Wisconsin Book Festival Director Conor Moran On His Career and This Year’s Virtual “Fall Celebration”
By Doug Moe
 When Conor Moran, director of Madison Public Library’s Wisconsin Book Festival, booked bestselling author Emma Straub to kick off the festival’s “fall celebration” on October 15, he wanted to pair Straub in conversation with someone who would ensure a lively dialogue. How about the woman who helped originate the program where Straub learned to write?
Straub will be discussing her new novel, All Adults Here – called “bigly entertaining” by the New York Times – with Judy Mitchell, who helped found the MFA in Creative Writing Program at UW-Madison, from which Straub graduated in 2008.
Mitchell is herself a novelist, author of A Reunion of Ghosts, author byline Judith Claire Mitchell. Her chat with Straub, on the virtual platform Crowdcast, is at 4 p.m. Oct. 15 and is one of several events in this year’s festival that draw intriguing Badger state connections.
“It’s a great way to bring Wisconsin content and Wisconsin talent to the Book Festival,” Moran told me, when we spoke in late September.
 The festival runs year-round as a series of events, with the fall celebration a focal point each October.
This year’s celebration – all virtual via Crowdcast – runs Oct. 15-17 and the list of participating writers includes the celebrated poet Nikki Giovanni; bestselling feminist author Jennifer Palmieri; and physicists Brian Greene and Janna Levin in conversation with UW-Madison astronomy professor Eric Wilcots.
“They’re all highlights,” Moran, ever the diplomat, said when asked about this month’s offerings.
Some precede the fall celebration. Indigenous Poetics (Oct. 12, 7 p.m.) was spearheaded by Madison poet laureate Angela Trudell Vasquez, a graduate of the Institute of American Indian Arts. She and other IAIA grads will read from their work in celebration of Indigenous People’s Day.
Oct. 6 at 7 p.m. brings a gathering of former UW-Madison writing fellows, Amy Quan Berry, Lysley Tenorio and Anthony Doerr. “They were all writing fellows at the same time,” Moran said. “I don’t know what year but I’m sure they’ll talk about it.” Tenorio and Quan Barry have novels out this year and Doerr, of course, penned 2014’s runaway bestseller and Pulitzer Prize-winner, All the Light We Cannot See. UW-Madison Professor Ron Kuka will lead the conversation.
Conor Moran is in the eighth year of his adventure directing the Wisconsin Book Festival, and if this year is one unlike any other, it’s also true that happenstance figured in his getting the job in the first place.
Moran grew up in Oconomowoc, attended the University of Iowa for undergrad, then UW-Madison Law School.
He was going to be a lawyer, but even in Iowa City, books loomed large. Moran haunted the city’s terrific indie bookstore, Prairie Lights, hanging out four or five nights a week. It’s where he proposed to his wife, Molly, who said yes.
Out of law school, Moran and Molly moved to Washington, D.C. “I thought I was going to be a lawyer,” he said. For fun – and presumably for just a few months – he took a job as a bookseller at Politics and Prose, another legendary bookstore.
He was hooked. “I thought, ‘Oh yeah, this is my job.’ And I never really looked back.” Moran rose to assistant events manager and across three years staged around 1,000 events. Among the most memorable: Tim O’Brien on the 20th anniversary of his acclaimed collection of Vietnam War stories, The Things They Carried. Rather than read from the stories, O’Brien read letters from veterans and the families of veterans moved to write after reading his book. The store’s staff – often a little jaded from hosting events night after night – pulled up chairs.“We took the phone off the hook,” Moran said. “It was incredible.”
His D.C. time also included events for author Toni Morrison and photographer Annie Leibovitz three days apart. Moran recalled, “I was like, ‘Who do I get to meet?’”
They came back to Madison in 2010, and Moran – after failing to get a job at the University Book Store – worked in development for nonprofits for a few years until one day in 2013 when he and Molly decided to go to the library. The main library downtown was being renovated; Moran went to the website to find a branch and instead found a posting for the Book Festival director position. The library had just taken it over from the Wisconsin Humanities Council (now Wisconsin Humanities). “I applied for the job and got it,” he said.
