Blue Bicycle Books

Clay Rice Silhouettes, Sept. 15

bbb — Wed, 25 Aug 2010 20:31:38 +0000

Renowned silhouette artist Clay Rice is returning to Blue Bike to cut personal silhouettes and sign copies of his book The Lonely Shadow (Joggling Board, 2009, hb., $19.95) on Wed., Sept. 15, 3 – 6 pm.

Taught by his grandfather Carew, Clay Rice is a 21st century folk artist and a Lowcountry treasure. Watching him cut a child’s silhouette in five minutes has been called performance art in itself. Last year, we watched as he was actually able to capture a recognizable profile of our squirming one-year-old in less time than it takes to get her shoes on.

His national touring schedule keeps him on the road often, cutting more than 10,000 children’s silhouettes a year, so events back home in Charleston are rare!

Personal silhouettes start at $40 for two copies. We expect slots to fill up quickly, to book an appointment, please call us at 843.722.2666.

Pictures from last year’s visit

Blue Bicycle Books Author’s Luncheon Series

bbb — Mon, 23 Aug 2010 22:01:48 +0000

The Blue Bicycle Books Author’s Luncheon Series continues Fri., Oct. 8, noon to 2 pm, with local authors Josephine Humphreys (Rich in Love, others) and Beth Webb Hart (Love, Charleston, others).

Josephine Humphreys is a native of Charleston, and her hometown is the setting for her first three novels Dreams of Sleep, The Fireman’s Fair and Rich in Love, which was made into a 1993 movie. She graduated from Ashley Hall, studied with Reynolds Price at Duke University and is the winner of the Hemingway Foundation/PEN Award and a Guggenheim Foundation. While her first three books deal with contemporary life in Charleston, her most recent novel, Nowhere Else on Earth is a historical novel about Lumbee Indians in Eastern North Carolina after the Civil War.

Beth Webb Hart, a South Carolina native, holds a B.A. in English Literature from Hollins College and an M.F.A. in Creative Writing from Sarah Lawrence College. Her first novel, Grace at Low Tide, was one of three finalists for the 2006 Christy Awards in the general/contemporary fiction category. She has taught creative writing on the college and high school level (where she received two national awards from Scholastic, Inc.), and is currently writer-in-residence at Ashley Hall school. Beth Webb lives with her husband, composer Edward Hart, and their son and daughter in downtown Charleston. Her fourth novel, Love, Charleston was released this week!

The talk and luncheon will be at Virginia’s Restaurant, 412 King St., followed by a dessert-and-champagne book signing at the bookstore, 420 King St. Free parking is available in the Camden Exchange Garage, which has entrances on Hutson Street and John Street.

Guests will have their choice of entrée:

BBQ Pulled Chicken Sandwich — Smothered in homemade Carolina style BBQ sauce, topped with lettuce, tomato and onion served on a Kaiser bun accompanied with sweet potato fries and blue cheese coleslaw.

Fried Green Tomato BLT — Buttermilk soaked and cornmeal buttered, pan-fried tomatoes layered with arugula and Applewood smoked bacon, dressed with Creole mayonnaise and served on Texas toast accompanied with sweet potato fries and blue cheese coleslaw.

Waldorf Salad — Garnished with apples, celery, raisins and walnuts accompanied with grilled Tuscan bread.

Fri., Oct. 8, 2010, 12 – 2 pm. $35, or bring a friend for $60. Advance reservations required. For tickets please call 843.722.2666 or click here.

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http://bluebicyclebooks.bigcartel.com/product/author-luncheon-series-nicole-seitz-and-batt-humphreys

Michelle Zink, Guardian of the Gate, Sept. 7

bbb — Mon, 16 Aug 2010 21:26:36 +0000

Blue Bicycle Books welcomes Michelle Zink, author of the Young Adult series Prophecy of the Sisters, Tues., Sept. 7, 4-6 pm. She is touring on Guardian of the Gate, the second in the trilogy, which has been well received all around.

The series follows sixteen year-old twin sisters, Lia and Alice Milthorpe, as they continue their exploration of an age-old prophecy that has turned generations of sisters against each other. While Lia searches for clues in order to end the prophecy, Alice gets caught up in the dark mysticism of the Otherworld. It is being tagged as the ultimate battle between sisters of good and evil, but it has nothing to do with either Janet or La Toya Jackson.

