Events Calendar
Explore family friendly events, theatres, galleries, concerts, nightlife, things to do, and more in the Greenville, SC and Upstate areas.
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There was nothing like the elementary school book fair – the smell of new books in the air, the rush of racing your friends to find the next installment of your favorite series, and, if you were lucky, the crinkle of money from Mom in your pocket.
Life felt so much easier back then, didn’t it? Don’t you find yourself wishing from time to time that you could just go back?
This April, you can – but we’re doing it grown-up style.
Don’t miss our Boozy Book Fair at Fireforge (311 E Washington St, Greenville, SC 29601) on Sunday, April 28th from 1-3pm!
Book categories will include:
–Adulting
-Geeks and Gamers
-Myths and Fairy Tales
-Gothic and Ghastly
-Meet Cute Moments
-Romantasy
-Read the Rainbow
-When Nature Calls
-Bookclub Picks
-Young at Heart
-Truth ‘R Us
-Criminally Good Reads
…and much much more!
This event is FREE and open to the public, so bring your friends! Be sure to RSVP so we have the booze + books ready – we can’t wait to see you there.
Are show dogs and pet dogs happy? Tommy Tomlinson searches for a deeper understanding of the relationship between dogs and and humans. Discover his inside account of the Westminster Dog Show and his experience behind the scenes of more than one hundred competitions across the country. Tomlinson will be joined in conversation with author Bronwen Dickey, author of Pit Bull: The Battle over an American Icon. Join us at Hub City Bookshop on Tuesday, May 7th at 6 PM for this event perfect for any dog lover!
About the Book
From Pulitzer Prize finalist Tommy Tomlinson comes an inside account of the Westminster Dog Show that follows one dog on his quest to become a champion—and explores the bond between dogs and their people.
Tommy Tomlinson was watching a dog show on television a few years ago when he had a sudden thought: Are those dogs happy? How about pet dogs—are they happy? Those questions sparked a quest to venture inside the dog-show world, in search of a deeper understanding of the relationship between dogs and humans that has endured for thousands of years. Dogland shares his surprising, entertaining, and moving adventures.
Tomlinson spends three years on the road and goes behind the scenes at more than one hundred competitions across the country, from Midwestern fairgrounds to Madison Square Garden. Along the way he is licked, sniffed, and rubbed up against by dogs of nearly every size, shape, and breed. Like a real-life version of the classic mockumentary Best in Show, Dogland follows one champion show dog—a Samoyed named Striker—as well as his handler, Laura King, and his devoted entourage of breeders and owners as he competes in the 2022 Westminster Dog Show.
Striker’s whole career has been leading up to this moment. As Tomlinson writes, picking a top show dog is like drafting an NFL quarterback when they’re still in elementary school. Now Striker has made it to the Super Bowl. Tomlinson takes readers on the long road to glory, bringing the dog-show circuit to life as he witnesses teams scrambling from town to town in search of championship points and large, colorful ribbons. (Striker and his crew travel in a custom-built RV named after Betty White.)
Tomlinson’s limitless curiosity about people and dogs reaches far beyond the show tents and into the ordinary lives of dogs. We hear from experts who have discovered new insights into how dogs and humans formed their bond—and how that bond has changed over the centuries. We discover the fascinating origins of different dog breeds, learn about the elaborate breed standards that determine an ideal show dog, and consider the health issues that can arise in purebred dogs. We also meet dog lovers who applaud every dog, regardless of breed, simply for being themselves, such as WeRateDogs, the social media phenomenon with millions of followers, all for posts celebrating the day-to-day goofiness in most dog owners’ lives.
Engaging, charming, and insightful, Dogland is an irresistibly appealing read that invites us on a rollicking backstage tour through the rituals, tricks, and wonders of the dog-show world—and reveals what matters most for the happiness of dogs and dog lovers everywhere.