Seven years on, last April, with the libraries closed, the festival produced its first virtual event. By the end of July the number had grown to 20, and heading into the fall celebration, Moran is comfortable with the format. “We’ve had some technical difficulties, but there were technical difficulties in person,” he said. “The lights or the m icrophones would go out, or an author wouldn’t show up.” He likes that the Crowdcast events can be saved and watched later.
I told Moran I thought the fall celebration sleeper might be The King of Confidence, a true 1840s tale of a Midwestern con man, written by Miles Harvey of DePaul University. He’s in conversation with Wisconsin Public Radio’s Doug Gordon. “It’s an amazing, untold history,” Moran says. And, yes, “a Wisconsin story.”
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Mystery to Me's October Events
Saturday, October 3, 10:30 am CT
Briana McDonald
Crowdcast Link
 Author Briana McDonald joins Mystery to Me to discuss her debut middle-grade novel, Pepper's Rules for Secret Sleuthing. This is a perfect event for young readers...and detectives!
Nancy Drew meets Harriet the Spy in this action-packed and heartfelt debut middle grade following an overzealous amateur sleuth as she investigates a shocking family secret—and unravels the mystery of her developing feelings for girls.
Wednesday, October 7, 7pm CT
Rebecca Behrens
Crowdcast link
 Author Rebecca Behrens returns to Mystery to Me with her newest book for young readers: Alone in the Woods.
Jocelyn and Alex have always been best friends . . . until they aren’t. Jocelyn’s not sure what happened, but she hopes their annual joint-family vacation in the isolated Northwoods will be the perfect spot to rekindle their friendship.
But Alex still isn’t herself when they get to the cabin, and Jocelyn reaches a breaking point during a rafting trip that goes horribly wrong. When the girls’ inner tube tears, it leaves them stranded and alone on the banks of the Wolf River.
Before they know it, the two are hopelessly lost in a national forest.
Thursday, October 8, 7pm CT
Lesley Kagen
Crowdcast Link
 Author Lesley Kagen joins us to discuss her forthcoming book, Every Now and Then, available on October 6. Pre-order your copy from Mystery to Me today!
The summer of 1960 was the hottest ever for Summit, Wisconsin. For kids seeking relief from the heat, there was a creek to be swum in, sprinklers to run through, and ice cream at Whitcomb's Drugstore. But for Frankie, Viv, and Biz, eleven-year-old best friends, it would forever be remembered as the summer that evil paid a visit to their small town and took their young lives as they'd known them as a souvenir.
Saturday, October 10, 10am to 5pm
Extended Hours!
Monroe Street Stroll
 A nice way to support local! Click on the link above to see the list of participating businesses and their special 'stroll' offerings.
There will be fall merchandise, seasonal food & drink, festive decor, and more. SwingTime Music Jazz Band will perform from 1 to 3 pm at the pavilion on West Lawn and Monroe Street. Their performance is sponsored by designCraft Advertising.
Mystery to Me will be offering $1.00 wrapped books (a customer favorite), Halloween candy with purchase, and, as always, awesome book recommendations!
Five people are allowed in our store at any one time. There will be a bookseller at the door who will greet customers and let you know if there may be a bit of a wait (it's usually not long!). If you prefer curbside pick-up, the bookseller-at-the-door can fetch your wrapped package and you can be on your way.
Thursday, October 15, 7pm CT
Scott Graham and Margaret Mizushima
Crowdcast Link
Authors Scott Graham and Margaret Mizushima join us (virtually) to discuss their mystery series: The National Park Mysteries and the Timber Creek K-9 Mysteries!
Mesa Verde Victim by Scott Graham
Hounded by false accusations of murder, archaeologist Chuck Bender and his family risk their lives to track down an unknown killer on the loose in a rugged canyon on the remote western edge of Mesa Verde National Park, where ancient stone villages and secret burial sites, abandoned centuries ago by the Ancestral Puebloan people, harbor artifacts so rare and precious they're worth killing over.
