Join us Wed., Sept. 26, 4:30 – 6:30 for the release of Kevin Eberle’s new book A History of Charleston’s Hampton Park. Beginning more than three hundred years ago, the book chronicles the park’s growth through early plantation life, Revolutionary War battles, horse racing, the Civil War, professional baseball, a zoo, and a disco.
Eberle, a professor at the Charleston School of Law, also serves as the president of the Hampton Park Terrace Neighborhood Association.
Join us Thurs., Sept. 27, 5 – 7 pm, as Curtis Worthington signs copies of his anthology Literary Charleston and the Lowcountry (Trinity University Press, pb., 321 pp., $16.95).
Literary Charleston is a fascinating collection of fiction, nonfiction and poetry by 34 different local and internationally acclaimed authors. Local literary heavyweights like Pat Conroy and Josephine Humphreys as well as visiting authors like Edgar Allen Poe and Andy Warhol share stories and essays inspired by their unique experiences in and around the Holy City.
Dr. Curtis Worthington is a Charleston neurosurgeon, literary historian, and past recipient of the Skylark Prize from the Poetry Society of South Carolina.
Neil Gaiman, bestselling author of The Sandman comic books and the novels Coraline and American Gods, will perform at the Charleston Music Hall, 37 John St., 8 pm, Fri., Sept. 21, 2012, as part of the Unchained Tour, a group of storytelling writers.
Riding around in a 1972 Bluebird bus,the Unchained raconteurs are touring North and South Carolina, Georgia, and Tennessee, on a mission to champion locally-owned businesses, especially locally-owned bookstores. The Charleston event will be a collaboration with Blue Bicycle Books.
Tickets are $20 and can be purchased at theunchainedtour.org and at Blue Bicycle Books (420 King St., 722-2666).
In addition to Neil Gaiman, the tour will feature Edgar Oliver, Savannah-born playwright and star of the Edinburgh Festival, Peter Aguero, a multi-talented artist currently hosting storytelling collective The Moth, and leading the improvised rock band, The BTK Band, as well as Charleston’s own, Mechanical River (Rachel Kate and Joel Hamilton).
Following the event, join us for a reception back at Blue Bicycle Books.
For more information check out this terrific 5-min documentary on the Tour.
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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, hb., $19.95) on Wed., Sept. 5, 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. You’ll be amazed when he captures a recognizable profile of your squirming two-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 past years
Chris Lamb will be at Blue Bicycle Books this Sat., Aug. 25 from 1-3 pm to sign his new book Conspiracy of Silence: Sportswriters and the Long Campaign to Desegregate Baseball and his 2011 release The Sound and Fury of Sarah Palin
Conspiracy of Silence is a history of the effort to desegregate major league baseball in the 1930s and 40s, particularly the story of how various mainstream newspapers covered, or in many cases failed to cover, black players’ fight for racial equality. The Sound and Fury of Sarah Palin features cartoons from a number of Pulitzer Prize-winning cartoonists, words from well-known Republican commentators, and Chris Lamb’s own trademark wry humor in an analysis of Palin and what she meant for American politics.
Chris Lamb is a professor of media studies at the College of Charleston and the author of several other books, including Blackout: The Story of Jackie Robinson’s First Spring Training. 
Thurs., Aug 16, 4 – 6 pm, Civil Rights advocate John Reynolds will be signing his new book The Fight for Freedom: a Memoir of My Years in the Civil Rights Movement. Beginning in the summer of 1965, Reynolds was an active foot soldier in the Civil Rights Movement. Beginning in his hometown of Troy, Alabama, within a few months Reynolds found himself in Atlanta being interviewed by Martin Luther King, Jr. In his memoir, he recounts his experiences in some of the Movement’s hot spots: Selma, Birmingham, and Mississippi, among others.
An ordained American Baptist minister, Reynolds spent twelve years serving as a pastor in Rhode Island before relocating to Charleston.
Vikki Matsis will be at Blue Bicycle Books Wed., Aug. 15 from 5-7 pm to celebrate the release of her new book Inside An American Hostel: A Guidebook for Managers & Aspiring Owners.
Inside An American Hostel goes behind the scenes of Vikki’s very own hostel here in Charleston, SC, outlining the essentials that any modern hostel owner or manager needs to know.
Vikki is the owner of Notso Hostel in downtown Charleston, which has been featured in the New York Times, USA Today, and the Travel Channel. She is also a freelance writer whose work has appeared in local publications such as the Post & Courier and Skirt! Magazine. Come meet Vikki and pick up a signed copy! 
Local surgeon and children’s author Peter Cotton will be at Blue Bicycle Books on Thur., Aug. 9 at 12 pm for a story hour featuring his new children’s book When the Fred the Snake Got Squished and Mended (27 pp., hb., $19.98).
Cotton’s book is a delightful tale featuring rhymes, humor, and colorful illustrations by Bonnie Lemaire. The author will be reading aloud as well as signing books.
Peter Cotton is an MUSC surgeon and former director of the MUSC Digestive Disease Center. When Fred the Snake Got Squished and Mended is his first children’s book and will soon be followed by a sequel When Fred the Snake Goes to School. Bring the kids out for a fun read aloud and grab a signed copy!
Blue Bicycle Books and the Charleston Library Society are proud to present Norb Vonnegut, to sign The Trust, his newest novel, at the Library Society (164 King St.) Thurs., July 26 at 6 pm.
The Trust is a suspenseful tale of high-stakes financial intrigue. After the accidental drowning death of his friend and mentor Palmer Kincaid, Grove O’Rourke receives a call from Kincaid’s daughter asking him to temporarily assume control of Kincaid’s philanthropic organization, the Palmer Foundation. Soon, though, O’Rourke begins to suspect the Palmer organization is not what it seems, and some digging reveals that the foundation may be a front for something far less innocent than charity work.
Norb Vonnegut received his MBA from Harvard in 1986 and worked on Wall Street for a number of years. The Trust is his third book. 
Jonathan Buchan will be at Blue Bicycle Books Fri., July 13 from 5-7 pm to celebrate the release of his new novel Code of the Forest (Joggling Board, 362 pp., hb., $24.99).
Code of the Forest tells the story of Wade McNabb, the editor of a Georgetown, South Carolina newspaper who breaks a story on political corruption surrounding a coastal chemical plant. Wade faces the consequences of meddling in SC’s insider politics when a powerful senator threatens repercussions for publishing the story. Refusing to back down, Wade turns to local lawyer Kate Stewart for help, and together they prepare for a showdown with the state’s power players.
Jonathan Buchan is a First Amendment lawyer and former South Carolina political reporter. Jonathan is from Mullins, SC and currently lives in Charlotte, NC. Code of the Forest is his debut novel. Come grab a copy and get it signed by Jonathan!
