Blue Bicycle Books

Join us Fri., Feb. 7,  6 pm, for dinner at Halls Signature Events (5 Faber St.) as acclaimed Sports Illustrated writer Rick Reilly discusses his book Commander in Cheat: How Golf Explains Trump.

Tickets are $64 and include a 3-course dinner and a signed copy of the book, or $96 for 2 tickets and one book. Get tickets here.

Rick Reilly is a screenwriter, author, and journalist. He was voted National Sportswriter of the Year 11 times over a career that began in 1979. Long known for the back page “Life of Reilly” column for Sports Illustrated, Reilly moved to ESPN in 2008.

USA Today has called Reilly the closest thing sportswriting ever had to a rock star. The New York Daily News described him as one of the funniest humans on the planet. Three times his columns have been read into the record in the U.S. Congress. An astronaut once took his signed trading card into space.

Reilly is the founder of the anti-malaria effort Nothing But Nets, which has raised over $60 million to hang mosquito nets over kids in Africa, where 2,000 children die every day of the disease. He is the author of 13 books.

Doors open at 6 pm for a cash bar happy hour, and dinner is served at 7 pm.

Join us Sun., Jan. 26, 4 pm, in-store as photographer, author, and speaker J Haleem discusses and signs his book I Won’t Starve (pb., 183 pp., $19.97).

In I Won’t Starve, Haleem shares his life’s experiences, and the highs and the lows that not only comes from life as a convicted felon but also with owning and operating a business. He offers an intimate look behind the veil as he shares his story from making $8 an hour to running a successful business.

J Haleem is a nationally published, award winning, corporate and commercial photographer. He was born and raised in Newark, New Jersey where his interest for entrepreneurship was birthed. With more than 15 years of experience as an entrepreneur, his company I Won’t Starve, LLC provides education and training focused on entrepreneurship and career development.

Join us Sat., Jan. 25, 1 pm as local artist Timothy Banks will read from and sign his illustrated children’s book Nian, The Chinese New Year Dragon, written by Virginia Loh-Hagan. 

About the Book: Mei hates springtime. Why? Because it’s only in the spring that Nian, a fierce dragon, is able to leave his mountain prison under the sea to terrorize the local village. When the villagers hear the rumblings of Nian’s hungry stomach, they know that winter has ended and spring is coming. But this year on the night before the first day of spring, a magical warrior visits Mei in her dreams. He tells Mei that it is her destiny to face and defeat Nian. But she must do it within 15 days or the dragon will be free forever.

About the Author: Timothy has made designs for Nike, Paste Magazine, Egmont, Faber & Faber, and Nickelodeon. He has illustrated dozens of children’s books, and most recently reimagined the Wizard of Oz story for a new generation of young readers. In 2014, his work was chosen as the official poster for the Piccolo Spoleto Festival here in Charleston, one of the largest, comprehensive arts festivals in the US.

Timothy lives in Charleston, along with his wife, three wonderful daughters, and one crazy pug. They enjoy playing in their backyard, and watching alligators swim by their house.

Join us Wed., Dec. 18, 6 – 7:30 pm, for the Charleston release party of Say Grace: How the Restaurant Business Saved My Life (ForbesBooks, 184 pp., $25) by Steve Palmer, managing partner of Indigo Road (The Macintosh, Indaco and many more).

The author will talk and sign books, and Katie Daniel of Bar Mash will be on hand serving her award-winning mocktails.

About the Author: After an adolescence filled with addiction, rehabs, half-way houses, and homelessness, and with the help of colleagues, Steve Palmer was able to get sober. He is the managing partner of the Indigo Road Hospitality Group, which employs about a thousand people in 20 restaurants and bars that stretch across four Southern states and Washington, D.C. He is on a quest to help others learn how to be sober in an industry awash with alcohol and drugs.

Palmer has worked in hospitality since he was 13 years old. He has been recognized by The New York Times, NPR, Southern Living, Food & Wine, the James Beard Foundation, and Forbes Small Business Giants for his career as well as his charitable and community efforts. In 2016, Palmer co-founded Ben’s Friends, the food-and-beverage industry support group offering hope, fellowship, and a path forward to industry professionals struggling with substance abuse and addiction.

See the recent New York Times Visionary Series article on Palmer: After Rehab and Loss, A Restaurant Leader Helps His Colleagues

 Thurs., Dec. 19, 5:30 pm, Bernie Schein will discuss and sign his new memoir, Pat Conroy: Our Lifelong Friendship (Skyhorse, hb., 304 pp, $25.99). Both writers and educators, Schein and Conroy were best friends from the moment they met during a high school pickup basketball game until Pat Conroy’s death in 2016. A love letter and homage, and a way to share the Pat he knew, this book collects Bernie’s cherished memories about the gregarious, welcoming, larger-than-life man who remained his best friend, even during the years they didn’t speak. It offers a trove of insights and anecdotes that will be treasured by Pat Conroy’s many devoted fans.

Bernie Schein was born, bred, and Bar Mitzvahed in Beaufort, South Carolina. He was an educator for forty-five years, many of them in Atlanta. He is the author of three books, including If Holden Caulfield Were in My Classroom and the novel Famous All over Town. He has been published and featured in numerous newspapers and magazines, including Newsweek, the Jewish Advocate, Atlanta magazine, and the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, and interviewed on NPR and radio stations across the country. He is now an educational consultant as well as a humorist and raconteur. He and his wife live in Beaufort, South Carolina.