Events Calendar

Enjoy 3 uninterrupted hours of silent reading in the M. Judson Gallery space. Your ticket includes snacks, beverages, and most importantly: peace and quiet.

Join us for lunch at Soby’s for Lunch & Lit with romance author Erin Sterling! The New York Times bestselling author of The Ex Hex and The Kiss Curse brightens up the Winter Solstice with another delightfully spooky novel following Bowen Penhallow and the girl he feels strangely drawn to—especially when she becomes his only hope of salvation after a strong spell sends them to a Yuletide celebration… more than 50 years in the past.

Bowen Penhallow has always been a loner, studying dark and ancient magic on a mountaintop in Wales. He prefers it that way. But when his friend Colin—who happens to be a ghost—asks him to attend a Yuletide wedding at a grand estate deep in the Welsh countryside, Bowen reluctantly agrees.

Tamsyn Bligh is not a witch, but she makes her living off of them. As a procurer and seller of magical items, Tamsyn’s business is not always above board, but she’s been trying to fix that (mostly.) Bowen is an occasional customer—as well as the star of several of Tamsyn’s dirtiest dreams—but she’s been around enough witches to know that, as a human, getting involved with one is not the smartest idea. She’s finagled an invite to the Witchy Wedding of the Century in the hopes of finally making a score big enough to retire. Just one priceless magical artifact from Tywyll House would set her up for life.

But Tamsyn isn’t the only one sneaking about in Tywyll House, and the mix of a very strong spell combined with a wedding mishap transports Bowen and Tamsyn into Tywyll House’s past, to the Yuletide Celebration of 1958. As Bowen and Tamsyn work together to get back to the present, they must also face off with the origins of Tywyll House’s haunting, the suspicions of their fellow witches…oh, and the fact that somewhere between the mistletoe and the bonfire, they might be falling in love.

Erin Sterling is the New York Times bestselling author of The Ex Hex and The Kiss Curse. Writing as Rachel Hawkins, she is also the author of the New York Times bestseller, The Wife Upstairs, as well as multiple books for young readers. Her work has been translated in over a dozen countries. She studied gender and sexuality in Victorian literature at Auburn University and currently lives in Alabama.

Join us for Books Over Drinks with romance author Erin Sterling! Your ticket includes a signed copy of the book, entrance to the event, and a signature cocktail (or mocktail!).

The New York Times bestselling author of The Ex Hex and The Kiss Curse brightens up the Winter Solstice with another delightfully spooky novel following Bowen Penhallow and the girl he feels strangely drawn to—especially when she becomes his only hope of salvation after a strong spell sends them to a Yuletide celebration… more than 50 years in the past.

Bowen Penhallow has always been a loner, studying dark and ancient magic on a mountaintop in Wales. He prefers it that way. But when his friend Colin—who happens to be a ghost—asks him to attend a Yuletide wedding at a grand estate deep in the Welsh countryside, Bowen reluctantly agrees.

Tamsyn Bligh is not a witch, but she makes her living off of them. As a procurer and seller of magical items, Tamsyn’s business is not always above board, but she’s been trying to fix that (mostly.) Bowen is an occasional customer—as well as the star of several of Tamsyn’s dirtiest dreams—but she’s been around enough witches to know that, as a human, getting involved with one is not the smartest idea. She’s finagled an invite to the Witchy Wedding of the Century in the hopes of finally making a score big enough to retire. Just one priceless magical artifact from Tywyll House would set her up for life.

But Tamsyn isn’t the only one sneaking about in Tywyll House, and the mix of a very strong spell combined with a wedding mishap transports Bowen and Tamsyn into Tywyll House’s past, to the Yuletide Celebration of 1958. As Bowen and Tamsyn work together to get back to the present, they must also face off with the origins of Tywyll House’s haunting, the suspicions of their fellow witches…oh, and the fact that somewhere between the mistletoe and the bonfire, they might be falling in love.

Erin Sterling is the New York Times bestselling author of The Ex Hex and The Kiss Curse. Writing as Rachel Hawkins, she is also the author of the New York Times bestseller, The Wife Upstairs, as well as multiple books for young readers. Her work has been translated in over a dozen countries. She studied gender and sexuality in Victorian literature at Auburn University and currently lives in Alabama.