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BAROLO, Aug. 7

bbb — Thu, 05 Aug 2010 16:37:36 +0000

Author Matthew Gavin Frank will read from and sign copies of his memoir, BAROLO, chronicling his illegal work in the Italian Piemontese food and wine industry at Blue Bike, Sat., Aug. 7, 1 – 3 pm. Barolo follows Frank during his six-month stay in the same-titled region of Italy (pop. 646), living out of a tent in the garden of the local Pittatore farmhouse. The Chicago-born writer and poet has been cooking and serving his way across the world since he was 17, from breakfast in Alaska to hog snapper in Key West. His current favorite dessert recipe is Revisionist Caprese Salad: basil ice cream, mozzarella syrup, oven-dried sweet tomato, and tomato rock candy.

Order a signed copy here!

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Bike Ride to honor Edwin Gardner on Saturday

bbb — Wed, 28 Jul 2010 16:14:42 +0000

On the morning of Sat. July 31, at 9 am, a short bicycle ride around Downtown Charleston will celebrate the life of Edwin Gardner, who passed away after a bicycle accident last week. The ride will start and finish at Cannon Park (Calhoun Street between Ashley and Rutledge) for breakfast and fellowship. All members of the community are welcome on any type of bike. We hope to see you there with your favorite Edwin story. Read the tribute in the City Paper written by store owner Jonathan Sanchez here.

Helping Ghosts, July 29

bbb — Sat, 24 Jul 2010 17:25:00 +0000

Please join us Thurs., July 29, 5 – 7 pm for a signing with supernatural explorer Louis Charles and his second book, Helping Ghosts. Always interested in ghosts and hauntings, Charles launched his website Angels and Ghosts in 2004, and since then, has been compiling paranormal experience submissions from around the world and comparing potential evidence. Charles has also worked on numerous field tests and investigations in spirit communication, and has relayed his own research as well as others in his most recent book.

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Capital BookFest, Nov. 6

bbb — Tue, 29 Jun 2010 14:53:28 +0000

Coming to Charleston for the first time, this book fest has been a huge hit in Washington, DC for five years. Sue Monk Kidd, Dorothea Benton Frank, Mary Alice Monroe are among the nearly 100 writers who will speak and sign books at the Blue Bike and the Gaillard Auditorium on Nov. 6, 10 am – 7 pm. Learn more about Capital BookFest here.

Signing books while holding babies and boiling peanuts — The Lee Bros.

bbb — Mon, 28 Jun 2010 15:42:41 +0000

We don’t think we have even seen Kate Gosselin multi-task at a booksigning like this. Nice work Matt. Matt and Ted Lee are busy men but managed to squeeze in a trip to the Blue Bike during the Wine and Food fest. This peanut boil kicked off a run of great events at the store all spring long.

Matt being awesome

Matt and Ted being brotherly in front of Blue Bike

The brothers boiling peanuts outside the store

Jason Deierlein, July 1

bbb — Thu, 24 Jun 2010 16:41:53 +0000

Join us for the launch of local author, Jason Deierlein’s new website on Thurs., July 1, 5 – 7 pm. Jason has written two books, Return from A Comatose Mind and How Education Can End the Cultural Problem.

Penguin Books and Sue Monk Kidd

bbb — Sun, 06 Jun 2010 20:33:22 +0000

Sue Monk Kidd will celebrate the 75^th anniversary of Penguin Books at Blue Bicycle Books, 420 King St., downtown, Tues., June 22, 4 – 6 pm, featuring Penguin cupcakes, champagne, and, parked out front, the Penguin-mobile, a bright orange Mini Cooper.

The Blue Bike is one of only ten stops on the tour — other events include Garrison Keillor in Minnesota, Michael Pollan in Berkeley, Calif., and Jan Karon in Charlottesville, Va.

As a store that has offered great books at low cost for 15 years, Blue Bicycle is thrilled to be included in the celebration. In 1935, Allen Lane started Penguin with the revolutionary concept of selling good literature at low prices, not just at bookstores but also at railway stations and newsstands. Famous for a simple design with broad bands of color, three million Penguin paperbacks sold in the first year.

Giving Back. To commemorate the occasion, Penguin has donated 75 of its all-time bestselling paperbacks to Burke High School. (The Charleston film premiere of The Secret Life of Bees raised more than $20,000 for Burke’s poetry workshops, funding the student compilations So-Called Whisper and Kissing a Biting Spider.)

The Schedule. After arriving in the Mini, Sue will raise a glass of champagne for a toast, talk about how she became a Penguin author, and sign copies of Traveling with Pomegranates (co-written with daughter Ann Taylor Kidd) as well as her other New York Times best-selling titles.

Free and open to the public. Questions? Call 722.2666.

Order signed copies of The Secret Life of Bees here!

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