Sleepy Dog Books Events
Sleepy Dog Books is committed to providing the highest quality events to the Mt. Pleasant and surrounding communities. Through strategic partnerships and robust offerings SDB is focused on our store becoming much more than a retail option, rather SBD will strive to become the heart of the community. Each of the events on the SDB calendar has be designed to offer learning, personal growth, and development opportunities to all participants.
" So often, a visit to a bookshop has cheered me, and reminded me that there are good things in the world."
-Vincent van Gogh
-Vincent van Gogh
August 2024
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Let Gravity Seize the Dead & Everywhere, Everywhere
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July 2024
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The Fall of Bellwether (July 18th- 7:00pm)Author Event- Chad Broughman
The author transports readers to 1841 Midwest, immersing them in a world of duplicity and struggle. A mother and daughter fight against abandonment and starvation, their resilience challenges the very fabric of the town's beliefs. With its vividly depicted setting, well-developed characters, and thought-provoking themes, this historical fiction masterpiece weaves a mesmerizing tale of love, forgiveness, and the power of unity. Step into the pages and discover the strength that can be found even in the darkest of times. The novel opens with a riveting scene, the moment of Elinor's impending execution. The narrative paints a stark picture of the town's hypocrisy-as the same people who once attended church with Ada, now act as judge, jury, and executioners. |
June 2024
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A Night with Viola Shipman (June 3rd at The Ideal Theater in Clare)Author Event- Viola Shipman (Wade Rouse)
Sleepy Dog Books is thrilled to partner withe the Pere Marquette District Library and Author Wade Rouse, better know as Viola Shipman for an evening event at The Ideal Theater in Clare. This will be a ticketed event and tickets can be purchased for the event HERE. He will be doing a reading and discussing many of his published works. Join us for a wonderful night of dicussions around his wiritng process, publishing and the creative process. *More Event Details will be added as they become available. |
May 2024
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Where All Things Flatten (May 9th- 7:00pm)Author Event- John Mauk
In the heart of the Midwest, Lead Belly's, a rowdy Toledo bar, becomes an unlikely sanctuary for a group of wayward servers, cooks, and carousers, as they grapple with their own desires for stability and purpose amidst a backdrop of hardcore revelry, secrecy, and struggle. "Where All Things Flatten" is a gripping novel-in-stories that spans twenty-six years, shedding light on the tumultuous lives of these stridently working-class individuals who, against their own will, find solace and connection in a world of raucous desperation. |
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Author Panel Discussion with Cait West, Sara Moslener and Dawn Burns (May 23- 7:00pm at Art Reach of Mid Michgian)Author Event- Cait West, Sara Moslener, and Dawn Burns
Rift: A Memoir of Breaking Away from Christian Patriarchy Raised in the Christian patriarchy movement, Cait West was homeschooled and could only wear clothes her father deemed modest. She was five years old the first time she was told her swimsuit was too revealing, to go change. There would be no college in her future, no career. She was a stay-at-home daughter and would move out only when her father allowed her to become a wife. She was trained to serve men, and her life would never be her own. Until she escaped. Virgin Nation: Sexual Purity and American Adolescence First taking hold of the American cultural imagination in the 1990s, the sexual purity movement of contemporary evangelicalism has since received considerable attention from a wide range of media outlets, religious leaders, and feminist critics. Virgin Nation offers a history of this movement that goes beyond the Religious Right, demonstrating a link between sexual purity rhetoric and fears of national decline that has shaped American ideas about morality since the nineteenth century. Evangelina Everyday Evangelina is as everyday as women come. If she were a landscape, she'd be a patch of woods on the edge of a fallow Indiana field, her edges visible from all directions from miles away. Nothing special on the outside. A disturbance to nobody. One might think her a boring, self-contained Midwestern housewife. Mixing humor and sincerity, Dawn Burns roots her debut collection firmly in the minutiae of Midwestern life, focusing on the inner life of one who suffers the annoyances of a Midwestern lifestyle in a manner all her own, a manner filled with anxious contemplation of the worth of her life. |
April 2024
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Grady Lake (April 7th- 5:00pm)Author Event- JL Hyde
Katie Benard reluctantly returns home to Grade Lake two decades after her older sister Malorie disappeared without a trace, a story that has captivated the nation since the day she was reported missing in 2003. After leaving home years ago, Katie is overjoyed to reunite with her childhood best friend and cousin while working at her family's lakeside resort at the end of tourist season in northern Michigan. Just when life begins to feel normal again, a teenage girl goes missing from the resort. She has vanished without a trace, just like Malorie. |
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Storytime with Local Dancers (April 13th- 10:00am)Sleepy Dog Books connected with Mt. Pleasant School of Dance and we are thrilled to have local dancers joining us for a very special story time Saturday April 13th at 10am!! Bring your littles and wear your dance attire...A tutu is a must!