Join us to celebrate author Steven Tingle! This event is free and open to the public.

Prentiss Wells is dead. The much-respected real estate attorney gave up the ghost in a sand trap on the sixteenth hole of a rural North Carolina golf course. The cause? According to witnesses, an errant golf shot hit by someone who fled the scene before being identified. The death is ruled an accident, and Davis Reed, a down-on-his-luck private detective, sees no reason to disagree.

But things get complicated when a wealthy, mystery-loving couple named Vance and Lana Roth offer Davis five thousand dollars to prove Wells’ death was a murder and nab the killer. The catch? Davis must partner with the Roths and include them in every step of the investigation. In desperate need of cash, Davis accepts the deal, but he can’t help but wonder if the Roths know something he doesn’t or if they just have more money than sense.

Meanwhile, Rusty Baker, a drug runner with the Steel Stooges biker gang, has just been released from prison and is aiming to make good on his promise to avenge his father’s death, a self-defense killing in which Davis played a leading role. And then there’s Elizabeth Harper, a fifty-something, no-nonsense CPA, who, along with discovering some shady real estate deals linked to Prentiss Wells’ firm, is also stirring the butterflies in Davis’ stomach.

Along with his friend and landlord, Dale Johnson, an ornery deputy whose mood changes with the wind, and Dale’s cousin Floppy, a hundred-pound motormouth mechanic who’s part mad genius and part scratch you can’t itch, Davis tries to avoid Rusty’s wrath while working to unravel a mystery that’s knotted up tighter than he could have ever imagined.

Steven Tingle is a novelist and essayist living in Greenville, South Carolina. His work has
appeared in various regional and national publications, including TOWN, which published his monthly “Man About Town” essays for nine years. His first novel, Graveyard Fields, was published by Crooked Lane Books in 2021. Before turning to writing, Steven was a golf course superintendent and the general manager of the western North Carolina golf course that his parents built in the late 1960s and operated for several decades. He left the golf business in 2008, not by choice; his mother fired him.

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.

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

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 storytime in the M. Judson Gallery and is a great event for children and families! Your ticket includes a copy of the book and cookies from Camilla Kitchen.

It’s monster picture day again, and Itty Bitty Betty Blob sits in front of the mirror where she practices growling for the camera. But for Betty it’s not so easy. She’s not a typical monster, so she doesn’t love scaring anyone. What she loves is dancing and rainbows and cute furry creatures. So when mom hands her a perfectly horrible scaly black dress to wear on picture day, Betty isn’t sure. Of course she wants to make mom happy, so she practices her growls in the mirror, and tries to look as monstery as her school friends. She even heads off to school with high hopes, practicing all the way there. . . and that’s when she makes a discovery and soon finds herself among new friends with ideas that just feel right.

Constance Lombardo began drawing when she was 10 years old, inspired in part by the Illustrators Annuals her dad brought home from the advertising agency where he worked, and in part by her sister doing a drawing and getting lots of attention. She’s been writing ever since she realized she loved stories (ie, since forever!)

She’s the author/illustrator of the middle-grade Mr. Puffball series and the picture book, Everybody Says Meow, and the author of Tiny Spoon vs. Little Fork (Illustrated by the amazing Dan & Jason!) She lives in Asheville, NC with her family.

Stop by M. Judson for this free conversation between two poets, Eric Kocher and Mamie Morgan, as they discuss Kocher’s latest poetry collection, Sky Mall.

Like the magazine from which it takes its name, Eric Kocher’s Sky Mall is committed to “making a catalogue of things, / Strange and wonderful, terrifying and sad.” The poems are equally in awe of each object—a towering western redcedar, the Great Pacific Garbage Patch, the frothiness of clouds—but also worried about the estrangement and alienation that capitalism constructs between beings and the world. Out of this emerges a meditation on parenthood, on togetherness and love, that is both cosmic and absurd.

Eric Kocher teaches Environmental Studies at Wofford College. Some of his poems have previously appeared in 32 Poems, Boston Review, Gulf Coast, Oversound, and A Public Space, among others. He lives in upstate South Carolina with his wife, Audrey, and their two children, Oscar and Louise.

