids’ story hour this Saturday morning

Marjory Wentworth, S.C. poet laureate, and Leslie Pratt-Thomas, illustrator, will sign copies of their children’s book, Shackles, Sat., Feb. 21, 11 am to 1 pm. Join us on the carpet at 11:30 for a story time reading with juice boxes, snacks and a raffle to win a free copy of the book.

Countless enslaved Africans were quarantined on Sullivan’s Island after the Middle Passage. Shackles is a true story of Marjory’s sons digging up manacles in their backyard. It’s an uplifting and poignant vignette of growing up in a beach town where history is as permeating as the sea air and sounds. (And we personally think it’s going to become a local classic.)

*****

Authors’ luncheon

Anne Rivers Siddons and Nicole Seitz kicked off our authors’ luncheon series with a sell-out crowd at Fish Restaurant on Feb. 6. Nicole spoke about her father’s experience in Vietnam , the inspiration for her third novel A Hundred Years of Happiness. Anne, who paved the way for a lot of modern Southern women writers, read from Off Season (her 17^th novel) and said she was well into her career when her mother told her “You know, you could still get your teaching certificate.”

*****

Recent acquisitions:

1. Speaking of these sorts of talks, we recently came across a transcript of “Recent Southern Fiction: A Panel Discussion,” moderated by Louis Rubin. On the panel: Katherine Anne Porter and Flannery O’Connor. (1960, pb., 16 pp. Very rare. One online sells for $200. Our price: $95.) (Sold)

2. The Boo by Pat Conroy. First edition, first printing. No dust jacket. Citadel-blue cloth-covered boards. $995.

3. A number of children’s picture books from diverse cultures, including Egyptian, Irish, Chinese and Cambodian versions of the Cinderella story. ($7 – $20)

4. All Known Metal Bands, compiled and edited by Dan Nelson. A cousin to Maya Lin’s wall, this black-paged book lists more than 50,000 rock groups in the metal genre, from …Aaaarrghh to ZZ Bottom. (McSweeney’s, hb. $22.)

Number of bands that start with or are the word “Frozen:” 56. A few include Frozen Doberman, Frozen Within Flames, and Frozn.

Bands named Redrum: 7

Notable omission: American Heritage. Their drummer is my brother’s boss.

*****

Summer Writing Camp

Speaking of lists, we often warm up at camp by writing lists. These hobo names were inspired by John Hodgman’s The Area of My Expertise.

Pancake Face

Pickle Jar Face

Joe Lies Low

Danny the Dot

Walter Without Water

Carl Cool-Footed

Baked Bean Bill

Yellow-toothed Yuri

Duct Tape Davey

Chocolate Toes Juan

Write of Summer is back for a sixth year in the Charleston area. Find info and registration forms at writeofsummer.com. All of last year’s sessions were full to capacity, so act with all due haste. And feel free to call or write me with any questions.

*****

My response to the inaugural poem? It’s at beingsanchez.com/news

*****

Come join us at Fish Restaurant, 442 King, 6:30 Wed. night. (Feb. 18), as Danny Crooks signs and discusses his book, On the Eve of the Charleston Renaissance: The George W. Johnson Photographs, which captures black Americana and Charleston a half-century after the Civil War.

*****

Until next time, I am yours,

Chocolate Toes Juan

Jonathan Sanchez

Write of Summer – a camp for kids in Charleston and Orlando

In this issue:

1. 365 Nights
2. Doc Watson
3. Bees for Burke
4. Recent acquisitions
5. Great idea for a new book.

*****

It’s the typical promotional circuit: The Today Show, The View, The New York Times, The Colbert Report, The Blue Bike.

Sat. Sept. 20, 1 – 3 pm, Charla Muller will sign copies of 365 Nights: A Memoir of Intimacy

One thing we really like about this book is it was born as a birthday gift and, unlike pretty much every other in the hot new ”Do something crazy for a year” genre, not a book proposal. For his 40th birthday, Charla gave her husband Brad sex every night, for a year.

Charla is a friend of a friend from Charlotte and just delightful. She feels the national media have tried to sensationalize this “sweet, modest, and g-rated” book about a marriage, so please come and meet her and get the real story. 

****

“I have seen the David, seen the Mona Lisa too,
I have heard Doc Watson play Columbus Stockade Blues.”
 - Guy Clark

We don’t usually list events this far away but we can’t ignore a chance to camp out in September in the North Carolina hills and hear the legendary Doc Watson. For $25.

Jammin’ for the Well, a bluegrass fundraiser to benefit the Well of Mercy.  Sept. 27, 1 – 7 pm. Van Hoy Farms (Exit 65 off I-77 in North Carolina , an hour above Charlotte.)

A Christian sanctuary, the Well of Mercy is a ministry of hospitality and healing sponsored by the Sisters of Mercy. For tickets and more information: www.wellofmercy.com or call one of the organizers, our store Minister of Hospitality, Linda Sanchez at 704.664.4490.

******
The Secret Life of Bees movie premiere.

Thursday, Oct. 16., 7 p.m. Terrace Theatre and Harbour Club.

Local author Sue Monk Kidd has graciously arranged for the Charleston premiere of the movie based on her novel to benefit LILA’s Poets in the Schools at Burke High School. Tickets are $100. Reception to follow at the Harbour Club, 35 Prioleau St.

The first 200 tickets get admitted to the premiere, the next 200 will get a ticket to a later show – but will head to the party early. (There are very few of the first batch of tickets left – so if you miss out, don’t sweat it. None of us LILA folk are going to have seats either.)

The party: As you may know I’ve covered a lot of these gigs during Spoleto, and this one is shaping up to be one for the ages. Bee-themed to the nines, signature drinks in mason jars — think Max Fischer’s cast party in Rushmore.

The cause: Many customers have admired the poetry compilations by Burke students, For the People Who Deserve a Voice and Nine Times. You can read about them here

http://www.beingsanchez.com/ws/index.php?module=pagemaster&PAGE_user_op=view_page&PAGE_id=24

Tickets available at Blue Bicycle Books, 420 King St.  722.2666.

www.lilaconnects.com/bees

******

Recent acquisitions:

– Five shelves of antique medical and nursing books. Prices range from $20 – $30.

– Hot Irons: Heraldry of the Range by Oren Arnold and John Hale, (Macmillan, 1942), about cattle branding. “Let us assume that you have a cow.” $20

– Three wonderful typesetting books, including The Design of Lettering by Egon Weiss (Pencil Points Press, 1942). $75.

*****

I’m going to write a book about reading books about people who read the entire Oxford English Dictionary, the Bible, and the Encyclopedia Brittanica, also about a couple who had sex every night for a year, and a kid who became self-sufficient having started out with $25. I’m also going to watch Supersize Me while eating nine Big and Tasty hamburgers.