Events Calendar

Bring your littles to the front steps of M. Judson for our bi-weekly story time! Enjoy some wonderful picture books read aloud to the crowd by our very own booksellers, and children will even get a sweet treat to go.

Join us at Soby’s to celebrate Madeline Martin’s new book, The Booklover’s Library. Ticket includes entrance to the event, a three course lunch, and a signed copy of the book.

A heartwarming story about a mother and daughter in wartime England and the power of books that bring them together, by the NYT bestselling author of The Last Bookshop in London. In the tranquil rural town of Nottingham, England, widow Emma Taylor finds herself in desperate need of a job. She and her beloved daughter Olivia have always managed just fine on their own, but with shadows of war on the horizon and the legal restrictions prohibiting widows from most employment opportunities, she’s left with only one option: persuading the manageress at Boots’ Booklover’s Library to take a chance on her with a job. Then the unthinkable happens: as England prepares to enter the war, Olivia must be evacuated to the countryside. In the wake of being separated from her daughter, Emma seeks solace in the unlikely friendships she forms with her neighbors and coworkers, and a renewed sense of purpose through the recommendations she provides to the library’s quirky regulars – including the (very handsome!) Mr. Fisk. But the job doesn’t come without its difficulties: books are mysteriously misshelved and disappearing, she desperately misses her daughter, and the library forces her to confront the memories of her late father and the bookstore they once owned together before a terrible accident. As the Blitz intensifies in Nottingham and Emma fights to reunite with her daughter, she must learn to depend on her community and the power of literature more than ever to find hope in the darkest of times.

Madeline Martin is a New York Times, USA TODAY, and international bestselling author of historical fiction and historical romance with books that have been translated into over twenty different languages.

We have partnered with the local organization Women, Life, and Science to host monthly science cafes, featuring speakers from various scientific communities and practices. There is no cost, but please register here. This month’s speaker is public health expert Dr. Kandi Fredere discussing “Public Health in the Upstate.”

Women, Life and Science is really just that – women leaders, living a full life, have a professional career in science or peripherally, have been involved in the industry. We are seasoned knowledge experts in leadership, mentorship, entrepreneurship, women’s health, philanthropic and general life experiences. We have stories to tell and knowledge to impart. We overcame challenges, uncertainties and continue to navigate the ever evolving professional and personal balance. We share in kindness and we share openly. We are grateful for many things. We have little regrets but easily forgive ourselves for our missteps. Women, Life and Science is the open forum for dialogue, a think-tank of professional women paving the way for future women leaders. Women are stronger collectively and when we walk in unison, our success becomes ten-fold.

Bring your littles to the front steps of M. Judson for our bi-weekly story time! Enjoy some wonderful picture books read aloud to the crowd by our very own booksellers, and children will even get a sweet treat to go.

Join us for Books Over Drinks to celebrate fantasy horror author Brom and his new rock-n-roll novel, Evil In Me. Evil in Me is bestselling author Brom’s newest novel of possession, damnation, and rock-n-roll where one woman must get the world singing in order to save her soul. This devilish tale includes nearly two dozen of Brom’s immersive paintings and brilliant endpapers. Aspiring musician Ruby Tucker has had enough of her small rural town and dysfunctional family. But a falling out with her best friend and bandmate has killed her dreams of escaping and making it big in the Atlanta punk scene.

While helping her eccentric neighbor organize his religious artifacts, an ancient ring clamps down on her finger—possessing her with the spirit of a blood-thirsty demon. There’s no exorcizing it unless hundreds of people chant a spell to set Ruby free. And what’s worse, the ring is a beacon for evil, drawing an unimaginably wicked mob straight to Ruby, hungry for her flesh.

If Ruby can get her band back together, she has a shot at salvation. It’s time for her to face the music and put her whole soul into a song—one powerful enough to raise some Hell.

Over the past few decades, acclaimed dark fantasy artist BROM has lent his distinctive vision to all facets of the creative industries, from novels and games to comics and film. He is the nationally bestselling author of Slewfoot, The Child Thief, Krampus, The Lost Gods, and the award-winning, illustrated horror novels The Plucker and The Devil’s Rose. Brom is currently kept in a dank cellar just outside Savannah.

When children are removed from their homes out of concern for their safety, they are usually brought to a DSS welfare office to await placement. This wait can be a few hours to several days. These children often have nothing with them and are scared, lonely, hungry, and in dirty clothing.

Isaiah 117 provides a comforting home where these children instead can be brought to wait – a place that is safe with friendly and loving volunteers who provide clean clothes, smiles, toys, and snuggly blankets. This space allows children to receive the comfort and care they need while child welfare staff can do the necessary paperwork and identify a good placement.

