2024
5/25 - Death's Door Graphic Novel Author Signing
- Barbara Joosse signs her new book about the real history of Death's Door at our shop from 1-3PM.
6/23 - Sunken Shipwrecks @ Maritime Museum
6/25 - Book Signing w/ Roger D. Rapoport
- Journalist and author Roger D. Rapoport signs his true crime novel, Searching for Patty Hearst,a fictionalization of the famous 1970s case based on his longtime reporting. At the shop from 1:30-3:30 PM.
7/12 - Forest Walk with Linda
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Our popular forest walk series continues with Linda as guide! 10:30 AM - 12:30 PM. Register for the walk at the shop by 7/11!
7/13 - Father-Daughter Book Signing
- A father and daughter sign their books together - one novel for adults (Phineus Strong) and one book for children (the Coffee Monster). 9-10:30 AM at the Farmer's Market.
7/19 - Celebrating Kathleen Dixon
- Our save the date for celebrating the life of the bookshop's first owner, Kathleen Dixon, 3-5, details to come.
7/20 - Honoring Kathleen Dixon Benefit
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All profits on Saturday the 20th are dedicated to buying books for the Island school, at our cost, in honor of the bookstore's founder Kathleen Dixon.
7/27 - Door County Fiction Signing: The Light Is Ours
- Anne Heyse is in the shop from 1-3 to sign her island bestseller The Light Is Ours, set in 1870s Door County.
7/31 - Annual Summer Book Discussion with Prof. Elizabeth Sachs
- Professor Sachs leads a book discussion at the Art and Nature Center at 2PM, this time about Kazuo Ishiguro's Klara and the Sun.
8/17 - Washington Island Fiction Signing: Code Pink
- Marilyn Ludwig is in the shop from 1:30-3 to sign Code Pink, her new book set on the island.
2023
May
5/27 - New Island Book Launch @ Heron House
- Tom Davis reads from his new book, Prophecy of the Wolf, and signs customer copies. Starting at 2PM, hosted by Jeannie Kokes at 2162 Gudmundsen Drive. RSVP appreciated, not required.
5/28 - Fire Rescue Boat Benefit
- 20% of all profits from open to close go to benefit Washington Island Fire & Rescue Inc., supporting their purchase of a fire rescue boat.
June
6/3 - Island School Book Drive Kickoff, All Day
- Our annual drive to collect books for the island school has for many years now been a runaway success! We stock books requested by teachers, customers buy them for the school and get a thank-you discount, and the books get delivered to the school at the end of the summer.
June
6/10 - A Death in Door County Author Signing
- Annelise Ryan, the USA Today Bestselling Author of A Death In Door County, signs her mystery novel at the shop from 2-2:30PM.
6/11 - Friends of Plum and Pilot Islands Benefit
- 20% of all profits from open to close go to benefit the Friends of Plum and Pilot Islands.
6/17 - Jacobsens and Maritime Museum Benefit
- 20% of all profits from open to close go to benefit the Jacobsens and Jackson Harbor Maritime Musems.
6/21 - Summer Solstice Forest Walk
- Our forest walk events have been almost as wildly popular as they are soothing to experience! This walk will be at the Ridges, at Jackson Harbor, from 1-3PM. Register at the shop by 6/19, tickets are $10. This year's companion book, The Well-Gardened Mind, is 20% off with a ticket for the walk.
6/24 - Washington Island Community Health Program Program Benefit
- 20% of all profits from open to close go to benefit the Washington Island Community Health Program.
July
7/2 - Friends of Rock Island Benefit
- 20% of all profits from open to close go to benefit the Friends of Rock Island.
7/8 - Red Barn Benefit
- 20% of all profits from open to close go to benefit the Red Barn.
7/12 - First Summer Book Club! ft. Demon Copperhead by Barbara Kingsolver
- Our first summer book club meeting starts at 7PM, featuring conversation, refreshments, and this year's winner of the Pulitzer Prize in Fiction: Demon Copperhead, by Barbara Kingsolver. The book and anything else purchased the evening of the book discussion is 20% off if you buy the book from us, or 15% off without the book.
7/14 - Washington Island Art Association Benefit
- 20% of all profits from open to close go to benefit the Washington Island Art Association.
7/22 - Art and Nature Center Benefit
- 20% of all profits from open to close go to benefit the Art and Nature Center.
7/26 - Nature by the Book Discussion w/ Professor Elizabeth Sachs
- This year's "Nature by the Book" discussion with English Professor Elizabeth Sachs will feature the book "The Country of the Pointed Firs" by Sarah Orne Jewett. A classic set on the beautiful coast of Maine which shares some lovely qualities with our island. From 2-3:30PM outside the Art and Nature Center.
7/29 - Washington Island Literary Festival & WriteOn Door County Benefit
- 20% of all profits from open to close go to benefit the Washington Island Literary Festival & WriteOn Door County.
August
8/5 - Washington Island Music Festival Benefit
- 20% of all profits from open to close go to benefit the Washington Island Music Festival.
