Watchung Booksellers is hosting 3 Evening With the Author events

Watchung Booksellers is hosting three events in its Evening With the Author free virtual series this month, as well as a session of its free Storytime in the Green children’s book series.

On Wednesday, Sept. 22, at 7:30 p.m. chefs Peter Hoffman and Kate Lebo will be discussing their new food memoirs, Hoffman’s “What’s Good? A Memoir in Fourteen Ingredients” and Lebo’s “The Book of Difficult Fruit: Arguments for the Tart, Tender, and Unruly (with recipes).”

Hoffman will tell the story of his upbringing, professional education and evolution as a chef and owner of Savoy and Black Forty restaurants, along with explorations into the cultural, historical and botanical back stories of the foods we eat.

Lebo blends natural, culinary, medical and personal history into her work, providing insights into relationships, self-care, land stewardship, medical and botanical history and more.

On Thursday, Sept. 23, at 7:30 p.m. author Ian Frazier will discuss his new book of essays, “Cranial Fracking,” and will be joined by fellow Montclairian and New Yorker writer D.T. Max.

In “Cranial Fracking” Frazier has gathered his insights on the most urgent issues of today, from climate change (what did Al Gore say at his colloquium on the rising temperatures in Hell?) to Texas (what should we do with Texas?).

Farah Jasmine Griffin, author of “Read Until You Understand: The Profound Wisdom of Black Life and Literature,” will be talking with Erica Armstrong Dunbar on Wednesday, Sept. 29, at 7:30 p.m. 

Griffin, who has spent years rooted in the culture of Black genius and the legacy of books that her father left her, will share a lifetime of discoveries, entwining memoir, history and art while asking us to grapple with the continuing struggle for Black freedom and the ongoing project that is American democracy. 

On Friday, Sept. 24, at 4 p.m. author Sarah Thomas is the special guest of the Storytime in the Green children’s book series. 

Thomas is the author of “Kalamata’s Kitchen,” the first book in a new series that encourages children to be adventurous both in food choices and their daily lives. 

Bring a blanket and start autumn with a story and activity in Watchung Plaza Green. Signed copies will be available for purchase.

All four events are free. More information or to register: watchungbooksellers.com.