Stop by this Saturday morning pop up to get more information about this Greenville organization!

Bring your littles to the front steps of M. Judson for our bi-weekly story time! Enjoy some wonderful picture books read aloud to the crowd by our very own booksellers, and children will even get a sweet treat to go.

The déjà vu is strong for 25-year-old former kid detective Charlotte Illes when she lands back in Frencham Middle School – this time as a substitute teacher with a sideline in sleuthing – in the second zany mystery based on the much-loved TikTok web series from @katiefliesaway. For fans of “Poker Face,” “Knives Out,” Elle Cosimano’s Finlay Donovan Series, and anyone seeking to satisfy their Harriet the Spy, Encyclopedia Brown, or Nancy Drew nostalgia! Mention “returning to the scene of a crime,” and people don’t usually picture a middle school. But that’s where kid detective Lottie Illes enjoyed some of her greatest successes, solving mysteries and winning acclaim—before the world of adult responsibilities came crashing in . . . Twentysomething Charlotte is now back in the classroom, this time as a substitute teacher. However, as much as she’s tried to escape the shadow of her younger self, others haven’t forgotten about Lottie. In fact, a fellow teacher is hoping for help discovering the culprit behind anonymous threats being sent to her and her aunt, who’s running for reelection to the Board of Education. At first, Charlotte assumes the messages are a harmless prank. But maybe it’s a good thing she left a detective kit hidden in the band room storage closet all those years ago—just in case. Because the threats are escalating, and it’s clear that untangling mysteries isn’t child’s play anymore . . .

Katie Siegel is a former wannabe child detective who eventually realized that writing mysteries was more fun than trying (and failing) to solve them. In addition to writing the Charlotte Illes books and creating content for @KatieFliesAway on Tiktok, Instagram, and Youtube, she writes and produces the fantasy radio advice show podcast, Dear Liisphyra. She graduated from Rutgers University with a degree in journalism and currently lives in New Jersey.

Calling all teachers for a special night out! With a teacher ID you’ll get a free glass of our house bubbles or beer and receive a 15% discount on any purchase! We’ll also be doing a few extra special giveaways because we love you and you deserve it.

*discount does not apply to events, book clubs, alcohol, or catering

Join us in the M. Judson Gallery for a haiku workshop with poet Miho Kinnas. The ticket includes the hour and a half intensive instruction and a copy of Kinnas’ latest poetry collection, Waiting for Sunset to Bury Red Camellias.

Waiting for Sunset to Bury Red Camellias is the third poetry collection by Miho Kinnas, including the poem anthologized in Best American Poetry 2023. Twice nominated for the Pushcart Prize, her unique, sophisticated voice keeps pushing the boundary of what brevity can accomplish. She writes about the state of being by interweaving love, books, travel, family, women and history.

Twice nominated for the Pushcart Prize, Miho Kinnas is a writer, translator, and poet living in Hilton Head Island, South Carolina. She is the author of Waiting for Sunset to Bury Red Camellias, her third poetry collection. Her poems, prose, and translations have appeared in various anthologies and journals, including Best American Poetry 2023, Coast Lines (upcoming), Tokyo Poetry Journal, and American Review of Books. She leads poetry workshops at Writers.com, Pat Conroy Literary Center, and New York Writers’ Workshop, among other locations.

Stop by our Saturday morning pop up in the M. Judson lobby to meet the team behind the local podcast, Upstate Trail Talks.

Greenville, South Carolina is quickly becoming one of the most popular cities to visit and call home. From its highly regarded restaurant scene to the beautiful views of the Blue Ridge Mountains, more and more people are finding reasons to love the Upstate.

Each week, tune in as Griffin walks and talks on Greenville’s Swamp Rabbit Trail, a 22 mile trail running through the heart of downtown and out into the surrounding areas, and asks his guests why they decided to make the Upstate their home and how the Upstate has changed their lives.

Upstate Trail Talks episodes release weekly on Wednesday and are typically between 20 and 60 minutes in length. Each guest of the show has ties to Greenville and/or the surrounding areas, so if learning more about the people of the Upstate is what you’re after, you’re in the right place!

Bring your littles to the front steps of M. Judson for our bi-weekly story time! Enjoy some wonderful picture books read aloud to the crowd by our very own booksellers, and children will even get a sweet treat to go.

Bring your littles to the front steps of M. Judson for our bi-weekly story time! Enjoy some wonderful picture books read aloud to the crowd by our very own booksellers, and children will even get a sweet treat to go.

