Romance + Fantasy = Romantasy!

Please consider joining us on Wednesday, October 23rd at 6:30pm for the next meeting of the Hills & Hamlets Bookshop Romantasy book club hosted by bookseller Sandra. The next book selection is Fear the Flames by Olivia Rose Darling. Copies of the book are available in store during normal hours (Tuesdays through Sundays 11-5). Feel free to bring your own drinks, snacks, or refreshments.

The book is also available online through our Bookshop page at: https://bookshop.org/a/45/9780593873892

or as an audiobook through LibroFM at: https://libro.fm/audiobooks/9780593947913...

ABOUT THE BOOK:
An exiled princess teams up with the last man she thought she could trust in the start of a dazzling and unforgettable epic fantasy romance series.
As a child, Elowen Atarah was ripped away from her dragons and imprisoned by her father, King Garrick of Imirath. Years later, Elowen is now a woman determined to free her dragons. Having established a secret kingdom of her own called Aestilian, she's ready to do what's necessary to save her people and seek vengeance. Even if that means having to align herself with the Commander of Vareveth, Cayden Veles, the most feared and dangerous man in all the kingdoms of Ravaryn.
Cayden is ruthless, lethal, and secretive, promising to help Elowen if she will stand with him and all of Vareveth in the pending war against Imirath. Despite their contrasting motives, Elowen can't ignore their undeniable attraction as they combine their efforts and plot to infiltrate the impenetrable castle of Imirath to steal back her dragons and seek revenge on their common enemy.
As the world tries to keep them apart, the pull between Elowen and Cayden becomes impossible to resist. Working together with their crew over clandestine schemes, the threat of war looms, making the imminent heist to free her dragons their most dangerous adventure yet. But for Elowen, her vengeance is a promise signed in blood, and she'll stop at nothing to see that promise through.
An immersive fantasy filled with a sizzling reluctant-allies-to-lovers romance, a world to get lost in, dangerous quests, dragon bonds, and an entertaining band of characters to root for, Fear the Flames marks the stunning debut of Olivia Rose Darling.

Please consider joining us at Hills & Hamlets Bookshop during the Serenbe Farmer's Market the morning of Saturday October 5th for a meet & greet event with author Rebecca Walker to celebrate the launch of her new children's picture book Time For Us. Rebecca will be on hand from 9:30am to 11am on the bookstore patio to visit, chat, and sign books. We will also have have activity station tables set up with children's activities themed to accompany the book.

ABOUT THE BOOK

A beautifully written and illustrated picture book about precious times between caregivers and children.

This charming story is inspired by the theory that spending just 20 minutes of quality time a day between a caregiver and child benefits their relationship in multiple ways.

Time for Us was written from Rebecca’s own experience as a working mother struggling to make time for her son, which shows us the importance of finding time to spend with loved ones.

This children’s book offers:

– A heartwarming story written by Rebecca Walker, an award-winning author, feminist, and activist, and winner of numerous awards.

– An authentic family story, based on the author’s own life as a Black woman and a mother to a son.

– A story based on the study that 20 minutes of quality time between caregiver and child positively impacts child development, and encourages the importance of spending time together.

To Jackson, Mama is the most important person in the world. But when she has to work, his imagination can only keep him entertained for so long. Who else can he share everything with, from the tallest tree to the tiniest hummingbird? This beautiful picture book for 5-7 year olds can be read together, drawing on the importance of cherishing the time spent with family and loved ones.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Rebecca Walker has received numerous awards and accolades for her writing and activism. Her work has appeared in many anthologies and publications; in addition to the international bestseller Black, White, and Jewish, her books include Baby Love: Choosing Motherhood After a Lifetime of Ambivalence, and the anthologies To Be Real: Telling the Truth and Changing the Face of Feminism, which has become a standard text in gender studies courses around the world, and What Makes a Man: 22 Writers Imagine the Future. A popular speaker at universities and in business settings, Walker teaches the art of memoir at workshops and writing conferences internationally.

Romance + Fantasy = Romantasy!

Please consider joining us on Wednesday, September 25th at 6:30pm for the next meeting of a new genre fiction book club at Hills & Hamlets Bookshop hosted by bookseller Sandra. The next book selection is The Spellshop by Sarah Beth Durst. Copies of the book are available in store during normal hours (Tuesdays through Sundays 11-5). Feel free to bring your own drinks, snacks, or refreshments.

The book is also available online through our Bookshop page at: https://bookshop.org/a/45/9781250333971

or as an audiobook through LibroFM at: https://libro.fm/audiobooks/9781250351265...

ABOUT THE BOOK:
The Spellshop is Sarah Beth Durst's romantasy debut-a lush cottagecore tale full of stolen spellbooks, unexpected friendships, sweet jams, and even sweeter love.

