Books and Bikes Out of the Bag

We’ve been having some blog issues here at Richmond magazine (we’ve never claimed to be technically savvy, folks), so I didn’t get to post about this when it was actual new news, but it’s so cool that I’m doing it anyway.

The genius that is Ward Tefft never ceases to amaze me. His used bookstore, Chop Suey Books (1317 W. Cary St.), is not only a wealth of hard-to-find reads, but it also hosts such cultural offerings as concerts by One Ring Zero, art exhibits and the 24-Hour Bookman event.

Books on Wheels, Tefft’s latest venture, takes him on the road with friend Shelley Briggs, a graduate student in social work at Virginia Commonwealth University. The pair has purchased an old school bus — the Mo’ Book Mo’ Bike Mobile — and is traveling the South through March 16, giving away free books and providing free bike repairs to children and adolescents who might not otherwise be connected with either pursuit. Donations of books, money, bikes, bike parts, etc., are welcome. Also look for the Mo’ Book Mo’ Bike Mobile around town in the future.

And speaking of One Ring Zero, did anyone check out Michael Hearst and Joshua Camp at Gallery5 a few weeks ago? Those guys can seriously jam out on a claviola, theremin and the occasional box of kitty litter.