Basking in the Glory of Fame

The great thing about indie bookstores is that you never know who you're going to run into. Someone running for office, a well-known local public radio host, a classmate from a community Spanish class four years ago-the list goes on. Wilmington is a pretty small town, for its 150,000 metro size. If you get out much, you're almost guaranteed to run into friends and neighbors a few times a week.

Over the past couple of weeks at Pomegranate, it's been "famous local author drop by week." (And these are just pics from when I happened to be at the shop, which is usually unplanned and highly sporadic.) Bask in the reflected fame of our local writers done good. SHAMELESS SELF PROMOTION ALERT!!! ---> And REMEMBER, if you would like a copy of one of their books, we can most certainly get it for you :)

Wilmington-Area Authors Visit

Dana Sachs
Author of:  The Life We Were Given: Operation Babylift, International Adoption, and the Children of War in Vietnam


If you Lived Here  (a novel)


The House on Dream Street  (a memoir)


Those are her most recent books.  Dana stopped by to purchase and ship some gifts to friends, and pick up a special order.  She was also gracious enough to sign some more copies of her books for us.  Dana was featured on NPR a couple of weeks ago!  Great job, Dana!

David Hume
Author of (most recently): Beyond the Long Eared Mountains

David creates and illustrates all of his stories and novels based on his wide knowledge and experience with music, art, and world travels. He's also a painter, and stopped by to curate his collection of art currently on display at Pomegranate Books.

Michelle Boyajian

Author of:
Lies of the Heart

UNCW MFA graduate Michelle Boyajian was in on Friday for a reading from her newly published book. She's also featured in People Magazine this week! Congratulations, Michelle!

Juliana Morgan

Author of:
Buddy Gets a Second Chance
and
Zach's Tracks

Both great books for the 2nd-4th grade set.  Zach's Tracks is about the true-life adventures of Zach, one of the world's largest terriers!

Barbara Sullivan

Author of:
Garden Perennials for the Coastal South
Barbara participated in our recent GARDEN EXTRAVAGANZA DAY, answering questions about gardening, and signing her book.

Fredi Olster

Co-Author of:
The Discovering Shakespeare Series

I'd love to tell you more about Fredi, but I was bolting out the door after already being sucked into the Pomegranate vortex for longer than I had intended to.  Those of you who come here often know what I mean!  Fredi's books are great for school teachers and students, that much I picked up when I was hanging around the shop on Saturday!

Each of these writers were fantastically patient while I grabbed their books and posed them in a very cheesy and self-promotional stance.  They never would have done it on their own, I can assure you.  The only reason I don't have one of Michelle like that is that I was home slaving away on this blog while she was reading.  And, apparently, I missed a great event. It was fun to see and meet everyone this week.  Y'all come back, ya hear?

Bookstore Tour: Salt Lake City

I waste no time.  That was the caption to the picture of this sign that I tweeted approximately 1 hour after landing from a cross country flight to Salt Lake City.  Where to go when you have little time before you're so tired you can't stand up?  Why, a bookstore of course.

Willing Accomplice

My husband says I buy a lot of books. Well yes, I do.  But let me just point out that he was the DRIVER in this situation.  He could have gone straight to the hotel.  This incriminating picture:

Shows that Joe is less than upset at our haul.  Just sayin'.

Encyclopedic Collections

It is expensive to shelve one of everything an author has ever written.  RARELY do you ever see that in a brick-and-mortar bookstore.  That's one thing that sets The Kings English apart from other shops-both indies and big-box-books.  It is pretty neat to browse a writer's whole career.  You make connections that you might not otherwise.  For instance, I had no idea that Jim Harrison was author of Legends of the Fall.

Categorizing

As I mentioned before in my San Fran Area bookstore tour blog post, I enjoy seeing how different shops categorize.  The most interesting at TKE?  "Speculative Fiction."

Included Robert Jordan, Terry Pratchett, Neal Stephenson, etc.

A Place for Kids

They were having an author event in their "Kids' Wing," so I didn't get to browse very much over there.  But, I can definitely get behind this sentiment:

Displays and Various Stuff

Each bookstore also puts together unique displays--including books, antiques, random stuff, photos, posters and more.  Paris was on the mind of SLC locals, apparently.

