Hidden Gems: Meet Sue Moon of Read It Again Books

Today we’d like to introduce you to Sue Moon.

Hi Sue, we’d love for you to introduce yourself.
My husband is how we ended up here. I grew up in Texas, and he was in Kansas when he got a contract job with Harmon Industries. We moved here in 1999 from Alabama, and Jesse found an ad for a bookstore for sale in Oak Grove. We live in Grain Valley, so it was very convenient. My husband bought me a job. We purchased the inventory, took over the rent at the store, and moved thousands of books from the previous owner’s garage to ours. We immediately realized the space was way too small for the store, so we bought the old post office building, which was one building away. It took about a month to move everything, walking back and forth with trollies of boxes of books and shelves. Some of the customers helped out, which made it a lot easier.

Over 23 years, we have crammed as many shelves as possible and have books piling everywhere. We have most areas alphabetized by the author and are constantly thinking of new ways to get books off the floor. I am continually looking at book prices and listing books online. We bought a storage shed behind the store to store books listed online. During the Iraq and Afghanistan wars, I sent books by the box loads to troops overseas through Books for Troops. This organization took the soldier’s requests and verified who sent books (for security and safety). I paid most of the postage but did have a donation basket that raised a fair amount. Some customers also donated books specifically for the troops. I was a founding member of the Oak Grove Lions Club and was treasurer until we disbanded from lack of membership. We did fundraisers for various local needs over the years. We raised money and donated it to the Community Service League, American Legion Auxiliary Missouri Girls State. We had a deal with the local Walmart eye exam center to pay for eye exams for anyone who couldn’t get one otherwise. The Lions also donated books and money to mail books to the troops.

I was in the local newspaper because Barb, a friend, and fellow Lion, while on a trip to California to visit her daughter, met a soldier who had gotten books from me. She was not even supposed to be on that plane but had changed flights. This young soldier asked if they could talk so he could stay awake, and during the conversation, Barb said she came from Oak Grove, Missouri. He said, “Oak Grove, Missouri? We get packages of books from a woman named Sue Moon from there!” What are the odds?

I am a member of the Oak Grove Chamber of Commerce and was on the board from 2010 to 2014. I have worked on various events sponsored by the Chamber over the years. I changed a city ordinance to allow sidewalk sales and got the ball rolling to have a regularly scheduled farmer’s market in town.

I was a member of A Company of Bookstores, a group of 8 bookstores in the greater Kansas City area. We had a bookstore tour in August for 5 years. The tour could be completed in 2 weeks, and if you visited 5 or more stores, you could get a t-shirt, and if you wore the t-shirt into any of the stores, you got a discount on sales. We also sponsored 2 Local History Expo at Fort Osage Historic National Monument with local historians, authors, and merchants (we sold books). By the time Covid hit, we were down to 5 stores still open, and after Covid, only 3. I miss all the stores.

We also have sold books at various conventions and such. We have been selling at the ConQuesT science fiction convention for several years in Kansas City. We sold books in Arrow Rock at a gardening and bookseller seminar for a few years. I’ve sold books at medieval recreation events in several states for many years. And we participate in the Chamber-sponsored Lickskillet Days event in the fall.

We survived the Covid shutdown and the year after with online sales. People did shop online! Business picked up quickly, and much as I hate to say it, being one of the few bookstores left in the area has helped in-store business. We are getting people as far away as Overland Park, Kansas, and Warrensburg, Missouri. Warrensburg’s used bookstore closed a few years ago (I got books from them).

I’m sure you wouldn’t say it’s been obstacle free, but so far would you say the journey has been a smooth road?
We have had lean years. People don’t buy books when they can read on their tablet or Kindle, or they don’t read books at all. Plus, my husband worked in Michigan (Sterling Heights, just north of Detroit) for nine years. I hired Jack Martens as a part-time employee in 2005. He was a regular customer and is still working here. I could visit Jesse or go to events to sell books, or just have a day off. He has been a godsend for me. The store wouldn’t be in any shape without his help. He frees me so I can list books online while he puts books on the shelves or, at the least, in neat stacks on the floor. The downside is doing taxes and paperwork, but it is worth it.

Appreciate you sharing that. What should we know about Read It Again Books?
Read It Again Books is a used book store with all sorts of books – fiction, non-fiction, religion, art and hobby, and crafts, children’s books, cookbooks, westerns, romance (contemporary, historical, paranormal, regency), mystery/thrillers/espionage, science fiction/fantasy, classics and award winners, hardbacks and paperbacks. We have been building up science fiction/fantasy over the years and have a very large selection of older books. Our western section is huge as well. Also, have large mystery and thriller sections. We get our books mostly from donations and books in exchange for credit to use in the store. We have bought estate sale sort lots of science fiction, but most have come for free. During Covid, we got truckloads of books as folks cleaned the house. We have just gotten over a hundred leather-bound hardbacks of multiple genres, mostly The Easton Press and The Franklin Press. Lovely books.

We can order books and have them shipped to the customer if they can’t come in. I have regulars scattered across the country. We are known for having thousands and thousands of books. We are crowded with books which can make it a treasure hunt, but most customers love that about the store. I can point them in the right direction, and the shelves are alphabetized. And I just helped an out-of-town customer find a book on the line he had been looking for. He remembered the name but not the author, so I searched, got the author’s name then did a search on Bookfinder.com to find the least expensive place to get it. He will go home and get a friend to order it for him. I get to find the neatest old books and odd books.

Do you have any memories from childhood that you can share with us?
My dad was a graphic artist who worked for the local tv station doing art for slides for advertisers or for tv programs and such. The station had a slogan about covering Austin (fill in the blank) and all of central Texas. So dad would go to various towns and do drawings of local places of interest, and sometimes we went with him. I remember a natural spring swimming pool he illustrated while we played in it. Can’t remember the town.

Pricing:

• books are half the original price or written on the inside front
• Minimum price is $1

Contact Info:

• Website: readitagainbooks.net
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/readitagainbooks