About the Author
Tommy Tomlinson is the author of The Elephant in the Room, a memoir about being overweight in America. He’s the host of the podcast SouthBound in partnership with WFAE, Charlotte’s NPR station. He has written for publications including Esquire, ESPN the Magazine, Sports Illustrated, Forbes, Garden & Gun, and many others. He spent twenty-three years as a reporter and local columnist for the Charlotte Observer, where he was a finalist for the 2005 Pulitzer Prize in commentary. His stories have been chosen twice for the Best American Sports Writing series (2012 and 2015) and he also appears in the anthology America’s Best Newspaper Writing. He teaches magazine writing at Wake Forest University and has taught at colleges, workshops, and conferences across the country. He also has a Substack called The Writing Shed. Tommy and his wife, Alix Felsing, live in Charlotte with Alix’s mom and a cat.
Conversation Partner
Bronwen Dickey is a journalist, science writer, and the author of Pit Bull: The Battle over an American Icon. In 2017, she was a finalist for the National Magazine Award in feature writing. She teaches journalism at Duke University.
Introducing Local Author Pop-up! Meet a local author at our bookshop on Saturday, ask them questions about their books and get your copy signed. A.C. Hobbs will be at Hub City Bookshop on May 11th from 11 AM – 1 PM showcasing her book Scythe and Pen — a dark fantasy novel set in the Jazz Age.
Join Hub City Bookshop in welcoming author Taylor Brown as he reads from and signs his newest book Rednecks. “Rednecks is a propulsive, character-driven tale that’s both a century old and blisteringly contemporary: a story of unexpected friendship, heroism in the face of injustice, and the power of love and community against all odds.” Meet us at the bookshop on Tuesday, May 14th at 6 PM.
This event is free and open to the public, registration on Eventbrite comes with a book and holds a reserved seat at the event.
About the Book:
A historical drama based on the Battle of Blair Mountain, pitting a multi-ethnic army of 10,000 coal miners against mine owners, state militia, and the United States government in the largest labor uprising in American history.
Rednecks is a tour de force, big canvas historical novel that dramatizes the 1920 to 1921 events of the West Virginia Mine Wars―from the Matewan Massacre through the Battle of Blair Mountain, the largest armed conflict on American soil since the Civil War, when some one million rounds were fired, bombs were dropped on Appalachia, and the term “redneck” would come to have an unexpected origin story.
Brimming with the high stakes drama of America’s buried history, Rednecks tells a powerful story of rebellion against oppression. In a land where the coal companies use violence and intimidation to keep miners from organizing, “Doc Moo” Muhanna, a Lebanese-American doctor (inspired by the author’s own great-grandfather), toils amid the blood and injustice of the mining camps. When Frank Hugham, a Black World War One veteran and coal miner, takes dramatic steps to lead a miners’ revolt with a band of fellow veterans, Doc Moo risks his life and career to treat sick and wounded miners, while Frank’s grandmother, Beulah, fights her own battle to save her home and grandson. Real-life historical figures burn bright among the hills: the fiery Mother Jones, an Irish-born labor organizer once known as “The Most Dangerous Woman in America,” struggles to maintain the ear of the miners (“her boys”) amid the tide of rebellion, while the sharp-shooting police chief “Smilin” Sid Hatfield dares to stand up to the “gun thugs” of the coal companies, becoming a folk hero of the mine wars.
Award-winning novelist Taylor Brown brings to life one of the most compelling events in 20th century American history, reminding us of the hard-won origins of today’s unions. Rednecks is a propulsive, character-driven tale that’s both a century old and blisteringly contemporary: a story of unexpected friendship, heroism in the face of injustice, and the power of love and community against all odds.
About the Author
Taylor Brown is the recipient of the Montana Prize in Fiction, a three-time finalist for the Southern Book Prize, and was named the 2021 Georgia Author of the Year. His novels include Fallen Land, The River of Kings, Gods of Howl Mountain, Pride of Eden, and Wingwalkers. He lives in Savannah, Georgia.