Kiela has always had trouble dealing with people. Thankfully, as a librarian at the Great Library of Alyssium, she and her assistant, Caz--a magically sentient spider plant--have spent the last decade sequestered among the empire's most precious spellbooks, preserving their magic for the city's elite.
When a revolution begins and the library goes up in flames, she and Caz flee with all the spellbooks they can carry and head to a remote island Kiela never thought she'd see again: her childhood home. Taking refuge there, Kiela discovers, much to her dismay, a nosy--and very handsome--neighbor who can't take a hint and keeps showing up day after day to make sure she's fed and to help fix up her new home.
In need of income, Kiela identifies something that even the bakery in town doesn't have: jam. With the help of an old recipe book her parents left her and a bit of illegal magic, her cottage garden is soon covered in ripe berries.
But magic can do more than make life a little sweeter, so Kiela risks the consequences of using unsanctioned spells and opens the island's first-ever and much needed secret spellshop.
Like a Hallmark rom-com full of mythical creatures and fueled by cinnamon rolls and magic, The Spellshop will heal your heart and feed your soul.

Romance + Fantasy = Romantasy!

Please consider joining us on Wednesday, August 21st at 7pm for the first meeting of a new genre fiction book club at Hills & Hamlets Bookshop hosted by bookseller Sandra. The next book selection is The North Wind by Alexandria Warwick. This is an adult romantasy title. Copies of the book are available in store during normal hours (Tuesdays through Sundays 11-5). Feel free to bring your own drinks, snacks, or refreshments.

The book is also available online through our Bookshop page at: https://bookshop.org/a/45/9781668065167

or as an audiobook through LibroFM at: https://libro.fm/audiobooks/9781797179841-the-north-wind...

ABOUT THE BOOK:
Inspired by Beauty and the Beast and the myth of Hades and Persephone, this lush and enchanting enemies-to-lovers fantasy romance is perfect for fans of Sarah J. Maas, Jennifer L. Armentrout, and Scarlett St. Clair.

Wren of Edgewood is no stranger to suffering. With her parents gone, it’s Wren’s responsibility to ensure she and her sister survive the harsh and endless winter, but if the legends are to be believed, their home may not be safe for much longer.

For three hundred years, the land surrounding Edgewood has been encased in ice as the Shade, a magical barrier that protects the townsfolk from the Deadlands beyond, weakens. Only one thing can stop the Shade’s fall: the blood of a mortal woman bound in wedlock to the North Wind, a dangerous immortal whose heart is said to be as frigid as the land he rules. And the time has come to choose his bride.

When the North Wind sets his eyes on Wren’s sister, Wren will do anything to save her—even if it means sacrificing herself in the process. But mortal or not, Wren won’t go down without a fight…

The North Wind is a stand-alone, enemies-to-lovers slow-burn fantasy romance, the first in a series sprinkled with Greek mythology.

Romance + Fantasy = Romantasy!

Please consider joining us on Wednesday July 24th at 7pm for the first meeting of a new genre fiction book club at Hills & Hamlets Bookshop hosted by bookseller Sandra. The first book selection is Five Broken Blades by Mai Corland. This is an adult romantasy title. Copies of the book are available in store during normal hours (Tuesdays through Sundays 11-5). Feel free to bring your own drinks, snacks, or refreshments.

The book is also available online through our Bookshop page at https://bookshop.org/a/45/9781649376909 or as an audiobook through LibroFM at https://libro.fm/audiobooks/9798892733458...

ABOUT THE BOOK
It's the season for treason...
The king of Yusan must die.
The five most dangerous liars in the land have been mysteriously summoned to work together for a single objective: to kill the God King Joon.
He has it coming. Under his merciless immortal hand, the nobles flourish, while the poor and innocent are imprisoned, ruined...or sold.
And now each of the five blades will come for him. Each has tasted bitterness--from the hired hitman seeking atonement, a lovely assassin who seeks freedom, or even the prince banished for his cruel crimes. None can resist the sweet, icy lure of vengeance.
They can agree on murder.
They can agree on treachery.
But for these five killers--each versed in deception, lies, and betrayal--it's not enough to forge an alliance. To survive, they'll have to find a way to trust each other...but only one can take the crown.
Let the best liar win.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Mai Corland is a Korean American attorney and writer, born in Seoul and adopted into New York. From there, she ran away from winter and studied in Florida at Rollins College and the University of Miami. Due to a variety of questionable decisions, she currently lives in the cold again with her partner, children, and a goldfish who will outlive them all. When not writing, you can find her asleep or clutching her latte machine. Mai writes award winning children's and young adult books under Meredith Ireland.

