Wednesday, May 29th

5:30-7PM

Tourism, fast becoming the largest global business, employs one out of twelve persons and produces $6.5 trillion of the world’s economy. In a groundbreaking book, Elizabeth Becker uncovers how what was once a hobby has become a colossal enterprise with profound impact on countries, the environment, and cultural heritage.

This invisible industry exploded at the end of the Cold War. In 2012 the number of tourists traveling the world reached one billion. Now everything can be packaged as a tour: with the high cost of medical care in the U.S., Americans are booking a vacation and an operation in countries like Turkey for a fraction of the cost at home.

Elizabeth Becker discusses and signs her book, Overbooked.

If you are unable to attend, you must call the book shop to order signed books.

Thursday, June 6th

6-7:30PM

The Blood of Heaven is the story of Angel Woolsack, a preacher’s son, who flees the hardscrabble life of his itinerant father, falls in with a charismatic highwayman, then settles with his adopted brothers on the rough frontier of West Florida, where American settlers are carving their place out of lands held by the Spaniards and the French. The novel moves from the bordellos of Natchez, where Angel meets his love Red Kate to the Mississippi River plantations, where the brutal system of slave labor is creating fantastic wealth along with terrible suffering, and finally to the back rooms of New Orleans among schemers, dreamers, and would-be revolutionaries plotting to break away from the young United States and create a new country under the leadership of the renegade founding father Aaron Burr.

The Blood of Heaven is a remarkable portrait of a young man seizing his place in a violent new world, a moving love story, and a vivid tale of ambition and political machinations that brilliantly captures the energy and wildness of a young America where anything was possible. It is a startling debut.

Kent Wascom discusses and signs his book, The Blood of Heaven.

If you are unable to attend, you must call the book shop to order signed books.

Friday, June 7th

6:00 - 7:30PM

Harry stared at his reflection in the mirror and answered his own question, “Buddy’s not here to take this on. So, who else is there?” Harry McChesney’s family was suffering, and his own life was a mess. But Harry’s uncle had offered him one last chance to pull his sorry life and his family back together.

As America enters World War II, Harry takes up his uncle’s challenge and enlists in the Army Air Corps—an immensely dangerous beginning to an unforgettable journey, one in which his dead brother, Buddy, always seems to be present. Harry gets help along the way from an old friend, a protective talisman, and a bizarre set of twins. Yet his deceased brother’s hold over unfolding events is unshakable and often terrifying. Buddy’s tormented legacy threatens Harry’s success at every turn, even threatens his very existence.

In the chaos of war Harry makes a shocking discovery that might offer a resolution and release for both brothers. But their conflict doesn’t end there, and Harry faces failure and defeat much later in life when time is running out on everything. Once again, his problem is “always about Buddy.”

From a thriving 19th-century New Orleans to the city’s devastation in Hurricane Katrina and amidst the harsh realities of England during World War II, The Replacement Son takes readers through vividly depicted locales and eras as Harry pursues his existential quest. With motifs ranging from chivalric adventure to metaphysical mystery, author W.S. Culpepper brings a charming but most unlikely hero and an exotic range of supporting characters to life in a compelling story of sacrifice and discovery.

Walter Culpepper discusses and signs his book, The Replacement Son.

If you are unable to attend, you must call the book shop to order signed books.

If you are unable to attend, you must call the book shop to order signed books.