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 a book-inspired wine tasting! We pair the qualities of each wine with a book that shares the same spirit. Your ticket to the tasting, apart from the tastes, includes your choice of one of the featured books. Bottles of the featured wines will be for sale at great prices, too. This event is a crowd favorite, serving as a great date, a perfect girls night out, or treat to yourself. Buy your ticket now and join us on October 23rd at 7:30 pm!

*Refunds or transfers can only be accommodated 24 hours prior to the event.

’Tis the season! The Crown meets When Harry Met Sally in the latest heartwarming historical novel from Hazel Gaynor and Heather Webb, bestselling authors of Last Christmas in Paris, Meet Me in Monaco, and Three Words for Goodbye.

Hazel Gaynor is an award-winning New York Times and USA Today bestselling author known for her deeply moving historical novels which explore the defining events of the 20th century. A recipient of the 2015 RNA Historical Novel of the Year award, her work has since been shortlisted for multiple awards in the UK and Ireland. Her latest novel, The Last Lifeboat, was a Times of London historical novel of the month, shortlisted for the 2023 Irish Book Awards and recipient of the 2024 Audie Award for Best Fiction Narrator. Hazel’s work has been translated into twenty languages and is published in twenty-seven territories to date. She lives in Ireland with her family.

Heather Webb is the award-winning and USA Today bestselling author of ten historical novels, including her most recent The Next Ship Home, Queens of London, and Strangers in the Night. To date, her books have been translated to eighteen languages. She lives in Connecticut with her family and two mischievous cats.

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.

Down Supper with Victoria Granof to celebrate her new cookbook, Sicily, My Sweet! Your ticket includes entrance to the event, a copy of the book, and a four course meal with wine pairings.

A love letter to the iconic and often over-the-top desserts of Sicily, gorgeously styled and endearingly written by Victoria Granof, one of the great tastemakers in the food world. Sicilian pastries are fanciful, bawdy, and brash. They are celebratory, superstitious, and some of the most show-stopping desserts around. Luckily, they are also quite easy to make at home now that Sicilian pistachios, almonds, flour, chocolate, sheep’s milk ricotta, jasmine water, fragrant lemons, and fennel are easier than ever to procure. In Victoria Granof’s expert hands, readers learn to make Meyer Lemon and Bay Leaf Gelato, Schiumone, a frozen mousse of jasmine-scented almond milk, Gela di Melone, a fruit pudding of white melon and orange blossom, and Pasticcini di Pistacchio Con Gelsomino, pistachio and jasmine macarons. ​Full of gorgeous food and location photography, warm and witty headnotes, and expert recipes, Sicily, My Sweet is sure to transport and delight.

Victoria Granof was named one of the most creative and inspiring women in food by Cherry Bombe, and a woman to follow by The Spruce Eats. She is one of today’s most visionary and vibrant culinary artists. (She was also dubbed Cannoli Queen by Bon Appétit.) Her loyal clients include Martha Stewart Omnimedia, Food & Wine, Vogue, Rachael Ray Everyday, Delish, Bon Appétit, Food 52, Epicurious, Wall Street Journal, New York Magazine, and the New York Times. She is the author of four cookbooks and has styled or developed scores of others, most recently Please Wait to be Tasted. Victoria is based in Brooklyn, NY.

Down Supper with Victoria Granof to celebrate her new cookbook, Sicily, My Sweet! Your ticket includes entrance to the event, a copy of the book, and a four course meal with wine pairings.

A love letter to the iconic and often over-the-top desserts of Sicily, gorgeously styled and endearingly written by Victoria Granof, one of the great tastemakers in the food world. Sicilian pastries are fanciful, bawdy, and brash. They are celebratory, superstitious, and some of the most show-stopping desserts around. Luckily, they are also quite easy to make at home now that Sicilian pistachios, almonds, flour, chocolate, sheep’s milk ricotta, jasmine water, fragrant lemons, and fennel are easier than ever to procure. In Victoria Granof’s expert hands, readers learn to make Meyer Lemon and Bay Leaf Gelato, Schiumone, a frozen mousse of jasmine-scented almond milk, Gela di Melone, a fruit pudding of white melon and orange blossom, and Pasticcini di Pistacchio Con Gelsomino, pistachio and jasmine macarons. ​Full of gorgeous food and location photography, warm and witty headnotes, and expert recipes, Sicily, My Sweet is sure to transport and delight.

