Blue Bicycle Books, Charleston, SC


Cooper River Bridge Run Show, March 25

BANDITJoin us Thurs., Mar. 25, 7:30 pm for the annual Cooper River Bridge Run Show here at the store.

Every year, two nights before the Bridge Run, store owner and local writer Jonathan Sanchez debuts a new race-related short story. Past stories have been compiled into his pretty-good collection, Bandit. Wine, power bars, and encouraging handshakes start at 7:30, reading starts around 8. Despite the hour on a school night, this year’s story is quite kid-friendly.

Last year’s story, “Laughing in a Different Language,” is now online here.



Story Hour with Jonathan Miller, March 31

safari_coverJonathan Miller has another great Sammy the Wonder Dachshund book, Sammy on Safari.  He will do a storytime for kids Wed., Mar. 31, 4 pm.  Juice boxes will be provided.



Michael Plumides, April 1

plumides coverMichael Pumides is back for a second vist to the store signing copies of his book Kill the Music, Thurs., Apr. 1, 4 – 6 pm.



Doug Bostick, April 10

bostick coverSouthern historian Doug Bostick will sign copies of his newest book Historic Photos of South Carolina on Sat., Apr. 10, 1 – 3 pm at the store.



Blue Bicycle Books Author Luncheon Series

The Blue Bicycle Books Author’s Luncheon Series continues Sat., March 13, noon to 2 pm, with local novelists Batt Humphreys and Nicole Seitz.

NicoleSeitzHead2009Mount Pleasant’s Nicole Seitz, author of The Spirit of Sweetgrass, Trouble the Water, and A Hundred Years of Happiness will discuss her newest novel. Saving Cicadas is the story of Priscilla Lynn Macy, the single mother of two daughters, Rainey Dae, 17, who has Down’s syndrome, and Janie Doe, a precocious eight-year-old. When Priscilla discovers she’s pregnant, she quits her job, packs up her famly and hits the road, eventually ending up at her ancestral home in Forest Pines, S.C.

Seitz, who also paints the watercolor covers of all of her books, lives in Mount Pleasant with her husband and two children.

Batt Humphreys promo photoBatt Humphreys’ first novel Dead Weight is set in 1910 Charleston, based on a true story about a murder of a Jewish merchant and the black man wrongly accused of the crime. A Georgia native, Humphreys began a career in television news in Charleston in the early eighties. As a senior producer for the CBS News in New York, he managed the coverage of the first hours of the morning of September 11, several wars, elections, and as a reporter covered hurricanes, executions and more murders than he cares to remember. Humphreys and his wife Laura currently live on a farm outside Charleston, along with horses, dogs and cats of varying populations.

The talk and luncheon will be at an Upper King area restaurant (to be announced), followed by a dessert-and-champagne book signing at the bookstore, 420 King St.

Saturday, Mar. 13, 2010, 12 – 2 pm, $35. Advance reservations required. For tickets please call 843.722.2666 or buy online here.

 

Can’t make the luncheon? Order signed copies of the books here.

signed copies will ship after March 14

 

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Matt and Ted Lee, Simple Fresh Southern, March 7

lee brosBlue Bicycle Books welcomes renowned food writers Matt and Ted Lee, signing copies of The Lee Bros. Simple Fresh Southern, Sun., Mar. 7, 2 – 4 pm.


The local boys-made-good will close out the weekend of the Charleston Food and Wine Festival with a sidewalk peanut boil on King Street.


We first met Matt and Ted when they were fresh out of college, working for VH1 in New York and coming home regularly to run their mail-order business out of an office in the Confederate Home.


Fifteen years later they are still selling boiled peanuts, Duke’s Mayonnaise, and Piggly Wiggly t-shirts to exiled Southerners everywhere. They are also now frequent contributors to the New York Times dining section and have won two James Beard awards for The Lee Bros. Southern Cookbook (Norton, 2007, hb., $35, 589 pp.).


Their second book explores recipes that indulge in the flavors of the Deep South through healthy and everyday ingredients. More than 100 accessible recipes add their own twist of sophistication: cherry tomato and soybean salad, easy ambrosia, caesar salad with catfish “croutons,” to name a few. Simple Fresh Southern (Clarkson Potter, 2009, hb., $35, 255 pp) also offers instructions on a variety of techniques, ranging from smoking to cheesemaking. (And it has a blurb from Amy Sedaris!)

Can’t make it? Buy a signed copy right here.

[Signed copies available March 8]

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Michael Kaiser, Art of the Turnaround, Feb. 23

http://portalwisconsin.files.wordpress.com/2009/08/kaiser.jpgMichael Kaiser, author of The Art of the Turnaround: Creating and Maintaining Healthy Arts Organizations.

Tues., Feb. 23, 9 am, College of Charleston Recital Hall in the Simons Center for the Arts

Kennedy Center President Michael Kaiser, author of The Art of the Turnaround: Creating and Maintaining Healthy Arts Organizations, will speak about current challenges and opportunities for arts organizations as a part of the “Arts in Crisis: A Kennedy Center Initiative 50 State Tour.”  In his new book Kaiser shares with readers his ten basic rules for bringing financially distressed arts organizations back to life and keeping them strong.  Join us in hearing about Kaiser’s experiences at the College of Charleston Recital Hall in the Simons Center for the Arts.

ORDER HERE

Signed copies will ship after Feb. 23

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Slowcountry Food

Carlo_PetriniCarlo Petrini, founder of the Slow Food movement and author of Terra Madre, reception and signing at McCrady’s Restaurant, 2 Unity Alley, Tues., Feb. 23, 4 – 6 pm.  $10, Slow Food Charleston members, $15 for non-members.

Join Blue Bicycle Books, Slow Food Charleston and McCrady’s as we welcome the face of Slow Food to the Slowcountry.  Chef Sean Brock will host a welcome reception with ingredients from his restaurant’s own slo-cal farm.

Petrini, named one of Time Magazine’s 2004 Heroes, founded the Slow Food Movement in his home country of Italy to combat the ill effects of fast food, to preserve a culture’s cuisine and its associated agriculture, and, let’s face it, to stick it to McDonald’s, who were trying to put up some golden arches in his neighborhood.

So check your McGriddles at the door and come give a big Charleston buongiorno to Carlo.

ORDER NOW

signed copies will ship after Feb. 24

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Blue Bike Books Partners with Charleston Stage

Blue Bicycle Books has partnered with Charleston Stage to offer you a $5 discount on tickets to Twelfth Night, Feb 25 – March 7 at the Sottile Theatre.  Purchase tickets here, and enter the promotional code ‘BBTN5’

Twelfth_voucher_bbb

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Southeastern Wildlife Exposition Booksignings

Tom Phillips

City of the Silent: The Charlestonians of Magnolia Cemetery, by the late Ted Ashton Phillips Jr.. Ted was a great scholar and brought joy to everyone he encountered. One of our favorite Charleston people writing about one of our favorite Charleston places. Thomas Brown, the book’s editor, will sign copies 11 am to 12:30 pm, Sat., Feb.13.

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Mike Creel and Lynn Kelley will sign The Boykin Spaniel: South Carolina’s Dog. 2 – 4 pm, Sat., Feb. 13.

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