City Lights Bookstore Hosts Artist Reception and Victoria McDonald this Weekend

NC artist Justin Moe

October 11, 6:30 PM - Artist Reception for Justin Moe.  As part of Sylva's Art Stroll, City Lights Bookstore will host a reception for Macon County artist, Justin Moe.  Some of his work will be on display throughout the store and priced for sale.  Justin had this to say about his work, "I am a self-taught artist. I love to paint, take photos, draw, screen print, design, play music, and experiment with new and unfamiliar mediums. I have always felt compelled to create. It is a welcomed compulsion innate within me. For me, art reinforces my humanity. I live in a small rural town in the mountains of Western North Carolina. In addition to pieces for sale, I am available by commission."

October 12, 3 PM -  Victoria McDonald Presents Her New Book. Teacher, preacher and storyteller, Victoria Casey McDonald will discuss her new book, Under the Light of Darkness on Saturday. Under the Light of Darkness is a historical fictional account of her great-grandparent's romance as slaves in the antebellum South. McDonald says of her book, "It is an attempt to share with the reader that a slave's life was never his or her own...for a slave worked from sunrise to sunset. Only after dark was a slave's life his or her own. Hence, this book relates the events of the slaveholder with the slave's life being the main objective.

McDonald is the author of The African Americans of Jackson County and Just Over the Hill, books highlighting the history of the African Americans in Appalachia. To reserve a copy click here or call 828-586-9499.

Get links for local information on the Sylva NC Visitor Guide. 

Hiking the Mountains-to-Sea Trail Book Lecture tonight at City Lights Bookstore

March 29, 6:30 PM - Hike leader and author, Danny Bernstein will visit City Lights Bookstore to talk about the Mountain-to-Sea Trail and present her book, The Mountain-to-Sea Trail Across North Carolina: Walking a Thousand Miles Through Wilderness, Culture and History.

Join the discussion and slide show presentation about Bernstein's book,  a historical look at the natural and cultural aspects of the 1,000 mile trail that stretches from Clingman's Dome to Jockey's Ridge in the Outer Banks. Bernstein has also written Hiking North Carolina's Blue Ridge Mountains and Hiking the Carolina Mountains.

City Lights Book Store is located at 3 East Jackson Street in historic Sylva NC.

WNC Romance Author Today at City Lights Bookstore

March 16, 3 PM at City Lights Bookstore  -  Contemporary romance novelist, Ryan Jo Summers will read from her book, Whispers in Her Heart.  

Third-generation horse trainer, Season Moriarty, has just taken on the impossible. Hired by the gorgeous yet notoriously difficult Ty Masters to transform his wild colt, Sky Hunter, into a legendary racehorse, she comes face to face with a threat to the horses that puts even her special gifts to the test. So much of Masters' financial future rests on the colt just as so much of Sky Hunter's future rests in the hands of Season Moriarty. Has Ty been wrong to trust her? Something about her seems almost spooky--and so lovely that she has his heart racing faster than the horses.

City Lights Bookstore is located at 3 East Jackson Street in Sylva NC.

City Lights Bookstore Hosts Readings and Discussion

March 2nd at 3 PM City Lights Bookstore will host three terrific YA authors for a reading and panel discussion.  Beth Revis, Carrie Ryan and Megan Hansen Shepherd will discuss their work and read from their new books.

Beth Revis is the author the Across the Universe series and will present her latest installment, Shades of Earth.  Carrie Ryan is the author of the Forest of Hands and Teeth series and has also been included in some recent YA short story collections.  Asheville resident, Megan Hansen Shepherd will present her first novel, The Madman's Daughter, which is the first book of a trilogy.

These authors are among the favorites of some of the staff  at City Lights so come early to get a seat and don't miss out on the chance to meet these talented writers.  To reserve copies of their books please call City Lights Bookstore at 828-586-9499.  

City Lights Bookstore is located at 3 East Jackson Street in historic downtown Sylva NC. 

