Past Events
May
Time: 6:00p CT
Where: Mystery to Me (seats are limited, Get Tickets)
Livestream: Crowdcast (RSVP)
About the book:
Olympic medalist Anna MacDonald comes home to Namekagon County to emcee the Great Wilderness Race as predators stalk the Northwoods. While occasional interactions with potentially dangerous animals are old hat for most residents, this changes when unpredictable behavior patterns make it unclear who is the hunter and who is the hunted. Sheriff John Cabrelli and the new Musky Falls chief of police work swiftly to keep the community calm as they try to piece together the clues before it is too late.
Musky Run is the fourth book in the award-winning Northern Lakes Mystery series, following Figure Eight, Spider Lake, and Bough Cutter.
About the author:
Jeff Nania is a former law enforcement officer, conservationist, biofuel creator, and an award-winning author. The books in his Northern Lakes Mystery series—Figure Eight (2019), Spider Lake (2020), Bough Cutter (2021), and Musky Run (2023)—have been recognized by the Midwest Book Awards, Independent Publisher Book Awards, and Next Generation Indie Book Awards. His narrative non-fiction writing has appeared in Wisconsin Outdoor News, Double Gun Journal, The Outlook, and other publications. Jeff spends as much time as possible fishing Spider Lake and exploring Wisconsin's landscape with his friends and family. Find more of Jeff's writing online at feetwetwriting.com and follow him on social media.
Time: 6:00p CT
Where: Mystery to Me (seats are limited, Get Tickets)
Livestream: Crowdcast (RSVP)
About the book
At age twenty-four, Sara Alvarado bought a one-way ticket from the midwest to Mexico determined to heal from years of hard partying and sexual trauma. In this raw and inspiring memoir, Sara takes readers on a journey as she struggles with being newly sober, unexpectedly in love - and then suddenly, terrifyingly pregnant. Guided from afar by her wise and loving mother and her emerging spiritual connection, Sara confidently (yet full of self-doubt) faces the complexity of a multicultural marriage and motherhood in a foreign country. In vivid, storytelling prose, Sara shares the messy dance between cultures, classes, languages, traditions, white privilege, and a desire to belong. This epic love story confronts tough topics and uncertainty in an honest voice that is refreshing and witty.
About the author
SARA ALVARADO is a white woman married to a native Mexican man with two multicultural, bilingual children. She is a writer, speaker, and fierce advocate for racial equity in real estate. Sara published her first book, Dreaming In Spanish in 2023, the Racial Justice Toolkit for Real Estate Professionals, a Guide for Change Agents, and numerous articles and essays. Sara and her husband, Carlos, own Alvarado Real Estate Group and feel most at home in Madison, Wisconsin, and Puerto Vallarta, Mexico. www.SaraAlvarado.com
Time: 6:00p CT
Livestream: Crowdcast (RSVP)
About the book:
What would you do to save the most important person in the world?
On a trawler headed back towards the Bering Sea, the captain and crew of a crabbing vessel are brutally murdered by a young member of Bratva, the Russian mafia, their bodies stuffed into massive crab pots and thrown overboard. The boat is scuttled in a remote bay, and the murderer meets up with more powerful members of the mob to continue their violent and audacious plan. In an act of vengeance, they plan to livestream the execution of a Supreme Court Justice, at that moment headed towards Alaska.
At their Anchorage HQ, Deputy US Marshals Arliss Cutter and Lola Teariki are assigned to security detail at a judicial conference in Fairbanks, where Justice Morehouse will be in attendance. Teariki is tasked with guarding Morehouse’s teenaged daughter while Cutter provides counter-surveillance. This simple assignment becomes more complex after mother and daughter opt to travel on the famous Glacier Discovery train, that traverses the Alaskan wilderness. Hiding onboard are members of Bratva, who launch a surprise attack. While they seize control of the engine, Cutter manages to escape with Justice Morehouse by jumping off the moving train—and into the unforgiving wilderness.
With no supplies and no connection to the outside world, Cutter and the judge must cross a treacherous terrain to stay alive. Two of the terrorists are close behind. The others are on the train with the judge’s daughter—and they plan to execute her on camera. With so many lives at stake, Cutter knows there are only two options left: catch the train and kill them all . . . or all will be killed.
Tense, electrifying, and otherworldly, sweeping from the frigid waters of Anchorage to the banks of the Arctic Ocean, BREAKNECK barrels towards its shocking finale like a locomotive barreling through the wilderness.
About the author:
New York Times and USA Today bestselling author Marc Cameron, a native of Texas, has spent over three decades in law enforcement. He is the award-winning author of the Arliss Cutter and the Jericho Quinn series, as well as the Tom Clancy Jack Ryan, Sr. books, starting with Power and Empire in 2017, and most recently, Red Winter in 2022. Early in his career, he served as a uniformed police officer, mounted (horse patrol) officer, and detective before accepting a position with the United States Marshals Service and serving as a Deputy, Fugitive Task Force Commander, Supervisory Deputy, Senior Inspector, and Chief. His assignments have taken him from rural Alaska to Manhattan, from Canada to Mexico and points in between. A second-degree black belt in jujitsu, he often teaches defensive tactics to other law enforcement agencies and civilian groups. Cameron presently lives in Alaska with his wife and his BMW motorcycle.
Time: 6:00p CT
Where: Mystery to Me (seats are limited, Get Tickets)
Livestream: Crowdcast (RSVP)
About the book
Suspended from her job in the DA’s office, Detective Shea Sommers travels to the driftless area of southwestern Wisconsin to investigate the mysterious death of her mentor Pat Donegal. Shea learns Pat was investigating the murder of a young woman, Michaella Paxton, who was shot and burned to death in the 1980s. Shea needs to dig into that case to find out what happened to Pat. As she searches for clues, one name keeps popping up. Chanz Loman is a reclusive poet and handyman who arrived in the area shortly after the woman was murdered. Shea’s probe into Paxton’s death and Loman’s involvement reveals dark secrets tied directly to a bloody civil war in Nicaragua during the 1980s. Only Loman knows the truth, but will he reveal his secrets to a nosy out-of-town detective? In the end, Shea is forced to confront the truth about her friend Pat Donegal. The ending will shake you! Featuring characters from the award-winning novel A DRIFTLESS MURDER.
About the author
Born in the driftless region of southwestern Wisconsin, Jerry McGinley has been publishing poetry and fiction for many years. His most recent book GHOSTS OF DHARMA HILLS is a mystery set primarily in fictional Kickapoo County. His previous novel A DRIFTLESS MURDER won the 2022 Midwest Book Award for Fiction/Mystery. For over thirty years, McGinley taught in Wisconsin at the high school and college levels, earning teaching awards from the Kohl Foundation, Wisconsin Council of Teachers of English, Newsweek Magazine, and the Wisconsin Department of Education. He founded and edited three creative writing magazines: Yahara Prairie Review, Lake City Lights, and Yahara Prairie Lights. He currently lives in Waunakee with his wife Gail.
Time: 6:00p CT
Where: Barriques on Monroe St
We will be reading Warrior Girl Unearthed by Angeline Boulley!
About the book
#1 New York Times bestselling author Angeline Boulley takes us back to the world of Firekeeper's Daughter in this high-stakes mystery about the power of discovering and reclaiming your stolen history.
Perry Firekeeper-Birch has always known who she is - the laidback twin, the troublemaker, the best fisher on Sugar Island. Her aspirations won't ever take her far from home, and she wouldn't have it any other way. But as the rising number of missing Indigenous women starts circling closer to home, as her family becomes embroiled in a high-profile murder investigation, and as greedy grave robbers seek to profit off of what belongs to her Anishinaabe tribe, Perry begins to question everything.
In order to reclaim this inheritance for her people, Perry has no choice but to take matters into her own hands. She can only count on her friends and allies, including her overachieving twin and a charming new boy in town with unwavering morals. Old rivalries, sister secrets, and botched heists cannot - will not - stop her from uncovering the mystery before the ancestors and missing women are lost forever.
Time: 6:00p CT
Where: Mystery to Me (seats are limited, Get Tickets)
Livestream: Crowdcast (RSVP)
About the book
The Unreliable Narrator Wakes Up is a series of free-form prose poems in a debut chapbook by Shahayra Majumder. Over 28 entries, Majumder delivers an intimate perspective on navigating the trials of adulthood and the pressures faced by marginalized communities and trauma victims. Written over the course of the early 2020s, she writes unabashedly through pain, triumph, love, spirituality, and growing independence. Unreliable Narrator challenges the reader to face society's harsh truths, yet also encourages marveling at the risks we take to live fulfilling lives, humor at the wonderfully paradoxical, and feel pride as we rediscover and settle into ourselves.
About Shahayra Majumder
Majumder is originally from West Palm Beach, Florida, and is an alumnus of the University of Florida. She now lives in Madison, Wisconsin working remotely as a Solutions Engineer for a Silicon Valley startup focused on improving health equity. Poetry is her reprieve, along with travel.
About Carrie Voigt Schonhoff
Wisconsin-based author and poet Carrie Voigt Schonhoff has self-published two books of poems titled, 'The Liminal Space' and 'The End of the Beginning.' She was widowed in 2012 and that life challenge has taught her many things, some of which she writes about in her books. This work will resonate deeply with readers from the Midwest and pull at the heartstrings of those that continue to face challenges but never stop dreaming. Her books address the importance of healing, moving on, and being ready to face a new beginning. Carrie's work is also a continuation of beliefs that we can heal by connecting and understanding one another on a deeper level through poetry. She has recently completed her first Book Tour and is excited to continue to share her poetry with the world. Carrie enjoys spending time with her two adult children and two Italian greyhound dogs in Wisconsin. Visit LiminalArtistry.com to learn more.
Time: 6:00p CT
Where: Mystery to Me (seats are limited, Get Tickets)
Livestream: Crowdcast (RSVP)
About the book
A Change of Heart is the sequel to In The Secret Heart
The small town of Farmerton is finally back to normal—or is it? After recovering from the shock of murder and scandal, it feels like it's getting back to its quiet self. But just when everything seems normal again, the community, and especially Sgt. Joe Zimmerman, are stunned once more by an unexpected and frightening event, making Joe and the townspeople wonder if Farmerton ever be the same again.
