Saturday, February 6 at 7 pm
CECIL BOTHWELL READING & SIGNING
Local City Council member Cecil Bothwell joins us to celebrate his new book Usin’ the Juice: An Oratorio, a selection of Cecil’s speeches, lectures, homilies, and op-ed essays. Combining intellect, elegance, and wit, these delightful pieces are as informative as they are entertaining. Besides being a member of our City Council, Cecil is a prolific author of over ten books, including the popular guide Finding Your Way in Asheville.
Sunday, February 7 at 3 pm
POETRIO
Join us for our monthly series of readings and signings by 3 poets at 3 pm! This month will feature Holly E. Dunlap (Feet to Water), Mike Ross (Small Engine Repair), and William Jackson Blackley (Lingering Fire).
Saturday, February 13 at 2 pm
ARCADIA PRESS EVENT & SIGNING
Arcadia publishes the best in regional historical texts, and we are excited to welcome two authors who publish with this imprint! Marilyn Ball will discuss The Rise of Asheville, a work that reveals how Asheville got to now by tracing the foundational community members that shaped it over the last fifty years. Bill Alexander’s entry in the Images of America series, Biltmore Estate: Gardens and Grounds, is an invaluable work for people interested in the famous gardens of America’s most famous house. Designed and planned by landscape architect Frederick Law Olmstead and architect Richard Morris Hunt, the beautiful gardens and home became iconic symbols of Asheville’s history.
Saturday, February 13 at 7 pm
INTIMACY ANTHOLOGY READING & SIGNING
NC-based Jacar Press brought together more than 70 voices to create their new collection Intimacy: Poems, which editor Richard Krawiec, as well as contributors including Katherine Soniat, will share with us. Linked by this common theme, poems examine the pleasure, the pain, and the transcendence that connection between friends, lovers, family members, and even humans and the environment can create. Additional contributors include Kathryn Stripling Byer, Chana Bloch, Thylias Moss, and Richard Jackson. According to their website, Jacar Press is devoted to community activism through publishing writers “who offer their unflinching vision of the world.”
Sunday, February 14 at 3 pm
ROSS HOWELL, JR. READING & SIGNING
Ross Howell, Jr. will join us to discuss Forsaken, a historical novel that explores the Jim Crow era through the story of Virginia Christian, a young African-American girl executed for the murder of her white employer in 1912. Christian was the only female juvenile ever executed in Virginia, and Ross tells her story through the eyes of journalist Charlie Mears, the reporter who covered the case. Kirkus Reviews praises the book as “an important reminder of the horrors of Jim Crow” that is “fast-paced” and, finally, hopeful. Forsaken was just named a Winter 2016 Okra Pick by SIBA (the Southern Independent Booksellers Association).
Wednesday, February 17 at 7 pm
ED TARKINGTON READING & SIGNING
Regional author Ed Tarkington’s new novel, Only Love Can Break Your Heart, is a Southern Gothic tale about growing up in a small town gripped by the mysterious disappearance—and unanticipated return—of one of its members, the charismatic Paul Askew, who is implicated in a grisly double murder. Hailed by author Michael Knight as “a truly auspicious debut” that is “both ruminative and deeply suspenseful,” it’s a novel of mystery and faith, fear and hope, and heartbreak and the enduring power of love.
Thursday, February 18 at 7 pm
MEREDITH LEIGH READING & SIGNING
Local author Meredith Leigh’s practical and illuminating The Ethical Meat Handbook: Complete Home Butchery, Charcuterie and Cooking for the Conscious Omnivore is an indispensable resource for the homesteader and the chef alike. It covers preservation, butchery, and small-scale meat processing while empowering readers to shift their thinking and their practices around meat. Jean-Martin Fortier praises Meredith’s book as “a powerful, positive book about a powerful, positive alternative, engaging us in shaping a new food and agricultural narrative,” and author Mark Essig extols her “infectious passion.”
Saturday, February 20 at 7 pm
JOSHILYN JACKSON AND SARA GRUEN IN CONVERSATION TICKETED EVENT
Long-time writing friends Joshilyn Jackson and Sara Gruen will discuss their recent books and how their writing group has shaped their work and careers. Joshilyn Jackson’s new novel, The Opposite of Everyone, is the tale of Atlanta lawyer Paula Vauss, née Kali Jai, born to an eccentric storyteller mother who went to prison and has now disappeared under mysterious circumstances. Gruen praises The Opposite of Everyone as “inevitable, surprising, and beautifully layered.” Jackson is also the New York Times-bestselling author of six novels, including Gods of Alabama and A Grown-Up Kind of Pretty. Sara Gruen, best known for her novel Water for Elephants, is the author most recently of At the Water’s Edge, now out in paperback. The story of a young woman who follows her husband to Scotland during WWII and finds herself questioning her life choices, it is “a page-turner of a novel that rollicks along with crisp historical detail,” according to the Forth Worth Star-Telegram. This do-not-miss event will also include a reception with refreshments provided by Ingles. Tickets are $10 and include a $5 coupon for The Opposite of Everyone. The ticket also entitles the purchaser to 10% off At the Water’s Edge.
Sunday, February 21 at 3 pm
WRITERS AT HOME READING SERIES
Join host Tommy Hays for the monthly reading series featuring work from UNCA’s Great
Smokies Writing Program and The Great Smokies Review.
Sunday, February 21 at 5 pm
POETS RESPOND TO RACE EVENT
Al Black, a Columbia, SC, poet, organizer, and advocate, and Len Lawson, a poet and teacher, will join us for a Poets Respond to Race reading. Black is the author of the collection I Only Left for Tea, which is characterized by “quiet intimacy and vulnerability,” according to writer Ed Madden. Lawson’s poetry appears in several anthologies and journals including pluck! A Journal of Affrilachian Arts. In the wake of the Charleston tragedy, Black and Lawson began coproducing the Poets Respond to Race tour, which has included readings in three states and aims to bring unity and conversation through poetry. According to its mission statement, Poets Respond to Race “holds open forums on race and diversity to offer a gateway into tough conversations that can change communities in the south.”