Books Over Cookies is a cozy story time up in the M. Judson Gallery space! Come and hear the author and illustrator read and discuss their new book, and eat some delicious cookies from Camilla Kitchen as well. Individual and family tickets are available and include a copy of the book.

Wild Things of the Upstate is an A to Z illustrated children’s book guiding readers through 26 plants and animals that call this region of South Carolina their home. Written for ages 3–7, Wild ings o ers an easy pathway for young minds to discover the plants, animals, insects, and fungi found in Upstate outdoor spaces, public parks, and even our own backyards. From American toad to zebra swallowtail, the book aims to educate children about the native wildlife around them and to inspire a passion for making room for our natural neighbors.

ABBY MOORE KEITH is a writer based in the Blue Ridge foothills of South Carolina. She spends a lot of time exploring her own backyard and more with her husband Sam, two children, and dog named Gus. Her love for the natural world and the creatures that call it home inspires her work.

CARISSA GRACE has been creating art as long as she can remember. With a BA in Studio Art, she and her fellow artist husband run Victory Garden Studios. Over the years they have collaborated on many projects from murals and children’s book illustrations to posters and prints. She also fi nds inspiration in the nearby Blue Ridge Mountains. She does her best to spend time outside taking in the beauty of the trails, lakes and waterfalls nearby.

Our In Conversation events are a wonderful way to find the next your next favorite author! These are free to the public, and feature fascinating discussion and a Q&A time, and also have books for sale and signing. Be sure to stop by!

Mountain Time: A Field Guide to Astonishment is an essay collection that explores the inner and outer natures of remarkable human and nonhuman beings. It is a book about paying attention—with the mind and with the heart. The essays confront the ethical and personal challenges Renata Golden faced in a harsh and isolated environment and examine the power of nature to influence her understanding of the human spirit.

“In Mountain Time, Renata Golden writes that mountains create a ‘constant hum’ connecting the very core of the earth to our own skin. She interweaves stories from her own life with riveting accounts about the Apache and Irish, yucca and Lehmann’s love grass, kangaroo rats and leopard frogs who have made a home somewhere and sometime in the complex topography of the southwestern borderland she loves. Golden’s gorgeous, instructive collection is the guidebook we need now.” – Camille T. Dungy, author of Soil: The Story of a Black Mother’s Garden.

“In this luminous collection, Renata Golden offers us an un-easy love story: with birds and people, mountains and family, history and place. Elegantly researched and exquisitely crafted, these essays have a depth and range that will delight and, yes, astonish.” – Susan Fox Rogers, author of Learning the Birds and editor of When Birds Are Near.

RENATA GOLDEN has studied the natural world in Arizona and New Mexico for decades. Her writing appears in literary journals and anthologies, including Dawn Songs: A Birdwatcher’s Field Guide to the Poetics of Migration; First and Wildest: The Gila Wilderness at 100; and When Birds Are Near. Her essays have been finalists for the River Teeth Literary Nonfiction Book Award, Penelope Niven Creative Nonfiction Award, Annie Dillard Award for Creative Nonfiction, and Center for Documentary Studies at Duke University Award. Originally from the South Side of Chicago, she lives in Santa Fe, New Mexico.

This Books Over Drinks is a little different than our usual events. Instead of the traditional author talk and Q&A, Rick Bryson will be runnining trivia, with the questions pulled from the pages of this awesome new book! Your ticket includes a copy of the book and a signature cocktail.

Have you ever wondered what a ticket stub from Rocky and Drago’s historic fight would look like? Do you remember who said “If you build it, he will come?” In Movies with Balls: The Greatest Sports Films of All Time, Analyzed and Illustrated, authors Kyle Bandujo and Rick Bryson dive deep into more than two dozen iconic sports movies, transporting readers into fictional arenas, stadiums, gyms, fields, and golf courses to relive the most climactic moments from their favorite sports flicks.

Rick Bryson has worked as an art director and graphic designer for more than twenty years. He lives in Greenville, South Carolina. This is his first book.

Calling all poets and authors! Hosted by the South Carolina Governor’s School, this monthly open mic night is a great way to showcase your latest writing project. Open to all, sign up at the event for a 5 minute timeslot!