About Kathy Jacobson
Kathy J. Jacobson is a graduate of the University of Wisconsin-Madison and Wartburg Theological Seminary. Kathy worked with troubled youth in the juvenile justice system for ten years in Dane and Rock County, and later in campus and rural ministry, as well as volunteering as a hospice chaplain. A native of Columbus, Wisconsin, currently living in Monona, Kathy has resided in many diverse areas of the state over the years. She and her husband have three grown children and five very young grandchildren.
An avid traveler, Kathy has recorded adventures in six continents and all fifty states. In addition to traveling, she loves hiking, the theater, the Wisconsin Badgers, and most of all—writing!
About Christine DeSmet
Christine DeSmet is a writer, writing coach, and an award-winning author and scriptwriter. For many years she helmed the Writers' Institute and the Write-by-the-Lake Writer's Retreat as well as online writing courses at University of Wisconsin-Madison where she was a Distinguished Faculty Associate of writing. She writes the Fudge Shop Mystery series and the Mischief in Moonstone novella series. She is a member of Blackbird Writers, Mystery Writers of America, Sisters in Crime, Writers Guild of America East, Society of Children's Book Writers & Illustrators, and Wisconsin Writers Association. Christine shares writer education and news posts regularly on Facebook.
Time: 6:00p CT
Where: Garth's Brew Bar
For our May book club we will be reading A Sand County Almanac and Sketches Here and There
About the book
Few books have had a greater impact than A Sand County Almanac, which many credit with launching a revolution in land management. Written as a series of sketches based principally upon the flora and fauna in a rural part of Wisconsin, the book, originally published by Oxford in 1949, gathers informal pieces written by Leopold over a forty-year period as he traveled through the woodlands of Wisconsin, Iowa, Arizona, Sonora, Oregon, Manitoba, and elsewhere; a final section addresses the philosophical issues involved in wildlife conservation. Beloved for its description and evocation of the natural world, Leopold's book, which has sold well over 2 million copies, remains a foundational text in environmental science and a national treasure.
Time: 6:00p CT
Where: Mystery to Me (seats are limited, Get Tickets)
Livestream: Crowdcast (RSVP)
About the book
The seventeen unrelenting stories in Steve Fox's debut story collection, Sometimes Creek, traverse a sub-zero trail of plausible magic and grit from a kaleidoscope of broken ice at a hockey rink in Wisconsin that coils through haunted rivers and around dangling legs of jamón serrano in sweltering Spanish bars and back again to a place where Kafka and Carver meet up on the page. Fox's clean prose takes you by the hand and weaves a tapestry of tenderness, dissonance, indifference, dystopia, and charm into that gauzy space that collectively takes shape in your hands as Sometimes Creek.
About the author
Steve Fox is the winner of the Rick Bass Montana Prize for Fiction, The Great Midwest Writing Contest, The Wisconsin People & Ideas Fiction Contest, the Jade Ring Award, and a Midwestern Gothic Summer Flash Contest. His fiction has appeared in New Ohio Review, Orca, a Literary Journal, Midwest Review, Michigan Quarterly Review, Midwestern Gothic, Whitefish Review, and others. He holds a Master of Arts in Spanish from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, and has lived and worked in four continents. Steve now resides in his home state of Wisconsin with his wife, three boys, and one dog. Steve can be found at stevefoxwrites.com.
- Finding facts
- Informing your decisions with the truth
- Where to go for "good" sources and how to spot the fakes
April
Join us for Independent Bookstore Day 2023! The bookstore will be buzzing with excitement all day -- here's a sneak peek at what we'll have going on!
- Win 12 Free Audiobooks from Libro.fm…. How? Find the Golden Ticket in our store on Independent Bookstore Day.
- Mystery Discounts and Prizes
- Kids (only) have a chance to win a Mystery to Me gift certificate by finding a Neon Green Ticket in the children’s section!
- Bookseller “Genre” Bags!
- Really cool new Bags/Backpacks designed by artist Stella Balsley!
- New Hoodies with Stella’s art!
- Wrapped books for $1.00 and $5.00
- Some cool Indie Bookstore Day giveaways and special purchases
Time: 6:00p CT
Where: Mystery to Me (seats are limited, Get Tickets)
Livestream: Crowdcast (RSVP)
About Epidemic of Nostalgia
Poached eggs, flittering sparrows, a tiny Buddha, and mysterious words coexist lusciously in this playful Epidemic of Nostalgia by Sujash Purna.
Flexible language reminds us of the magic we daily dwell in…”We knew life was going to be short” or, to a grandfather, “…you and I are the same body, just one earth away” — luminous truths rising through time blurs, rich blends of appealing images. An utterly delicious, original voice speaks here – welcome this wonder!
–Naomi Shihab Nye
About Sujash Purna
Sujash Purna is a Bangladeshi poet and photographer based in Madison, Wisconsin. A first-year PhD fellow at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, he is the author of “Biriyani” (Poet’s Haven) and "Epidemic of Nostalgia'' (Finishing Line Press). His poetry has appeared in California State Poetry Quarterly, Reed Magazine, South Carolina Review, Hawai`i Pacific Review, Kansas City Voices, Poetry Salzburg Review, Gutter, Stonecoast Review, and others. A 2022 Anaphora Residency Fellow and Moon City Review Creative Nonfiction Award Winner, Sujash is the poetry editor for Pyre Magazine. His “Azans for the Infidel” and “Simple Fantasies” are forthcoming from Mouthfeel Press’s CLASH! Books and Finishing Line Press in 2023. His photography piece “Enamored with the Unknown” is forthcoming in the Ilanot Review. Sujash and his photography can be found on Instagram @poeticnomadic
About Nisha Atalie
Nisha Atalie is a poet from the Pacific Northwest. Her poetic and scholarly work investigates the intersections of ecology, race, and colonialism. Her poems have been published in CALYX, Blood Orange Review, Poem-a-Day, and elsewhere. She is currently a doctoral student in literature at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
Time: 6:00p CT
Where: Mystery to Me (seats are limited, Get Tickets)
Livestream: Crowdcast (RSVP)
About the book
Minneapolis socialite Lilly Schmidt thought she had her life figured out... until her world came crashing down with the one-two punch of divorce papers and news of her grandparents' deaths.
Suddenly single and the new owner of her family's farm, Lilly finds herself thrust back into the old life she'd left far behind in her rural hometown of Lone Tree, Minnesota. The simple restart Lilly looks for on the farm is anything but when she is caught up in the fight between land developers hoping to bring new business and growth to the town, and the locals who want to keep their country life simple. She also, begrudgingly, must keep the peace with the farm's hired hand Ryan, who also happens to be her old high school boyfriend—and is he still nursing a grudge!
When one of the land developers is found dead on her farm, Lilly faces a mix of small-town feuds and family secrets that proves deadlier with each turn. Can Lilly figure out the killer before she "buys the farm" permanently?
About the author
Amy Gregg is the Minnesota Book Award-nominated author of Relic Chosen: Magic and Madness from North Star Press. She is also the author of Through the Woods and Next Weekend, from Lulu Publishing, and Farmed & Dangerous from Fox PointePublishing, LLP.
She began her writing journey in middle school and never thought to stop. Save for those four years while attending Concordia University, St. Paul to get her B.A. in Psychology. And that handful of years to start a family. Somewhere in there, she sleeps. When not writing she enjoys watching movies, reading, spending time with family, and spirited discussions of all things Marvel. A native Minnesotan who grew up in the suburbs of Minneapolis, this "city girl" lives with her daughter and 15lb cat west of the Twin Cities.
Time: 11:00a CT
Where: Mystery to Me (seats are limited, Get Tickets)
Livestream: Crowdcast (RSVP)
About the book
Grab your boots--it's time to explore life on a farm! In joyful verse, follow a diverse cast of farming families as they work and play in boots, all year long. Whether it's springtime puddle-splashing, riding at the summer fair, or herding sheep into the barn in winter, there's a type of boot for every kind of weather and activity.
About the author
Lisl H. Detlefsen is the author of a growing number of picture books. Her first, TIME FOR CRANBERRIES (Macmillan/Roaring Brook Press, illustrated by Jed Henry) was a Junior Library Guild selection, a 2016 Notable Social Studies Trade Book for Young People (K–2), and the 2017 Wisconsin Ag in the Classroom Book of the Year.
IF YOU HAD A JETPACK (Penguin Random House/Knopf, illustrated by Linzie Hunter) was a Spring 2018 Kids’ Indie Next pick, an ALA LITA 2019 Excellence in Children’s and Young Adult Science Fiction Notable Picture Book and listed on the 2019 Edition of the Bank Street College Best Children’s Books of the Year.
Other titles include RIGHT THIS VERY MINUTE (Feeding Minds Press, illustrated by Renée Kurilla), which was named the 2019 American Farm Bureau Foundation for Agriculture’s Book of the Year, and 1, 2, 3, JUMP!, a humorous book about swimming lessons (Macmillan/Roaring Brook Press, illustrated by Madeline Valentine).
Her most recent titles include CATKWONDO (Capstone, illustrated by Erin Hunting), in which Kitten persistently practices taekwondo, and ON THE GO AWESOME, a picture book for the vehicle-obsessed (Penguin Random House/Knopf, illustrated by Robert Neubecker) which is a Bank Street College Best Children’s Book of the Year choice for kids under five.
Lisl has more books on the way, including FARM BOOTS (March 2023, Feeding Minds Press, illustrated by Renée Kurilla), a lyrical celebration of work and play on a variety of farms throughout the four seasons, and AT THE END OF THE DAY (Spring 2024, Knopf, illustrated by Lynnor Bontigao), a free-verse story about how even in a day filled with frustration, there's always the promise of tomorrow.
Lisl lives on a family-owned cranberry marsh near Wisconsin Rapids, Wisconsin with her husband, two sons, and two cats. When not in her office or on the marsh, you can find Lisl on the web at www.lislhdbooks.com, on Twitter and Instagram @lislhd, or on Facebook @lislhdbooks. She is represented by agent Jennifer Mattson of the Andrea Brown Literary Agency.
Time: 6:00p CT
Where: Barriques on Monroe St
We will be reading The Witch and the Vampire by Francessca Flores
About the book
A queer Rapunzel retelling where witch and a vampire who trust no one but themselves must journey together through a cursed forest with danger at every turn.
