Please join us at The 2nd Act in Hendersonville, NC for our first monthly book club meeting that strives to read books that create a closer knit and more inclusive community! We will meet virtually and in person monthly to discuss a book, so read the book and then join in the discussion in person or online every third Thursday. All are welcome! At the end of each meeting we will vote on the next book! The virtual club meeting will be in Zoom format and will meet 2.5 hours after the in-person meeting (8:00pm EST). After the meeting there is live acoustic music so stay and enjoy the vibe with your new friends! Put us down on your calendar for every third Third Thursday!

The first book is going to be called Disability Visibility.

Synopsis from the back cover: One in five people in the United States lives with a disability. Some disabilities are visible, others less apparent—but all are underrepresented in media and popular culture. Now, just in time for the thirtieth anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act, activist Alice Wong brings together this urgent, galvanizing collection of contemporary essays by disabled people.

From Harriet McBryde Johnson’s account of her debate with Peter Singer over her own personhood to original pieces by authors like Keah Brown and Haben Girma; from blog posts, manifestos, and eulogies to Congressional testimonies, and beyond: this anthology gives a glimpse into the rich complexity of the disabled experience, highlighting the passions, talents, and everyday lives of this community. It invites readers to question their own understandings. It celebrates and documents disability culture in the now. It looks to the future and the past with hope and love. Preview:https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/51456746-disability-visibility
Message me for the Zoom link to the online meetup. Thanks!

(adjacent to Swannanoa Library). Movie at dark. Arrive about 7:30 p.m. to secure your spot and enjoy pre-movie festivities. Popcorn and light refreshments available for purchase. Rated PG. Free.

Come and enjoy an evening under the stars while you watch one of the highest earning and rated animated films in 2014. “Big Hero Six” is an adventure story for the whole family. Refreshments will be available for sale. Please bring a blanket or camp chair if you like.

Book Discussion of Superman’s Not Coming by Erin Brockovich and Suzanne Boothby and cleanup of Hominy Creek and Hominy Creek Road with Asheville Greenworks.

Books to Action is a book club that explores nonfiction books centered on key issues facing our community. The book discussions take place in conjunction with a community service project, educational field trip, or presentations from local experts.Newcomers are welcome. This book club is geared towards participants ages 16 and older.

Registration is required and can be found here: ashevillegreenworks.vomo.org…

Your local library can help you acquire a copy of the book. If you need assistance, please call (828) 250-4700.

When social unrest gripped the United States in the summer of 2020, co-owner and head-brewer of Weathered Souls Brewing Company, Marcus Baskerville, decided to shed light on the related problems of racial inequality and police brutality.
The Black is Beautiful collaborative brewing project was born with the mission to raise money, provide education, and drive change to a system that has fractured families and perpetuated injustice. More than 1,200 breweries in all 50 states and 22 countries participated in the collaborative brewing project, donating proceeds from their versions of the Black is Beautiful collaboration beer to local foundations that support police brutality reform and organizations that support equality and inclusion.
Join us for a screening of the Black is Beautiful Documentary Film, produced by Flagship Video Works. The short film captures the inception and motivation behind the initiative and the impact and success that followed. A Q&A discussion featuring the director and Baskerville will immediately follow the screening.

Q&A to follow with:
Marcus Baskerville – Co-owner, Weathered Souls Brewing
Marco Ortega – Producer and Director
There will also be a raffle with the prize – a signed poster. 100% of raffle donations will go back to the Black is Beautiful Initiative

Author event with Marie Bostwick: 5 p.m., Lake Lure Inn, US 64, Lake Lure. $30 includes book discussion of ‘Esme Cahill Fails Spectacularly’ and meal. Call 828-287-6392 or mail check to Friends of the Mountains Branch Library, 150 Bill’s Creek Road, Lake Lue, NC 28746.

Foodie Book Club

Crime and Politics Book Club

Join us as we discuss, The Guncle by Steven Rowley.  We will meet in person at the Weaverville Library with the option to join the discussion via ZOOM.  Only ZOOM participants need to register.  Copies of this title are available at the Weaverville Library while supplies last. Newcomers are always welcome.

Join other literature lovers to discuss your favorite books at the library! This month’s pick is The Other Dr. Gilmer, by Benjamin Gilmer.

We’ll be discussing “West With Giraffes” by Lynda Rutledge. Books are available for pick up at the library.
All newcomers are welcome to participate and no registration is required. Join us!

Fierce Poise is a dazzling biography of one of the 20th century’s most respected painters, Helen Frankenthaler, as she came of age as both an artist and a woman in the vibrant art world of 1950s New York. Brought to vivid life by acclaimed art historian Alexander Nemerov, this book comprises a portrait as bold and distinctive as the painter herself.

Read Fierce Poise in advance and join museum staff for a book conversation followed by a gallery talk featuring Frankenthaler’s artwork Book of Clouds, on view in SECU Collection Hall, level 3. Books are available at your local library as well as Malaprop’s Bookstore/Café for a 10% discount.

The Malaprop’s Book Club, hosted by Jay Jacoby, explores a diverse selection of fiction and nonfiction books determined by member suggestion. Click here to see a full schedule of what the club is reading. Club attendees get 10% off the book at Malaprop’s!

The club meets the first Wednesday of every month at 7:00 PM. The club will meet virtually until further notice. To join the club, please email [email protected]

Grail Moviehouse in Asheville’s River Arts District continues its popular event series: Music Movie Mondays. Showcasing the best in new, classic and cult films about music, these special screenings feature an introduction by music journalist Bill Kopp (that’s me), followed by a screening of the film and then a moderated discussion about what we’ve just seen and heard.