I particularly enjoyed this collection of old apothecary bottles:

I won't tell you how many books I bought. Let's just say that I cropped this picture of the cashwrap to LEAVE OUT my book pile!

I've been enjoying my book tour, but I'm staying home for a while.  I've yet to report about my visit to Valley Books in Jackson, WY.  It's coming up!

Like Cheers, but for Nerds

One of our Facebook Fans, Kama V., who lives in the neighborhood, snapped this pic of Katie (that's me! left), and Anna (right), while stopping by the shop at the beginning of their Saturday morning bike ride.

Today, I stopped by the store with my husband, and Anna was there talking to a customer.  Anna said "Pomegranate is like the bar Cheers," but for nerds.

Yep. . . pretty much.

Pomegranate Books is a bookstore, but it is also a gathering place, a hangout for neighbors, a resource for avid readers, and one of the only independent bookstores serving a large portion of Southeast NC. Here are some reasons why I like to hang out at the shop, even though I don't have to be there as much as I am.

• Free wi-fi  (When you work at home all the time, it is nice to get out of the house and work once in a while)
• $1 cups of tea (and more flavors than PCJ!)
• ARCS  (Advanced readers copies of books. Bring in a can of food for the SENC food bank and you get one for FREE!)
• Nell (Nell is the main shop dog. She is so funny.  Mainly because she is so old.)
• Interesting conversation (You literally NEVER know what you'll end up talking about at Pom Books. School gardens, local bars, cross-country train trips, drinking coke with salted peanuts, worm compost, chickens.)
• The "gals" (Kathleen, the owner; Visha, Anna and Catherine, the store minders and my friends; and Lynetta, who has a steel trap mind full of history)

So, if you haven't been in for a while, or you've been driving past us every day and wondered what we're about, well, come on in and say hi.  We like to chat. We like to give recommendations, and we mostly just like books. 

April 2010 Events at Pomegranate

20% Off for National Poetry Month

 

Now, through April 30th, browse our in-stock, in-store poetry selection and receive 20% off all poetry books that you purchase! Includes children's poetry books!

Garden Extravaganza Day!

Saturday, April 24th from 10:00 am- 4:30 pm. 

Fun for the whole family. Here's a schedule of events:

10:00 am: Kid's story hour (focus on worms)
10:30 am: Meet the worms! (With our Vermicomposting friends)
11:00 am: Vermicomposting 101 (Learn how to use worms to create great soil!)
12:00 pm: Grow a Pizza in a Pot (Veggie container workshop)
1:00 pm: Landscaping with North Carolina Native Plants
2:00 pm: Garden Story hour for kids
3:00 pm: Garden questions answered and books autographed by Barbara Sullivan


ALL DAY: Plant a seed to take home

ALL DAY: Buy a raffle ticket or TWELVE for a chance to win our GREAT BIG BASKET OF GARDEN GOODIES! Over $150 in Garden goodies, including a Pomegranate Tree. Tickets are $1 each, or 6 for $5. ALL proceeds from the raffle, along with a portion of sales from the day will go to the New Hanover County Ability Garden.

Reading with Dana Sachs

Author of The Life We Were Given: Operation Babylift, International Adoption, and the Children of War in Vietnam

Reading is AT UNCW: Tuesday, April 6, 2010. 7 pm, UNCW CIS Building, Room 1008

First Wives' Book Club

Wednesday, April 7th at 7:00 pm at Pomegranate Books. Call for details!

Michelle Boyajian Reading and Booksigning

Thursday, April 22, 2010, at 7:00 PM

Join us at Pomegranate Books for a reading and booksigning by Michelle Boyajian, for her debut novel, Lies of the Heart.

Michelle is an alumnus of UNC-Wilmington's celebrated MFA in Creative Writing program, where she received the Austin Robert Hartsook Fellowship in Creative Writing. Her short stories have appeared in and Timber Creek Review and were nominated for a Pushcart Prize.

This is a free event at Pomegranate Books. For more info, call: (910) 452-1107.