Bestselling author to visit Tiffin

TIFFIN—A New York Times bestselling author will visit Tiffin in April. According to a press release, Shelby Van Pelt, author of Remarkably Bright Creatures, will host the 2025 Christoper D. English Community Speak event April 22, 2025, at 6:30 p.m. at The Chandelier Community Event Center. "'Remarkably Bright Creatures' is a charming, witty and compulsively readable exploration of friendship, reckoning and hope that traces a widow's unlikely connection with a giant Pacific octopus," the release states. The novel, which was released in May 2022, "has become an international sensation, racking up multiple awards and accolades including being a multiple-time New York Times hardcover fiction bestseller, named Best Book of Summer in 2022 by the Chicago Tribune, The View, Southern Living, and USA Today, Amazon's Best Book of the Year So Far in 2022, Heartland Bestsellers Award in 2023, and more," it states. Kayleigh Tschanen, community relations manager for the Tiffin-Seneca Public Library, said "Remarkably Bright Creatures' was chosen "because it is such a touching story that resonates with a lot of people." "The themes of grief and loss, friendship, and the bond between humans and animals are things that everyone can relate to," she said. Because of the broad reach of the book, Tschanen said, the library will be involving community impact partners in the Community Read event this year, which has not previously been done. The library will collaborate with various impact partners in the weeks leading up to the author visit, she said, to highlight different organizations and the resources they provide. Tschanen said 2025 is the 20th Community Read event and the ninth author visit to be hosted by the library, and Van Pelt "is our biggest name yet." "We are extremely excited about that!" she said. According to the press release, the author's event is "completely free and open to the community." The Community Read series is made possible through generous funding by the Tiffin-Seneca Library Foundation and the many donors who have contributed to the Foundation over the years, the release states. Registration is required for the event. Spots can be reserved by visiting the tiffinsenecalibrary.org event calendar. A book signing will take place during the visit and copies of the book will be available at Pan Yan Bookstore leading up to the event and at The Chandelier Community Event Center, 151 S. Washington St., on the evening of the visit. Copies of the book can be checked out at the Library, and the eBook and audiobook can be found on the "hoopla" app, the Ohio Digital Library and the Libby app, the release states. Events surrounding the author's visit are being planned, including an adult craft night, book discussion, and more, according to the release, with details to be released in the coming weeks.