Explore fantasy, storytelling, and all things writing with Erica Ivy Rodgers, author of the debut young adult fantasy novel Lady of Straw and Steel, in conversation with Serenbe's own Paige Crutcher and Amy Mass!

Open to all readers of young adult books, adults, teens, and aspiring authors welcome! Join us at Guild 1 across from Hills & Hamlets Bookshop on Friday, June 28th from 6-8pm. We will have copies of Lady of Steel and Straw for sale at the event, and Erica Ivy Rodgers will sign books following the event. Light refreshments will be provided.

ABOUT LADY OF STEEL AND STRAW:
Star-crossed lovers grapple with forbidden attraction and a growing army of ghostly dead in this swashbuckling YA fantasy debut.

After ten years of exile, following regicide in the House of Tristain, an alarming royal edict is delivered to the immortal scarecrow Guardians who once defended the crown: surrender themselves to the church of the Silent Gods, or stand accused of further treason. But with a puppet prince set to take the throne and vengeful wraiths appearing with alarming frequency, something foul and sinister is at work in the kingdom of Niveaux.

Lady Charlotte Sand was born to calm the restless dead. A headstrong heroine, she refuses to relinquish her family’s lavender Guardian to the Cardinal’s Watch—a rash misstep that costs her brother his life and sets her on a path for revenge.

For pious and handsome Captain Luc de Montaigne, it’s an excruciating predicament. His long-lost, childhood love has triggered a faction war that could tear the realm asunder. Now Charlotte and Luc must choose between killing one another and stepping closer to victory—or yielding to the electricity between them.

Heartily inspired by The Three Musketeers, this multiple-perspective narrative features a unique system of bone and herbal magic, sultry banter, and a feisty cast of well-rounded supporting characters. This rousing first entry in the Waking Hearts fantasy duology is a gorgeous read and an excellent pick for fans of Rin Chupeco and Margaret Rogerson.

Saturday April 27th is Indie Bookstore Day! To celebrate, we will have beautiful tote bags, bookmarks, and other bookish gifts free for anyone who spends $25 or more (while supplies last)! Hope to see you there!

Meet Mary Reynolds, environmental activist and author of We Are the Ark, at Hills and Hamlets Bookshop during her residency with Art Farm at Serenbe. Copies of We Are the Ark and The Garden Awakening will be available exclusively at Hills and Hamlets.

Reynolds will be at Hills & Hamlets Bookshop from 10am to 11am to chat with visitors and sign books. This will not be a reading or author talk, just an informal meet and greet and book signing. There will be a separate full talk and presentation at 3pm in Gainey Hall. The talk will be free but RSVPs are highly recommended because seating is limited. Please get RSVP/tickets for the 3pm talk HERE.

Learn more about Mary Reynolds and We are the Ark here: https://marymary.ie/

Hills & Hamlets Bookshop will be providing on-site sales for this event!

Peachtree City Library will host Chad Davidson for an author talk and reading at Line Creek Brewing on Thursday February 22nd at 7pm. Chad Davidson is the author of four collections of poems and two memoirs, most recently Bring Out Your Dead: Elegies From The Plague Year (LSU Press, 2024). He directs the School of the Arts at the University of West Georgia and also co-directs Convivio, a summer arts and literary conference in Postignano, Italy.

Please join us Sunday, February 18th from 1pm to 2pm at Hills & Hamlets Bookshop for a drop-in book signing with Anita Gail Jones, author of THE PEACH SEED, a Patience staff pick!

Patience raves about THE PEACH SEED:
GA author Anita Gail Jones’ amazing debut novel follows a family who give a hand-carved peach seed monkey to every generation from their capture in Africa, slavery in America and life as farmers in present day Georgia. She lovingly describes the food, land and music that unify kinfolk, even when younger generations challenge the beliefs of their elders. Her highly original theme & unforgettable characters make this a MUST READ.

ABOUT THE BOOK:
Fletcher Dukes and Altovise Benson reunite after decades apart—and a mountain of secrets. Their bond, built on county fairs, sit-ins, and marches, once seemed a sure and forever thing. But their marriage plans were disrupted when the police turned a peaceful protest violent.

Before Altovise fled the South, Fletcher carved for her a special peach seed monkey with diamond eyes—a talisman fathers usually gift their sons on their thirteenth birthday.

An indelible portrait of a family, The Peach Seed shows how kin pass down legacies of sorrow, joy, and strength. This debut explores the repercussions of a single choice and how an enduring talisman challenges and holds a family together. It is a parable of how a glimmer of hope as small as a seed can ripple across generations.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Anita Gail Jones is a visual artist, professional storyteller and writer, born and raised in Albany, Georgia, living in the San Francisco Bay Area.