Ava and Kaye used to be best friends. Until one night two years ago, vampires broke through the magical barrier protecting their town, and in the ensuing attack, Kaye’s mother was killed, and Ava was turned into a vampire. Since then, Ava has been trapped in her house. Her mother needs her: Ava still has her witch powers, and Eugenia must take them in order hide that she’s a vampire as well. Desperate to escape her confinement, Ava needs to reach the vampires that live in the forest and to stop her mother’s plans for the town. When there is another attack, she sees her opportunity and escapes.
Kaye, now at the end of her training as a Flame witch, is ready to fulfill her duty of killing any vampires that threaten the town, including Ava. On the night that Ava escapes, Kaye follows her and convinces her to travel together into the forest, while secretly planning to turn her in. Ava agrees, hoping to rekindle their old friendship, and the romantic feelings she'd started to have for Kaye before that terrible night.
But with monstrous trees that devour humans whole, vampires who attack from above, and Ava’s stepfather tracking her, the woods are full of danger. As they travel deeper into the forest, Kaye questions everything she thought she knew. The two are each other's greatest threat—and also their only hope, if they want to make it through the forest unscathed.
Time: 6:00p CT
Where: Mystery to Me (seats are limited, Get Tickets)
Livestream: Crowdcast (RSVP)
About the book
In Defense of Sovereignty tells the story of the Oneida Nation’s struggles for self-determination. Since the removal of the Oneida people from New York in the 1820s to what would become Wisconsin, the nation has been engaged in legal conflicts to retain its sovereignty and its lands. Legal scholar and former Oneida Nation senior staff attorney Rebecca M. Webster traces this history, including the nation’s treaties with the US but focusing especially on its relationship with the village of Hobart, Wisconsin. Since 2003 six disputes have led to litigation between the local government and the nation. Central to these disputes are Hobart’s attempts to regulate the nation and relegate its government to the position of a common landowner, subject to municipal authority.
As in so many conflicts between Indigenous nations and local municipalities, the media narrative about the Oneida Nation’s battle for sovereignty has been dominated by the local government’s standpoint. In Defense of Sovereignty offers another perspective, that of a citizen directly involved in the litigation, augmented by contributions from historians, attorneys, and a retired nation employee. It makes an important contribution to public debates about the inherent right of Indigenous nations to continue to exist and exercise self-governance within their territories without being challenged at every turn.
About Rebecca M. Webster
Rebecca M. Webster, an assistant professor in the American Indian studies department at the University of Minnesota, Duluth, is a former senior staff attorney for the Oneida Nation. She is the coeditor of Tribal Administration and Governance Handbook, and her articles can be found in American Indian Quarterly, Planning Theory and Practice, Wisconsin Lawyer, Ethnohistory, and the Journal of American Indian Education.
About Richard Monette
Richard Monette was twice elected to serve as Chairman and CEO of Turtle Mountain Chippewa Tribe. Richard is Professor of Law at the University of Wisconsin - Madison where he teaches Federal Indian Law, Conflict of Laws, State Constitutional Law, and Water Quantity Law. For thirty years Richard has served as the Faculty Director of the Great Lakes Indigenous Law Center. At the start of his career, Richard served as Staff Attorney for the United States Senate Committee on Indian Affairs under the leadership of Senators Dan Inouye (D-HI), John McCain (R-AZ), and Dan Evans (R-AZ).
Time: 6:00p CT
Where: Mystery to Me (seats are limited, Get Tickets)
Livestream: Crowdcast (RSVP)
About My People Redux
In My People Redux, Angela Trudell Vasquez creates in vivid images and musical language a world where children “cycle, talk, sing—” run, dangle from tree limbs, hunt, peer, trample, and search. In their joyful activity they realize, “This is where my power / started flowing.” It is not a trouble-free world. Children played in the DDT- laced cornfields; refugees are turned away at the border. Sometimes a person “crawls to the finish line.” But it is also a world where “Everybody is somebody’s child” and there are people “who will throw open their doors/ and let them in, let them in.” It is also a world where “pen can tap into my brain, // reveal what is hiding, // not to court friends or foes, // but to keep from disappearing. In these compelling poems, Vasquez welcomes us to recover with her what the great grandfather knew, “the original place of green grace.” –Margaret Rozga, author of Holding My Selves Together, New & Selected Poems and 2019-2020 Wisconsin Poet Laureate
About Angela Vasquez
Angela (Angie) Trudell Vasquez is a poet, writer, editor, publisher, and activist. She is the current City of Madison Poet Laureate (2020-2024) and the first Latina to hold the position. Angie received her MFA in poetry from the Institute of American Indian Arts in 2017. Recently, her poems have appeared in The Slow Down, Yellow Medicine Review, Poem-a-Day, About Place Journal and in several anthologies.She has poems on the Poetry Foundation’s website, and was a Ruth Lilly Fellow while at Drake University. In 2018 she was a finalist for the New Women’s Voices series and her book, In Light, Always Light, her third collection of poetry, was published by Finishing Line Press in May 2019. She guest edited the Spring 2019 edition of the Yellow Medicine Review with Millissa Kingbird, and co-edited a collection of poetry with Margaret Rozga, then 2019-2020 Wisconsin Poet Laureate, entitled Through This Door, that was released in late 2020 through her small press Art Night Books. Finishing Line Press published her fourth collection of poetry, My People Redux, in January 2022. Active nationally too, she has read poems, been a panelist, and presented at Split This Rock and AWP. In the summer of 2021 she became a Macondo Fellow or a Macondista. Current Chair of the Wisconsin Poet Laureate Commission, she helps select the state poet laureate. (angietrudellvasquez.com & artnightbooks.com)
About Holding My Selves Together
In Holding My Selves Together: New and Selected Poems, her fifth volume of poetry, Margaret Rozga brings together some of her best-loved poems about Milwaukee's fair housing marches and her concern for issues of peace and social justice, with new poems that identify with Alice in Wonderland and imagine new Alice adventures. New poems also grapple with issues of recent political turmoil and pandemic-induced uncertainty. These deeply written poems find in language the glue that may hold our selves together.
About Margaret Rozga
Wisconsin Poet Laureate Dr. Margaret Rozga is an emeritus professor of English at the University of Wisconsin Milwaukee at Waukesha. Her poems and essays reflect her ongoing concern for social justice issues. Her first book, 200 Nights and One Day presents the story of Milwaukee’s open housing marches. She was a participant in those marches and has coordinated events commemorating their 20th, 40th and 50th anniversaries. She married civil rights leader Father James Groppi in 1976. Their three children, now all adults, continue to live in Wisconsin.
Rozga has published four additional collections of poems, most recently Holding My Selves Together: New & Selected Poems(Cornerstone Press 2021). As Wisconsin Poet Laureate for 2019-2020, Rozga and Madison Poet Laureate Angie Trudell Vasquez co-edited a poetry anthology, Through This Door: Wisconsin in Poems. This anthology includes work by the nine Wisconsin Poets Laureate and the wonderfully diverse voices of Black, Latinx and white poets from throughout the state.
Rozga’s current work-in-progress is Restoring Prairie, a volume of poems inspired by her 2021 term as Artist in Residence at the UWM at Waukesha Field Station.
Time: 11:00a CT
Where: Mystery to Me (seats are limited, Get Tickets)
Livestream: Crowdcast (RSVP)
About the book
This epic poem tells the legendary tale of Steve "Stick" Vizage, a young boy who loves to express himself—and not always pleasantly—by making faces. Stick learns about the consequences when he comes face to face with his babysitter, the imposing Madame Mugg, who warns him that his facial features could freeze in place, given a certain situation. Adventure ensues as she decides to teach him an important lesson about manners, mannerisms, and treating others with respect. Come along for the ride of a lifetime with The Isle of Stuck Faces, a book for kids and adults of all ages with maturity issues.
About the author
Brooke Saucier has been molding and twisting the English language to suit his needs—prose, poetry, puns, Dad jokes—for most of his life. Born and raised in Memphis, Brooke ventured north for his education at the University of Illinois, where he acquired his first of many winter coats. He has been cold ever since, with a three-decade stop in Chicago and Evanston as a precursor to his settling with his wife, cat, and two dogs in Madison, Wisconsin, where he found a closet large enough for his collection of coats and jackets, which are suited for many climes. Over the years, Brooke has held many titles—banker, membership director, distiller, brand ambassador, preschool teacher, property manager—but his absolute favorite is used only by his amazing daughter, Julia: Dad
Time: 6:00p CT
Where: Mystery to Me (seats are limited, Get Tickets)
Livestream: Crowdcast (RSVP)
About the book
Detective Susan Ford notices a missed call on her phone from a number she doesn't recognize, and when Madison García, a woman with past ties to the town of Monticello, New York, is found stabbed to death the next morning, Susan realizes that Madison was the one who had called her. But why?
Susan teams up with her father, retired Detective Will Ford, to find the killer, and their investigation soon threatens to uncover the García family's secrets—an inheritance, accidental death, money laundering, extramarital affairs, and family rivalries, just to name a few—and they don't appreciate the Fords digging into their business.
As the investigation twists and turns, the Fords discover that Madison was planning to confess to a long-kept secret, but someone brutally silenced her. Everyone she knew is a suspect. Anyone could be her killer.
About Marcy McCreary
Marcy McCreary is the author of The Disappearance of Trudy Solomon, a Killer Nashville Silver Falchion 2022 Finalist in Best Investigative category. After graduating from George Washington University with a B.A. in American literature and political science, she pursued a career in the marketing field, holding executive positions in marketing communications and sales at various magazine publishing companies and content marketing agencies. She has two daughters and two stepdaughters who live in Brooklyn, NY, Nashville, TN, Madison WI, Seattle, WA. She lives in Hull, MA with her husband, Lew, and black lab, Chloe.
About Nick Chiarkas
Nick Chiarkas grew up in the Al Smith housing projects in the Two Bridges neighborhood on Manhattan’s Lower East Side. Nick became a writer, with a few stops along the way: a U.S. Army Paratrooper (101st Airborne Division); a New York City Police Officer; the Deputy Chief Counsel for the U.S. Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations; the Deputy Chief Counsel and Research Director for the President’s Commission on Organized Crime; and the Director of the Wisconsin State Public Defender Agency. On the way he picked up a Doctorate from Columbia University; a Law Degree from Temple University; and was a Pickett Fellow at Harvard.
