Susan Beckham Zurenda’s novels Bells for Eli and The Girl from the Red Rose Motel have won numerous awards, including the South Carolina Fiction Prize twice and a Pushcart Prize nomination. Her latest novel, No Way Out But Through (publishing August 18), is based on a true story about two women of different generations—one scarred by an abusive teen marriage and the other by an alcoholic husband—who come together to grapple with their inner demons and confront their untold stories.

Author website — Susan Beckham Zurenda

Buy the book – G.J. Ford Bookshop

Free for members; $10 for non-members. (Annual Membership is $15)

Seating is limited; registration is encouraged via Eventbrite

St. Simons Casino Theater

When Chef Carl Casper faces a career crisis, he hits the road to rediscover his passion for cooking.

2 hours

• Rated R

• Watch the trailer – Chef

• $5 – pay at the door

• Closed-Captioning will be enabled

Two down-on-their-luck performers form a Neil Diamond tribute band, proving it's never too late to find love and follow your dreams. Starring Hugh Jackman & Kate Hudson.

1 hour 33 minutes

• Rated PG-13

• Watch the trailer –Song Sung Blue

• $5 – pay at the door

• Closed-Captioning will be enabled

Kelly Scarnorough visits to talk about her debut novel, Butterfly Games —a tragic love story about two star-crossed lovers, a countess and a prince. It’s based on real-life characters and is perfect for fans of Philippa Gregory and Bridgerton.

Author website — Kelly Scraborough

Buy the book – G.J. Ford Bookshop

Free for members; $10 for non-members. (Annual Membership is $15)

Seating is limited; registration is encouraged via Eventbrite

St. Simons Casino Theater

The author visits to talk about her latest book, A Spell for Saints and Sinners — an intoxicating blend of Southern suspense and modern witchcraft set amid the moss-draped, haunted beauty of Savannah.

Buy the book – G.J. Ford Bookshop

Author website – Emily Carpenter

Free for members; $10 for non-members. (Annual Membership is $15)

Seating is limited; registration is encouraged via Eventbrite

St. Simons Casino Theater

Katherine Reay is a bestselling and award-winning author of 12 novels and 1 nonfiction work. Her latest book, The Undercover Bookshop (releasing 10/6), is set in a cozy 1950s Cotswolds village at the height of postwar tension; the novel layers its historical setting with an espionage thread.

Author website – Katherine Reay

Pre-order the book – G.J. Ford Bookshop

Free for members; $10 for non-members. (Annual Membership is $15)

Seating is limited; registration is encouraged via Eventbrite

St. Simons Casino Theater

Learn more about encouraging a love of books in infants and children as four award-winning authors talk about their work.

• Kelly Young-Silverman

• Nancy Raines Day

• Rosalind Bunn & Maggie Bunn

Free for members; $10 for non-members. (Annual Membership is $15)

Seating is limited; registration is encouraged via Eventbrite

St. Simons Casino Theater

G.J. Ford Bookshop – Nancy Raines Day

G.J. Ford Bookshop – Kelly Young-Silverman

G.J. Ford Bookshop – Rosalind Bunn & Maggie Bunn

Helen Mirren stars in this charming story of a boy from Mumbai who embarks, along with his boisterous family, on a picaresque journey first to London and then across Europe, before they ultimately open a restaurant opposite a famous chef in the remote French village of Lumiere. A culinary war ensues in this account that lays bare the inner workings of the elite world of French haute cuisine, and provides a life-affirming and poignant coming-of-age tale.

2 hours

• Rated PG

• Watch the trailer – The Hundred-Foot Journey

• $5 – pay at the door

• Closed-Captioning will be enabled

Callie Murray visits to talk about her debut novel, The Brunswick, a fresh spin on historical fiction set in both Norcross, Georgia, and Austria in the months leading up to World War II.

Author website – Callie Murray

Buy the book – G.J. Ford Bookshop

Free for members; $10 for non-members. (Annual Membership is $15)

Seating is limited; registration is encouraged via Eventbrite

St. Simons Casino Theater

The inspiring story behind the beloved Christmas carol and its author, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow.

