Blue Bicycle Books

Though we here at Blue Bike appreciate the annual resurgence of summer road trip mix tapes, we also feel that the equally important summer road trip book mixes are often and unfairly overlooked. We plan to fix this. But please don’t read and drive.

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If you want to use your trip to read a classic book you’ll never read unless trapped in a car with it and nothing else: Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy, Ulysses by James Joyce, $16.

If suddenly the landscape opens and inspires profundity: Bike Watching Journal, $14.95.

If you aren’t going anywhere but want to pretend you did and then tell people about it: On Becoming a Novelist by John Gardner, $4.98.

If you want to find happiness, like literally: The Geography of Bliss by Eric Weiner, $13.50.

If you forgot your SPF: In a Sunburned Country by Bill Bryson, $7.98.

If you liked the concept** of On the Road but hated the author and also the book: Blue Highways: A Journey into America by William Least Heat Moon, $12.98.

If things are really going downhill and you’d like to feel less alone about the whole thing: Bad Trips: a Collection of Witing on the Perils of the Road ed. by Keith Fraser. $6.98.

If writing home to your maybe-lover: Jack Kerouac & Allen Ginsberg: The Letters, $20.

If you want to take advantage of certain recently-relaxed laws in Colorado and Washington and get weird: Vampires in the Lemon Grove by Karen Russell, $24.95.

If you are lost: Maps and Legends by Michael Chabon, $17.98

[**Okay, while one can appreciate Sara's refusal to drink the Beat Kool-Aid -- it's not really the same concept. But there are cars in both books. -- Ed.]

Eight local writers and visual artists will show their original, hand made artists’ books Sun., June 2, 2 – 5 pm.

This one-day exhibition will take place at both Blue Bicycle Books and Redux Contemporary Art Center, with works ranging from collaborative sketchbooks, hand made journals with ceramic covers, and hand-bound volumes of poetry, to art objects with book-like qualities.

The participants include Sarah Bandy, Tina Hirsig, Kit Loney, Bette Mueller-Roemer, Kristi Ryba, Susan Finch Stevens, Lillian Trettin, and Mary Walker. Light refreshments will be served.

This June, Blue Bicycle Book’s Luncheon Series continues with New York Times Bestselling author Dorothea Benton Frank. Join us Fri., June 14,  11:30 at the Charleston Marriott, 170 Lockwood Blvd., to celebrate the release of her newest book, The Last Original Wife (HarperCollins, 368 pp, hb., $26.99).

Tickets are $60 and include author talk, lunch, and a signed copy of The Last Original Wife. For more information or to reserve your spot at the table, click here or call Blue Bicycle Books, 843.722.2666.

About the book. Coming out June 11, The Last Original Wife is classic Dorothea Benton Frank: an enthralling story of love and friendship set under Charleston’s Spanish moss. Experience the sultry southern atmosphere of the Lowcountry in this funny and poignant tale of one audacious woman searching for the love she deserves.

About the author. Dorothea Benton Frank is the author of thirteen New York Times bestselling novels. Born and raised on Sullivan’s Island, she now splits her time between Sullivan’s and New Jersey. This is her first and biggest hometown event for her new book.

Join us Thurs., May 10, 3 – 5 pm, while author and trial lawyer Pat Harris discusses and signs his newest book, Mistrial.

Historically, criminal defense attorneys were the heroes of the justice system. Atticus Finch was an icon. But that all has changed. Now defense lawyers in the media are all unapologetic win-at-all-costs characters. In their book, Mark Geragos and Pat Harris debunk the myths surrounding both judges and jurors and ultimately question whether a two centuries-old justice system is still viable today.

Blue Bike’s Author Luncheon series continues with Post & Courier writer Ken Burger Fri., Apr., 26, 12 pm at Fish restaurant and followed by a champagne and dessert reception here at the bookstore. Ken will be discussing his newest novel, Salkehatchie Soup, an unflinching portrayal of post-Cold War politics all across the Eastern seaboard. From fancy golf courses to Congress cloakrooms, Salkehatchie Soup hosts characters powerful and pitiful, those fallen from grace and others desperately seeking to grasp it.

Ken Burger worked as a  South Carolina journalist for over forty years, covering everything from sports to business to lifestyles, before retiring in 2011.

Tickets are $25 and include lunch and reception, the book is sold separately. Purchase tickets here or call us at the store, 843.722.2666.