Time: 6:00p CT
Where: Mystery to Me (seats are limited, Get Tickets)
Livestream: Crowdcast (RSVP)
About the book
THE DEVIL’S ELEMENT: PHOSPHORUS AND A WORLD OUT OF BALANCE is an insightful exploration of one of earth’s most significant and dangerous natural resources. Since it was first refined from human urine in a seventeenth-century alchemist’s laboratory, phosphorus has been used to help burn down entire cities as well as to create the modern chemical fertilizers that have allowed the global population to nearly quadruple in the past hundred years. With a journalist’s ability to translate meticulous research into a thrilling story, Egan brings phosphorus’s checkered history to life. Today, with phosphorus at the center of an increasingly dire environmental disaster poisoning freshwater sources all over the globe, its history has taken on renewed significance. Egan convincingly makes the case that we can no longer afford to be ignorant of our phosphorous use and the damage it is causing.
About the author
Dan Egan is the Brico Fund Journalist in Residence at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee’s Center for Water Policy, a two-time Pulitzer Prize finalist, and the author of the New York Times bestseller The Death and Life of The Great Lakes. From 2002 to 2021, he covered the Great Lakes as a reporter at the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. He is the winner of the Los Angeles Times Book Prize; National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine Communication Award; Alfred I. duPont–Columbia University Award; AAAS Kavli Science Journalism Award; and J. Anthony Lukas Work-in-Progress Award. Dan lives in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, with his wife and children.
Time: 11:00a CT
Where: Mystery to Me (seats are limited, Get Tickets)
Livestream: Crowdcast (RSVP)
About the book
There are big things and little things in the world, and everything in between. Caldecott Medal winner and #1 New York Times bestseller Kevin Henkes encourages young readers to be curious about the world around them in this timeless, beautifully illustrated, and masterful picture book. The World and Everything in It belongs in every child’s library, and illuminates key social and emotional concepts such as belonging, self-awareness, and community.
In the world, there are little animals, tiny flowers, and things so small you can’t see them. In the world, there are giant waves, a large sun, and things so big you can’t wrap your hands around them. There are big things and little things in the world. And everything in between—including you!
A masterful picture book from Caldecott Medal winner and #1 New York Times bestseller Kevin Henkes, The World and Everything in It explores concepts such as curiosity, self-awareness, belonging, and size. Combining a precise, evocative, and lovely text with exquisite illustrations, Kevin Henkes deftly captures the wonders and mysteries of the world for any reader just beginning to wonder about how they fit in.
A brilliant picture book to spend time with, discuss, and think about, The World and Everything in It is an excellent choice for social and emotional development as well as a lovely book to give to readers of any age.
About the author
“I’ve been writing and illustrating children’s books for thirty years. It’s the only real job I’ve ever had.
When my work is going well, it’s transformative. I feel as if I’ve been removed from ordinary time and am living in some parallel universe, a world of grace and wonder.
Books are often the first exposure to art that children have. Keeping that in mind urges me to make the very best books possible. I know how important the books from my childhood were (and are) to me. Without them, I might not be a writer and artist today.
Sometimes I’ll hear from a parent about how a book of mine has insinuated itself into the heart of his or her child, or how a phrase from one of my books has become part of the family’s daily jargon. I love that. But most of all, I love sitting alone in a quiet room drawing and painting and writing. I love my job.”
Time: 6:00p CT
Where: Mystery to Me (seats are limited, Get Tickets)
Livestream: Crowdcast (RSVP)
About the book
When my eyes creaked open and tried to find focus, I didn’t know where I was. The room was dim, my wrists were tied to the bed rail, and the dull ache of a needle in my hand throbbed through the fog. Motionless and silent, I lay staring at the ceiling until everything started coming back to me—the hallucinations, my teeth were melting, the menacing trolls teetering around the bedroom; uncontrollable shaking while my wife, Robin, helped me take a shower; and the catatonic ride to the emergency department of Meriter Hospital. After being ushered into an exam room, my memory was a void until this silent, dim awakening moment.
Alcohol withdrawal can kill you, and I would have been a statistic had I not made it to the ER. I drank almost every day for nearly two decades and an obscene amount for a few years leading to this point. This is my story. Now twenty-nine years sober, I’m one of the lucky ones who lived to fight another day. Join me as I chronicle my journey through coming of age, rock and roll debauchery, a downward spiral into the depths of substance abuse, and then like a phoenix rising out of the ashes, the joy and accomplishments in my ongoing recovery.
If I can help encourage just one of those among you who are struggling or someone you love to see that it’s possible to make the change, to find your way out of that rabbit hole of alcoholism, and feel how beautiful life can be above ground, it will all have been worth it.
About the author
Michael Massey is a composer, singer, songwriter, pianist, performer and producer who has a story to tell. He has written or collaborated on over 350 rock, pop, country and instrumental songs as well as the score for the full length, Dracula, Rock Ballet. He has 5 critically acclaimed solo albums including Pop Album of the year 2006 and Unique Albums of the Year 2014 and 2018 at the Madison Area Music Awards. Michael has also won Instrumentalist; Piano at the same awards 2009, 2019 and 2020 as well as numerous ADDY, TELLY and WAVE awards for excellence in original music for advertising.
Musical accomplishments include five solo albums released to critical and popular acclaim. The first is an instrumental piano album, “Be Careful How You Say Pianist”, second, twelve fully produced pop songs in “Attack of the Delicious”, which won Pop Album of the Year 2006 at the Madison Area Music Awards, third, “The Present” which is piano arrangements of traditional Christmas pieces, fourth, the soundtrack to Dracula, A Rock Ballet, recorded live with a 7 piece band at the Overture Center in Madison Wisconsin and garnered Unique Album of the Year honors at the 2014 MAMA’s and most recently, “Naked”, 13 songs stripped to minimal production and the Unique Album of the Year winner at the 2018 MAMA’s.
Three other records, “Rainy River,” a five song EP by Massey, Ripp and Magellan, “Gifted At The Hula” by Americana band, “stop the clock,” the ten song 2019 release by rock band “Chaser” find Michael intimately involved with production, writing and performing.
Michael has recently published a memoir with an emphasis on recovery from alcoholism and life beyond substance abuse. He is performing with chanteuse Francie Phelps, with the dueling piano show, Piano Fondue, solo piano bar and vocals and keys with the rock band Chaser.
While maintaining a busy performance schedule, Michael is also known for his ability to write in virtually any musical genre including scoring, post, long form, theater, radio spots and television commercials. Clients for radio and television commercials include New Balance, Oscar Mayer, United Way, Jones Dairy Farm, Metra Chicago, Badgerland Financial, Summit Credit Union, Mercury Marine, UW Hospital and Clinics, Culver’s and many more.
Other accomplishments include original scores for short films, a score produced with Jack Letourneau for the computer animated feature, “Time, Space” for the Adler Planetarium in Chicago and a score for the University of Michigan Alumni, broadcast at the “Big House” in Ann Arbor. Michael is currently co-writing a sexy musical theatrical production with actor, writer, producer/director Suzan Kurry.
Time: 6:00p CT
Where: Mystery to Me (seats are limited, Get Tickets)
Livestream: Crowdcast (RSVP)
Join us for an evening with Bent Paddle Press Poets!
About B.J. Best
B.J. Best is a poet, writer, interactive fiction creator, game designer, artist, and musician. He has published seven collections of poetry, most recently “Everything about Breathing” from Bent Paddle Press. He teaches at Carroll University in Waukesha.
About In Everything about Breathing
In Everything about Breathing, B.J. Best transmutes the quotidian into the extraordinary through the lens of everyday weather. Here, thunderstorms record in the studio, gas stations explode into love, and lawn mowers and puddles might whisper prayers. Through deft imagery and figurative language, Best asks how holiness thrums beneath the daily cycles of our lives.
About Thomas Erickson
Thomas J. Erickson grew up in Kohler, Wisconsin. He received a B.A. in English Composition from Beloit College and a law degree from Marquette University. He is an attorney in Milwaukee where he is a member of the Hartford Avenue Poets. HIs most recent book of poetry is “Cutting the Dusk in Half” (Bent Paddle Press, 2022).
About Cutting the Dusk in Half
“Cutting the Dusk in Half” is full of crisp little stories: courtroom stories, travelling stories, love stories, dog stories and even an incantation to the Gods. One is called “True Stories,” but I suspect they all are that (with room for a little poetic truth stretching, of course). Erickson is candid, philosophical and down-to-earth. He weaves his signature dry humor throughout, knowing exactly how to end a poem with a perfect punch.
About Mark Kraushaar
Mark Kraushaar’s work has been included in Best American Poetry, Ploughshares, and Yale Reviewwas well as the web site Poetry Dailyand Ted Kooser’s American Life in Poetry, and has been a recipient of Poetry Northwest’s Richard Hugo Award. A full-length collection “Falling Brick Kills Local Man” was published by University of Wisconsin Press as the winner of the 2009 Felix Pollak Prize. His collection, “The Uncertainty Principle” (Waywiser Press), was chosen by James Fenton as winner of the Anthony Hecht Prize. His newest work is “The Ring Toss Lady Breaks a Five (Bent Paddle Press).
About The Ring Toss Lady Breaks a Five
As the poet Alan Shapiro put it, Kraushaar’s work “is the best counterargument to the specious claim that narrative poetry is either old fashioned, ‘linear’ or predictably ‘conventional.’ His poems have all the excitement and complexity of life as we live it now, together with a depth of speculation that is positively stunning in the light it casts on the intimate nooks and crannies of social experience that all of encounter but either fail to notice or find words for.”
About Richard Merelman
Richard Merelman is Professor of Political Science, (Emeritus) University of Wisconsin, Madison. He has published four volumes of poetry including “Sensorium” (Bent Paddle Press) and “A Door Opens” (Fireweed, 2020), which received an Outstanding Achievement Award in 2021 from the Wisconsin Library Association.
About Sensorium
In “Sensorium,” Merelman finds a way into the human condition with storied, deeply layered poetry. Merelman cares about his poems the way an expert woodsmith does his cabinets. He is an adept wordsmith and exquisite craftsman and polishes his works till they shine.
March
Time: 6:00p
Where: Mystery to Me (seats are limited, Get Tickets)
Livestream: Crowdcast (RSVP)
About the book
Alabama governor George Wallace ran for president four times between 1964 and 1976. In the Badger State, his campaigns fueled a debate over constitutional principles and values. Wallace weaponized states’ rights, arguing that the federal government should stay out of school segregation, promote law and order, restrict forced busing and reduce burdensome taxation. White working-class Wisconsinites armed themselves with Wallace’s rhetoric, pushing back on changes that threatened the status quo. Civil rights activists and the Black community in Wisconsin armed themselves with a different constitutional principle, equal protection, to push for strong federal protection of their civil rights. This clash of ideals nearly became literal as protests and counterprotests erupted until gradually diminishing as Wallace’s political fortunes waned. Historian Ben Hubing reveals the tensions that embroiled Wisconsinites as Wallace took his struggle north of the Mason-Dixon line.
