By Alesha Woods
Rowan Public Library

Rowan Public Library has been offering Virtual Author Talks since July 2022 and will soon be celebrating the 100th Virtual Author Talk. This free series offers viewers a chance to participate live and hear authors discuss their works. Not able to attend? A video recording can be viewed later at a more convenient time. The 100th Virtual Author Talk will feature well-known No. 1 New York Times bestselling author Jodi Picoult to talk about her latest novel, “By Any Other Name.” Picoult is best known for her books “A Spark of Light,” “Small Great Things” and “My Sister’s Keeper.” Join RPL online at bit.ly/RPLVirtualAuthorTalks on Wednesday, April 2, at 7 p.m. for a live, real-time experience or check out the recording later in the archives.

With the 100th Virtual Author Talk coming soon, what better way to celebrate than to watch through the archived recordings of your favorite authors. Did you miss the author talk with mega-bestselling author of “The Mortal Instruments Series,” Cassandra Clare? You can find her author talk recording from August 2023 in the archives. Did you miss out on the chat with the queen of twists and psychological thrillers, Freida McFadden, author of the book series “The Housemaid?” This author talk from June 2024 can be found in the archives, as well.

For the curious minds of all who enjoy science, check out the Virtual Author Talk archives for chats with Smithsonian Museum scientists and researchers. Matthew Shindell, the curator of earth and planetary science at the Smithsonian’s National Air and Space Museum, discusses his book “For the Love of Mars: A Human History of the Red Planet.” Dr. Jennifer Levasseur, the curator for the Smithsonian Museum’s astronaut cameras, chronographs, the Space Shuttle and International Space Station programs will guide you through the Smithsonian’s “Behind the Scenes at the Space Station: Your All Access Guide to the World’s Most Amazing Space Station.” Dr. Rachel A. Page, Dr. Dina K. N. Dechmann, and Dr. M. Teague O’Mara are part of the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute team that provides an inside look through their book “Bat Island: A Rare Journey into the Hidden World of Tropical Bats.” Dr. Jeffrey Edward Post, research curator of the Smithsonian’s National Gem Collection, talks about his book “The Smithsonian National Gem Collection — Unearthed: Surprising Stories Behind the Jewels.” Sabrina Sholts, a curator of Biological Anthropology at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History, discusses her book “The Human Disease: How We Create Pandemics, From Our Bodies to Our Beliefs.”

Rowan Public Library’s Virtual Author Talk series is part of the Library Speakers Consortium and is sponsored by Friends of Rowan Public Library. If you enjoy podcasts, author talks and hearing about behind the scenes details, then check out the archive of available videos. Author Talks are accessible for free at bit.ly/RPLVirtualAuthorTalks. Registration is optional. Library card numbers are not required to watch live or archived Author Talks. To learn more about Virtual Author Talks or to find one of the books that was mentioned in an author talk, visit www.RowanPublicLibrary.org or call 980-432-8670.

Alesha Woods is communications associate at Rowan Public Library.