The latest in the series is MONTEREY POP, the documentary film by D.A. Pennebaker showcasing the first great pop music festival. The film features legendary perfomrances by Otis Redding, The Who, Jimi Hendrix, Jefferson Airplane, The Byrds, The Grateful Dead and more than two dozen other acts. A rousing success, the festival created a template for the festival movement.Details are in the attached press release; more info at http://musoscribe.com/movies

Madison C. Brightwell (a Weaverville resident) will read from and discuss her new novel – The World Beyond the Redbud Tree.

This novel was written by Brightwell during the COVID pandemic as a response to what she saw as a world that needed some healing and hope. The novel is set partly right here in Weaverville, and partly in a fantasy parallel universe, in which our teenage heroine, Charli, discovers a Utopian world where different and better choices were made – a world in which the native peoples were embraced by the white colonists and not destroyed by them, which created a harmonious and peaceful society. Madison hopes to inspire readers of the book to think about how we can all contribute to making the world a better place.

This event will feature…

An interview with the author,
Q&A with the audience,
A performance of an extract from the book by local actors,
Local musicians, and
A book signing by the author at the end of the evening.

.: MOVIE SCHEDULE :.
📽️
📽️
📽️ July 14 – Top Gun: Maverick, begins around 8:30 pm
📽️ August 11 – Little Giants, begins around 8:10pm
👉 Asheville Parks & Recreation Rec n Roll Fun Zone activities start an hour before showtime with games, giveaways, and other activities for kids and teens.

.: MAKE A PLAN :.
📍 All movies are free and begin at dusk in Pack Square Park on 80 Court Plaza in downtown Asheville. Approximate showtimes are listed, but plan to arrive at least 15 minutes prior. Bring blankets and folding chairs for comfort.
📍 Asheville Parks & Recreation Rec n Roll Fun Zone activities start an hour before showtime.
📍 Bring money for food and treats from local vendors. Smokee’s Pizza is scheduled for opening night on May 12 while Tin Can Pizzeria is scheduled for the remaining dates. Kona Ice of Asheville and Kernel Mike’s World Famous Kettle Corn will be available at all dates.
📍 Free parking is available in marked spaces on city streets and in city-owned lots on Marjorie Street after 6pm.
📍 Pets, smoking, and alcohol are prohibited.
📍 Have fun! Dress up as your favorite characters, invite friends, and celebrate cool summer nights.

Movies in the Park allows people to enjoy blockbusters on the big screen with a spectacular backdrop – Asheville City Hall’s art decor exterior flanked by the rising mountains and a night sky full of stars. As Asheville’s town square, Pack Square Park’s central location allows community members in nearby neighborhoods including East End, Montford, South French Broad, and Southside to easily walk, bike, or ride to the show. Free parking in downtown after 6pm makes it a low-cost night out for those traveling from further away.

The Woodstock Music and Art Fair of August 1969 is often recalled as the beginning of the festival era, the spark that lit the fire. There’s some truth to that, but the real turning point – at which wider pop culture coincided with the concept of a massive music festival – all started in June 1967 at the Monterey Pop Festival.

That three-day event showcased both major stars and up-and-comers; the lineup included now-legendary performances by Otis Redding, The Who, Jimi Hendrix, Jefferson Airplane, The Byrds, The Grateful Dead and more than two dozen other acts. A rousing success, the festival created a template for the festival movement. And documentary filmmaker D.A. Pennebaker was there with a crew, capturing the concert for history. His acclaimed film, Monterey Pop premiered in theaters in December 1968.

Nearly 55 years after its original release, the excitement, appeal and influence of the concert festival and its documentary film continue to endure. Grail Moviehouse proudly presents a special one-night screening of the movie on Monday, June 12. Hosted by author, speaker and music journalist Bill Kopp, the evening will feature a screening of the film followed by an interactive discussion. is the latest in Grail Moviehouse’s ongoing series, Music Movie Mondays.

Please join us at The 2nd Act in Hendersonville, NC for our first monthly book club meeting that strives to read books that create a closer knit and more inclusive community! We will meet virtually and in person monthly to discuss a book, so read the book and then join in the discussion in person or online every third Thursday. All are welcome! At the end of each meeting we will vote on the next book! The virtual club meeting will be in Zoom format and will meet 2.5 hours after the in-person meeting (8:00pm EST). After the meeting there is live acoustic music so stay and enjoy the vibe with your new friends! Put us down on your calendar for every third Third Thursday!

The first book is going to be called Disability Visibility.

Synopsis from the back cover: One in five people in the United States lives with a disability. Some disabilities are visible, others less apparent—but all are underrepresented in media and popular culture. Now, just in time for the thirtieth anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act, activist Alice Wong brings together this urgent, galvanizing collection of contemporary essays by disabled people.

From Harriet McBryde Johnson’s account of her debate with Peter Singer over her own personhood to original pieces by authors like Keah Brown and Haben Girma; from blog posts, manifestos, and eulogies to Congressional testimonies, and beyond: this anthology gives a glimpse into the rich complexity of the disabled experience, highlighting the passions, talents, and everyday lives of this community. It invites readers to question their own understandings. It celebrates and documents disability culture in the now. It looks to the future and the past with hope and love. Preview:https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/51456746-disability-visibility
Message me for the Zoom link to the online meetup. Thanks!