About the author
Historian Ben Hubing, a high school educator and educational consultant, has been the recipient of a number of awards, including the James Madison Foundation Fellowship and the Herb Kohl Teaching Fellowship. He earned his bachelor's degree from the University of Wisconsin–Madison and a master's in teaching from Cardinal Stritch University. He also earned a master's in history at University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee, with a focus on intersections of civil rights, politics and constitutional history. Hubing lives in Shorewood, Wisconsin, with his wife, Nickie, and their three children.
Time: 6:00p CT
Where: Mystery to Me (seats are limited, Get Tickets)
Livestream: Crowdcast (RSVP)
About the book
Everyone learns to accept life’s twists and turns as they live out the daily rituals of their lives. But what happens when an event completely alters one’s understanding of everything about the world in which they live, including who they are? Forbidden Roots brings the audience into the author’s inner most thoughts as he sees his foundation swept away with a simple slip of the tongue at the age of 41 while attending a large family gathering with his children and wife. This gripping true story about suddenly being unexpectedly thrust into the world of adoption explores the expected and the unexpected as the author seeks to understand his new identity and re-frame his past.
Things like this aren’t supposed to happen, but they do. From being dealt with the unexpected to dealing out the unexpected, ride along with the author on his journey of twists, turns and bomb shells.
About the author
Fred Nicora has followed a path of unexplained restlessness ignited by undisclosed triggers in his efforts to find the right fit for his own identity and seek truth in his life. Careers explored on his journey include health care administration, architecture, business consulting, teaching, and his own entrepreneurial endeavors including a startup fitness-based company and now authoring his story of being thrust into the adoption triangle.
Fred holds a B.S. in Business Administration, an M.S. in Management Technology, a master’s in architecture and a secondary lifetime Teaching license via a master’s program. Following a traumatic life altering event, Fred struggled with drug and alcohol addiction, eventually finding sobriety and his need for spiritual, mental, and physical health.
A father of three grown children, Fred currently lives and maintains a small hobby farm in Southeastern Wisconsin.
*Due to winter weather, Storytime with Lisl Detlefen has been rescheduled to Saturday, April 22 at 11:00 AM*
Time: 11:00a CT
Where: Mystery to Me (seats are limited, Get Tickets)
Livestream: Crowdcast (RSVP)
About the book
Grab your boots--it's time to explore life on a farm! In joyful verse, follow a diverse cast of farming families as they work and play in boots, all year long. Whether it's springtime puddle-splashing, riding at the summer fair, or herding sheep into the barn in winter, there's a type of boot for every kind of weather and activity.
About the author
Lisl H. Detlefsen is the author of a growing number of picture books. Her first, TIME FOR CRANBERRIES (Macmillan/Roaring Brook Press, illustrated by Jed Henry) was a Junior Library Guild selection, a 2016 Notable Social Studies Trade Book for Young People (K–2), and the 2017 Wisconsin Ag in the Classroom Book of the Year.
IF YOU HAD A JETPACK (Penguin Random House/Knopf, illustrated by Linzie Hunter) was a Spring 2018 Kids’ Indie Next pick, an ALA LITA 2019 Excellence in Children’s and Young Adult Science Fiction Notable Picture Book and listed on the 2019 Edition of the Bank Street College Best Children’s Books of the Year.
Other titles include RIGHT THIS VERY MINUTE (Feeding Minds Press, illustrated by Renée Kurilla), which was named the 2019 American Farm Bureau Foundation for Agriculture’s Book of the Year, and 1, 2, 3, JUMP!, a humorous book about swimming lessons (Macmillan/Roaring Brook Press, illustrated by Madeline Valentine).
Her most recent titles include CATKWONDO (Capstone, illustrated by Erin Hunting), in which Kitten persistently practices taekwondo, and ON THE GO AWESOME, a picture book for the vehicle-obsessed (Penguin Random House/Knopf, illustrated by Robert Neubecker) which is a Bank Street College Best Children’s Book of the Year choice for kids under five.
Lisl has more books on the way, including FARM BOOTS (March 2023, Feeding Minds Press, illustrated by Renée Kurilla), a lyrical celebration of work and play on a variety of farms throughout the four seasons, and AT THE END OF THE DAY (Spring 2024, Knopf, illustrated by Lynnor Bontigao), a free-verse story about how even in a day filled with frustration, there's always the promise of tomorrow.
Lisl lives on a family-owned cranberry marsh near Wisconsin Rapids, Wisconsin with her husband, two sons, and two cats. When not in her office or on the marsh, you can find Lisl on the web at www.lislhdbooks.com, on Twitter and Instagram @lislhd, or on Facebook @lislhdbooks. She is represented by agent Jennifer Mattson of the Andrea Brown Literary Agency.
Time: 6:00p CT
Where: Mystery to Me (seats are limited, Get Tickets)
Livestream: Crowdcast (RSVP)
About Tripping the Light Ekphrastic and Other Inspirations
Poet Ronnie Hess is also an accomplished ballroom dancer, art connoisseur, journalist, and cook, so it makes sense that her chapbook springing from the visual arts in our lives should be titled Tripping the Light Ekphrastic and Other Inspirations. Emerging from these poems crafted in a variety of forms is a trenchant commentary on our culture and history. Expect to meet a knowledgeable mind, warm heart, inventive imagination, and an expressive twist!
-Robin Chapman, author of The Only Home We Know and Panic Season
About Ronnie Hess
Ronnie Hess is a poet, essayist, editor, award-winning journalist, and the author of five poetry chapbooks and two culinary travel guides (on France and Portugal, Ginkgo Press). Born and raised in New York City, she now lives in Madison, WI. She has served on the Boards of the Wisconsin Poet Laureate Commission, the Wisconsin Fellowship of Poets, and The Friends of Lorine Niedecker. For more information, visit www.ronniehess.com.
About Outside the Frame
Outside the Frame, a new and selected collection of Marilyn Taylor's accomplished, witty, and poignant poems, offers readers a wild ride through life in Aunt Eudora's Harlequin romances, crickets' chorales, Shostakovich's 5th Symphony, the demands of aging, and even a notice from the Sweet Chariot Funeral Parlor. Her voice is so upbeat that we almost forget she's talking about how short our time is here, and her verbal high jinks are so much fun we nearly fail to notice the formidable formal skill at play in her villanelles, sestinas, rondeaus, and signature crowns of sonnets. Read it twice—once for her company through life, once just to marvel at her maker's skill!
—Robin Chapman, author of The Only Home We Know
About Marilyn L Taylor
Marilyn Taylor is the former Poet Laureate of the state of Wisconsin (2009-2010) and the city of Milwaukee (2004-2005).
Marilyn was raised in Whitefish Bay, went to West High School in Madison, but lived for 40 years in Milwaukee, where she taught poetry for the English Department and the Honors College at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. Following the death of her husband Allen in 2012, she moved to Madison, where she continue to write, teach, and spend time hobnobbing with some of the extraordinary poets who also call Wisconsin home. She lives with her poet-husband Dave Scheler, and is also fortunate enough to have a brilliant son (Reed), an equally brilliant daughter-in-law (Jessica), and two splendid grandsons: Max, age 7, and Finn, 4.
Time: 6:30p CT
Where: Mystery to Me (seats are limited, Get Tickets)
Livestream: Crowdcast (RSVP)
About the book
A compelling narrative of the trials and triumphs of tennis champion Althea Gibson, a key figure in the integration of American sports and, for a time, one of the most famous women in the world.
From her start playing paddle tennis on the streets of Harlem as a young teenager to her twelve Grand Slam tennis wins to her professional golf career, Althea Gibson became the most famous black sportswoman of the mid-twentieth century. In her unprecedented athletic career, she was the first African American to win titles at the French Open, Wimbledon, and the US Open. In this comprehensive biography, Ashley Brown narrates the public career and private struggles of Althea Gibson (1927-2003). Based on extensive archival work and oral histories, Serving Herself sets Gibson's life and choices against the backdrop of the Great Migration, Jim Crow racism, the integration of American sports, the civil rights movement, the Cold War, and second wave feminism. Throughout her life Gibson continuously negotiated the expectations of her supporters and adversaries, including her patrons in the black-led American Tennis Association, the white-led United States Lawn Tennis Association, and the media, particularly the Black press and community's expectations that she selflessly serve as a representative of her race.
A riveting life and times portrait, Serving Herself offers a revealing look at the rise and fall of a fiercely independent trailblazer who satisfied her own needs and simultaneously set a pathbreaking course for Black athletes.
About the author
Ashley Brown is the Allan H. Selig Chair in the History of Sport and Society and Assistant Professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. She is an expert on sport history, women’s history, and African American history.
Time: 2:00 pm
Where: Lenz Auditorium, 120 Oak Street, Pardeeville, WI, USA (Get Tickets)
Livestream: Crowdcast (RSVP)
About the book
What do you do when the person you love best becomes unrecognizable to you? For Thea Demetriou, the answer is both simple and agonizing: you keep loving him somehow.
Stefan was just seventeen when he went to prison for the drug-fueled murder of his girlfriend, Belinda. Three years later, he’s released to a world that refuses to let him move on. Belinda’s mother, once Thea’s good friend, galvanizes the community to rally against him to protest in her daughter’s memory. The media paints Stefan as a symbol of white privilege and indifferent justice. Neighbors, employers, even some members of Thea's own family turn away.
Meanwhile Thea struggles to understand her son. At times, he is still the sweet boy he has always been; at others, he is a young man tormented by guilt and almost broken by his time in prison. But as his efforts to make amends meet escalating resistance and threats, Thea suspects more forces are at play than just community outrage. And if there is so much she never knew about her own son, what other secrets has she yet to uncover—especially about the night Belinda died?