Hanging Falls by Margaret Mizushima
Murder stalks the rugged Colorado high country--and sends Mattie Cobb on a quest to uncover the darkest secrets from her past in the sixth gripping installment of Margaret Mizushima's Timber Creek K-9 mysteriesA deluge has flooded the high ground near Hanging Falls--but heavy rains aren't the only menace descending on Timber Creek. While on a scouting mission to pinpoint trail damage, officer Mattie Cobb and her K-9 partner Robo stumble upon a body floating at the edge of a lake. Robo catches human scent, which leads to an enigmatic forest-dweller who quickly becomes suspect number one.
Wednesday, October 21, 7pm CT
Lynn Miller
Crowdcast Link
 Author Lynn C. Miller joins Mystery to Me (virtually) to discuss her chilling new novel, The Unmasking.
Best friends Bettina, Miriam, and Fiona are shocked when their dean of liberal studies dies in a single-car accident amid accusations of mishandling university funds. They suspect murder, especially after learning that the dean’s estranged wife will inherit three million dollars. Events take a surprising turn when they travel from Austin, Texas, to a Chautauqua performance in Silver City, New Mexico, where they join several others, some with questionable motives, including the dean’s wife and her lover. In the close confines of the lodge, the group brings to life remarkable women from history—including Victoria Woodhull, Gertrude Stein, Edith Wharton, Mabel Dodge Luhan, and Virginia Woolf. But when one woman is kidnapped and another disappears, the friends’ lives are forever changed as they realize that the masks we wear often hide chilling truths.
Thursday, October 22, 5pm CT
Bookseller Happy Hour
Crowdcast Link
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October New Releases
Indie Next This is a great list of books recommended by indie booksellers throughout the country. This month our own Charlotte Colaluca's recommendation is published for Stakes is High by Mychal Denzel Smith
Publisher's Weekly
New Cozy Mysteries Where did all of our cozy mystery readers go? We have a nice collection of new cozies waiting for you at the store. Come check out the new release section in the front of the store!
Mystery Scene Magazine
Literary Hub Check out their Fall Preview List!
Crime Reads We may not be able to travel right now, so you may want to take a look at the article titled Grand Tour: Eight Thrillers featuring Americans in Europe as well as the Thirteen Books You Should Read in October.
National Book Award Longlist Once again, an amazing list. Check it out.
 We think Jill Lepore's new book, If Then, is particularly compelling...
The Simulmatics Corporation, launched during the Cold War, mined data, targeted voters, manipulated consumers, destabilized politics, and disordered knowledge—decades before Facebook, Google, and Cambridge Analytica. Jill Lepore, best-selling author of These Truths, came across the company’s papers in MIT’s archives and set out to tell this forgotten history, the long-lost backstory to the methods, and the arrogance, of Silicon Valley.
 We're also quite taken with Isabel Wilkerson's new book, Caste, The Origins of Our Discontent.
In this brilliant book, Isabel Wilkerson gives us a masterful portrait of an unseen phenomenon in America as she explores, through an immersive, deeply researched narrative and stories about real people, how America today and throughout its history has been shaped by a hidden caste system, a rigid hierarchy of human rankings.
 Bookseller Hannah's recommendations!
Double the Danger and Zero Zucchini by Betsy Uhrig (middle grades)
Unicorns are the Worst by Alex Willan (middle grades)
All This Time - Mikki Daughtry and Rachael Lippincott (middle grades)
Lilly & Friends by Kevin Henkes (signed copies!)
Sun Flower Lion by Kevin Henkes (signed copies!)
Sun Flower Lion plush!
*currently reading*
Furia by Yamile Saied Méndez (young adult)
And, on Hannah's *to read* shelf...
Sia Martinez and the Moonlit Beginning of Everything by Raquel Vasquez Gilliland (middle grade)
Dear Justyce by Nic Stone
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 Preparing for the Holidays
We know it's ONLY October, but it's an October like we've never seen before. Our door is now closed to fall winds and we're allowing only five people in the store at any one time. It doesn't give us the same kind of bookstore energy we're used to, but it is wonderful to have people visit.
We are encouraging you to begin thinking about book-buying for the holidays. We are happy to work with you to find - and pre-order if necessary - the books that you hope to give away as gifts this year or buy for yourself as a treat for yet more stay-at-home time.
