Blue Bicycle Books

Blue Bicycle Books welcomes Michael Harriot Mon., Sept. 25, 6:30 pm as he discusses Black AF History: The Un-Whitewashed Story of America (Morrow., 432 pp., $32.50).

About the book:

In Black AF History, Harriot removes the white sugar coating from the American story, placing Black people squarely at the center. Harriot speaks hilarious truth to oppressive power, subverting conventional historical narratives with little-known stories about the experiences of Black Americans, from the African Americans who arrived before 1619 to the un-conquerable bandit who inspired America’s first police force. With chapters on “The Church Fight That Started Slavery,” “Construction,” and “The Race War III: The Conspiracy Theory That Was True,” Black AF History tells the stories of influential Black Americans with the comedic energy of Richard Pryor and the critical eye of Howard Zinn, revealing the rebellions and revolts standard American “history” doesn’t want you to know about.

About the author:

Michael Harriot is a columnist at theGrio.com where he covers the intersection of race, politics, and culture. His work has appeared in the Washington Post, The Atlantic, NBC, BET, and on his mother’s refrigerator. He is a political commentator on MSNBC and CNN and has been honored by the National Association of Black Journalists for commentary, digital commentary, and TV news writing. His college course “Race: An Economic Construct” was adapted by university economics departments across the country as a model for teaching the combination of history, economics, politics, and class structures. 

Come have a glass of wine with Michelle Wildgen, Thurs., Oct. 19, 6 pm as she talks about her newest novel, Wine People (Zibby Books, hb., $28). She’ll be joined in conversation by Charleston novelist Victoria Benton Frank (My Magnolia Summer).

Can’t make it? Order a copy here.

About the book:

What happens when two ambitious young women, opposite in every way, join forces in a competitive male-dominated industry?

Wren and Thessaly collide when they land coveted jobs at a glamorous New York City boutique wine importer. Hardworking, by-the-book Wren comes from a modest background and has everything to prove while Thessaly hails from a family of prestigious California growers—but she is plagued by self-doubt. Thrown together at work, where they’re expected to have exquisite palates, endless tolerance for alcohol and socializing, and the ability to sell, sell, sell, they regard each other with suspicion.

It’s only on an important European business trip—with everything on the line for both of them—that they unexpectedly forge an alliance that will change the course of their careers and personal lives.

With mouth-watering descriptions of food and wine, Wine People takes readers from France, Germany, and Italy to the Midwest and California Wine Country. An utterly entertaining page-turner that explores how close friends can both misjudge and uplift each other.

About the author:

Michelle Wildgen is the author of the novels You’re Not You, adapted into a feature film starring Hilary Swank and Emmy Rossum, But Not For Long, and Bread and Butter. She is editor of the anthology Food & Booze. Wildgen’s award-winning reviews, essays, and stories have appeared in publications including the New York Times Book Review, the “Modern Love” column, O, the Oprah Magazine, RealSimple.com, Salon.com, Best Food Writing, Best New American Voices, Triquarterly, Storyquarterly, and elsewhere. Formerly executive editor of Tin House, Wildgen is now a freelance editor and cofounder with novelist Susanna Daniel, of the Madison Writers’ Studio.

About Victoria Benton Frank:

Victoria Benton Frank was born in New York City, raised in Montclair, New Jersey, but considers herself to have dual residency in the Lowcountry. She is a graduate of the College of Charleston and the French Culinary Institute. Victoria worked in restaurants in New York before returning to Charleston, which she considers home, with her husband, two kids, and a giant mutt. When she isn’t writing, she is reading, cooking, or chasing her children.

Join us Thurs., April 20, 5:30 pm, for a special reception and talk with activists Anjali Tamang and Sarah Symons, co-authors of Standing in the Way (pb., $15), hosted by Her Future Coalition, an international non-profit organization fighting human trafficking and other severe forms of gender violence.

Over the past 15 years, Her Future Coalition has provided shelter, education, employment, and healing to over 5,000 women and children in India, Nepal, Cambodia, and Thailand, enabling them to recover from trauma and build safe, independent and successful lives. Recently, Her Future was selected for a collaboration with Michelle Obama’s Girls Opportunity Alliance to highlight the importance of educating vulnerable girls.

To donate, click here.

About the book: Standing in the Way: From Trafficking to Survival, the compelling memoir from Anjali Tamang and Sarah Symons, shares Anjali’s incredible story of being trafficked at age twelve from her village in Nepal to the red light areas of Kolkata, India. Despite enduring the worst abuse imaginable, today Anjal works to combat trafficking and protect the next generation of girls in her community. The stories of the courageous people who freed her and aided in her recovery are woven into the book alongside her own personal insights.

Anjali and Sarah explore the root causes of human trafficking and the factors that made her vulnerable, describing her journey to India as a child, and the large complex network of traffickers and brothel owners involved in selling, transporting, and exploiting her. Anjali was eventually rescued, and the book not only portrays this from both the perspective of the rescuers and Anjali herself, but also describes the subsequent counseling and care she received.

Following her recovery, Anjali was able to return to Nepal and make up the many lost years of education. Now in college, she is planning to go back to her village and open a school and anti-trafficking charity to prevent other girls in her village from having to suffer as she did.

Anjali’s experiences have given her a unique perspective. While child sex trafficking is a difficult subject, the book is ultimately a story of survival and hope.

Join Food Network star Kardea Brown, Thurs., Oct. 27 at 5:30 pm for a release party for her brand-new cookbook, The Way Home: A Celebration of Sea Islands Food and Family with Over 100 Recipes (Amistad, hb., 300 pp, $35).

NOTES:

1. No outside copies of The Way Home allowed. (It comes out two days before this event.)
2. Blue Bicycle Books will have books for sale — but we highly recommend you reserve a copy by clicking here and selecting In-Store Pickup.
3. This event is free and open to the public. No ticket required.

Click here to order a signed copy of The Way Home.

About the book:

The breakout star of Food Network’s hit show Delicious Miss Brown celebrates the Gullah/Geechee culinary traditions of her family in this spectacular cookbook featuring 125 original mouthwatering recipes and gorgeous four-color photos.

In The Way Home, her first cookbook, Kardea shares her multi-generational “passed down” recipes and innovative takes on Gullah classics with home cooks everywhere. “Gullah” and “GeeChee” refer to a distinct group of African Americans living in the coastal areas of South Carolina and Georgia who have preserved much of their West African language, culture, and cuisine. The Way Home is an unabashed love letter to her family’s roots, packed with dishes that combine West African herbs, spices, and grains with traditional Southern cooking. “Gullah people laid the foundation for Southern cooking. Before farm-to-table was a fad, it was what Gullah people did,” Kardea explains. “I want to show the world that soul food is not monolithic. It’s so much more than fried chicken and vegetables cooked in pork. It’s seasonal, fresh and delicious! ”

About the author:

In April 2015, Kardea Brown made a leap of faith, quitting her job as a social worker in New Jersey to pursue a career in the food industry. She opened the New Gullah Supper Club, a restaurant and social destination centered around the food she grew up eating at her grandmother’s house on South Carolina’s Wadmalaw Island. After an appearance on Food Network, Kardea caught the attention of executives at the cooking channel and over the course of nearly four hardworking years became a star—sparring with chefs on hit shows like Beat Bobby Flay and hosting Cupcake Championship. Viewers fell in love with her Southern warmth, love of family, and awe-inspiring New Gullah meals, and Kardea quickly landed her own show, the top-rated Delicious Miss Brown.