Arts & Entertainment
Local Indie Bookstore Bookmiser, Closed by Fire, Rises From Ashes to Host In-Store Events Beginning Feb. 28
Bookseller behind some of Roswell's biggest blockbuster author appearances since 2018 reopens with a pair of can't-miss author appearances
A few local indie booksellers drive most of the author appearances in North Fulton. And, when it comes to Roswell listings, one of the most active is Bookmiser.
Working alongside two Friends of the Roswell Library programs – Roswell Reads and Atlanta Authors – Bookmiser has helped facilitate some of the city’s most notable author celebrations since 2018. From blockbuster writers like Fredrik Backman, Delia Owens and Ann Patchett to regional authors including Karen White, Mary Kay Andrews and Rick Bragg, Bookmiser’s co-owner, Annell Gerson, has helped coordinate them all from a strip-mall storefront 10 minutes from Roswell’s historic downtown at 3822 Roswell Road, No. 117, Marietta.
That brick-and-mortar location, however, suffered a major setback in September, when a fire at a computer repair store adjacent to Bookmiser triggered a five-month shutdown, gutting and total remodel.
With no in-store holiday sales and facing ever-growing e-commerce competition, Bookmiser maintained off-site support for a host of organizations and events, including two author appearances for both Roswell Reads and Atlanta Authors.
Finally, despite a tsunami of challenges, Bookmiser is reopening Saturday, Feb. 28, with an in-store author appearance by celebrated South Carolina attorney Dick Harpootlian, in conversation with Adam Beam, Atlanta Journal-Constitution writer.
Harpootlian will be detailing “Dig Me A Grave,” the inside story of the serial killer Donald “Pee Wee” Gaskins, called the Charles Manson of the South. Register for the free event here.
Then, on Monday, March 2, Bookmiser will host New York Times bestselling author Patti Callahan Henry alongside Colleen Oakley at North Cobb Library, 3535 Old 41 Highway NW, Kennesaw. Tickets for the 6 p.m. event are $28.87, which include a signed paperback copy of “The Story She Left Behind,” preferential seating and a photo with the author, or $12.18 admission only. Click here for more information.
Bookmiser will resume normal operating hours on March 2.
“Now more than ever,” Gerson said, “we appreciate the community’s support in spreading the word that we are open and dedicated as ever to putting the right book in the right hands at the right time, our quest for 27 years.
“Come see Dick Harpootlian on Feb. 28 and Patti Callahan Henry on March 2 and help us continue that tradition,” she said.