COMIC CON
There was nothing like the elementary school book fair – the smell of new books in the air, the rush of racing your friends to find the next installment of your favorite series, and, if you were lucky, the crinkle of money from Mom in your pocket.
Life felt so much easier back then, didn’t it? Don’t you find yourself wishing from time to time that you could just go back?
You can – but we’re doing it grown-up style.
Don’t miss our Boozy Book Fair at New Groove Artisan Brewery (4078 Hwy 9 Boiling Springs, SC 29316) on Sunday, May 19th from 1-3pm!
We will have STICKERS!!! as well as books for everyone and every interest:
-Geeks and Gamers
-Myths and Fairy Tales
-Gothic and Ghastly
-Happy Endings
-Romantasy
-Read the Rainbow
-Bookclub Picks
-Celebrate the South
-Nonfiction
-Whodunnits & Thrillers
…and much much more!
This event is FREE and open to the public, so bring your friends! Be sure to RSVP so we have the booze + books ready – we can’t wait to see you there.
Learn about the life of Norman Maclean, author of A River Runs Through It and Other Stories, from one of his pupils and long-time friend Rebecca McCarthy. McCarthy paints an intimate portrait of Maclean as a teacher, author, and friend. McCarthy will be in conversation with John Lane. Meet with us and Rebecca McCarthy at Hub City Bookshop on Thursday, May 23rd at 6 PM.
This event is free and open to the public, registration on Eventbrite comes with a book and holds a reserved seat at the event.
About the Book
A River Runs Through It and Other Stories turned Norman Maclean into a late-in-life literary phenomenon and then a household name after the success of the Hollywood film based on the title story. Yet fewer know of Maclean’s lifelong struggles to reconcile very different parts of himself: the revered teacher and writer in the intellectual hub of Chicago and the Montana man compelled by the wildness and traumas of his home state and family, including the tragic Mann Gulch fire and the murder of his brother.
Rebecca McCarthy’s intimate portrait of Maclean draws on her long friendship with the author from the time she became a student at the University of Chicago through the rest of his life. Irrepressible as a teacher, Maclean shared guidance, advice, campus and city rambles, and loyal friendship with generations of students. Behind the scenes, he honed an art as meditative and patient as his approach to fly fishing. McCarthy’s experiences intertwine with stories from friends, family, colleagues, and others to detail an incredibly rich life that seemed destined to remain divided―until the creation of his classic American story.
About the Author
Rebecca McCarthy spent twenty-one years as an award-winning reporter at the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Her work has been published in the New York Times, American Scholar, Fast Company, and other venues. Her book, Norman Maclean: A Life of Letters and Rivers is based on her long friendship with the author from the time she became a student at the University of Chicago through the rest of his life.
Conversation Partner
John Lane is Emeritus Professor of Environmental Studies at Wofford College and was founding director of the college’s Goodall Environmental Studies Center. He is the author of a dozen books of poetry and prose, Coyote Settles the South was one of four finalists for the John Burroughs Medal and was named by the Burroughs Society one of the year’s “Nature Books of Uncommon Merit.” As an environmentalist in 2013 Lane was named Upstate Forever’s “Clean Water Champion,” and “Water Conservationist of the Year” by The South Carolina Wildlife Federation. In 2014 he was inducted into the SC Academy of Authors. He, with his wife Betsy Teter, is one of the co-founders of Spartanburg’s Hub City Writers Project, a non-profit organization with a mission to cultivate readers and nurture writers.
Join author Ellis K. Popa for an in-store signing at Fiction Addiction on Saturday, June 1st from 1-3pm to celebrate her new book, Awaken the Dawn.
This event is free and open to the public, or you can purchase a $20.13 ticket that includes a copy of Awaken the Dawn. Gift wrapping will be available at the event for $4.25. Additional books can be ordered on our website or purchased at the event while supplies last.