Please consider joining us on Saturday October 7th to meet speech & dialect coach Samara Bay, author of the newly released book Permission to Speak: How To Change What Power Sounds Like, Starting With You. No RSVP is required, simply stop by the bookstore any time between noon and 2pm to meet Samara, chat about her work, and pick up a signed copy of her book!

NOTE: this is an informal signing/meet & greet event only. If you are interested in seeing Samara give a full talk and presentation of her work, consider coming to her talk at the Women’s Network at Serenbe event on Tuesday October 10th, from 5-7pm.

About the Author

Samara Bay is a sought-after speech coach, speaker, and thought leader whose coaching clients include political powerhouses, rising leaders in business, and Hollywood celebrities. She’s the author of the 2023 bestseller Permission to Speak: How to Change What Power Sounds Like, Starting With You and her work has been featured in The New York Times Magazine, TIME, CBS Sunday Morning, Tamron Hall, Fast Company, Glamour, and Entrepreneur Magazine. Follow her on Instagram @samarabay and join the voice justice movement.

Please join us for the launch of Paige Crutcher's novel WHAT BECAME OF MAGIC at Hills and Hamlets Bookshop and the Grange Green. We'll be celebrating on Friday, September 29th with a book signing, special performance by the Serenbe Singers and Grateful to ‘Be, a kid-friendly witchy craft, spell book created just for Serenbe, and more! Complimentary drinks will be available during the event (compostable cups will be provided but feel to bring your own cup too). There will also be food for sale at the Friday night food truck across the street.

RSVPs not required but you can pre-order your copy of What Became of Magic by clicking HERE

 From Paige Crutcher, the author of The Orphan Witch and The Lost Witch, comes a new tale about a witch, a book of magic, and a beguiling and powerful creature whom she must free, even if it puts her life and soul at stake.

Aline Weir, a witch who can talk to ghosts, has kept her talents hidden ever since a disastrous middle school slumber party, choosing to be invisible and use her powers in secret to help lost souls reunite with the keys to send them home. All the while, she finds solace in a bookstore and the three mysterious women who run it… until Aline discovers the book of Mischief, and her powers are enhanced.

Living a solitary life until the age of thirty, Aline’s life takes an unexpected turn when the wrong (or perhaps right) person witnesses her using her powers and she is invited to a town that doesn’t exist on any map. Arriving in Matchstick, Aline learns of a lost magic that desperately needs to be found and only her unique powers can do it. But what she’s not told is that Magic is a person. One that is dangerous and seductive and has been waiting for a witch with a power like hers for centuries.

Please join Hills & Hamlets Bookshop on the afternoon of Saturday May 20th for an author meet & greet and book signing with licensed therapist-turned-interior designer, Anita Yokota author of HOME THERAPY, Interior Design for Increasing Happiness, Boosting Confidence, and Creating Calm. Joining Anita will be Serenbe resident Ali Harper Wittorf whose stunning interior photography is featured in the book, including the five Serenbe homes captured for the pages.

Stop by the bookstore anytime between 2pm and 4pm to visit with Anita and Ali. Get a signed copy and learn more about how interior design can foster greater happiness in our homes and ourselves as well as increase our own wellbeing. NO TICKETS REQUIRED

Between the Serenbe Farmer’s market in the morning, the wine tasting at The General Store across the street from the bookstore at 4pm, and the Broadway in the Woods Performance with Joshua Henry in the evening, we have your Serenbe Saturday plans all laid out for you!

ABOUT THE BOOK

Licensed therapist turned interior designer Anita Yokota knows that our surroundings are more than just a reflection of our personal style; how our homes are decorated and arranged can have a monumental impact on our quality of life. During her seventeen years as a practicing marriage and family therapist, she noticed that the state of her clients' homes often mirrored their emotional issues, which inspired her to develop the Home Therapy method: her signature system for creating wellness from the inside out by setting up your spaces to nurture your mind, body, and spirit.

Instead of basing decorating decisions on trends and fads, Home Therapy's unique, therapy-informed approach focuses equally on mental health and design while presenting the psychology behind making your home intentional. From choosing the right lighting, furniture, and paint color to building boundaries and forming long-term organizational goals, Anita guides you through creating spaces that bring happiness and balance to the sanctuary we call home.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Anita Yokota is a licensed marriage and family therapist turned interior designer who emphasizes the importance of incorporating wellness throughout the home. Domino named Anita’s site the Best New Design Blog in 2017 and her work has been featured in MyDomaine, Apartment Therapy, Real Simple, and many others. Anita lives in Southern California with her husband and their three daughters.

