May 1, 2008
Minerva Books — grand opening May 9
Minerva Book’s grand opening extravaganza is set to coincide with the May Friday for the Arts (May 9). Best-selling author Sheri Reynolds will be reading from her latest book, Firefly Cloak, and signing books at 7pm. MB will have copies of all of Sheri’s books available for sale before and after the reading.
Also at the grand opening: Sycamore Rouge’s cast from Nickel and Dimed will be offering sneak preview scenes from the performance at 6pm. Nickel and Dimed, which begins at the theater on May 16, tells the story of an investigative reporter who, for one year, conducts an experiment to see whether it is possible to live on minimum wage in the U.S. Her findings will surprise and enlighten you.
Light refreshments will be available for free; catered dessert items and brewed beverages (coffee and tea) will be available for sale.
Upcoming post-grand opening programming will be as follows:
Book Club: 7 pm, 2nd Tuesday of the month. The book club will meet and discuss the book of the month (any aspect is fair game, from literary devices to “what it means to me”) and decide on the following month’s book. Book club meetings will begin June 10 with a get-to-know-you session, and an unveiling of July’s book of the month. If you’re interested in participating, please email kristy@minervabooks.net.
Writing Group: 7 pm, last Thursday of the month. The writing group will encourage creative verbal expression, both by free-writing exercises and by structured writing assignments, and other member critiques. Participants will have the opportunity to read during one of our community poetry readings. Writing group meetings will begin May 29th with our first free-writing exercise. If you’re interested in participating, please email kristy@minervabooks.net.
Children’s Story Hour: 1 pm, 2nd and 4th Wednesday of the month. The Children’s Story Hour is designed for 3-5 year olds, accompanied by a parent or caretaker, and will involve the reading of an age-appropriate story. The first Children’s Story Hour will take place May 28th.
Kids’ Book Club: 11 am, 3rd Saturday of the month. This is designed for older children, ages 9-12, and will involve discussion of an age-appropriate book. We will also do some creative activities with this group. It may be writing a story, trying a new art form or making a craft object. The Kids’ Book Club will begin June 21.
Afternoon Delight: What is there to do in Petersburg to celebrate the end of the work week? Come by on Fridays 5-6pm our first month after opening and find out. Afternoon Delight begins May 16.
That place is looking great!
I drove by the other day because I was wondering what the status was.
Looking forward to the opening.
Ha, I’ve now got that song ‘Afternoon Delight‘ in my head…
EEEEEE - that Amazon link on Aft. Delight had Captain and Tennille’s Ultimate Collection listed, along with the Carpenters’ Gold, and Olivia Newton-John’s Magic. Heavens, haven’t heard that stuff in for-ever.
Here’s a link to their website if you need directions or want more information:
http://minervabooks.net/index.html
Whoops — I forgot not everyone in the greater metro area knows of Minerva Books’ whereabouts. Since the address is new and not google-able as is, hold tight…
Hm, MB is located at 233 Bartow Alley, Petersburg 23803. Since right now Bartow Alley is not on Googlemaps, I’ve sort of stuck a pinpoint on Googlemaps that gives an approximate visual of where MB is located; access to Bartow Alley is from W. Bank St.
Congrats to the folks at Minerva Books! They took an old garage and turned it into a cozy den, and the lineup of events last night was fantastic. To say nothing of the selection of books! YAY for them, and YAY for the rest of us that have a great new venue to enjoy.
I liked the atmosphere. Yes, very intimate. Maybe they should get a little fireplace.
I also liked the balance of political/history books. Had all viewpoints, it would seem.
Thanks to everyone who came out to the grand opening, and a BIG thanks to the legions of helpers who made it possible. I’d love to get a faux fireplace, Shawn, but for the life of me, can’t figure out where to put it! We still have some challenges to overcome in getting the place completely right (a sewer system would go a long way), but we’re open and glad to be here.
Lovely images of the pre-opening setting: