Bryan + College Station Public Library System presents 2025 Author Series sponsored by the 70th anniversary of the Friends of the Library. For 70 years, Friends have been supporting the library system in many ways. Their advocacy efforts in promoting, encouraging use of library resources, volunteerism and funding opportunities have immensely elevated our services and resources.
2025 Author Series support comes from Friends sponsorship and will feature authors, keynote speakers, special guests, book sales, signings and more. Check back for more author lineups.
Book sale by Hyperbole Bookstore with 10% of proceeds to the Friends. All ages welcome.
Upcoming Authors
Victoria Christopher Murray
Juneteenth Celebration Welcomes Victoria Christopher Murray, Co-Author of “The Personal Librarian”
- When: Wednesday, June 18, at 5:30 p.m.
- Where: Clara B. Mounce Public Library, 201 E. 26th St., Bryan, TX
- Cost: Free admission (Please RSVP here.)
The first 50 people to register will receive a free copy of the book, “Harlem Rhapsody.” You must attend the event in person to receive your copy.
Victoria Christopher Murray is the “New York Times” and “USA Today” best-selling author of more than 30 novels, including the “New York Times” Instant Best Sellers, “The Personal Librarian” and “The First Ladies.” Both novels, Victoria co-wrote with Marie Benedict and her latest, “Harlem Rhapsody.”
A native New Yorker, Victoria Christopher Murray attended Hampton University where she majored in Communication Disorders. After graduating, Victoria attended New York University’s Stern Business School where she received her MBA in Marketing.
Victoria spent ten years in Corporate America before she tested her entrepreneurial spirit. She opened a Financial Services Agency for Aegon, USA where she managed the number one division for nine consecutive years. However, Victoria always dreamed of writing and in 1997, she pursued her dream.
Victoria originally self-published her first novel, “Temptation” and in 2000, Time Warner published that novel. “Temptation” remained on the Essence bestsellers list for nine consecutive months. In 2001, Victoria received her first NAACP Image Award nomination for Outstanding Literature with “Temptation.”
Over her career, Victoria has received numerous awards including the Phyllis Wheatley Trailblazer Award, the Delta Sigma Theta Osceola Award for Excellence in the Arts, Go On Girl Book Club Author of the Year, eleven African American Literary Awards and five NAACP Image Award nominations. In 2016, she won the Image Award for Outstanding Literature for her social commentary novel, “Stand Your Ground.”
In addition to being a “New York Times” Bestseller, “The Personal Librarian” was a “Good Morning America” Book Club selection and named a Best Book of the Year by NPR. “The First Ladies” was Target’s 2023 Book of the Year.
Five of Victoria’s “Seven Deadly Sins” novels became Lifetime movies produced by TD Jakes, Shaun Robinson and Derrick Williams. “The Personal Librarian” has been optioned by Al Roker Entertainment to become a mini series.
With almost three million books in print, Victoria is one of the country’s top African American contemporary authors.
Madeline Keyser
Madeline Keyser presents, From Clay Tablets to Parlor Presses: The Historic Pressroom at Texas A&M University
- When: Saturday, Sept. 6, at 11 a.m.
- Where: Clara B. Mounce Public Library, 201 E. 26th St., Bryan, TX
- Cost: Free admission (Please RSVP here.)
Madeline Keyser is the Book Arts & Historic Pressroom Librarian and Director of the Book History Workshop at Texas A&M University’s Cushing Memorial Library & Archives. She worked at Cushing Library as an undergraduate student and has been involved with the Book History Workshop since first attending in 2015. After completing her Masters in Library Science and Comparative Literature from Indiana University, she recently returned to Texas A&M to support the program that first sparked her interest in book history.
Since the early 2000s, historical printing presses and other bookmaking equipment at Texas A&M University’s Cushing Memorial Library & Archives have provided students with the opportunity to immerse themselves in hands-on, experimental learning about early bookmaking techniques. Beginning with a working replica of an early wooden printing press, the Historic Pressroom at the Texas A&M University Libraries now houses more than ten printing presses, allowing students to experience the labor that went into bookmaking from the 14th to the 20th centuries.
Cushing Library’s rich and unique holdings of rare books and manuscripts document the cultural history of the book, allowing students and scholars to supplement their work in the Pressroom with scholarly research, and making Cushing Library a unique environment for studying the book as both object and idea. Some highlights front these collections include ancient clay tablets donated in 1979 by former student Loran L. Laughlin, works by El Paso printer Carl Hertzog, the Berger Cloonan Collection of Decorated Papers, and the archives of the Lost Link papermaking company.
In this talk, Madeline Keyser will trace the evolution of the book history and book arts program at Texas A&M. While continuing to support scholars in book history and bibliography, the Historic Pressroom is also part of a vibrant and growing movement of makerspaces and book arts labs. In an increasingly digital world, the Pressroom serves as an open, creative space where students, researchers, and community members are invited to explore, experiment, and engage with the material practices of printing and bookmaking in a welcoming and low-stakes environment.