Ronald Cooper Discusses His Journey on The Trail of Tears

January 12, 6:30 PM at City Lights Bookstore , 3 East Jackson Street in Sylva NC- Comanche Nation of Oklahoma member, Ronald Cooper will visit the Bookstore to present his book, It's My Trail Too. In January 2011 Cooper began walking the Northern Route of the Cherokee Trail of Tears for personal reflection and adventure. 

In addition to the usual challenges of hiking long distances during winter, Cooper unexpectedly became an ambassador of education and conservancy for the Trail. It's My Trail Too offers inspiration for anyone who has ever desired to take on unknown challenges and seemingly impossible goals. To reserve a copy, call City Lights Bookstore 828-586-9499. 

To learn more about the History of the Trail of Tears visit the The Museum of the Cherokee Indian.  Totally renovated in 1998, the new museum tells the story of the Cherokee people using high-tech wizardry along with an extensive artifact collection. Follow the "Trail of Tears" and learn about the language, customs and crafts of a remarkable civilization and people. 
 

Amy Allen Discusses Appalachian Trail this weekend at City Lights Bookstore

January 5, 3 PM at City Lights Bookstore Amy Allen will discuss her journey along the Appalachian Trail as she presents her book, Summoning the Mountains: Pilgrimage into Forty.   Allen, a recently divorced single mom cast's aside family and society's expectations to seek the fulfillment by following a lifelong calling. 

On the eve of her fortieth birthday she reaches for her personal goal of hiking the Appalachian Trail. Settling her teenage sons at their father's house Allen embarks on her 2,000 mile journey.  Taking on the name her sons give her, Willow, transports the reader into the forest, giving the armchair hiker a glimpse into a world of coyotes, butterflies and bears.  She shares her experiences of storms and injuries and the determination to ward off hunger and doubt.  

Summoning the Mountains is a book about embracing challenges and accepting change.  To reserve a copy call City Lights Bookstore at 828-586-9499. 

City Lights Bookstore is located at 3 East Jackson Street in downtown Sylva NC.

Soundwalk Through Sylva NC Today

December 15 at 2 PM:  Tyler Kinnear, a Vancouver-based sound artist and Cullowhee native will lead a Soundwalk through downtown Sylva. A Soundwalk is a silent group walk led along a planned route to experience a location's ambiance and underlying rhythms. Participants are invited to actively listen to the "music" of the environment.

The walk will begin and end at City Lights Bookstore and will last from 2 p.m. until 3:30 p.m. For questions please call the bookstore at 828-586-9499.

Learn more about Sylva NC HERE.

Asheville Author Debuts Short Stories

November 30th at 6:30 PM at City Lights Bookstore, 3 East Jackson Street in Sylva NC - Asheville, author Amy Willoughby-Burle will visit City Lights Bookstore to read from and sign her new collection of short stories, Out Across the Nowhere.

Ron Rash says of her book, "These stories give a reader the vivid language and compelling narratives that are the trademark of the best short stories. Out Across the Nowhere is an astonishing debut."

To reserve a copy or for more information call City Lights Bookstore at 828-586-9499. 

Get a link for City Lights Bookstore and learn ore about Sylva events on the Sylva NC Visitor Guide.

New York Times Bestselling Author Kay Hooper Visits City Lights Bookstore

August 4, 4 PM at City Lights Bookstore, 3 East Jackson Street in Sylva NC - Rutherford County resident and New York Times Bestselling author, Kay Hooper will visit City Lights Bookstore to read from her new book, Haven. Haven is a breathtaking new thriller of a young woman's homecoming to a town of menacing whispers, bad dreams, and dangerous secrets.

Hooper attended East Rutherford High School before enrolling in Isothermal Community College where she realized quickly that business classes were not her forte. She switched her course of study to literature and history and began indulging her longtime interest in writing. She requested a typewriter for Christmas, and after receiving it began her novel in earnest. This first novel, the Regency romance Lady Thief, was bought by Dell Publishing in 1980, when Hooper was only twenty-two. Since then she has had more than 60 novels published.

