Friday, May 1 at 7pm
OUR STORIES: SURVIVORS SPEAK
Join in the celebration of this collaborative ‘zine by students from the Women, Gender, and Sexuality Studies department at UNCA and Our VOICE. There will be a reading, light refreshments, and an open mic session for participants. ‘Zines will be available for a suggested donation. All proceeds benefit Our VOICE.
Saturday, May 2
INDEPENDENT BOOKSTORE DAY
Join us for this year’s Independent Bookstore Day! We’ll have exclusive limited edition books and art pieces for sale, as well as a literary trivia contest hosted by the hilarious Allan Wolf (The Watch That Ends the Night). Come show off your knowledge about all things bookish, win fabulous prizes donated by generous local businesses, enjoy some yummy munchies provided by Ingles, and raise a glass of champagne to indie bookstores everywhere! Independent bookstore day is all day, while literary trivia is from 5-7:30pm.
Sunday, May 3 at 3pm
POETRIO
Join us for our monthly series of readings and signings by 3 poets at 3pm! This month will feature R. Flowers Rivera (Heathen), Mark Smith-Soto (Time Pieces), and Sandra Ann Winters (The Place Where I Left You).
Tuesday, May 5 at 7pm
MARK ESSIG LAUNCH PARTY
Join us for the launch of local author and historian Mark Essig’s new
book, Lesser Beasts: A Snout-to-Tail History of the Humble Pig!
Called a “a lively, informative farm-to-table feast” by Kirkus Reviews, Lesser Beasts explores how the oft-maligned pig has helped humans to survive and thrive from the Neolithic Period to the present day. Essig is also the author of Edison & the Electric Chair, named one of the 20 best science books of 2003 by Discover magazine.
Thursday, May 7 at 7pm
ANDREW SMITH & DAVID ARNOLD READING & SIGNING Andrew Smith (The Alex Crow) and David Arnold (Mosquitoland) join us for a weird and wonderful YA extravaganza! According to Kirkus, The Alex Crow is a, “magnificently bizarre, irreverent and bitingly witty”
novel “grounded by likable characters and their raw experiences.”
Booklist says in their starred review of Mosquitoland, “Arnold boldly tackles mental illness and despair, and sexual assault and sexual identity, without ever once losing the bigheartedness of the story…In the words of one of Mim’s Greyhound seatmates, Mosquitoland has pizzazz–lots and lots of it.” Andrew Smith is the author of several young adult novels, including the critically acclaimed and staff-beloved Grasshopper Jungle. Mosquitoland is David Arnold’s much lauded debut novel.
Friday, May 8 at 7pm
DAVE BARRY READING & SIGNING
New York Times-bestselling and Pulitzer Prize-winning author Dave Barry joins us to present his book The Worst Class Trip Ever! “Check your disbelief at the TSA line for this hilarious jaunt from Miami to Washington, D.C., with the civics students of Culver Middle School,”
says Publishers Weekly in their starred review. Follow eighth grader Wyatt Palmer and his best friend Matt on a fast-paced adventure to save the president from attack–or maybe not. Barry has written more than 30 books, including Big Trouble, Tricky Business, and Insane City.
Saturday, May 9 at 3pm
CURIOUS GEORGE
Inspire Curiosity with our intrepid primate friend! We’ll have story time and lots of fun activities, and Curious George will attend the event live and in person!
Sunday, May 10 at 3pm
JAN-PHILIPP SENDKER READING & SIGNING
We are thrilled to welcome Jan-Philipp Sendker back to Malaprop’s!
Whispering Shadows, the first in a suspenseful new trilogy, follows a retired expat journalist in contemporary China who tries to crack a murder case as he battles his own personal demons. Booklist calls Whispering Shadows a “darkly beautiful, heart-wrenching portrayal of the Cultural Revolution’s devastating social legacy.” Sendker is the author of two previous novels, The Art of Hearing Heartbeats and A Well-Tempered Heart.