Monday, February 22 at 7 pm
WRITER’S COFFEEHOUSE WITH JAKE BIBLE
Join us from 7-9 pm for the Asheville/WNC Writers Coffeehouse, a monthly meeting where area writers come together to discuss the business of writing, gather shared knowledge, and network. The meeting is open to writers of all experience levels, whether you’re a New York Times-bestselling author or someone just thinking about picking up a pen and putting it to paper. Come and spend time with like-minded people that love the art and business of writing.
Tuesday, February 23 at 7 pm
RICHARD JUDY READING & SIGNING
Regional author Richard Judy’s book THRU: An Appalachian Trail Love Story, is about finding adventure, friendship, and love on the Appalachian Trail. When a group of hikers set out to hike the trail, they have no idea that what awaits them is nothing less than self-discovery. THRU is inspired by Richard’s own thru-hike of the AT in 1973. Appalachian Trail Blog praises the “downright lovable” characters and the “true to form” narrative, calling it “engaging, realistic, and heartwarming to boot!” It may just inspire you to have your own AT adventure!
Thursday, February 25 at 7 pm
SUSAN DENNARD AND VERONICA ROSSI READING & SIGNING
Join us for a reading from two of the biggest voices in Young Adult fantasy! Susan Dennard will be here to celebrate the release of Truthwitch, the first installment in her Witchlands series. Author of the Something Strange and Deadly trilogy, she is, according to Kirkus Reviews, an “impressively detailed” worldbuilder whose “cinematic action scenes” help create an atmosphere of “epic adventure.” Veronica Rossi will be presenting her work Riders, the first in a new series about the transformation of a young solider into War, one of the four Horsemen of the Apocalypse. Veronica is the New York Times bestselling author of the Under the Never Sky series. School Library Journal praises the “real” characters and the action-packed plot.
Friday, February 26 at 7 pm
DENNIS COVINGTON READING & SIGNING
In his book Revelation: A Search for Faith in a Violent Religious World, Dennis Covington tackles questions surrounding the relationship between violence and faith. He takes an unflinching look at these topics and gives us, according to author Ron Rash, “an uncondescending and unflinching” examination of these themes and “a riveting exploration on a global scale of the dangers and possibilities of belief” (Peter Manseau). Dennis is a journalist and the author of the National Book Award finalist, Salvation on Sand Mountain.
Saturday, February 27 at 7 pm
PETER LAURENCE READING & SIGNING
Peter Laurence, Professor of Architecture at Clemson University, brings us his new book Becoming Jane Jacobs, a biography about the urban activist and author of the seminal work The Life and Death of American Cities. This biography sheds new light on the life and work of Jacobs, a vitally important figure in urban history and architectural criticism. Peter situates Jacobs and her contributions to sociology, history, and urban planning within a rich context that illuminates her evolution as a thinker and the invaluable legacy she left for contemporary city planners across the globe.
Sunday, February 28 at 3 pm
IT’S ALL RELATIVE READING & SIGNING
Join us to celebrate It’s All Relative: Tales from the Tree, the new anthology from local authors Nancy Dillingham and Celia Miles, who were co-editors and contributors to the volume. It’s a collection that brings together over 50 stories and poems from women authors of WNC writing on the broad theme of family. Rob Neufeld writes in the Citizen-Times that “there’s a shadowy, down-to-earth and at times magical quality to the telling that makes the collection striking and significant.”
Join a Bookclub!
Monday, February 1 at 7 pm
LGBTQ BOOKCLUB
Join hosts and Malaprop’s booksellers Melanie McNair and Caroline Christopoulos for the LGBTQ Bookclub! The February pick is Intersex by Thea Hillman.
Tuesday, February 2 at 7 pm
CURRENT EVENTS BOOKCLUB
Join host Bruce Roth for a lively discussion on topics of current interest including war and peace, the economy, the environment, and other hot political topics. The February pick is Unstoppable by Ralph Nader.
Tuesday, February 2 at 7 pm
WOMEN IN LIVELY DISCUSSION BOOKCLUB (WILD)
Join host and Malaprop’s bookseller Linda-Marie Barrett for the WILD Bookclub, which meets at the Battery Park Book Exchange. The February pick is The Complete Fiction of Nella Larsen.
Wednesday, February 3 from 1 to 2 pm
AUTISM BOOKCLUB
Hosts Catherine Faherty and Carolyn Ogburn will lead a discussion of The Obsessive Joy of Autism by Julia Bascom.
Wednesday, February 3 at 7 pm
MALAPROP’S BOOKCLUB
Host Jay Jacoby will lead a discussion of Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy.
Monday, February 8 at 7 pm
MYSTERY BOOKCLUB
Join host Donna Manley to discuss The Pecan Man by Cassie Dandridge Selleck.
Tuesday, February 9 at 12 pm
DISCUSSION BOUND BOOKCLUB
Hosted by the Asheville Art Museum, this monthly discussion is a place to exchange ideas about readings that relate to artworks and the art world, and to learn from and about each other. Bring your copy of the book and a brown-bag lunch to make the most of your midday break! The February pick is Museum: Behind the Scenes at the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
Thursday, February 25 at 7 pm
WORKS IN TRANSLATION BOOKCLUB
Join host and Malaprop’s bookseller Justin Souther to discuss writers—and their literature—in translation and the cultural, political and artistic influences that mold them. The February pick is The Story of My Teeth by Valeria Luiselli.