Experience mouthwatering Southern baking—from humble home kitchens to innovative new Southern chefs. One of the world’s richest culinary traditions comes to life through this essential cookbook from bestselling author Anne Byrn. With 200 recipes from 14 states and more than 150 photos, Baking in the American South has the biscuits, cornbread, cakes, and rolls that will help you bake like a Southerner, even if you aren’t. Recipes can tell you volumes if you pay attention—the crops raised, languages spoken, family customs, old world flavors, and, often, religion. Did you know that where a mill was located affected the recipes handed down from that area? Or that baking and selling pound cakes directly impacted the Civil Rights Movement? These stories and recipes, developed from good times and bad, have been collected and perfected over years and are now accessible to us all. Anne’s expertise in assessing, modernizing, and developing well-written recipes makes this the definitive guide for bakers of all levels. From-scratch, Southern classic recipes include: Thomasville Cheese Biscuits Ouita Michel’s Sweet Potato Streusel Muffins Nina Cain’s Batty Cakes with Lacy Edges The Best Lemon Meringue Pie Georgia Gilmore’s Pound Cake This fascinating dive into the history of 14 Southern states—Texas, Florida, Kentucky, and more—features stories and beautifully photographed recipes from pre-Civil War times to today’s Southern kitchens. It’s about the places, the people, the products and the culture of the moment that influenced what people baked. It’s about African-American women and the monumental contributions they have made to the art of Southern baking, about home cooks and how they’ve kept traditions alive wherever they settle by baking family recipes each year for holidays and celebrations, and about the pastry chefs who have thoughtfully reimagined how the South bakes. Experience the recipes and the stories behind them that showcase the substantial contributions Southern baking has made to American baking at large. Food historians, bakers, foodies, and cookbook collectors from every corner of the country will want this cookbook in their collections.

ANNE BYRN is a New York Times bestselling food writer and author. She writes the weekly newsletter Between the Layers, one of the top 20 food and drink newsletters worldwide on Substack. She has authored several cookbooks. Her latest books are A New Take on Cake and Skillet Love, the latter exploring the history and modern uses for the cast-iron skillet. They followed American Cookie and American Cake, which NPR named one of the best cookbooks of 2016. The Cake Mix Doctor and sequels have more than 4 million copies in print, and USA Today called The Cake Mix Doctor the bestselling cookbook the year it debuted. Byrn’s career began as a food writer for The Atlanta Journal. Her food writing was named the Best Food Section by the Association of Food Journalists. She studied at La Varenne École de Cuisine in Paris and lived in England where she wrote about food and travel for a year. Anne is a contributor to Food52, Bon Appétit, and the Bitter Southerner. Byrn is a Nashville native and a fifth-generation Tennessean. For several years, she was the food writer for The Tennessean. Byrn has been featured in People magazine, The Washington Post, the New York Times, the New York Times Magazine, Los Angeles Times, Chicago Tribune, Southern Living, Publishers Weekly, and many other publications. She has appeared on Good Morning America, Later Today, CNN, The Food Network, and QVC and has taught cooking classes across the country. She and her husband live in Nashville.

Drinks with author Kimberly Brock to celebrate her latest novel, The Fabled Earth! Your ticket includes entrance to the event, a copy of the book, and a signature cocktail (or mocktail).

Inspired by the little-known history of Cumberland Island, The Fabled Earth is a sweeping story of family lore and the power of finding your own voice as Southern mythology and personal reckoning collide with a changing world. 1932. Cumberland Island off the coast of Southern Georgia is a strange place to encounter the opulence of the Gilded Age, but the last vestiges of the famed philanthropic Carnegie family still take up brief seasonal residence in their grand mansions there. This year’s party at Plum Orchard is a lively group: young men from some of America’s finest families come to experience the area’s hunting beside a local guide; a beautiful debutante expecting to be engaged by the week’s end, and a promising female artist who believes she has meaningful ties to her wealthy hosts. But when temptations arise and passions flare, an evening of revelry and storytelling goes horribly awry. Lives are both lost and ruined. 1959. Reclusive painter Cleo Woodbine has lived alone for decades on Kingdom Come, a tiny strip of land once occupied by the servants for the great houses on nearby Cumberland. When she is visited by the man who saved her life nearly thirty years earlier, a tempest is unleashed as the stories of the past gather and begin to regain their strength. Frances Flood is a folklorist come to Cumberland Island seeking the source of a legend – and also information about her mother, who was among the guests at a long-ago hunting party. Audrey Howell, briefly a newlywed and now newly widowed, is running a local inn. When she develops an eerie double exposure photograph, some believe she’s raised a ghost–someone who hasn’t been seen since that fateful night in 1932.

Kimberly Brock is the award-winning author of The Lost Book of Eleanor Dare and The River Witch. She is the founder of Tinderbox Writers Workshop and has served as a guest lecturer for many regional and national writing workshops including at the Pat Conroy Literary Center. She lives near Atlanta with her husband and three children.