Sunday, May 10 at 5pm
SHAKESPEARE SALON: MACBETH
Dr. Susan Harlan of Wake Forest University returns with her curated monthly series of Shakespeare discussions, this time looking at Monstrous Monarchs. Please join us for good company and a scintillating discussion of Macbeth.
Tuesday, May 12 at 7pm
BETSY POLK & MAGGIE ELLIS CHOTAS READING & SIGNING In Power Through Partnership: How Women Lead Better Together, Betsy Polk and Maggie Ellis Chotas draw on their own 12-year partnership and interviews with 125 women business partners to demolish the myths that keep women from collaborating and offer advice for creating successful female partnerships. Emma McLaughlin and Nicola Kraus, co-authors of The Nanny Diaries, say of the book, “In the midst of the heated debate between the stay-homes and the frantic-jugglers, the resentful who had to stop and the resentful who wish they could, Power Through Partnership shines a light on an exciting option for women everywhere.” Betsy Polk is a facilitator, mediator, and board certified coach for The Mulberry Partners, helping people figure out how to strengthen collaboration, improve communication, resolve conflict, and achieve goals that stick. Maggie Ellis Chotas is a facilitator and leadership coach for The Mulberry Partners.
Wednesday, May 13 at 7pm
MARGARET MCMULLAN READING & SIGNING
Margaret McMullan will present two new books! Aftermath Lounge is a novel-in-stories about the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. Jill McCorkle (Life After Life) calls it “a beautiful, compelling collection, the emotions as powerfully charged as the winds of a hurricane.” Every Father’s Daughter is a collection of essays by women about their fathers, with contributions from Maxine Hong Kingston, Jill McCorkle, Alice Monroe, Lee Smith, and twenty other incredible women authors. Margaret is the author of six other award-winning novels, including In My Mother’s House, Cashay, and When I Crossed No-Bob.
Thursday, May 14 at 7pm
SY SAFRANSKY READING & SIGNING
The founder and editor of Chapel Hill’s The Sun, Sy Safransky will present Many Alarm Clocks, a collection of his Notebook entries from the magazine. In it, Safransky ruminates about love and loss, faith and doubt, spanning nearly fifteen years of his work for The Sun. A fan of what he calls “the real news,” Safransky has been working as an editor since his days as a wee junior high student working on the school newspaper.
Friday, May 15 at 7pm
ALLI MARSHALL READING & SIGNING
The Mountain Xpress’s fabulous Alli Marshall presents her debut novel, How to Talk to Rockstars! Inspired by ten years of experience interviewing musicians for the Xpress, How to Talk to Rockstars is an exploration of love, loneliness, and rock ‘n’ roll. Charles Frazier (Cold Mountain) says, “This bright, fleet novel is a true delight–an engaging, perceptive, precisely observed and slyly funny meditation on fame and love, in particular the love of music.”
Saturday, May 16 at 7pm
JONI TEVIS READING & SIGNING
Former park ranger, factory worker, and seller of cemetery plots, Joni Tevis joins us to discuss her new collection of essays, The World is On Fire. Joni Tevis has spent her life both haunted by and drawn to visions of apocalypse. In The World is On Fire, she courageously faces up to the worst that may befall us, and in doing so creates a
living testament to the promise and necessity of death and rebirth.
In a collection of essays that Kirkus Reviews calls “rich” and “revelatory,” Joni Tevis reveals the “fiercely, startlingly bright”
glow of the seam between life and death.
Sunday, May 17 at 3pm
WRITERS AT HOME READING SERIES
Please join host Tommy Hays for this monthly reading series from the folks at the Great Smokies Writing Program and The Great Smokies Review.
Monday, May 18 at 7pm
ELISE & PHIL OKREND
Elise and Phil Okrend present Messages to the Heart, a gorgeous inspirational coffee table book that pairs Elise’s thoughtful, healing pastel paintings with the mindful philosophy Phil has developed from years of coaching clients to success. Together, they bring a visceral expression of everyday inspiration through art and words. Diane Moore, Founder Striving for More, Inc. Childhood Cancer Support, says “Each passage and its associated piece of artwork speaks directly to the readers soul.”