About the author
Jacquelyn Mitchard is the New York Times bestselling author of 22 novels for adults and teenagers, and the recipient of Great Britain’s Talkabout prize, The Bram Stoker and Shirley Jackson awards, and named to the short list for the Women’s Prize for Fiction. Her first novel, The Deep End of the Ocean, was the inaugural selection of the Oprah Winfrey Book Club, with more than 3 million copies in print in 34 languages. It was later adapted into a major feature film starring Michelle Pfeiffer. Her novel Still Summer has also been adapted for a film still in production. She has also an essay collection, The Rest of Us: Dispatches from the Mother Ship, drawn from her newspaper column syndicated by Tribune Media. Mitchard’s essays also have been published in magazines worldwide, widely anthologized, and incorporated into school curricula. She served on the Fiction jury for the 2003 National Book Awards, and was editor-in-chief of Merit Press, a Young Adult imprint under the aegis of Simon and Schuster.
A Chicago native, Mitchard grew up the daughter of a plumber and a hardware store clerk who met as rodeo riders. She is a Distinguished Fellow at the Ragdale Foundation and a DeWitt Clinton Readers Digest Fellow at the Macdowell Colony. She has taught in MFA program for Creative Writing at Vermont College of Fine Arts, Miami University of Ohio and Western New England University and was speechwriter for Secretary of Health and Human Services Donna E. Shalala during the first days of the Clinton administration and at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. An avid Italian cook, she lives on Cape Cod with her husband and their nine children. Her newest novel, The Good Son, a story about two women, one whose son was convicted of murdering the other’s daughter, is out from Mira/HarperCollins.
Time: 6:00p CT
Where: Barriques on Monroe St
We will be reading The Other Merlin by Robyn Schneider!
About the book
Channeling the modern humor of The Gentleman’s Guide to Vice and Virtue, bestselling author Robyn Schneider creates a Camelot that becomes the ultimate teen rom-com hotspot in this ultra-fresh take on the Arthurian legend.
Welcome to the great kingdom of Camelot! Prince Arthur’s a depressed botanist who would rather marry a library than a princess, Lancelot’s been demoted to castle guard after a terrible lie, and Emry Merlin has arrived at the castle disguised as her twin brother since girls can’t practice magic.
Life at court is full of scandals, lies, and backstabbing courtiers, so what’s a casually bisexual teen wizard masquerading as a boy to do? Other than fall for the handsome prince, stir up trouble with the foppish Lord Gawain, and offend the prissy Princess Guinevere.
When the truth comes out with disastrous consequences, Emry has to decide whether she'll risk everything for the boy she loves, or give up her potential to become the greatest wizard Camelot has ever known.
Time: 6:00p CT
Where: Mystery to Me (seats are limited, Get Tickets)
Livestream: Crowdcast (RSVP)
About the book
In this no-holds-barred, provocative book, Terri Laxton Brooks tells a story that often remains hidden— that of a successful professional who has many friends and family and yet all her life has struggled with a loneliness she’s never revealed to anyone.
Terri thinks her feelings of isolation will end with her marriage to her childhood sweetheart and their move from a farm town to the city of Chicago. But once the sheen of newlywed passion wears off, her husband, by nature reticent, grows even more emotionally distant. In her new job as a reporter for a Chicago paper, Terri hides her loneliness under a flurry of bylines and deadlines. But she can’t shake a feeling she’s had since childhood—of failure to connect, not just as a wife but also as a daughter, friend, and colleague—and soon she and her husband separate. Adrift, Terri contemplates suicide. Could a move to different city, to a fresh start, solve her problem?
Terri’s decision to transplant herself to New York City forces her hand in a way she never imagined: it plunges her into a loneliness so total that out of desperation she grabs the key to her own salvation— ; love of interviewing, researching, hearing people’s stories. After starting therapy, her curiosity leads her into four years of soul-searching conversations with America’s leading psychologists and psychiatrists about how to cope with loneliness, why it is a normal and necessary stage of healthy growth, and how to stop resisting it. She explores with growing understanding intimate details of her dreams, her past traumas, and her role in her own loneliness—and learns not only how to live comfortably with that loneliness but how to use it to her advantage.
About the author
Terri Laxton Brooks was born in Reedsburg, Wisconsin, at that time a one-square-mile town surrounded by cornfields. She majored in journalism at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and spent her Junior Year Abroad at the Université d’Aix-en-Provence. Terri wrote for the Chicago Tribune and The New York Times and is a founding member of the National Writers Union. She was a professor at the Department of Journalism at NYU where she also became department chair and was the dean of the college of communications at Penn State. Of all that she is grateful for, her most treasured is her son, who continues to make her a kinder, better person. She currently resides in Madison, Wisconsin.
Time: 6:00p CT
Where: Mystery to Me (seats are limited, Get Tickets)
Livestream: Crowdcast (RSVP)
About the book
An estranged family preparing for the annual Wisconsin gun deer hunt carries on completely unaware of how their lives were about to change forever. Motivated by greed and jealousy, eldest brother Mason Owens hatches a nefarious plan. He nearly thought of everything except the intrusion of an unknown hunter with stark raving blue eyes. When the dust settles, an historic scene sends shockwaves across the country and provides fuel for campfire stories for generations to come.
Justice, as fleeting as the search for one’s own self and twice as hard to attain. The hunter with blue eyes embarks on such a journey while punishing those he deems unworthy to enjoy the gifts of the wild. His path of discovery eventually takes him to the hidden backwoods home of Darlene Hatchka, high in the boreal forest of Northeast Minnesota. Strangely she knows who he is, and why he came to find her.
Game Warden Ross Parent, playing a hunch, determined to serve said justice becomes a wedge of unwitting cheese in a deadly game of wilderness cat and mouse. The terrorizing chain of events that follows pits Ross alone against The Hunter, a mastermind unfettered by the elements, darkness or fear. What they find in themselves lives in all men, but only dies in most.
About the author
Daniel Rehm became a full-time writer after a long career in the paint and industrial coatings industry. Dan wrote Let Flowers Be Flowers between 2008 and 2011 and launched Rudbeckia Productions, LLC in 2020 to publish his work.
Dan’s writing includes various landscapes he knows very well – from the coulee area of western Wisconsin to the boreal forest of the Boundary Waters Canoe Area. He has enjoyed writing Let Flowers Be Flowers because he was able to explore both character development and bring to life the various relationships among men and their families. In addition, explore the sociopathic nature of a killer – what motivates a killer, what haunts a killer, and what purpose that killer believes he has in his life.
Dan lives in North Branch, MN with his wife and four children.
We will be reading The Sentence by Louise Erdrich!
About the book
In this stunning novel, Louise Erdrich creates a wickedly funny ghost story: a tale of passion, of a complex marriage, and of a woman’s relentless errors.
The Sentence asks what we owe to the living, to the dead, to the reader, and to the book. A small independent bookstore in Minneapolis is haunted from November 2019 to November 2020 by the store’s most annoying customer. Flora dies on All Souls’ Day, but she simply won’t leave the store. Tookie, who has landed a job selling books after years of incarceration that she survived by reading “with murderous attention,” must solve the mystery of this haunting while at the same time trying to understand all that occurs in Minneapolis during a year of grief, astonishment, isolation, and furious reckoning.
The Sentence begins on All Souls’ Day 2019 and ends on All Souls’ Day 2020. Its mystery and proliferating ghost stories during this one year propel a narrative as rich, emotional, and profound as anything Louise Erdrich has written.
5:00-7:00p
The book doctor is IN!
Stop in a get a taste of what it’s like to be one of our book subscription recipients. Get a personalized book recommendation based off your favorite books, authors, movies, vibes, anything!
Time: 7:00p CT
Where: Livestreaming on Crowdcast (RSVP)
About the Panel
Same focus, different results. Four mystery authors writing novels with antique dealers as their main characters discuss subgenres and voice: what makes us different and why it’s important not to compare yourself to other authors.
CORDY ABBOTT
Proud baby boomer and dog mom Cordy Abbott is the author of the Old Town Antiques Mystery series. She, her husband, and their Standard Schnauzer have lived in Alexandria, Virginia, for over two decades. Because she enjoys everything about the city, she can’t wait to share it with readers, even a fictionalized version. When not writing, Cordy enjoys characteristic baby-boomer pursuits: golf, traveling, and volunteering for good causes, like the American Association of University Women of Alexandria and the Delaware River and Bay Lighthouse Foundation. She has a post-graduate certificate in Antiquities Theft and Art Crime. Fans can find her at www.CordyAbbott.com.
DEAD MEN DON’T DECORATE is the first in a new series.
Roberto Fratelli, proprietor of the antiques store Waited4You, is the meanest man in Marthasville, Virginia. So when he puts the business up for sale, the other merchants in town are overjoyed. And now the business has a prospective buyer: local resident and the newly elected mayor's mom, Camille Benson, who’s thrilled at the prospect of getting into the antiques business. During a celebration in honor of Camille’s new venture, her best friend, Opal, tells her about finding a letter, purportedly from Sally Fairfax to George Washington, dated 1756, hidden under a chair in the shop. When they return to retrieve the cache, they find Roberto’s lifeless body on the floor and no letter. If she doesn’t find the killer, she could lose everything, but if she does find him, she could become history.
CONNIE BERRY
Connie Berry writes the award-winning and best-selling Kate Hamilton Mystery series, set in the UK and featuring an American antiques dealer with a gift for solving crimes. Connie was raised by antiques dealers who instilled in her a passion for history, fine art, and travel. During college she attended St. Clare’s, Oxford, where she fell under the spell of the British Isles. Besides reading and writing mysteries, Connie loves foreign travel, cute animals, and all things British. She is a member of Sisters in Crime, Mystery Writers of America and The Crime Writers’ Association UK. She lives in Ohio with her husband and adorable dog, Emmie. You can find her at www.connieberry.com.
THE SHADOW OF MEMORY is the fourth in the Kate Hamilton series.
As Kate Hamilton contemplates her future with DI Tom Mallory, she is also helping her colleague Ivor Tweedy organize an auction in a village on the Suffolk coast. Netherfield Sanatorium, an abandoned Victorian insane asylum, is being converted into luxury flats, and Kate and Ivor have been asked to auction off a fine collection of antiques, including a 15th-century paintingattributed to the Dutch master Jan Van Eyck. But when retired criminal inspector Will Parker is found dead, Kate suspects the halls of the sanatorium housed much more than priceless art.
Kate is surprised to learn that Will Parker was her friend Vivian Bunn’s first boyfriend. They met in 1963 at a seaside holiday camp when, along with three other teens, they explored an abandoned house where two years earlier a local doctor and his wife had died under bizarre circumstances. Now, when a second member of the childhood gang dies unexpectedly—and then a third—it becomes clear the teens discovered more in the house than they realized.