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March 2024
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Princess Storytime with Belle (March 2nd- 10:00am)Sleepy Dog Books made a call and is excited to have a local princess joining us for a very special story time Saturday March 2nd at 10am!! Bring your littles and wear your finest princess dress or princely attire!
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The Adventures of Cece and The Sheriff (March 6th-10:00am-12:00pm at the Mt. Pleasant Discovery Museum) Country (Fur) Cousins Author Event- Dominic Thrasher
The Adventures of Cece and the Sheriff: Country (Fur) Cousins. Come join these two Aussiedoodle puppies as they take you on amazing adventures. Where they meet new friends, share a good laugh and learn valuable lessons |
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A Night with Naomi Shihab Nye (March 14th- 7:00-8:30pm at Central Michigan University Bovee UC Rotunda)Author Event- Naomi Shihab Nye
Sleepy Dog Books, in partnership with Central Michigan University and the Department of English Language and Literature, is excited to welcome acclaimed author Naomi Shihab Nye to Central Michigan University. She will be doing a reading and discussing many of her published works. Join us for a wonderful night of dicussions around wiritng, publishing and the creative process. |
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SDB Book Journaling Class (March 20th-7:00pm)Sleepy Dog Book Journaling Class. Learn how to design, plan, and create your own reading journal, complete with goals, trackers, and challenges! Bring your own journal or we will have them available for purchase at the event.
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February 2024
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The Adventures of Cece and The Sheriff (Febuary 1st-5:30pm )
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Faculty Favorites (February 20th- 7:00pm)Book Chat- Dr. Ari Berk and Dr. Anne Alton (Deep Wizardry &A Wizard of Earthsea)
The best part of reading a book you love is talking about it with friends. This new series of short, informal events features English Department faculty sharing favorite novels and poems and what they love about them. This is all about passion for the books we love. Grab a friend and come join the discussion. |
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SDB Book Journaling Class (February 28th-7:00pm)Sleepy Dog Book Journaling Class. Learn how to design, plan, and create your own reading journal, complete with goals, trackers, and challenges! Bring your own journal or we will have them available for purchase at the event.