If you’re unable to attend, signed copies of the author’s book can be purchased on our website.
Tickets can be purchased online through Thursday, 31st at 2pm. Refunds can be requested up until the ticket cutoff. At-the-door tickets and books will be available as space allows.
A cryptic puzzle. A family secret. A deadly betrayal.
When her dad dies during a trip to his homeland, Kat Barrett blames herself for—well, everything (her detachment from him, their broken relationship). Racked with guilt and haunted by strange dreams about the crash that killed him, she’d do anything to have him back.
Then a package arrives from Romania. It’s from her dad, sent before he died, and contains a list of clues—one of his classic scavenger hunts. Desperate to know why he sent it, she follows the clues to Bucharest and encounters Maksim, a local with a dark past and the perfect skillset for decoding this puzzle. Kat doesn’t trust him, but when she hits a dead end, she’s left with no other choice.
As they work together, following the clues and trying (unsuccessfully) not to fall for each other, the scavenger hunt reveals a dangerous secret the dreams have been pointing to, a secret Maksim’s old crime ring has been hiding all along, and Kat has walked into their trap. Now she must beat them to the final clue, and solve it, or else suffer the same tragic fate as her dad.
About the Author:
When Ellis isn’t moonlighting as a coffee aficionada, you might find her adventuring through Transylvania, doing photoshoots in Old Town Bucharest, or otherwise trying to talk her husband into moving to Eastern Europe. She’s a history buff with a passion for World War II, and her favorite places in the world are Wallachia in beautiful Romania and the Dalmatian Coast of Croatia.
When her mother goes missing, a young woman uncovers the secrets beneath her protected community.
The women asked: How are they safe?
And Tamsen Nightingale said: In this red grove, no woman can be harmed. No violence may come upon her. No injury to her flesh from the flesh of another.
―The Story of the Sisters, Welcoming Incantation
The Red Grove is a special place, protected. Some say a spell was cast by the community’s founder, Tamsen Nightingale. Some say the mountain lions who stalk the nearby hills guard its mysteries and its people. Some say the mighty redwoods keep them safe.
Yet Luce’s mother, Gloria, has gone missing. A man came seeking answers among the Red Grove’s mysteries―a connection to the beyond―and died. And then Gloria vanished. The Red Grove is Luce’s whole world. She is devoted to its mission, its rituals and myths. But she knows that her mother, frustrated free spirit though she might be, wouldn’t just leave without a word, wouldn’t leave her little brother, Roo, and especially their aunt Gem, whose care in that suspended state of everdream depends on Gloria in every way. But as Luce tries to figure out what has happened to her mother, she discovers that this special place is not what it seems and that protection comes at a cost.
The debut novel by the acclaimed author of The Electric Woman, Tessa Fontaine’s The Red Grove is an exploration of the legacies of violence, the price of safety, and the choices we make to protect what we love.
About the Author
Tessa Fontaine is the author of The Electric Woman: A Memoir in Death-defuing Acts, a New York Times Editors’ Choice; Barnes & Noble Discover Great New Writers pick, and best book of 2018 by Southern Living, Refinery29, Amazon Editors’, and The New York Post. Other writing can be found in Outside online, The New York Times, Glamour, AGNI, The Believer, LitHub, Creative Nonfiction, and more. Raised outside San Francisco, Tessa is a former professor and has taught in jails and prisons for five years. She co-founded and teaches the Accountability Workshops with writer and pal Annie Hartnett, and lives in Asheville, North Carolina, with her husband, daughter, goofy dog and sassy cat. The Red Grove is her first novel.
About the in-conversation Partner
Eric Kocher, assistant professor of environmental studies at Wofford College, explores domestic encounters with planetary forces, and his writing on the topic has appeared in a variety of national publications. In the classroom, he works to help students understand how environmental ideas from literature, art, film and digital media shape our treatment of the environments in which we live.