What was the deadly truth they unwittingly found? When Kate makes a shocking connection between a sixty-year-old murder and the long-buried secrets of the sanatorium, she understands that time is running out for Vivian—and anyone connected to her.
TRISH ESDEN
Trish Esden loves museums, gardens, wilderness, dogs, and birds, in various orders depending on the day. She lives in northern Vermont where she deals antiques with her husband, a profession she’s been involved with since her teens. Don’t ask what her favorite type of antique is. She loves hunting for old bottles and rusty barn junk as much as she enjoys fine art and furnishings. Trish is the author of the Scandal Mountain Antiques Mystery series which explores the secretive and adrenaline-charged underbelly of the antique and art world. You can find her at https://trishesden.com.
THE ART OF THE DECOY is the first in the Scandal Mountain series.
It should have been a simple appraisal. If it weren’t for the thief.
After her mother is sent to prison for art forgery, Edie Brown returns to Northern Vermont to rebuild her family’s fine art and antiques business. She’s certain she can do it now that her mother’s gone. After all, butting heads with her mom over bad business practices was what drove Edie away three years ago, including a screwup that landed Edie on probation for selling stolen property.
When Edie scores a job appraising a waterfowl decoy collection at a hoarder’s farmhouse, she’s determined to take advantage of the situation to rebuild the business’s tarnished reputation and dwindling coffers. In lieu of payment, Edie intends to cherry-pick an exceptional decoy carved by the client’s renowned Quebecoise folk artist ancestors. Only the tables turn when the collection vanishes.
Accused of the theft, Edie’s terrified that the fallout will destroy the business and land her in prison next to her mom. She convinces the client to give her five days to find and return the decoys before calling the authorities. Desperate, she digs into the underbelly of the local antiques and art world. When Edie uncovers a possible link between the decoy theft and a deadly robbery at a Quebec museum, she longs to ask her ex-probation officer, and ex-lover, for help. But she suspects his recent interest in rekindling their romance may hide a darker motive.
With the help of her eccentric uncle Tuck and Kala, their enigmatic new employee, Edie must risk all she holds dear to expose the thieves and recover the decoys before the FBI’s Art Crime Team or the ruthless thieves themselves catch up with her.
TRACY GARDNER
Tracy Gardner is an Edgar Award nominated mystery and women's fiction author. Her latest mystery novel, PERIL AT PENNINGTON MANOR, is the second in the series that began with RUBY RED HERRING, a Mary Higgins Clark Edgar Award finalist and a New York Public Library Best 100 of 2021 book. She also penned Hallmark Publishing's first cozy mystery series, the Shepherd Sisters Mysteries.
Tracy also writes women's and book club fiction as Jess Sinclair, with SECRETS WE KEPT, an emotional family drama surrounding two rival families in a coastal fishing village as a recently widowed fisherman's daughter and the rival son work to discover the truth about her mother's unexplained death.
A Detroit native and mother of three, Tracy is a daughter of two teachers who works as a nurse when not writing. She lives with her husband and best friend of thirty years and a menagerie of spoiled rescue dogs and cats. You can find her at www.tracygardnerbeno.com.
PERIL AT PENNINGTON MANOR is the second in the Avery Ayers Antiques Mysteries.
Thanks to Aunt Midge’s unlikely friendship with Nicholas Pennington, the Duke of Valle Charme, Avery Ayers and her associates at Antiques and Artifacts Appraised head off to their most glamorous assignment yet—cataloguing and appraising the contents of a castle-like mansion on the Hudson River. But regal splendor becomes a backdrop to mayhem when A precious Viktor Petrova timepiece disappears—and housekeeper Suzanne Vick plummets from a parapet to her death.
Avery, her dad, William, and colleagues Micah Abbott and Sir Robert Lane soon learn that Suzanne’s predecessor also met with an untimely end. Further, the housekeeper’s suspicious demise coincides with Avery’s discovery that many of the Duke’s most priceless heirlooms have been replaced by fakes. Detective Art Smith lends his expertise, but the suspect list encompasses the Duke’s entire retinue—including his family. Could the killer be someone intimately familiar with the Pennington estate, such as caretaker couple Ira and Lynn Hoffman, the Pennington’s chauffeur, Roderick, or even one of the heirs to the Pennington fortune?
Then the duke himself is injured in an inexplicable riding accident, and the clock swiftly ticks toward a reckoning with a cold-blooded killer. A criminal mastermind is making a desperate bid for ill-gotten riches… can Avery bring the culprit to justice before her time is up?
February
Time: 6:00p CT
Where: livestreaming on Crowdcast
About the book
A young woman’s life seems perfect until her family goes missing. A writer lives alone with her dog and collects arcane murder statistics. What each of them stands to lose as they sneak around the do-not-enter tape blocking Reef Road beach is exposed by the steady tightening of the cincture encircling them. In a nod to the true crime that inspired it, Deborah Goodrich Royce’s Reef Road probes unhealed generational scars in a wrenching and original work of fiction. It is both stunning and sexy and, like a bystander surprised by a curtain left open, you won’t be able to look away.
About the author
Deborah Goodrich Royce’s thrillers examine puzzles of identity. Ruby Falls won the Zibby Award for Best Plot Twist in 2021 and Finding Mrs. Ford was hailed by Forbes, Book Riot, and Good Morning America’s “best of” lists in 2019. She began as an actress on All My Children and in multiple films, before transitioning to the role of story editor at Miramax Films, developing Emma and early versions of Chicago and A Wrinkle in Time. She serves on the governing and/or advisory boards of the American Film Institute, Greenwich International Film Festival, New York Botanical Garden, Greenwich Historical Society, the Preservation Foundation of Palm Beach, the Preservation Society of Newport, and the PRASAD Project. Deborah holds a bachelor’s degree in modern foreign languages and an honorary doctorate of humane letters from Lake Erie College.
Time: 6:00p CT
Where: Mystery to Me (seats are limited, Get Tickets)
Livestream: Crowdcast (RSVP)
About the book
Get Me to The Abbey explores alcoholism and recovery through the eyes of a middle-aged Midwesterner. Lisa spends a month in treatment at a refurbished monastery with a cast of characters whose hijinks and camaraderie are instrumental to her spiritual healing. Mischief and college basketball relieve the weight of soul-baring testimony. After leaving The Abbey, Lisa adjusts to life without drinking and returns to work and cultivates support in her Alcoholics Anonymous community. She is reunited with her Abbey cohorts by a heartbreaking tragedy.
About the author
Lisa is a lifelong lover of words and dictionary peruser. Once she discovered reading, she devoured anything she could get her hands on from the TV Guide to the Encyclopedia. She has a B.A. in Journalism from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, and worked in newspapers for five years, column-writing being her favorite part of the job. Following that, Lisa worked in a bookstore for eight years, a dream job until corporate standardization sucked the joyous essence out of the store. Reading dwindled during the drinking years but now she's back at it, perpetually in the middle of a book, any book.
Time: 6:00p CT
Where: Mystery to Me (seats are limited, Get Tickets)
Livestream: Crowdcast (RSVP)
About the book
A fresh account of the US presidential rhetoric embodied in Cold War international travel.
Crowds swarm when US presidents travel abroad, though many never hear their voices. The presidential body, moving from one secured location to another, communicates as much or more to these audiences than the texts of their speeches. In The World is Our Stage, Allison M. Prasch considers how presidential appearances overseas broadcast American superiority during the Cold War. Drawing on extensive archival research, Prasch examines five foundational moments in the development of what she calls the “global rhetorical presidency:” Truman at Potsdam, Eisenhower’s “Goodwill Tours,” Kennedy in West Berlin, Nixon in the People’s Republic of China, and Reagan in Normandy. In each case, Prasch reveals how the president’s physical presence defined the boundaries of the “Free World” and elevated the United States as the central actor in Cold War geopolitics.
About Allison Prasch
Allison M. Prasch is Assistant Professor of Rhetoric, Politics, and Culture in the Department of Communication Arts at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Her research focuses on the intersections of rhetorical theory and history, U.S. presidential rhetoric, foreign policy, and space/place. Her first book, The World is Our Stage: The Global Rhetorical Presidency and the Cold War (University of Chicago Press, 2023), examines how U.S. presidents used their international travels to expand the reach of presidential power and extend the United States’ global influence. Her work has been published in the Quarterly Journal of Speech, Rhetoric & Public Affairs, Presidential Studies Quarterly, Southern Communication Journal, and Women’s Studies in Communication. She is the recipient of a number of scholarly awards, including the 2022 Michael Pfau Outstanding Article Award from the Political Communication Division of the National Communication Association, the 2017 Golden Anniversary Monograph Award from the National Communication Association, and the 2016 Outstanding Dissertation Award from the American Society for the History of Rhetoric. Her expert commentary has been featured in the Washington Post, U.S. News & World Report, C-SPAN, The Conversation, and Public News Service. She currently serves as the Membership Coordinator for the American Society for the History of Rhetoric and sits on the editorial boards of the Quarterly Journal of Speech, Rhetoric & Public Affairs, and Voices of Democracy.
About David Canon
David T. Canon is a professor of political science at the University of Wisconsin, Madison. He received his Ph.D. from the University of Minnesota in 1987 and previously taught at Duke University. He is currently editor of the Election Law Journal and is affiliated with the Elections Research Center.
He also served as the Congress editor for Legislative Studies Quarterly and was a Distinguished Fulbright Chair in Debrecen, Hungary, in 2003-2004 and in Tübingen, Germany, in 2011-2012. His most recent research concerns election administration and election reform (with a continued interest in redistricting).
For February's meeting we will be reading The Stranger Diaries by Elly Griffiths!
For February's YA Book Club we will be reading: Promise Boys by Nick Brooks!
About the book
The Hate U Give meets One of Us Is Lying in this trailblazing, blockbuster YA mystery about three teen boys of color who must investigate their principal’s murder to clear their own names—for fans of Angie Thomas, Jason Reynolds, and Karen McManus.
The Urban Promise Prep School vows to turn boys into men. As students, J.B., Ramón, and Trey are forced to follow the prestigious "program's" strict rules. Extreme discipline, they’ve been told, is what it takes to be college bound, to avoid the fates of many men in their neighborhoods. This, the Principal Moore Method, supposedly saves lives.