UPDATE! Maria suffered a small stroke (her words) and will need to reschedule her visit to Serenbe. If you preordered a book we have it available for pickup in the store now, or you can contact us for a refund.

Please join Hills & Hamlets Bookshop and Sustainable Home Goods in welcoming Maria Rodale to Serenbe. Drop in any time from 5pm to 6:30pm on Tuesday February 28th to meet the author, pick up a book, and learn about "recovering CEO" Maria Rodale's remarkable stories of "encounters with the outspoken yet wise spirits of plants and animals among us!"

Please RSVP to help us with a count for drinks, and feel free to reserve a copy of the book while you're at it! Click HERE for ticket info.

ABOUT THE BOOK

Love, Nature, Magic: Shamanic Journeys Into The Heart of My Garden

Join bestselling author, activist, and garden expert Maria Rodale on her shamanic journeys as she reflects on her surprising conversations with the spirits of the familiar plants and animals around us—and the knowledge they share with us.

In Love, Nature, Magic, organic advocate and former CEO of a global health and wellness company Maria Rodale combines her love of nature and gardening with her experience in shamanic journeying, embarking on an epic adventure to learn from plants, animals, and insects—including some of the most misunderstood beings in nature. Maria asks them their purpose and listens as they show and declare what they want us humans to know. From Thistles to Snakes, Poison Ivy to Mosquitoes, these nature beings convey messages that are relevant to every human, showing us how to live in balance and harmony on this Earth.

Through journeys filled with surprises, humor, and foibles, follow Maria’s evolution from being annoyed with to accepting—and even falling in love with—our most difficult neighbors (including human ones). Along the way, she tells her own story of how she learned about shamanic journeying and its near-universal manifestation in traditional cultures worldwide. She describes what her experiences of shamanic journeying are like—simply, honestly, and with a touch of irreverence.

Maria’s journeys include conversations with: Mugwort • Vulture • Bat • Rabbit • Lanternfly • Lightning Bug • Osage Orange • Deer • Paper Wasp • Dandelion • Tick • Groundhog • Milkweed • And more!

Throughout, Rodale shares an essential truth that resonates across her shamanic explorations: We first must heal our own hearts, for only then can we truly love others and begin to heal planet Earth.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

MARIA RODALE is an explorer in search of the mysteries of the universe. Author, artist, activist, and recovering CEO, she serves on the board of the Rodale Institute and is also a former board co-chair. Throughout her career, she has advocated for the potential of organic regenerative farming to heal the damage wrought by pesticides and industrial agricultural practices. She is the author of Organic Manifesto and Scratch and is a secret children’s book author. She was also featured in the documentary Kiss the Ground. Maria is a mother, grandmother, and crazy gardener who lives in Pennsylvania, right near where she was born.

Meet chefs Alice Waters and Matthew Raiford for a book signing on Saturday, December 10th at Hills & Hamlets Bookshop!

Tickets are required and include:

- 1 paperback copy of Alice Waters' most recent book, We Are What We Eat: A Slow Food Manifesto

- 1 hardcover copy of Matthew Raiford's cookbook, Bress 'n' Nyam: Gullah Geechee Recipes from a Sixth-Generation Farmer

- an opportunity to briefly meet and chat with the authors and get your books signed

There will not be a public talk or presentation, this is only an opportunity to meet the authors and get your books signed and personalized! Reserve your ticket HERE.

Additional copies of both authors' books and other titles by Waters will be available for sale in the bookstore at the event.

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About the authors:

Alice Waters is a chef, author, food activist, and the founder and owner of Chez Panisse Restaurant in Berkeley, California. She founded the Edible Schoolyard Project in 1995 — combining her perspectives as a trained Montessori teacher, fervent political activist, gifted chef, and champion of sustainable agriculture. Her vision is grounded in the following key principle: children deserve to be nurtured in body and mind, treated with dignity, and shown that they are valued.

A descendant of the Freshwater Gullah Geechie of Coastal Georgia, Matthew Raiford grew up on land that has sustained his family for seven generations; Gilliard Farms, purchased by his great-great-great-grandfather Jupiter Gilliard in 1874, is now in the hands of this sixth-generation farmer in Brunswick, GA. He, alongside his wife Tia (nee McDonald, AOS ’98) are also owners of Strong Roots 9, a lifestyle brand which is dedicated to creating products and experiences for Americans to reconnect with the nation’s natural heritage, from the perspective of the people whose ancestors helped build it. Matthew is the author of the celebrated cookbook Bress ‘n’ Nyam: Gullah Geechee Recipes from a Sixth Generation Farmer.