8/12 - Death's Door Barbecue Benefit
- 20% of all profits from open to close go to benefit Death's Door Barbecue.
8/16 - Kathleen Ernst Signing for The Solace of Stars
- Bookstore favorite Kathleen Ernst is back again to sign the second book in her Hanneke Bauer series of historical mysteries, The Solace of Stars!1:30-3:00PM.
8/19 - Bookstore Romance Day & Valerie Clarizio Signing
- We're celebrating Bookstore Romance Day this year with author and Door County local Valerie Clarizio, whose Crime and Passion Stalk City Hall romantic suspense series is set on the peninsula! 1:30-3:00PM.
8/20 - Mosling Recreation Center Benefit
- 20% of all profits from open to close go to benefit the Mosling Recreation Center.
8/26 - Washington Island Library Benefit
- 20% of all profits from open to close go to benefit the Washington Island Library.
September
9/2 - Farm Museum Benefit
- 20% of all profits from open to close go to benefit the Farm Museum.
9/9 - Gathering Ground Benefit & Terese Allen Farmer's Market Signing
- Local author Terese Allen will be signing her new book, The Dane County Farmers' Market Cookbook, at the island farmer's market. That day is also our benefit for Gathering Ground, who will get 20% of our profits all day - including from the farmer's market booth!
9/16 - Washington Island Archives Benefit
- 20% of all profits from open to close go to benefit the Washington Island Archives.
9/24 - Trueblood Performing Arts Center Benefit
- 20% of all profits from open to close go to benefit the Trueblood Performing Arts Center.
9/30 - Detroit Harbor Ladies Aid Benefit
- 20% of all profits from open to close go to benefit the Detroit Harbor Ladies Aid Society.
October
10/7 - Guatemalan Medical Relief Partnership (GMRP) Benefit.
- 20% of all profits from open to close go to benefit the Guatemalan Medical Relief Partnership.
2022
Our 10th annual Washington Island Literary Festival will include the following authors:
Cara Black
Andrew Graff
Lyanda Lynn Haupt
Michael Torres
Toya Wolfe
For More information about the schedule including workshops, author presentations and the free creative lab please visit the festival website at:
September 24 (2PM)
Winifred Bird Foraging Walk & Tasting @ Folk Tree Farm w/ Casey Dahl
Tickets $15 - register by Sept 23rd at the bookshop or by phone or email
Events from earlier in the season
Signed copies available while they last
Thursdays (July 14th - August 4th) (7:00pm)
Family Pajama Storytime at the Red Barn
July 31st (1:30-3:30 PM)
Patricia Skalka Signing
August 3rd
Nature Book Discussion with Libby Sachs
August 13th
Benefit for Guatemalan Medical Relief Partners
August 20th (9:30-11:30 AM)
Kathleen Ernst Signing @ Farmer's Market
August 20th
Bookstore Romance Day
The theme for the 2021 Festival is "A World Apart."
Our 9th annual Washington Island Literary Festival will include the following authors:
Leslie Nneka Arimah
Chris Cander
Christina Clancy
Adrian Matejka
Megan Stielstra
Alexander Weinstein
For More information about the schedule including workshops, author presentations and the free creative lab please visit the festival website at:
https://writeondoorcounty.org/events/conferences/wilf/
Past Washington Island Literary Festival authors:
Sharon Auberle, Door Co. Poet Laureate, Crow Ink
Kimberly Blaeser, Wisconsin's Poet Laureate 2015-2016
Marion Boyer, The Clock of the Long Now
Bonnie Jo Campbell, Once Upon a River
Paula Carter, No Relation
Alice D'Alessio, The Blessing of Trees
Rachel DeWoskin, Blind
Dan Egan, The Death and Life of the Great Lakes
Lin Enger, The High Divide
Kathleen Ernst, Death on the Prairie
Brian Freeman, Goodbye to the Dead
Peter Geye, The Lighthouse Road
Jeff Goodell, The Water Will Come
Jane Hamilton, The Excellent Lombards
Amy Hassinger, After the Dam
John Hildebrand, The Heart of Things
Don Kilpea, So You Want to Own an Oil Tanker
Kirk Landers, Alone on the Shield
Rebecca Makkai, The Great Believers & The Hundred-Year House
David Stuart MacLean, The Answer to the Riddle is Me: A Memoir of Amnesia Michael McCarthy, Ashes Under Water
Kevin Miyazaki, Perimiter
Anne-Marie Oomen, Love, Sex, and 4-H
Jean Pendziwol, The Lightkeeper's Daughters
Nick Petrie, The Drifter
Bao Phi, Thousand Star Hotel
Richard Purinton, Words on Water 2017
Dave Ranney, Living and Dying on the Factory Floor
Scott Russell Sanders, Earth Works
Hampton Sides, In the Kingdom of Ice
Patricia Skalka, Death in Cold Water
Danielle Sosin, The Long-Shining Water
Luis Alberto Urrea, House of Broken AngelsDouglas Wood, Deep Woods, Wild Water
Kao Kalia Yang, The Song Poet: A Memoir of my Father
Previous Event Authors:
(Signed copies available while they last)
2021
May 30th Sunday 1:30-3:30, Patrica Skalka
Patricia Skalka, the author of the award-winning Dave Cubiak Door County Mysteries, will be under the tent signing her new book Death Washes Ashore on Sunday from 1:30 to 3:30pm. Come meet our local author and pick up a signed copy.