1 hour and 50 minutes

• Rated PG

• Watch the trailer – I Heard the Bells

• $5 – pay at the door

• Closed-Captioning will be enabled

Every night, a shepherd reads aloud a murder mystery, pretending his sheep can understand. When he is found dead, the sheep realize at once that it was a murder and think they know everything about how to go about solving it.

1 hour and 50 minutes

• Rated PG

• Watch the trailer – The Sheep Detectives

• $5 – pay at the door

• Closed-Captioning will be enabled

After two male musicians witness a mob hit, they flee the state in an all-female band disguised as women, but further complications set in.

1959 - Starring Marilyn Monroe, Tony Curtis & Jack Lemmon

Directed by Bill Wilder – please see our Billy Wilder Film lecture taking place on January 20 &21

2 hours

• Rated PG

• Watch the trailer – Some Like It Hot

• $5 – pay at the door

• Closed-Captioning will be enabled

Gary Olsen, film historian, will give a two-part presentation on Billy Wilder

Part One

Billy Wilder brought a singular wit to Hollywood as both screenwriter and director.

Part One follows his journey from Europe to Hollywood in 1934, his early screenwriting success with Ninotchka (1939), and his directing debut in The Major and the Minor (1942). We'll trace his rise through the classics Double Indemnity (1944), cinema's first film noir; The Lost Weekend (1945), his first Best Director win; and the dark Hollywood satire Sunset Boulevard (1950).

Clips and commentary throughout.

Each program stands on its own, so come for one or both.

Free for members; $10 for non-members. (Annual Membership is $15)

Registration is required via Eventbrite

St. Simons Casino Theater

Gary Olsen, film historian, will give a two-part presentation on Billy Wilder

Part Two

Discussion of Wilder at the height of his powers. He directed Marilyn Monroe in the classic comedy Some Like It Hot (1959), then swept the Oscars for Best Picture, Director, and Screenplay with The Apartment (1960). We'll follow his career through Buddy Buddy (1981), his final film with longtime collaborators Jack Lemmon and Walter Matthau — including a surprising twist about his retirement.

Clips and commentary throughout.

Each program stands on its own, so come for one or both.

Free for members; $10 for non-members. (Annual Membership is $15)

Registration is required via Eventbrite

St. Simons Casino Theater

Beneath a Fallen Sky, the newest novel from award-winning Southern writer Scott Gould, follows four unique characters as they face the potential end of the world during the passage of Halley’s Comet.

Author website – Scott Gould

Buy the book – Righton Books

Free for members; $10 for non-members. (Annual Membership is $15)

Seating is limited; registration is encouraged via Eventbrite

St. Simons Casino Theater

A science teacher wakes up alone on a spaceship. As his memory returns, he uncovers a mission to stop a mysterious substance killing Earth's sun, and realizes that an unexpected friendship may be the key.

Starring Ryan Gosling and Sandra Hüller

2 hours and 30 minutes

• Rated PG-13

• Watch the trailer – Project Hail Mary

• $5 – pay at the door

• Closed-Captioning will be enabled

A working-class Italian-American bouncer becomes the driver for an African-American classical pianist on a tour of venues through the 1960s American South.

Starring Viggo Mortensen and Mahershala Ali.

2 hours and 10 minutes

• Rated PG-13

• Watch the trailer – The Green Book

• $5 – pay at the door

• Closed-Captioning will be enabled

Stephanie's book, Unstuck: Rebirth of an American Icon, is a tribute to her family legacy and an inspirational story about the rebirth of Stuckey’s, the iconic American brand, and a must-read for aspiring entrepreneurs on what it takes to build a business.

Buy the book – G.J. Ford Bookshop

Free for members; $10 for non-members. (Annual Membership is $15)

Seating is limited; registration is encouraged via Eventbrite

St. Simons Casino Theater