Get more local information on the Sylva NC Visitor Guide

NC Poet and Artist Terry Michelsen at City Lights Bookstore

July 13, 6:30 PM at City Lights Bookstore, 3 East Jackson Street in Sylva NC.  Local poet and artist Terry Michelsen will visit City Lights Bookstore to read from her collection of poetry, Soaring on Wings of Word,  a compilation of six previously published chapbooks.

Describing Michelsen’s work Kathryn Byer said, “Terry Michelsen knows that to write a poem, she must take her gloves off ‘...because bare hands do a better job.’  She brings a lively wit, as well as a keen attentiveness to every encounter.  Light and shadow live here, and she brings the reader to both.” 

A discussion and book signing will follow the reading.  To reserve a copy please call City Lights Bookstore at 828-586-9499.

City Lights Bookstore discussion on the wisdom of the Enneagram today

June 16, 2 PM - City Lights Bookstore will host holistic healer, Andrea Ford as she discusses the wisdom of the Enneagram. The Enneagram is a road map to understanding your personality in a whole new way. It is based on 9 distinct personality types that are within all of us. The Enneagram gives you the power to do your own emotional and spiritual healing through self-awareness of your strengths and weaknesses. In addition to becoming more in tune with who you are as a person, the Enneagram, allows you to recognize why the people in your life behave the way the they do, thus enhancing all relationships both personally and professionally. The Wisdom of the Enneagram influences your whole being and opens the doors to becoming a more functional, healthier and balanced person. 

Andrea Ford blends Chinese Medicine, Enneagram Counseling, and Functional Medicine to create a personalized approach to wellness for the Mind, Body, and Soul and will be offering three workshops this summer.

City Lights Bookstore is located at 3 East Jackson Street in Sylva NC.

Ron Rash Reads from "The Cove" Today in Sylva

April 15, 2 PM at the Jackson County Public Library Community Room, 310 Keener Street in
Sylva NC  in Sylva NC - Ron Rash will read from his new novel  The Cove.   City Lights Bookstore will be on hand to sell The Cove and his other best-selling books.   

Eon Alden, City Lights publicist says of The Cove, "Laurel Shelton and her brother live in a cove considered by many to be cursed.  Crops fail, untimely deaths occur and little light ever trickles down into their plot of land. Their lives are largely isolated until Laurel discovers a mysterious and mute stranger playing the flute in the nearby woods. 

Set during the final months of WWI in the Appalachians of North Carolina, The Cove is a book that reveals the nature of humans to quickly ostracize those not like themselves and how easily people will demonize a group of people amid the fever of war. Like all of his work it is beautifully written but it is these themes that, for me, set it above his other novels."    

Getting to the library early is recommended to get a seat.  To reserve a copy of The Cove  call City Lights Bookstore at 828-586-9499.  The Jackson County Public Library and City Lights Bookstore are proud to co-sponsor this event.  

Get Zen at City Lights Bookstore Today

Judith Toy, ordained by Zen Master Thich Nhat Hanh and a core member of his order, will be at City Lights Bookstore Saturday, February 11th at 1 PM to read from her book, Murder as a Call to Love. This is the true account of the young man who murders the author's sister-in-law and her two teenaged nephews hides in the garage in an affluent neighborhood, and waits until they are asleep.

In the night, he bludgeons and stabs them to death and flees. The perpetrator is the boy across the street, a 19 year old family friend. Lost in grief, Judith falls into the welcoming arms of Zen. Five years later, through her newfound practice of daily mindfulness and meditation, she spontaneously forgives the killer. She goes on to lead mindfulness practice in a medium security prison where some of the men knew the killer. Eon Alden, the City Lights publicist says, "This book will appeal to those interested in Buddhism, particularly the traditions of mindfulness and forgiving." 

City Lights Bookstore is located at 3 East Jackson Street in historic downtown Sylva NC.