Join us for an In Conversation event with authors Marybeth Whalen and T. I. Lowe! This event is free to the public.

A small Southern town. An ordinary Saturday night. A little boy disappears without a trace. Everyone in Wynotte, North Carolina, knows the name Davy Malcor. Knows the video clip of him juggling four balls, “All at the very same time!” Knows the Marty McFly jacket his mother made for his birthday that he wore proudly, and often. But no one knows what happened to him the night he went missing more than twenty years ago.

When the jacket is unexpectedly uncovered, the cold case reopens, and Davy’s family is thrust into yet another media storm. But at the heart of the story are four people forever changed by one single night: Thaddeus Malcor, Davy’s older brother, created the life of his dreams by writing a bestselling memoir about his family’s experience and is enjoying success and notoriety as a result, even if the memoir doesn’t quite reveal the whole story. Tabitha Malcor, his mother, is divorced and living alone, advocating for victims’ rights and faithfully cataloging her regrets each week, never including her biggest regret of all. Anissa Weaver was just a kid herself when Davy went missing, and her connection to him is one she cannot reveal as she serves as the Malcor family’s Public Information Officer. And, long suspected in Davy’s disappearance, Gordon Swift has kept his head down and scraped together a decent life. But the new attention to the case makes it impossible to hide from the public, and the past.

With hauntingly vivid prose, Marybeth Mayhew Whalen peels back the curtain on the inner turmoil of those who were left behind in the small Southern community as they pick up the pieces that remain and press forward into the light to find hope and healing.

Marybeth Whalen is the author of the forthcoming novel Every Moment Since (out fall of 2024) and nine previous novels. Marybeth received a BA degree in English with a concentration in Writing and Editing from NC State University a long time ago and has been writing ever since. She is the co-founder of The Book Tide, an online community of readers where “a rising tide raises all books.” Marybeth and her husband Curt are the parents of six children, with only one left at home. A native of Charlotte, NC, Marybeth now calls Sunset Beach, NC home.

Sometimes what haunts you most is wondering what could have been.

Avalee Elvis prides herself with being able to fix just about anything. . . except her past. Unable to put the puzzle of her life together, she pours heart and soul into making neglected places whole again. As the owner of Lowcountry Lost, Avalee spends her days in hot-pink Carhartt overalls and a tool belt reclaiming Lowcountry properties. Making them beautiful again releases the deep sigh that soothes the hurt she holds.

Avalee’s latest project takes her to tiny Somewhere, South Carolina, a long-abandoned town. She ignores its ghostly folklore but can’t miss the shock of hearing the familiar Irish brogue that materializes on the job site—the voice of the man she never wanted to see again.

Rowan Murray is a structural engineer hired by investors to oversee the redevelopment of the quaint downtown Avalee is bringing back to life. Once upon a time, he was also the man who knew Avalee better than anyone else—or so he thought. Six years ago, neither of them was prepared for the tragedy they would face together or what would happen in its wake. But as they work together to complete the rehabbing of Somewhere, their broken pieces and the pain that nearly consumed them begin to lose its grip, and both begin to wonder if it’s not too late for a restoration of their own.

From the author of the breakout Southern fiction bestseller Under the Magnolias comes a story of loss and abandonment, forgiveness, and the beauty of undying love.

T. I. Lowe is an ordinary country girl who loves to tell extraordinary stories. She is the #1 international bestselling author of twenty published novels, including her bestselling and critically acclaimed novel, Under the Magnolias, and her debut breakout, Lulu’s Café. She lives with her husband and family in coastal South Carolina.

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.

Sharkpedia is an entertaining and enlightening celebration of sharks featuring close to 100 entries, based on the latest knowledge and enriched by original illustrations. Avoiding tired factoids, shark authority Daniel Abel gives new bite to essential information about sharks, including their adaptations as top predators, 450-million-year evolution, behavioral complexity, ecological importance, existential threats, and often sensationalized appearances in popular culture, from Jaws to Shark Week.

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.

Enjoy 3 uninterrupted hours of silent reading in the M. Judson Gallery space. Your ticket includes snacks, beverages, and most importantly: peace and quiet.