Please join us for a book signing and casual meet & greet with author, speaker, and shoe designer Christina Chiu. Christina will be at the bookstore signing copies of her novel Beauty. Drop in any time from noon to 2pm on Saturday May 28th.

ABOUT THE BOOK: Amy Wong is an up-and-coming designer in the New York fashion industry; she is young, beautiful, and has it all. But she finds herself at odds with rival designers in a world rife with chauvinism and prejudice.

In her personal life, she struggles with marriage and motherhood, finding that her choices often fall short of her traditional family’s expectations. Derailed again and again, Amy must confront her own limitations to succeed as the designer and person she wants to be.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Christina Chiu is the grand-prize winner of the James Alan McPherson Award for her novel, Beauty. She is also author of Troublemaker and Other Saints, published by G.P. Putnam’s Sons. Troublemaker was alternate selection for BOMC and QPB, a nominee for a BOMC First Fiction Award, and winner of the Asian American Literary Award.

Chiu is the recipient of the Robert Simpson Fellowship, the Alternate Selection of the Book-of-the-Month Club, the Van Lier Fellowship; she won the New Stone Circle Fiction Contest, won second place in the Playboy Fiction Contest, and was nominated for the Stephen Crane First Fiction Award. She has been a Wiepersdorf Fellow and a Claire Woolrich Scholar.

Where: The Bridge at Swann Ridge, behind the bookstore and Lofts building

When: Friday October 1st at 6:30pm

Please consider joining us for the official launch party for Paige Crutcher’s new book The Orphan Witch, coming soon from St. Martin’s Griffin publishers. Pick up your copy of the book at Hills & Hamlets Bookshop, along with a free witchy cocktail, and walk a few steps behind the bookstore to the beautiful Bridge at Swann Ridge where you will be treated to a short live reading from the book. Paige will hang out for awhile after the reading to visit, chat, answer questions, and sign books.

Preorder your copy of the book to pick up at the event HERE.

About the Book

Mystical, magical, and wildly original...If Alice Hoffman and Sara Addison Allen had a witchy love child, she would be Paige Crutcher. Do not miss this beautifully realized debut!"--- JT Ellison, New York Times bestselling author of Her Dark Lies on The Orphan Witch.

A deeper magic. A stronger curse. A family lost...and found.

Persephone May has been alone her entire life. Abandoned as an infant and dragged through the foster care system, she wants nothing more than to belong somewhere. To someone. However, Persephone is as strange as she is lonely. Unexplainable things happen when she’s around—changes in weather, inanimate objects taking flight—and those who seek to bring her into their family quickly cast her out. To cope, she never gets attached, never makes friends. And she certainly never dates. Working odd jobs and always keeping her suitcases half-packed, Persephone is used to moving around, leaving one town for another when curiosity over her eccentric behavior inevitably draws unwanted attention.

After an accidental and very public display of power, Persephone knows it’s time to move on once again. It’s lucky, then, when she receives an email from the one friend she’s managed to keep, inviting her to the elusive Wile Isle. The timing couldn’t be more perfect. However, upon arrival, Persephone quickly discovers that Wile is no ordinary island. In fact, it just might hold the very things she’s been searching for her entire life.

Answers. Family. Home.

And some things she did not want. Like 100-year-old curses and an even older family feud. With the clock running out, love might be the magic that saves them all.

About the Author

Paige Crutcher is the author of THE ORPHAN WITCH. Her work appears in multiple anthologies and online publications, and she is a former Southern Correspondent for Publishers Weekly. She is an artist and yogi, and when not writing, she prefers to spend her time trekking through the forest with her children, hunting for portals to new worlds.

Please stop by Hills & Hamlets Bookshop between noon and 3pm on Saturday May 22nd to help our friend and neighbor Nicholas Widener and his brother Andrew celebrate the launch of their new book, Both Sides of the Old Road. This is a "drop-in" event, and Nicholas and Andrew will be available to sign books, chat, and share more with you about their work.

About the book:

I use photo-genealogy in Both Sides of the Old Road to excavate my familial roots. Combining archival letters, old family photographs, and objects with my own portraits and landscapes, I endeavor to tell the story of my ancestral origins in the Black Belt region of Alabama. My brother, Andrew Widener, is a genealogist at Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR) in Washington, D.C. He has researched, collected, and identified information and oddities about our family for over a decade. Halfway through this odyssey, I began to ride along with him to the Black Belt where the stories he gathered turned into visual imagery.

William Christenberry’s photographic ruminations on place and time have had a lasting impact on me. He was born in the Black Belt, not far from where I shot most of this work. Other great photographers like Walker Evans and Andrew Moore have tread there, too. The work of eminent Southerners like Sally Mann, William Eggleston, Harper Lee, and Jeff Nichols have had an influence on me and my topophilia for the South.