Wednesday, May 20 at 7pm
MARIE BRENNAN & MARY ROBINETTE KOWAL READING & SIGNING Marie Brennan (Voyage of the Basilisk) and Mary Robinette Kowal (Of Noble Family) join us for a delicious evening of regency fantasy!
Voyage of the Basilisk, the third novel in the Lady Trent memoirs, reveals the “true story of the illuminating, harrowing, and scandalous journey aboard the Royal Survey Ship Basilisk.” Of Noble Family, the final book in the acclaimed Glamourist Histories, is a magical adventure that might result if Jane Austen walked on the darker side of the Regency. Marie Brennan is the author of the Onyx Court series and the doppelganger duology of Warrior and Witch, as well as more than thirty short stories. Mary Robinette Kowal, recipient of the John W. Campbell Award for Best New Writer in 2008, is also a professional puppeteer and voice actor.
Thursday, May 21 at 7pm
BEATRIZ WILLIAMS READING & SIGNING
The New York Times bestselling author of A Hundred Summers returns to Malaprop’s with her new novel! The Secret Life of Violet Grant follows Manhattanite Vivian Schuyler as she explores the mysterious and scandalous history of her aunt Violet, and in the process discovers her own ambition and capacity for love.
Friday, May 22 at 7pm
CHRISTIAN HAGESETH & JOSEPH D’AGNESE EVENT Christian Hageseth, founder of Colorado’s Green Man Cannabis, and local favorite Joe D’Agnese discuss Big Weed: An Entrepreneur’s High-Stakes Adventures in the Budding Legal Marijuana Business. The book chronicles Hageseth’s dream–which is currently being fulfilled–of opening a weedery (much like a brewery) in the Colorado foothills. According to Publishers Weekly in its starred review, “Whatever the reader’s views on the subject, this is an ideal insider’s look at an industry in a time of momentous change.”
Saturday, May 23 at 7pm
LESBIAN NOVELIST PANEL
Join us for a panel of four spectacular authors who call North Carolina home! Rebecca Swartz (Falling), Deb Jackson Leigh (Riding Passion), Ann McMan (Backcase), and KG MacGregor (Anyone But You) will talk about their books in a panel moderated by reviewer Salem West. If you like fiction written about strong women, you won’t want to miss this one!
Sunday, May 24 at 5pm
SEAMUS McGRAW READING & SIGNING
In his new book, Betting the Farm on a Drought: Stories from the Front Lines of Climate Change, the award-winning author of The End of
Country: Dispatches from the Frack Zone offers a lively, thought-provoking overview of climate change from the perspectives of people who are dealing with it on the ground. A. J. Baime (The Arsenal of Democracy) says, “Seamus McGraw has created not just an important document regarding climate change and the future of our planet but a wonderful and truthful portrait of America. You feel like you’re on the road with him, cruising down little-traveled streets to meet fascinating characters whom you’d never see on Fox News or CNN. A terrific book.”
Tuesday, April 26 at 7:30pm
MARY ALICE MONROE READING & SIGNING
We are delighted to welcome Mary Alice Monroe back to Malaprop’s! The Summer’s End, the powerful and heartwarming conclusion to her Lowcountry Summer trilogy, brings us back to Sullivan’s Island, South Carolina. Throughout the series, Monroe expertly raises awareness about the threats facing bottlenose dolphins, while engaging readers
with a story that explores contemporary human and moral issues.
Please note that this event begins at 7:30pm.
Wednesday, May 27 at 7pm
DEBORAH HARKNESS TICKETED EVENT
Malaprop’s is thrilled and delighted to present Deborah Harkness!
Celebrate the paperback release of the third book of the All Souls Trilogy, The Book of Life, with us! Our very own bookseller Laura says, “Deborah Harkness does it again and the wait was well worth it!