After the talk, attendees will be able to print a keepsake to take home with them on a handcrafted replica of a 19th-century parlor press!
Dora Ramirez
Celebrate Hispanic Heritage Month with Dora’s Table
- When: Saturday, Sept. 13, at 2 p.m.
- Where: Larry J. Ringer Library, 1818 Harvey Mitchell Pkwy S, College Station, TX
- Cost: Free admission (Please RSVP here.)
The first 50 people to register will receive a free copy of the book, “Comida Casera.” You must attend the event in person to receive your copy.
Dora Ramirez is the chef, recipe developer, and photographer at dorastable.com and “Mi Mero Mole”. Born and raised in Mexico and a graduate of the Culinary Institute of America in New York, she adopted a vegan diet to take control of her health. She is passionate about teaching others the benefits of a plant-based lifestyle and is the author of “Vegan Tamales Unwrapped” and “Comida Casera“.
Dora has been featured in Parents Latina Magazine, Buzzfeed, Vegnews Magazine, entrepreneur.com, petalatino.com, milenio.com, redbookmagazine.com, and womenshealthmag.com. She has worked extensively with the Physicians Committee of Responsible Medicine in the development of their app and was a contributor to Dr. Neil Barnard’s book “The Vegan Starter Kit” and Joe Yonan’s “Mastering the Art of Plant Based Cooking”.
Dora will be sharing the stories and flavors that inspire her recipes, highlighting the rich culinary traditions of Mexico through a modern, vegan lens. The event will include a cooking demonstration with tastings, a conversation about the role of food in cultural identity, and time for Q&A, followed by book signing.
Stephen Graham Jones
Author Visit
- When: Saturday, Oct. 18, at 2 p.m.
- Where: Clara B. Mounce Public Library, 201 E. 26th St., Bryan, TX
- Cost: Free admission (Please RSVP here.)
The first 50 people to register will receive a free copy of the book, “The Angel of Indian Lake.” You must attend the event in person to receive your copy.
Stephen Graham Jones is the New York Times bestselling author of 35 or so novels and collections, and there’s some novellas and comic books in there as well.
Stephen’s been an NEA recipient, has won the Texas Institute of Letters Award for Fiction, the Los Angeles Times Ray Bradbury Prize, the Mark Twain American Voice in Literature Award, the August Derleth British Fantasy Award for Best Horror Novel, the Independent Publishers Award for Multicultural Fiction, the Western Literature Association’s Distinguished Achievement Award, the American Library Association’s RUSA Award and Alex Award, the 2023 American Indian Festival of Words Writers Award, the Locus Award, four Bram Stoker Awards, three Shirley Jackson Awards, and six This is Horror Awards. Stephen has also been inducted into the Texas Literary Hall of Fame, he’s been a finalist for the World Fantasy Award, and the Eisner Award, and he’s made Bloody Disgusting’s Top Ten Horror Novels.
His most recent horror novel, “The Buffalo Hunter Hunter,” came out in March 2025, and his next is “Killer on the Road” (out in June 2025). Recent books from 2024 include “I Was a Teenage Slasher” and “The Angel of Indian Lake“. His latest short story collection, “The Ones That Got Away“, came out in March 2025, and he had a recent comic book “Earthdivers” in 2023. Stephen is originally from Midland, Texas, and he currently lives and teaches in Boulder, Colorado.
Lisa Wingate
Author Visit
- When: Sunday, Dec. 7, at 2 p.m.
- Where: Larry J. Ringer Library, 1818 Harvey Mitchell Pkwy S, College Station, TX
- Cost: Free admission (Please RSVP here.)
The first 50 people to register will receive a free copy of the book, “Shelterwood.” You must attend the event in person to receive your copy.
Lisa Wingate is the #1 New York Times Bestselling Author of “Before We Were Yours“, which remained on the New York Times bestseller list for more than two years and has sold over three million copies. She has written more than 30 novels and co-authored the nonfiction “Before and After” with journalist Judy Christie. Wingate’s books have been translated into over forty languages and have appeared on bestseller lists worldwide. “Shelterwood” (2024) marks her thirty-third release.
Wingate is a Goodreads Choice Award winner, an Oklahoma Book Award finalist, and a Southern Book Prize winner. Americans for More Civility, a kindness watchdog organization, selected Wingate as a recipient of the National Civics Award, which celebrates public figures who work to promote greater kindness and civility in American life. “Booklist” summed up her work by saying, “Lisa Wingate is, quite simply, a master storyteller.”
She was inspired to become a writer by a first-grade teacher who said she expected to see Lisa’s name in a magazine one day. Wingate also entertained childhood dreams of being an Olympic gymnast and winning the National Finals Rodeo but was stalled by a mental block against backflips on the balance beam and by parents who stubbornly refused to finance a rodeo career. She was lucky enough to marry into a big family of tall tale enthusiasts who never let the truth get in the way of a good story. Wingate lives in Texas and Colorado with her family and her cuddly teddy bear of a dog, Huckleberry. One of her favorite things about being a writer is connecting with people, both real and imaginary.