All in all, I seek to situate and understand my place among the generations that came before and the generations yet to come by searching for the ties that bind them together.

Nicholas Widener is the director of film studies and the head cross country coach at Woodward Academy in College Park, GA. He graduated from SCAD with an MFA in photography in 2019. He and his wife Leslie are Serenbe residents.

Andrew Widener is a genealogist at Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR) in Washington, D.C. He has researched his family history for over a decade.

Join Hills & Hamlets Bookshop in welcoming AIR Serenbe current resident artist Jessica Ingram for an artist talk & book release celebration. Tickets are available here: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/an-evening-with-air-serenbe-resident-jessica-ingram-new-book-release-tickets-87441163875

About the Book
At first glance, Jessica Ingram’s landscape photographs could have been made nearly anywhere in the American South: a fenced-in backyard, a dirt road lined by overgrowth, a field grooved with muddy tire prints. These seemingly ordinary places, however, were the sites of pivotal events during the civil rights era, though often there is not a plaque with dates and names to mark their importance. Many of these places are where the bodies of activists, mill workers, store owners, sharecroppers, children and teenagers were murdered or found, victims of racist violence. Images of these places are interspersed with oral histories from victims’ families and investigative journalists, as well as pages from newspapers and FBI files and other ephemera.
With Road Through Midnight , the result of nearly a decade of research and fieldwork, Ingram unlocks powerful and complex histories to reframe these commonplace landscapes as sites of both remembrance and resistance and transforms the way we regard both what has happened and what’s happening now—as the fight for civil rights goes on and memorialization has become the literal subject of contested cultural and societal ground.

About the Artist
Jessica Ingram works with multi-media and the archive to explore the ethos of communities, and notions of progress and resistance in American culture. Raised in Nashville, Tennessee, she received her BFA from NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts and her MFA from California College of Arts & Crafts in San Francisco. Ingram received the Santa Fe Prize for her work Road Through Midnight: A Civil Rights Memorial, a distinguished fellowship from the Hambidge Center for the Arts, and is a recurring Visiting Artist and Scholar at Columbus State University in Georgia since 2013. Her work has been featured in California Sunday Magazine, The New York Times, Oxford American, Vice and Wired Magazine. Her traveling solo show Road Through Midnight was recently exhibited at the National Civil Rights Museum, Tennessee State Museum, and Duke University’s Center for Documentary Studies.
Ingram was included in Southern Accent: Seeking the American South in Contemporary Art at the Nasher Museum, traveling to the Speed Museum. Her collaborative projects have been featured at the Sundance Film Festival and installed permanently at Oakland International Airport, Birmingham International Airport, and Oakland Museum of California.

Ingram’s book Road Through Midnight: A Civil Rights Memorial is forthcoming from University of North Carolina Press in 2019 and will be available for sale during the event, or you can reserve a copy through eventbrite beforehand. Complimentary refreshments will be provided during the event courtesy of AIR Serenbe.

Please join friends of Hills & Hamlets Bookshop Tena Clark and Michelle LeClair in welcoming Pat Mitchell to the community as part of the promotional tour for her newly released book Becoming a Dangerous Woman. Please RSVP here: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/becoming-a-dangerous-woman-an-afternoon-with-pat-mitchell-tickets-84774088581

ABOUT THE BOOK

Becoming a Dangerous Woman is an intimate and inspiring memoir and call to action from Pat Mitchell — groundbreaking media icon, global advocate for women's rights, and co-founder and curator of TEDWomen.

THE DANGEROUS WOMAN BENEFIT COLLECTION

We’ve created a benefit collection to increase awareness of and support for the creative design and entrepreneurial enterprises led by women. To offer an opportunity to ‘purchase with purpose’ as the proceeds support the work of organizations profiled in the book.

Dangerous times call for dangerous women.

Join author Richard Louv and co-hosts Laura Turner Seydel and Steve Nygren for the launch of Louv's new book Our Wild Calling.

Tickets are required. Paid tickets guarantee a seat and a copy of the book. Free tickets may be standing room only. Complimentary refreshments (beer, wine, tea, water) will be provided. Tickets are available HERE.

Over a decade ago, Richard Louv’s Last Child in the Woods identified the growing generational gap between children and the natural world. That book introduced the term “nature-deficit disorder,” which has entered the language and helped launch an international movement to connect children, their families and communities to nature.

Now, after four years of research, Louv defines the future of human-animal coexistence. Our Wild Calling explores the powerful and mysterious bond between humans and other animals, how it can transform our lives — and how it can save theirs. He makes the case that deepening our connection with other animals, both wild and domestic, can improve our mental, physical and spiritual lives; serve as an antidote to the growing epidemic of human loneliness; and is essential to the preservation of life on Earth.