But when Moore ends up murdered and the cops come sniffing around, the trio emerges as the case's prime suspects. With all three maintaining their innocence, they must band together to track down the real killer before they are arrested. But is the true culprit hiding among them? This exquisitely taut thriller shines a glaring light on how the system too often condemns Black and Latinx teen boys to failure before they’ve even had a chance at success.
Time: 12:00p CT
Where: Livestreaming on Crowdcast
About the book
Lena has lived a long, quiet life on her farm in Wales, with her husband and child at her side. But as her end approaches, memories long buried begin to return. Of her childhood in 1930s Poland, when she was determined to become a doctor. Of the first days of her marriage, reluctant wife to an army officer. Of the birth of her daughter, whose arrival changed everything.
Memories less welcome return to her, too. Her Polish town, transformed overnight by the Soviets, and the war that doomed her family to the frigid work camps of the Siberian tundra. And buried in that blinding snow, amongst the darkness of survival, the most fragile memory of all: that of an unspeakably tender new love.
Exploring marriage, motherhood, and our incredible human capacity for cultivating hope in the darkest times, The Snow Hare is the story of a woman who dares to love and to dream in the face of impossible odds, and of the peace we each must make with our choices, even long after the years have gone by.
About Paula Lichtarowicz
Paula Lichtarowicz studied English Literature at Durham University and has a Masters in Psychology from the University of East London. She is the author of two previous novels and worked as a television producer in London for twenty years. She currently lives in York with her daughter and dog.
About Jennifer Chiaverini
Jennifer Chiaverini is the New York Times bestselling author of thirty-two novels, including critically acclaimed historical fiction and the beloved Elm Creek Quilts series. In 2020, Chiaverini was awarded an Outstanding Achievement Award from the Wisconsin Library Association for her novel Resistance Women. A graduate of the University of Notre Dame and the University of Chicago, she lives with her husband and two sons in Madison, Wisconsin.
Time: 6:00p CT
Where: Mystery to Me (seats are limited, Get Tickets)
Livestream: Crowdcast (RSVP)
About the book
Persistence of Perception is a strange, powerful poetry collection with the soul of a live spoken word album. Each poem is a memory meal for the happy and heartbroken alike—they send you breathing through holographic meditations filled with haunting, humorous love and a little spiritual entertainment.
About the author
Nathan J. Reid is a songwriter, actor, and poet whose writing has appeared in Barstow & Grand, Wisconsin People & Ideas, Poetry Hall, The Orchards Poetry Journal, No More Can Fit Into the Evening: An Anthology of Diverse Voices, and other publications. He is a former board member of the Council for Wisconsin Writers, the Wisconsin Poet Laureate Commission, the Wisconsin Fellowship of Poets, and the Eclectic Arts Ensemble Theatre Company. He is a former senior editor for the Wisconsin Review, former guest editor for Bramble Lit Magazine, creator and conférencier of the Constitutional Cabaret, and host of The Reid Radio Hour, an annual music and poetry show. His books, Thoughts on Tonight (2017) and Persistence of Perception (2020), were published by Finishing Line Press. Learn more about him at nathanjreid.com.
Time: 6:00p CT
Where: Mystery to Me (seats are limited, Get Tickets)
Livestream: Crowdcast (RSVP)
About the book
A retired boxer sets out in search of her daughter, Shyloh, an addict living with mental illness on the streets of San Diego. In Fort Unicorn and the Duchess of Knothing, Nelson tries desperately to find – and save – her first-born, delving into the roots of mental illness, addiction, and the meaning of unconditional love.
This memoir is an unflinching witness of what it means to be homeless, mentally ill, and addicted in America - and to love someone who is all of those things. Fort Unicorn is, more than anything else, a vivid and tender portrait of people who are too often invisible to society.
About the author
Andrea Nelson lives and coaches boxing in Madison, Wisconsin. When she's not in the gym training her boxers, you can find Andrea out tending her gardens, chickens, and bees, or running the nearby trails. She shares life with her partner, James.
Time: 6:00p CT
Where: Mystery to Me (seats are limited, Get Tickets)
Livestream: Crowdcast (RSVP)
About the book
A satirical novel with a severe critique of the destruction caused by modern corporate agriculture and large-scale meat production.
Early one November, portraits of the Chief Executives of three major midwestern meat-producing corporations and the governor of Iowa go missing. These incidents seem minor until the dead bodies of the three CEOs are discovered in the hog lots and chicken factories that they own. The governor remains alive but terrified. He immediately orders the state department of criminal investigation to drop all other duties to protect him. The job of investigating the thefts and murders falls to the small, understaffed, sheriff’s department. Initial suspects—a disgruntled young biology professor who has resigned to protest the state university’s support of large-scale meat production, the widows of the deceased who seem a bit too delighted to be rid of their husbands, and an 80-year-old army veteran who is valiantly fighting the proliferation of CAFOs in her township. The sheriff and his deputies are left with a single clue: an ancient pickup truck that belonged to Craven Snuggs, a fierce opponent of large-scale industrial agriculture, who died in a mysterious fire years earlier. The investigation takes a makeshift posse through the woods, prairies, and crop fields of Nachawinga County.
About the author
Sandy Moffett, Emeritus Professor of Theatre at Grinnell College, joined the faculty in 1971 and continues to teach and direct plays on occasion, serving as utility infielder for his department. An ardent outdoorsman and conservationist, he spends most of his time restoring prairie on his small farm, writing songs and stories, playing guitar and mandolin in The Too Many String Band, and catering to the whims of his three grandchildren. His writing has appeared in The Wapsipinicon Almanac, Rootstalk, Saltwater Sportsman, The Abbey Review,and other publications. The Ghost of Craven Snuggs is his first novel.
January
Time: 7:00p
Where: Livestreaming on Crowdcast (RSVP)
About the book
For five decades, as a singer, musician, songwriter, and producer, Tim O’Brien has ceaselessly explored the vast American musical landscape. While Appalachia and Ireland eventually became facets of the defining myth surrounding him and his music, he has digested a broad array of roots styles, reshaping them to his own purposes. Award-winning biographer Bobbie Malone and premier country music historian Bill C. Malone have teamed again, this time to chronicle O’Brien’s career and trace the ascent of Hot Rize and its broadening and enrichment of musical traditions.
At the beginning of that career, O’Brien moved from his native West Virginia to the Rocky Mountain West. In just a few years, he became the lead singer, mandolin and fiddle player, and principal songwriter of beloved 1980s bluegrass band Hot Rize. Seeking to move beyond bluegrass, he next went to Nashville. O’Brien’s success in navigating the shoals of America’s vast reservoir of folk musical expressions took him into the realm of what is now called Americana.
The core of Tim O’Brien’s virtuosity is his abiding and energetic pursuit of the next musical adventure. As a traveler, he has ranged widely in choosing the next instrument, song, style, fellow musicians, or venue. Written with O’Brien’s full cooperation and the input of family, friends, colleagues, and critics, Traveler provides the first complete, behind-the-scenes picture of a thoroughly American self-made musical genius—the boy who grew up listening to country artists at the WWVA Wheeling Jamboree and ended up charting a new course through American music.
About the authors
Emeritus Tulane University history professor, Bill C. Malone, grew up with country music in East Texas. His dissertation in American History from the University of Texas became the definitive history of country music, Country Music, USA. It celebrated its 50th anniversary in a completely revised edition in 2018, and served as the basis for the narrative in the Ken Burns Country Music series, in which he appeared.He and Bobbie coauthored Songwriting Sweethearts: The Boudleaux and Felice Bryant Story (2020), and his most recent book is Sing Me Back Home, an anthology of his previously published essays. After following Bobbie to Madison where he has hosted Back to the Country, a weekly WORT community radio program in Madison, Wisconsin for the past 24 years, the Malones returned to their home state of Texas and are now residing in San Antonio. You can still hear Bill on Back to the Country on the 4th Wednesdays of the month.
Bobbie Malone grew up in San Antonio, then lived in New Orleans, where she earned a PhD in American History from Tulane University. Her dissertation became Rabbi Max Heller: Reformer, Zionist, Southerner, 1860-1929. She moved to Madison in 1995 to direct the Office of School Services at the Wisconsin Historical Society, where she wrote and edited books for the state’s classrooms. After retiring, she wrote the biography of her favorite childhood author/illustrator, Lois Lenski: Storycatcher, which won the 2016 Indies Editor’s Choice Award in nonfiction, and Striding Lines: The Unique Story Quilts of Rumi O’Brien. Bill and Bobbie had such fun collaborating on Nashville’s Songwriting Sweethearts, that they immediately chose to work on Traveler: The Musical Odyssey of Tim O’Brien, published in the fall of 2022.
Time: 6:00p
Where: Mystery to Me (seats are limited, Get Tickets)
Livestream: Crowdcast (RSVP)
About the book
The Radium Girls meets the enchanting world of Howl’s Moving Castle,The Vermilion Emporium is a story of timeless love. It’s about healing in a world shrouded with despair and discovering a spark of magic when you need it most.
On the morning Twain, a lonely boy with a knack for danger, discovers a strand of starlight on the cliffs outside of Severon, a mysterious curiosity shop appears in town. Meanwhile, Quinta, the ordinary daughter of an extraordinary circus performer, chases rumors of the shop, the Vermilion Emporium, desperate for a way to live up to her mother’s magical legacy.
When Quinta meets Twain outside of the Emporium, two things happen: One, Quinta is sure she’s infatuated with this starlight boy, who uses his charm to hide his scars. Two, they enter the store and discover a book that teaches them how to weave starlight into lace.
Soon, their lace catches the eye of the Casorina, the ruler of Severon. She commissions Quinta and Twain to make her a starlight dress and will reward them handsomely enough to make their dreams come true. However, they can’t sew a dress without more material, and the secret to starlight’s origins has been lost for decades. As Quinta and Twain search the Emporium for answers, though, they discover the secret might not have actually been lost—but destroyed. And likely, for good reason.
About the author
Jamie Pacton is an award-nominated young adult and middle grade author, who writes swoony, funny, magical books across genres. The Vermilion Emporium is her YA fantasy debut. When she’s not writing, she’s teaching college English, obsessively reading obscure history, hiking, baking, or playing video games. The Life and (Medieval) Times of Kit Sweetly is her Young Adult debut and her sophomore novel, Lucky Girl, released from Page Street in May 2021.
- 1 of 26
- ››