Her ability to weave science, history, magic, folklore (and even some social commentary) into a story full of mystery, suspense and romance is simply amazing. The scope of this saga is epic yet Harkness makes it feel so personal. I hope this really isn’t the end!” This is a ticketed event. Tickets are $10 and include a $10 coupon toward the purchase of The Book of Life in paperback from Malaprop’s.
Thursday, May 28 at 7pm
NICKOLE BROWN & JESSICA JACOBS READING & SIGNING They’re married. They’re poets. They write about powerful women.
What’s not to love? Jessica Jacobs’s debut collection, Pelvis with Distance, explores the life of Georgia O’Keeffe and her marriage to photographer Alfred Stieglitz. Christopher Merrill (From the Faraway
Nearby) says “home in this stunning book turns out to be the entire universe. Make yourself comfortable. There’s so much to taste and see.” Nickole Brown’s second collection, Fanny Says, is a heartfelt biography-in-poems of her gun-toting, Cadillac-driving Kentuckian grandmother. “Nickole Brown’s unleashed love song to her grandmother is raucous and heart-rending, reflective and slap-yo-damn-knee hilarious, a heady meld of lyrical line and life lesson,” says prize-winning poet Patricia Smith.
Saturday, May 30 at 7pm
HARRY POTTER TRIVIA NIGHT
Can you drop some Potter knowledge with the bookish best? Join the Asheville Harry Potter Alliance for another round of wonderful wizarding trivia! This year the Asheville HPA is participating in Accio Books, an international drive to collect and donate books to those in need.
Sunday, May 31 at 3pm
KAREN WHITE READING & SIGNING
New York Times bestselling author Karen White returns to Malaprop’s to discuss her new novel, The Sound of Glass! The author of eighteen beloved “grit lit” novels, including A Long Time Gone and The Time Between, White has twice won the National Readers’ Choice Award. The Sound of Glass explores a Southern family’s buried history, which will change the life of the woman who unearths it, secret by shattering secret. Diane Chamberlain (The Silent Sister) says, “From the mysterious events of the first chapter to the heart-rending revelations of the last, Karen White paints a vivid portrait of a family filled with secrets, strife and–ultimately–love. I adore Karen’s stories and The Sound of Glass may well be my new favorite.”
Join a Book Club!
Tuesday, May 5 at 7pm
WOMEN IN LIVELY DISCUSSION BOOK CLUB (WILD) Join host and Malaprop?s bookseller Linda-Marie Barrett for the WILD book club, which meets at the Battery Park Book Exchange. The May pick is Cover Her Face by P.D. James.
Tuesday, May 5 at 7pm
CURRENT EVENTS BOOK CLUB
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 May pick is TBA.
Wednesday, May 6 from 1 to 2 pm
AUTISM BOOK CLUB
Hosts Catherine Faherty and Carolyn Ogburn will lead a discussion of Rogue by Lyn Miller-Lachmann.
Wednesday, May 6 at 7 pm
MALAPROP’S BOOK CLUB
Host Jay Jacoby will lead a discussion of Old Filth by Jane Gardam.
Monday, May 11 at 7 pm
MYSTERY BOOK CLUB WITH SALLIE BISSELL
Mystery writer Sallie Bissell and crew will discuss The Paris Architect by Charles Belfoure.
Tuesday, May 19 at 7 pm
COMIX CLUB
Malaprop?s bookseller Lauren Napoli will lead a discussion of Princeless by Jeremy Whitley.
Monday, May 25 at 7 pm
PIH ENGAGE PUBLIC HEALTH BOOK CLUB
Organized with Partners in Health Engage, this group will discuss great books with a focus on global public health. The May pick is TBA.
Thursday, May 28 at 7 pm
WORKS IN TRANSLATION BOOK CLUB
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 May pick is Visitation by Jenny Erpenbeck, translated by Susan Bernofsky.