Mystery to Me
Bookstore: Mystery to Me
Location: Near West Side of Madison, Wisconsin
Why I Love Them: Who ever thought that the murder mystery reader's paradise, Booked for Murder, would ever find new life as Mystery to Me? During Booked for Murder's years off University Avenue it felt like every time you went in there was a new owner. In fact at one time my mom really wanted to be the owner but thankfully we talked her out of it. Some of the owners were more adept at handling their customers and authors, I would be remiss if I didn't give a special shout-out to Terri Bischoff at this point, thanks to her I got to meet Charlaine Harris! But almost five years ago now the revolving door stopped on Joanne Berg who took the forward thinking approach of renaming the bookstore Mystery to Me (there were royalty payments with the old name that no one in their right mind should have paid) and moving the store onto Monroe Street, giving it a more community vibe. The first time I visited I was skeptical of the store's success, having seen so many owners come and go over the years I wasn't sold on the same stock in a new location and as for those bright green walls... Thankfully I have been proven wrong, and come to really like that shade of green. They are really committed to offering wonderful authors, last year I felt like I was there weekly. But more than that, it's just such a welcoming environment, they have become a part of the neighborhood in a way Booked for Murder never was. Here's to the next five years!
Best Buy: As for my best buy... this is a little different in that the event was not onsite and was run by the Wisconsin Book Festival with Mystery to Me selling books at the event. But it's TOO good a story to pass up... though my story about Tasha Alexander's event with Margaret George in the audience is a great one too and that one was onsite. Back to my initial story. So the big author for the Wisconsin Book Festival last year was Alexander McCall Smith. I was determined to go because years earlier I was sick when he came to speak at Borders so I missed him and since then my mom had christened his 44 Scotland Street series as the best book series ever written, a fact I made sure to mention to him. Therefore while he was there to promote the new book in The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency series I had one book I wanted to buy, the newest 44 Scotland Street book, The Bertie Project. So I went up to the Mystery to Me table and was warmly greeted, they'd been seeing me a lot over the course of the book festival, and picked up one of their two copies of The Bertie Project. Now as it happens, when Alexander McCall Smith took to the podium he asked if anyone in the audience had a copy of The Bertie Project because he wanted to read from it. I leapt from my seat and handed him my newly purchased book. At the end of the talk he asked me to step forward, once again in front of this huge crowd, and he signed my book to me. So while I may have many events to attend at Mystery to Me in the future, as well as many awesome books to buy, I literally can not believe a find from Independent Bookstore Day, THIS will be the memory I cherish most.
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