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January 2024
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We're Not Worthy (January 23rd-6:00pm at the Veterans Memorial Library)Author Event- Jason Klamm
Author Jason Klamm will present his book We're Not Worthy with an interactive Q&A session hosted by moderator Tyler Sonnichsen, a Cultural Geographer and professor of Geography & Environmental Studies at CMU. Sleepy Dog Books will offer the book for purchase at the event |
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Faculty Favorites (January 23rd- 7:00pm)Book Chat- Dr. Kris McDermott and Dr. JoEllen Delucia
The best part of reading a book you love is talking about it with friends. This new series of short, informal events features English Department faculty sharing favorite novels and poems and what they love about them. This is all about passion for the books we love. Grab a friend and come join the discussion. |
November 2023
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Project Solomon (November 9th-7:00pm)Author Event-Jodi Stuber and Jennifer Marshal Bleakley
Jodi Stuber wasn't looking for another horse for her struggling therapy ranch--let alone one like Solomon. After losing his herd, he was solitary and sad, spending his days standing near the plastic deer in his yard for company. No stranger herself to loss and heartache, Jodi knew she had to give Solomon a home. The road to recovery wouldn't be easy. As Solomon struggled to fit in with his new herd and Jodi continued to navigate her own grief, the two developed a deep bond. But just as Jodi and Solomon were both beginning to heal, an unthinkable tragedy struck the therapy ranch. And Solomon was about to teach Jodi the greatest lesson of all. Written by Jennifer Marshall Bleakley, author of Joey: How a Blind Rescue Horse Helped Others Learn to See, Project Solomon is a powerful story of resilience, sacrifice, and love that reminds us all how much we matter--to each other and to God. |
September 2023
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Lemon (September 14th-7:00pm)Author Event- Isabella Mansfield
lemon is an exploration of body and health. The poems in this chapbook come from learning to navigate life with a disability, anxiety and depression, bodily changes, illness and associated medical trauma, and the intersection of physical and mental health. |
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Driving the Scenic Route (September 27th- 7:00pm)Author Event- Robert Aldrich
After spending over 20 years in Southern California and photographing food for over 350 restaurants, Robert and his wife moved back to their home state of Michigan and settled in Mt Pleasant. Soon, Robert became enamored with the beauty and unique architecture of Michigan's barns, traveling hundreds of miles on the back roads to capture images of different barns. |
August 2023
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SDB Community Hero Series- Multiple Dates (5:30pm)Join us for stories, activities, and discussions with a Doctor, Police Officer, Veterinarian, Scientist, and Teacher. For kids of any age
August 2- Veterinarian August 9- Teacher |
July 2023
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SDB Community Hero Series- Multiple Dates (5:30pm)Join us for stories, activities, and discussions with a Doctor, Police Officer, Veterinarian, Scientist, and Teacher. For kids of any age.
July 12- Police Officer July 19- Scientist |
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SDB Ice Cream Social - July 16th (3:00pm)Let's get social! Join Sleepy Dog Books for their first annual ice cream social to celebrate community, books, and downtown Mt. Pleasant. We will have ice cream, toppings and extra sprinkles but please be sure to come early to make sure you get some before we run out!
This event is FREE! |
April 2023
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Poetry Night- April 5th (7:00pm)Author Event- Dennis Hinrichsen and Andrew Collard
Sprawl is a reconstruction of the constantly shifting landscape of metropolitan Detroit, which extends over six counties and is home to over four million people, from the perspective of a single parent raising a young child amid financial precarity. Part memoir, part invention, the book is Andrew Collard's attempt to reconcile the tenderness and sense of purpose found in the parent-child relationship with ongoing societal crises in the empire of the automobile. Here, a mansion may contrast with a burned-out home just up the street. How does one construct a sense of place in such a landscape, where once-familiar neighborhoods turn to strip malls or empty lots and the relationships that root us dissolve? Sprawl suggests that there is solace in recognizing that when we ask this question, we are never alone in asking. The winner of the inaugural Wishing Jewel Prize, awarded for a manuscript that challenges our notions of what poems can do and what a book can be, schema geometricais nothing short of visionary. It juxtaposes quasi-sonnets and erasures with illustrations by Marnie Galloway, a Chicago-area cartoonist and illustrator, and Julian Van Dyke, a Lansing-area muralist, painter, and childrenís book author. schema geometrica will be accompanied by a number of audio and video poems, available online this fall; this is a multimedia collaboration between Hinrichsen and Dylan Rogers, a Lansing-area musician and proprietor of The Robin Theatre, and Tom Larter, musician and composer. |
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Auras- April 20 (7:00pm)Author Event- Kevin Fitton
The twelve stories that make up Auras span time from the 1940's to the present day, They cover ground from New England to the Midwest to the South. But in another respect, all of these stories live in the same place, asking a different version of the same question: Is it possible to fix broken things? |