5:30pm Reception

6pm Author Talk and Q&A

7pm Book Signing

Hills & Hamlets Bookshop will be the bookseller for this talk with John Lanier, Executive Director of the Ray C. Anderson Foundation, and co-author of the new edition of Ray Anderson’s now environmental business classic work Mid-Course Correction. For details about the event, and to RSVP, please visit https://serenbe.com/events/talk-with-john-lanier-exec-director-ray-c-anderson-foundation

Please join Hills & Hamlets Bookshop as we welcome author Amber Shehan (from the popular website & blog "Pixie's Pocket") as she guides you through the steps it takes to start a small batch of mead or cider, how to know when it is ready to bottle, and the basics of the bottling process. This demonstration is great for anyone interested in learning to brew mead, from beginners to advanced. This is a ticketed event, and each participant will receive one copy of Amber's new book Artisinal Small Batch Brewing, a detailed brewing demonstration, and a tasting of the elderberry rosehip wine or maple cider recipes from the book. Tickets are available HERE

As we brew a one-gallon batch of mead and cider together, Amber will go in-depth into the main ingredients to make a simple brew. We'll also cover yeast nutrients, how to add fruit and herbs to the process, and other things that sound more complex than they are. Don't worry! It's easy. We'll have you brewing in no time!

You are invited to bring an edible flower or aromatic herb from your garden if you want to contribute to the mead or cider - not required, but it can make things fun!

Bio:
Amber Shehan is the founder of PixiesPocket.com and the author of Artisanal Small-Batch Brewing (June 2019). Often called "Pixie," she can be found outdoors in the garden, rose bushes, and honeysuckle vines, foraging and making friends with the bees and spiders. Amber lives in Alexander, NC with her husband and daughter, a cat, a dog, and a mess o'chickens. https://www.pixiespocket.com

Please join us for an talk and presentation with Staci Catron and Mary Ann Eady, the authors behind the book Seeking Eden: A Collection of Georgia’s Historic Gardens. This event is free though we request you RSVP with free tickets through our eventbrite page HERE. We also encourage attendees to select the paid ticket option which comes with a copy of Seeking Eden.

Saturday September 21st in Gainey Hall in Selborne’s Grange Hamlet, just across the street from Hills & Hamlets Bookshop.

5pm-5:30pm casual meet & greet with wine/beer/refreshments

5:30pm-6:15pm talk and visual aid presentation

6:15pm-6:30pm Q&A

6:30pm Book signing

About the book:

Seeking Eden promotes an awareness of, and appreciation for, Georgia’s rich garden heritage. Updated and expanded here are the stories of nearly thirty designed landscapes first identified in the early twentieth-century publication Garden History of Georgia, 1733–1933. Seeking Eden records each garden’s evolution and history as well as each garden’s current early twenty-first-century appearance, as beautifully documented in photographs. Dating from the mid-eighteenth to the early twentieth centuries, these publicly and privately owned gardens include nineteenth-century parterres, Colonial Revival gardens, Country Place–era landscapes, rock gardens, historic town squares, college campuses, and an urban conservation garden.

Seeking Eden explores the significant impact of the women who envisioned and nurtured many of these special places; the role of professional designers, including J. Neel Reid, Philip Trammel Shutze, William C. Pauley, Robert B. Cridland, the Olmsted Brothers, Hubert Bond Owens, and Clermont Lee; and the influence of the garden club movement in Georgia in the early twentieth century.

About the authors:

Staci L. Catron is the director of the Cherokee Garden Library, Kenan Research Center at the Atlanta History Center, and a past president of the Southern Garden History Society.

Mary Ann Eaddy retired from the Historic Preservation Division of the Georgia Department of Natural Resources where she worked first as manager of the technical services unit and then as special assistant to the director. She also taught a graduate course in preservation planning in the Heritage Preservation Program at Georgia State University.

American History Book Club Meeting September 18th at 7pm

Book selection: This Kind of War by T.R. Fehrenbach

Meeting location in private residence. Contact coordinator Joe Heiberger at heiberj@comcast.net if interested in attending.

Please join Hills & Hamlets Bookshop and Serenbe Fellows for a talk with author and educator Juliet Cutler as we celebrate the release of her new memoir Among the Maasai.

This event is offsite and will be held at the Chattahoochee Hills Charter School at 9670 Rivertown Rd. Chattahoochee Hills, GA 30213.

American History Book Club Meeting July 17th at 7pm

Book selection: Whirlwind by John Ferling

Meeting location in private residence. Contact coordinator Joe Heiberger at heiberj@comcast.net for details if interested in attending.