Dear Gentle Reader,

Thank you to all who came out to help celebrate Independent Bookstore Day and McIntyre’s 36th birthday. We had a great turnout and a high cookie consumption. A good time was had by all!

Before we turn to our store’s book events, we would like to draw your attention to something happening in North Carolina. North Carolina’s House Bill 636, recently approved by the state House, introduces a framework for parents to challenge and potentially remove books from public and charter school libraries. The legislation requires the establishment of community library advisory committees composed of parents and school employees to review library materials, with their recommendations subject to public posting and final approval by local school boards. Supporters argue the bill empowers parents to protect children from inappropriate content, while critics express concerns about potential censorship and the impact on educational freedom. The bill also authorizes civil penalties for non-compliant schools and mandates the creation of a publicly accessible database of rejected materials. If this is something of concern to you, call your senators. Here in Chatham County (and Durham) we are represented by Senator Nathalie Murdoch. To find your state senator, click here.

McIntyre’s has no events scheduled this weekend, but time is flying (if you haven’t noticed) and so is your opportunity to buy tickets to Chatham Literacy’s Spring for Literacy Luncheon on Thursday, May 15th. To learn more about this stalwart organization and the luncheon, click here. Their guest speaker is one of our favorite authors, Marjorie Hudson.

Margot Lester will be here to answer your writerly questions on Wednesday, May 7th from 1:30 to 3:30 pm.

Next weekend, we welcome Betsy Small on Saturday, May 10th at 2pm. She has written a memoir, Before Before: A Story of Discovery and Loss in Sierra Leone. Sierra Leone is often sensationalized as a place of extreme violence and suffering—of blood diamonds, child soldiers, war amputations, and Ebola and now the highly addictive drug Kush. Before Before captures daily life in a different country, one Betsy Small first encountered as a Peace Corps worker between 1984–1987, and then rediscovered when she returned decades later with her daughter.

On the evening of May 15th at 6:30pm, we are hosting Spring Book Club Night.Tickets are $10 and include wine, book raffle, special book discounts, and terrific book discussion. Whether or not you are in a book club, this is an excellent opportunity to figure out what to add to your reading list.

Saturday, May 17th, we have a terrific double header. At 11am, famed sportscaster, UNC alum, and UNC professor Jim Lampley will be here to discuss his memoir, It Happened!, with his coauthor, beloved author and sportswriter Art Chansky. Then at2pm, we have a special event with mystery author Brendan Slocumb for his new novel, The Dark Maestro. Sarah has read all 3 of his classical music-themed mysteries and thinks this ambitious, complex, character-driven saga is his best yet.

The Usual Suspects,

Pete, Johanna, Sarah G., Tyler, Amy, Sarah C. and Keebe