2019
Don Baker, Old Men Can Learn Too
Tom Davis, The Unsettled Homeland of Dreams
Anne Emerson, Doodle Love
Kathleen Ernst, The Lacemaker's Secret.
J.F. Riordan, Reflections on a Life in Exile
Patricia Skalka, Death by the Bay
2018
M.C. Collins,
Out the Door
Jill Harding, The Sign Fairy, Dragonfly Magic
Dave Hoekstra, The Camper Book, The Supper Club Book
Sue Jarosh, Baileys Harbor Range Light Rascal
Robert Mazibuko, Advancing Towards an Understanding
Miranda & Baptiste Paul, One Plastic Bag and Whose Hands are These.
J.F. Riordan, Robert's Rules
Jane Schmidt, Finnegan's Superior Adventure, Finnegan's Springtime Guide
Patricia Skalka, Death Rides The Ferry
Scott Spoolman, Wisconsin State Parks: Extraordinary Stories of Geology and Natural History
Cynthia Swanson, The Glass Forest
Jim Anderson, Memories of the American Girl; Stories about the Anderson Family Freighting Business
Patti Cauldwell & Karen Yancey, Smiley & Paper, the Farm Museum Goats
Fritz Damler, Thelma & the Whore of Babylon
Carol Davis, A Door County Night Before Christmas
Carol Davis and Jan Rasmussen, DeeCee the Door County Freighter
Tom Davis: The Weirding Storm, A Dragon Epic
Brandon Graham, Good For Nothing
Anne Heyse, Good Morning, Door County
Sue Jarosh, Lighthouse Mouse
Cynthia Kraack, The High Cost of Flowers
Peter Geye, Wintering
Marilyn Ludwig, It's Perfectly Safe: The Rulison Matter, The Geese that Won the War
Katie McIntyre, How Frederick Found his Light
James Neff, Vendetta: Bobby Kennedy versus Jimmy Hoffa
Nicholas Petrie, Burning Bright, Light It Up
J. F. Riordan, North of the Tension Line and The Audacity of Goats
Lucy Sanna, The Cherry Harvest
Patricia Skalka, Death in Gills Rock
Faith Sullivan, Good Night Mr. Wodehouse
Sara Stonich, These Granite Islands
Liza Weimer, Hello?
2021 past events - signed copies available while they last
July 31st Sunday 1:30-3:30, Kathleen Ernst
We are sorry but we have had to cancel due to current conditions. We will have some signed copies available.
Wisconsin historical mystery author and shop favorite Kathleen Ernst will come by to sign her new book, The Weavers Revenge.
August 14th Saturday 1:30-3:30, Muna Shehadi
Muna Shehadi will be with us signing her Fortune’s Daughters trilogy, Private Lies, Hidden Truths and Honest Secrets. Hidden Truths is set on Washington Island.
June 18th Friday 1:30-3:00, Lisa Wiemer
Lisa Wiemer will be signing her latest book, The Assignment and her book set on the Island, Hello?. Drop by and meet our Wisconsin author and pick up a signed copy.
July 3rd Saturday 1:30-3:00, Moheb Soliman
Poet Moheb Soliman will be in the shop signing his new book of Great Lakes poetry HOMES. Stop by meet Minnesota interdisciplinary poet from Egypt and the Midwest and pick up a signed copy.
July 10th Saturday 1:30-3:00, Thomas Davis
Our own Thomas Davis from Sturgeon Bay and author of a shop favorite Unsettled Homeland of Dreams, will be launching his new book, Apples for the Wild Stallion. Visit with Tom and pick up a signed copy.
July 10th Saturday 7:00-8:45, Poetry Reading at The Hotel Washington
TRANSLATING NATURE: Words and Images of Place
July 17th Saturday 1:30-3:30, Jill Harding
Door County artist, author and Sign Ferry, Jill Harding will join us to sign and chat with folks about her latest book, Earth Messages.
uly 22nd Thursday 2:00-3:30, Elizabeth Sachs
Nature by the Book - A book discussion of John Green's "The Anthropocene Reviewed" with Professor Elizabeth Sachs". At the Art and Nature Center.
Friday July 23 All Day (10-5) - Detroit Harbor Ladies Aid Society Benefit
10% of sales donated to this long standing island charity!
Friday 7/30 1:30 - 3:00, Judy DuCharm
Door county author Judy DuCharm signs her book about Pilot Island lighthouse keepers, Lainey of the Door Islands from 1:30 to 3:00.