The American Bookseller's Association is recommending that you shop early this year due to the high demand for books, the potential for supply chain disruptions and delayed inventory shipments. Sadly, we're already seeing that happen.
Options for supporting Mystery to Me:
1) You can shop in the store.
Our hours are Tuesday - Saturday, 10am to 3pm and Sunday, 11am to 2pm.
Appointments for personal shopping will be available beginning Monday, November 30, through December. Note that on Saturday, October 10 we will be open 10-5 for the Monroe Street Stroll.
2) You can shop online for the books currently on our shelves. Curbside pick-up and mail order is available.
3) You can send us an email with your wish list and we'll get back to you with timing and availability.
4) We are always happy to chat with you about our recommendations in phone or in person. In fact, it's our favorite thing to do! Our number is (608)283-9332. Please note that phone lines have been busy. Leave a message and we'll get back to you as soon as we are able!
5) You can shop on Bookshop. 30% of the sales come to us as long as you purchase through our portal (our logo will be in the upper left of your screen.
We have ordered more puzzles for you too. Hannah is doing her best to keep a listing available on Instagram. Check them out here, or come visit us.
Probably one of the biggest books out this fall (if not the biggest title) is the new A Promised Land by Barack Obama (Random House, publication date is November 17). We have ordered several cases of the book, and if you want to be absolutely sure you get your copy, we're encouraging you to pre-order (and pre-pay) as soon as possible.
...An extraordinarily intimate and introspective--the story of one man's bet with history, the faith of a community organizer tested on the world stage. Obama is candid about the balancing act of running for office as a Black American, bearing the expectations of a generation buoyed by messages of "hope and change," and meeting the moral challenges of high-stakes decision-making. He is frank about the forces that opposed him at home and abroad, open about how living in the White House affected his wife and daughters, and unafraid to reveal self-doubt and disappointment. Yet he never wavers from his belief that inside the great, ongoing American experiment, progress is always possible.
This beautifully written and powerful book captures Barack Obama's conviction that democracy is not a gift from on high but something founded on empathy and common understanding and built together, day by day.
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Mystery to Me Gift Subscriptions
Subscriptions are a wonderful gift for one (or more!) of your hard-to-buy-for family members or friends. Perhaps you'll even want to buy one for yourself!
Subscriptions include:
- 10% off the cover price of the books that our booksellers choose based on your preferences
- Mailing costs (all packages sent media mail)
- Mystery to Me bookmark with each book
- Occasional free advance reader copies that complement the subscriber's reading preferences
- Subscription to our monthly newsletter
- Each month, all 12 month subscribers will be entered into a drawing for a $25.00 Mystery to Me gift certificate
Around the World Subscription
12 months for $240.00
Booksellers choose books with stories that take place around the globe.
Treat Your Shelves Subscription
1 month for $20.00 (you choose the month!)
6 months (every other month throughout the year): $120.00
12 months for $240.00
Booksellers choose trade paperback books based on reading preferences.
Translated Literature Subscription
6 months (every other month throughout the year): $120.00
Booksellers choose translated literature from wonderful small, independent presses. You can let us know if you prefer fiction, poetry, essays, non-fiction, etc. All books will be trade paperbacks.
New Release Hardcover Subscription
6 months (every other month throughout the year): $180.00
12 months: $360.00
Each month our booksellers will choose one of our favorite new releases based on your reading preferences. Books will be mailed based on the release date of the new book.
New Release Paperback Subscription
6 months (every other month throughout the year): $120.00
12 months: $240.00
Each month our booksellers will choose one of our favorite new releases based on your reading preferences. Books will be mailed based on the release date of the new book.
Yeah Books!! Books for Kids Subscription
6 months: $120.00
12 months: $240.00
Each month our booksellers will choose books based on your preferences. Please that that the prices for children's books vary depending on age group. Each month's package will be valued at $20.00 including shipping.
How it works!
You purchase the package of your choice online (links above) or in-store. We follow-up with a survey asking about reading preferences, addresses, etc. Other than the one month subscription and the new release subscriptions, all books will be mailed during the first week of the month. Simple. Check that gift off your list!
All new gift subscriptions will begin in January 2021.
Thank you for your continued support of our store. We are lucky to have you.
Be well. Read on.
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